Romans 1:16 NIV
[16] For I am not ashamed of the gospel, because it is the power of God that brings salvation to everyone who believes: first to the Jew, then to the Gentile.
How do you define the 'gospel? There is a consensus on the internet that it is "the teaching or revelation of Christ". This means that you cannot speak of the gospel without the mention of Christ, and the message about Him cannot be complete without the mention of His person, mission, teachings and instructions. Part of the mystery of Christ that has been revealed is the fact that as God, He came to earth in human form, lived among us, paid the debt of sin that we should have paid but could not pay, by dying a shameful death on the cross. If the story ended there, so would every expectations of our redemption and salvation also have ended. Christ died as the only acceptable and permanent sacrifice for sin, and He was raised from the dead as proof that just as we die to sin, we are also raised to life to live the life that we have now been empowered to live. We could not do so by our own labour or efforts, but we now have divine power and enablement, so we can thrive in the life of God that has now become ours.
As great and amazing as the above looks, the key to access is also laid out in the verse above, and that is total surrender of my life to Jesus, and accepting Him as Lord and Saviour. Paul could speak of His confidence in the power of the gospel of Christ, because he had personally experienced it. Here was a man who was complicit in the murder of Stephen, and was on his way to commit even more sins, but the power of God arrested him on that journey, and he had a change of heart. He became a fervent evangelist for the cause and he would not be silenced. What else could have given Paul such confidence, if he was not sure of the power at his disposal? For all who will also surrender their lives to Jesus and accept His gift of salvation, the same power is still available. There is no life so far gone that it is beyond the grace of God that brings salvation to ALL men. That is the power available for all who believe. Do you? God's time of favour is here.
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