Unashamed / Romans 1:1-17

The Most Significant Letter Ever Written

Alright, church. Well, it’s good to see you. If you have a Bible with you, do me a favor and turn to the book of Romans, chapter one. This is where we’re going to be landing for a good period of time, and I have to be honest—I am super excited that we are finally here. We’ve known about this series for about a year, and I’ve just been anxious to get started.

If you’re unfamiliar with the book of Romans, I want to tell you right up front: this is probably one of the most significant passages in all of Scripture. That isn’t to say the entirety of Scripture isn’t from God and significant for every aspect of our lives, but this particular letter in your New Testament is unique. It answers all the essential questions—not every question, but the essential ones—concerning God, man, Christ, the Holy Spirit, salvation, and the new life found in Jesus Christ.

The great Reformer Martin Luther once said of this book: “The letter of Romans is truly the most important piece in the New Testament. It is impossible to read or to meditate on this letter too much or too well. In fact, the more one deals with it, the more precious it becomes and the better it tastes.”

There is a deep significance in this study. Martin Luther himself came to faith in Christ through his study of Romans. John Calvin, the great pastor-theologian, came to faith through Romans. John Wesley came to faith through Romans. Even the early church father Augustine came to faith through the study of this book. The second best-selling book ever written, next to the Bible, is Pilgrim’s Progress by John Bunyan, and that entire work was inspired by Romans. In fact, when you study every major revival in Western history—the First Great Awakening, the Second Great Awakening—every single one can be traced back to either the teaching of Romans or a re-emphasis of its truths.

The Theme: The Power of God to Save

Now, why is this book so significant? Why have all these people come to faith through it? Why is so much revival connected to it? It’s because this book centers around the most important thing pertaining to life as we know it: the gospel of Jesus Christ and the ability of God to save the unsavable. It is the power of God to save.

If you’re there in Romans chapter one, look at verses sixteen and seventeen. These two verses serve as the theme for everything we’re about to see. Paul says:

Romans 1:16-17 (NASB)

For I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes, to the Jew first and also to the Greek. For in it [the] righteousness of God is revealed from faith to faith; as it is written, ‘BUT THE RIGHTEOUS [man] SHALL LIVE BY FAITH.’

“Gospel,” by the way, simply means “good news.” Paul is arguing that there is one primary thing man needs, which man does not possess and does not have enough money to buy: the righteousness of God. It is the righteousness of God that we need to be saved—not our own works, not our own efforts. Apart from God’s righteousness in Jesus Christ, we are dead. Yet, in an act of mercy and grace, God provided that righteousness through the person and work of Jesus, received by faith.

This idea of a salvation freely given and not earned was a foreign concept in the Roman Empire. In fact, it was deemed a heresy. The thought was that a grace-based salvation would lead to insanity—that Christians would become a menace to society because they would just grab their “free hell insurance” and then live like crazy people. Paul writes the next sixteen chapters to defend the idea that if that’s your understanding of the gospel, you don’t understand the nature of the gospel at all. The gospel is the very thing that transforms the human soul, making us live as we were meant to live.

The Logic of Romans: A Stack of Truth

Paul builds an argument here using a literary style of rhetoric and diatribe—asking questions before they’re even asked and then answering them to obliterate any opposing argument. Think of it like Legos stacking on top of one another.

He begins in chapters one through three with the idea that you and I cannot save ourselves. Apart from God’s intervention, we are dead in our sins. Now, if I were writing a best-seller, I’m not sure “Welcome to my book, you’re going to hell” is the opening paragraph I’d choose! But Paul begins there because we have to address a common question: “How can a loving God send a ‘good’ person to hell?”

We all want to believe we’re good, but where do we get that standard? Usually, we measure our goodness against other people. That’s like me standing up here saying I’m the best basketball player on earth because I went home, lowered the rim to eight feet, and crushed my six-year-old daughter 212 to nothing. You’d look at me and say, “That’s ludicrous. Have you heard of LeBron James? Try playing him!”

In the same way, we think we’re good until we compare ourselves to the holiness of God. Paul argues that none of us are good. Even our “Mother Teresa” deeds are like filthy rags compared to His righteousness. Because of His holiness, we all fall short.

Romans 3:20 (NASB)

because by the works of the Law no flesh will be justified in His sight; for through the Law [comes] the knowledge of sin.

If the book ended there, we’d all need mass counseling. It would be the most depressing story ever. But the question arises: “If I can’t earn it, where is the hope?” Paul answers in chapter three, verse twenty-one through chapter five. God has provided a substitute. Jesus lived the righteous life we could not live and took on the wrath our sin demanded. In exchange, He gives us His righteousness by faith.

Romans 3:21 (NASB)

But now apart from the Law [the] righteousness of God has been manifested, being witnessed by the Law and the Prophets,

Then the next question comes: “So I just trust Him and I’m secure? Can I just go live however I want?” Paul answers in chapter six: “No!” If you think that, you don’t know the gospel. In trusting Christ, you get both His death for forgiveness and His resurrection for new life. You can’t have one without the other. You’ve been transformed from a caterpillar into a butterfly; you can’t go back to being a caterpillar.

Romans 6 (NASB)

1. What shall we say then? Are we to continue in sin so that grace may increase? 2. May it never be! How shall we who died to sin still live in it? 3. Or do you not know that all of us who have been baptized into Christ Jesus have been baptized into His death? 4. Therefore we have been buried with Him through baptism into death, so that as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, so we too might walk in newness of life. 5. For if we have become united with [Him] in the likeness of His death, certainly we shall also be [in the likeness] of His resurrection, 6. knowing this, that our old self was crucified with [Him], in order that our body of sin might be done away with, so that we would no longer be slaves to sin; 7. for he who has died is freed from sin. 8. Now if we have died with Christ, we believe that we shall also live with Him, 9. knowing that Christ, having been raised from the dead, is never to die again; death no longer is master over Him. 10. For the death that He died, He died to sin once for all; but the life that He lives, He lives to God. 11. Even so consider yourselves to be dead to sin, but alive to God in Christ Jesus. 12. Therefore do not let sin reign in your mortal body so that you obey its lusts, 13. and do not go on presenting the members of your body to sin [as] instruments of unrighteousness; but present yourselves to God as those alive from the dead, and your members [as] instruments of righteousness to God. 14. For sin shall not be master over you, for you are not under law but under grace. 15. What then? Shall we sin because we are not under law but under grace? May it never be! 16. Do you not know that when you present yourselves to someone [as] slaves for obedience, you are slaves of the one whom you obey, either of sin resulting in death, or of obedience resulting in righteousness? 17. But thanks be to God that though you were slaves of sin, you became obedient from the heart to that form of teaching to which you were committed, 18. and having been freed from sin, you became slaves of righteousness. 19. I am speaking in human terms because of the weakness of your flesh. For just as you presented your members as slaves to impurity and to lawlessness, resulting in [further] lawlessness, so now present your members as slaves to righteousness, resulting in sanctification. 20. For when you were slaves of sin, you were free in regard to righteousness. 21. Therefore what benefit were you then deriving from the things of which you are now ashamed? For the outcome of those things is death. 22. But now having been freed from sin and enslaved to God, you derive your benefit, resulting in sanctification, and the outcome, eternal life. 23. For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.

But then we ask, “If I’m a new creation, why do I still struggle? Why do I still sin?” Welcome to chapter seven. This is the hope of the Christian life. Paul explains that while the penalty of sin is removed and the presence of sin will one day be gone, the power of sin is still a struggle here on earth.

Romans 7 (NASB)

1. Or do you not know, brethren (for I am speaking to those who know the law), that the law has jurisdiction over a person as long as he lives? 2. For the married woman is bound by law to her husband while he is living; but if her husband dies, she is released from the law concerning the husband. 3. So then, if while her husband is living she is joined to another man, she shall be called an adulteress; but if her husband dies, she is free from the law, so that she is not an adulteress though she is joined to another man. 4. Therefore, my brethren, you also were made to die to the Law through the body of Christ, so that you might be joined to another, to Him who was raised from the dead, in order that we might bear fruit for God. 5. For while we were in the flesh, the sinful passions, which were [aroused] by the Law, were at work in the members of our body to bear fruit for death. 6. But now we have been released from the Law, having died to that by which we were bound, so that we serve in newness of the Spirit and not in oldness of the letter. 7. What shall we say then? Is the Law sin? May it never be! On the contrary, I would not have come to know sin except through the Law; for I would not have known about coveting if the Law had not said, ‘YOU SHALL NOT COVET.’ 8. But sin, taking opportunity through the commandment, produced in me coveting of every kind; for apart from the Law sin [is] dead. 9. I was once alive apart from the Law; but when the commandment came, sin became alive and I died; 10. and this commandment, which was to result in life, proved to result in death for me; 11. for sin, taking an opportunity through the commandment, deceived me and through it killed me. 12. So then, the Law is holy, and the commandment is holy and righteous and good. 13. Therefore did that which is good become [a cause] [of] death for me? May it never be! Rather it was sin, in order that it might be shown to be sin by effecting my death through that which is good, so that through the commandment sin would become utterly sinful. 14. For we know that the Law is spiritual, but I am of flesh, sold into bondage to sin. 15. For what I am doing, I do not understand; for I am not practicing what I [would] like to [do], but I am doing the very thing I hate. 16. But if I do the very thing I do not want [to do], I agree with the Law, [confessing] that the Law is good. 17. So now, no longer am I the one doing it, but sin which dwells in me. 18. For I know that nothing good dwells in me, that is, in my flesh; for the willing is present in me, but the doing of the good [is] not. 19. For the good that I want, I do not do, but I practice the very evil that I do not want. 20. But if I am doing the very thing I do not want, I am no longer the one doing it, but sin which dwells in me. 21. I find then the principle that evil is present in me, the one who wants to do good. 22. For I joyfully concur with the law of God in the inner man, 23. but I see a different law in the members of my body, waging war against the law of my mind and making me a prisoner of the law of sin which is in my members. 24. Wretched man that I am! Who will set me free from the body of this death? 25. Thanks be to God through Jesus Christ our Lord! So then, on the one hand I myself with my mind am serving the law of God, but on the other, with my flesh the law of sin.

Chapter eight then tells us we can rest because the Holy Spirit is conforming us to the image of the Son. Nothing can thwart that salvation. Not even our days of doubt.

Romans 8 (NASB)

1. Therefore there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. 2. For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus has set you free from the law of sin and of death. 3. For what the Law could not do, weak as it was through the flesh, God [did]: sending His own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh and [as an offering] for sin, He condemned sin in the flesh, 4. so that the requirement of the Law might be fulfilled in us, who do not walk according to the flesh but according to the Spirit. 5. For those who are according to the flesh set their minds on the things of the flesh, but those who are according to the Spirit, the things of the Spirit. 6. For the mind set on the flesh is death, but the mind set on the Spirit is life and peace, 7. because the mind set on the flesh is hostile toward God; for it does not subject itself to the law of God, for it is not even able [to do so], 8. and those who are in the flesh cannot please God. 9. However, you are not in the flesh but in the Spirit, if indeed the Spirit of God dwells in you. But if anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, he does not belong to Him. 10. If Christ is in you, though the body is dead because of sin, yet the spirit is alive because of righteousness. 11. But if the Spirit of Him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, He who raised Christ Jesus from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through His Spirit who dwells in you. 12. So then, brethren, we are under obligation, not to the flesh, to live according to the flesh– 13. for if you are living according to the flesh, you must die; but if by the Spirit you are putting to death the deeds of the body, you will live. 14. For all who are being led by the Spirit of God, these are sons of God. 15. For you have not received a spirit of slavery leading to fear again, but you have received a spirit of adoption as sons by which we cry out, ‘Abba! Father!’ 16. The Spirit Himself testifies with our spirit that we are children of God, 17. and if children, heirs also, heirs of God and fellow heirs with Christ, if indeed we suffer with [Him] so that we may also be glorified with [Him]. 18. For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory that is to be revealed to us. 19. For the anxious longing of the creation waits eagerly for the revealing of the sons of God. 20. For the creation was subjected to futility, not willingly, but because of Him who subjected it, in hope 21. that the creation itself also will be set free from its slavery to corruption into the freedom of the glory of the children of God. 22. For we know that the whole creation groans and suffers the pains of childbirth together until now. 23. And not only this, but also we ourselves, having the first fruits of the Spirit, even we ourselves groan within ourselves, waiting eagerly for [our] adoption as sons, the redemption of our body. 24. For in hope we have been saved, but hope that is seen is not hope; for who hopes for what he [already] sees? 25. But if we hope for what we do not see, with perseverance we wait eagerly for it. 26. In the same way the Spirit also helps our weakness; for we do not know how to pray as we should, but the Spirit Himself intercedes for [us] with groanings too deep for words; 27. and He who searches the hearts knows what the mind of the Spirit is, because He intercedes for the saints according to [the will of] God. 28. And we know that God causes all things to work together for good to those who love God, to those who are called according to [His] purpose. 29. For those whom He foreknew, He also predestined [to become] conformed to the image of His Son, so that He would be the firstborn among many brethren; 30. and these whom He predestined, He also called; and these whom He called, He also justified; and these whom He justified, He also glorified. 31. What then shall we say to these things? If God [is] for us, who [is] against us? 32. He who did not spare His own Son, but delivered Him over for us all, how will He not also with Him freely give us all things? 33. Who will bring a charge against God’s elect? God is the one who justifies; 34. who is the one who condemns? Christ Jesus is He who died, yes, rather who was raised, who is at the right hand of God, who also intercedes for us. 35. Who will separate us from the love of Christ? Will tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword? 36. Just as it is written, ‘FOR YOUR SAKE WE ARE BEING PUT TO DEATH ALL DAY LONG; WE WERE CONSIDERED AS SHEEP TO BE SLAUGHTERED.’ 37. But in all these things we overwhelmingly conquer through Him who loved us. 38. For I am convinced that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers, 39. nor height, nor depth, nor any other created thing, will be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.

Then people ask, “Well, if God chose me before the foundations of the earth, why do I need to share my faith?” Paul answers in chapter ten: Because God has chosen you to be the vessel. How can they hear unless someone tells them?

Romans 10 (NASB)

1. Brethren, my heart’s desire and my prayer to God for them is for [their] salvation. 2. For I testify about them that they have a zeal for God, but not in accordance with knowledge. 3. For not knowing about God’s righteousness and seeking to establish their own, they did not subject themselves to the righteousness of God. 4. For Christ is the end of the law for righteousness to everyone who believes. 5. For Moses writes that the man who practices the righteousness which is based on law shall live by that righteousness. 6. But the righteousness based on faith speaks as follows: ’DO NOT SAY IN YOUR HEART, ‘WHO WILL ASCEND INTO HEAVEN?’ (that is, to bring Christ down), 7. or ‘WHO WILL DESCEND INTO THE ABYSS?’ (that is, to bring Christ up from the dead).’ 8. But what does it say? ’THE WORD IS NEAR YOU, IN YOUR MOUTH AND IN YOUR HEART ’– that is, the word of faith which we are preaching, 9. that if you confess with your mouth Jesus [as] Lord, and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved; 10. for with the heart a person believes, resulting in righteousness, and with the mouth he confesses, resulting in salvation. 11. For the Scripture says, ‘WHOEVER BELIEVES IN HIM WILL NOT BE DISAPPOINTED.’ 12. For there is no distinction between Jew and Greek; for the same [Lord] is Lord of all, abounding in riches for all who call on Him; 13. for ‘WHOEVER WILL CALL ON THE NAME OF THE LORD WILL BE SAVED.’ 14. How then will they call on Him in whom they have not believed? How will they believe in Him whom they have not heard? And how will they hear without a preacher? 15. How will they preach unless they are sent? Just as it is written, ‘HOW BEAUTIFUL ARE THE FEET OF THOSE WHO BRING GOOD NEWS OF GOOD THINGS!’ 16. However, they did not all heed the good news; for Isaiah says, ‘LORD, WHO HAS BELIEVED OUR REPORT?’ 17. So faith [comes] from hearing, and hearing by the word of Christ. 18. But I say, surely they have never heard, have they? Indeed they have; ‘THEIR VOICE HAS GONE OUT INTO ALL THE EARTH, AND THEIR WORDS TO THE ENDS OF THE WORLD.’ 19. But I say, surely Israel did not know, did they? First Moses says, ‘I WILL MAKE YOU JEALOUS BY THAT WHICH IS NOT A NATION, BY A NATION WITHOUT UNDERSTANDING WILL I ANGER YOU.’ 20. And Isaiah is very bold and says, ‘I WAS FOUND BY THOSE WHO DID NOT SEEK ME, I BECAME MANIFEST TO THOSE WHO DID NOT ASK FOR ME.’ 21. But as for Israel He says, ‘ALL THE DAY LONG I HAVE STRETCHED OUT MY HANDS TO A DISOBEDIENT AND OBSTINATE PEOPLE.’

Finally, chapters twelve through sixteen show the outworking of all this theology. It changes your relationship to God, to yourself, to the church, and to the world. This gospel saves, it sanctifies, and it sends.

Seven Tenets of the Gospel

In the first seven verses of chapter one, Paul writes one long run-on sentence. If he were in grammar school, he would have failed, but within that sentence are seven major tenets of the gospel.

First, we see the Messenger. Paul calls himself a bondservant and an apostle. He isn’t coming on his own authority; he is sent by God. He is a freed man who has willingly bonded himself to his Master.

Second, the Source. Verse two says this was promised beforehand through the prophets. The gospel isn’t a new “New Testament” invention; it’s the fulfillment of the Old Testament.

Third, the Focus. Verses three and four tell us the gospel is concerning His Son, Jesus Christ. He is fully man, a descendant of David, and fully divine.

Fourth, the Proof. How do we know He is the Son of God? By the resurrection from the dead. We have an empty tomb in Jerusalem. He conquered sin, Satan, and death.

Fifth, the Purpose. Verse five says the gospel is to bring about the “obedience of faith.” The point is to produce in us a delight in God that we couldn’t produce on our own.

Sixth, the Recipients. It’s for the Jews and the Gentiles—anyone across the earth who believes.

And seventh, the Results. Paul says we are “called,” “beloved,” and “saints.” You are chosen, you are fully loved, and you have been declared holy (the meaning of the word hagios or saint) through Jesus.

Romans 1:1-7 (NASB)

Paul, a bond-servant of Christ Jesus, called [as] an apostle, set apart for the gospel of God, which He promised beforehand through His prophets in the holy Scriptures, concerning His Son, who was born of a descendant of David according to the flesh, who was declared the Son of God with power by the resurrection from the dead, according to the Spirit of holiness, Jesus Christ our Lord, through whom we have received grace and apostleship to bring about [the] obedience of faith among all the Gentiles for His name’s sake, among whom you also are the called of Jesus Christ; to all who are beloved of God in Rome, called [as] saints: Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.

A Pastor’s Heart for the People

In verses eight through fifteen, Paul addresses some criticisms. Because Paul had never been to Rome, the believers there wondered if he didn’t care about them or if he was simply afraid to come to the epicenter of the empire.

Paul responds with the heart of a shepherd. He tells them he thanks God for them, he prays for them unceasingly, and he longs to see them. He wants to use his spiritual gifts to strengthen them and be encouraged by their faith in return.

So why hadn’t he come? He explains that he had been “prevented.” Later in the letter, we find out it’s because God called him to be an evangelist to places where the gospel had never been heard. Rome already had a church. Paul had to say “no” to the good thing of visiting friends so he could say “yes” to the calling God placed on his life.

But was he afraid? Was he embarrassed to preach in front of the philosophers and politicians of Rome?

Romans 1:14-15 (NASB)

I am under obligation both to Greeks and to barbarians, both to the wise and to the foolish. So, for my part, I am eager to preach the gospel to you also who are in Rome.

Paul says, “I am under obligation to both the Greeks and the barbarians.” The word “barbarian” in Greek is an onomatopoeia—it sounds like “ba-ba-ba-ba.” It referred to the uneducated people, the “hill folk.” Paul says he is called to the hill country and to Capitol Hill. He is eager to preach in Rome because he isn’t relying on his own communication skills; he’s relying on the power of God.

Unashamed: A Personal Testimony

I have seen some amazing things in my years as a Christian, but nothing marked me more than seeing my own brother come to faith.

Now, some of you have heard this story. I have two older brothers. If you have older siblings, you know what “hell on earth” feels like! My brothers were creative in their torment. They played a game called “Houdini” where they’d tie me to a chair with every belt in the house, pile six of grandma’s blankets on me, kick the chair over, and lock the door for eight hours. They’d turn their senior rings upside down and thump me in the head. I probably still have brain damage from those guys!

I came from a non-Christian home. When I got saved in high school and told my family, the persecution was immediate. “What an idiot,” they’d say. For years, it was a hard place to thrive as a believer.

Fast forward to college. I got a phone call that my oldest brother’s marriage was ending. His wife had an affair, and the “American Dream” he built was shattering. Then, I got a second call—the most chilling one of my life. My brother was in tears. He said, “Shaye, I don’t want to lose my family. What can your God do to save my marriage?”

I was 22 years old. I nearly wet myself! I drove down to Houston praying, “God, what do I say?” I sat in his living room. My brother was in one corner, his wife in the other, not even looking at each other. My dad and stepmom—the very couple whose affair broke our original family—were sitting on the couch watching.

I just said, “Lord, help me.” I shared the story of the man who built his house on the sand. I told them, “You’ve done everything right by American standards, but nothing right by God’s. You built on sand, and the storm hit. You need to build on the Rock.”

By the end of that conversation, they were holding hands. That night, both of them put their faith in Jesus Christ. It wasn’t the power of Shaye Sumlin that saved my brother; it was the power of God through the gospel. Today, they run a marriage reconciliation ministry. God can redeem anything.

Conclusion: The Power to Transform

Why is this text here? Because there is power in the gospel.

If you are here today and you’ve never put your faith in Jesus—if you’re still trying to list your own resume of “goodness” to get to God—you need something you cannot earn. You need the righteousness of God. I encourage you to transfer your trust to Jesus Christ today.

And for those of you who already believe: who are you praying for? What is stopping you from believing God can save them? Is it your fear? Your pride? Do you think you need to be a “slick evangelist”? The power is not in you. The power is in the gospel.

Let’s pray.

Father, we are so grateful for this book and the gospel of Jesus Christ. Thank You that You did not leave us in the mire of our sin, but redeemed us by the blood of Your Son. I pray for anyone here who doesn’t know You, that they would experience Your grace today. Help us as a church to be unashamed and bold, knowing that You are in the business of making all things new. In Jesus’ name, Amen.