Philip Sanders

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I am a minister of the gospel and an adjunct instructor in Georgia School of Preaching and Biblical Studies. I write regularly for the Gospel Advocate, Spiritual Sword, and Sufficient Evidences. My primary work is as an evangelist on television in an internationally broadcasted program, In Search of the Lord's Way.

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THE POWER OF THE GOSPEL Romans 1:16-17

The Power of the Gospel, 2018

For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ, for it is the power of God to salvation for everyon... more For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ, for it is the power of God to salvation for everyone who believes, for the Jew first and also for the Greek. For in it the righteousness of God is revealed from faith to faith; as it is written, 'The just shall live by faith'" (Rom. 1:16-17). [All Scripture references are from the NKJV unless otherwise noted.] The term gospel occurs frequently in the New Testament in both noun and verb forms, literally meaning "good news" or "proclaiming good news." The noun form, euangelion, occurs seventy-five times, and the verb euangelizomai occurs fifty-six times (Mathis 670-71). This passage contains a quotation from Habakkuk 2:4, which encourages Judah to fulfill the task of rebuilding the temple; but it speaks here of God's blessing to those who believe the glad message of salvation. Paul wrote this passage in the earliest days of Christianity, when the Roman society had little knowledge of the Lord Jesus or His church. Salvation is the basic theme of Romans (vv. 16-17). This salvation comes by faith and results in life. He notes that all men are sinners and stand in need of God's grace through faith in Christ. Paul is interested in bringing people to the obedience of faith, to heeding or obeying the glad tidings, the Gospel (Rom. 1:5; 10:16; 16:26). Paul regarded the preaching of the Gospel as a duty, and he was ready and eager to do it. "I am a debtor both to Greeks and to barbarians, both to wise and to unwise. So, as much as is in me, I am ready to preach the gospel to you who are in Rome also" (1:14-15). The work of preaching is primarily persuading men to believe in Jesus Christ and His teaching by telling the story of the Gospel. Preaching is by its very nature persuasive; it consciously attempts to influence the behavior of the listener through the delivering of a message from God. Persuasion moves the will to the point where a desire for change is created, a desire that becomes dominant to other desires. Gospel preaching must be persuasive. The Lord Jesus requires people to deny themselves, to take up their crosses daily, and to follow Him (Luke 9:23). Such devotion demands the heart, the mind, and the will to believe and obey. Thankfully, some Romans were obedient to the faith and became servants of God. Paul argued people could decide whom they would serve and how they would live. Paul cited the Romans as an example of people who changed their allegiance from sin to God: Do you not know that to whom you present yourselves slaves to obey, you are that one's slaves whom you obey, whether of sin leading to death, or of obedience leading to righteousness? But God be thanked that though you were slaves of sin, yet you obeyed from the heart that form of doctrine to which you were delivered. And having been set free from sin, you became slaves of righteousness. (6:16-18) The apostle Paul took seriously the challenge to persuade men because he knew their souls were at stake. He wrote, "Knowing, therefore, the terror of the Lord, we persuade men; but we are well known to God, and I trust are well known in your consciences" (2 Cor. 5:11). Persuasion is essential to convincing, convicting, and converting the individual. We preach to persuade men to believe, and the power of persuasion lies in the message wherein one soul speaks passionately to another soul. He speaks a message in which obscurity is overcome by clearness, and doubt by faith, and narrowness by breadth, fantasy by fact, partiality by comprehension, and hesitation by

Philip Sanders

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