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 for faith, as it is written, “The righteous shall live by faith. [romans 1:16-17]
how many times have you walked away from a conversation, ashamed that you didn’t proclaim the gospel?
if you are like me, probably many.
it is our natural bent to be afraid of what man can do to us, to be ashamed of the hope that we have within us isn’t adequate, doesn’t hold the answers to the universe–but that isn’t truth, that is:
our flesh
our weakness.
our powerlessness.
our unrighteousness.
and when we miss an opportunity to proclaim Christ, our natural inclination is to cower in shame and not run to the one who takes away the shame.
there is grace for us!
the fact is, the gospel does answer all of the big questions about the world, the world just cannot understand it.
in their case the god of this world has blinded the minds of the unbelievers, to keep them from seeing the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God. [2 corinthians 4:4]
so let me pose the questions a different way:
how many times have you walked away from a conversation, ashamed that you did proclaim the gospel?
you may have been embarrassed (in a fleshly way) or rejected, but by the Holy Spirit you were proclaiming the gospel in
HIS SPIRIT
HIS STRENGTH
HIS POWER
HIS RIGHTEOUSNESS
and in this way, we call on dead people to come alive and blind people to see the Glory of Christ. the believer should always walk away from those conversations, confident and unashamed that even if they did not see immediate fruit, God is working to call dead hearts to himself.
o Father!
let me not walk in shame but give me faith to believe that you are who you say you are and you can do all that you promise to do. let me boldly proclaim the excellencies of your precious son, Jesus Christ!
~ conor eastman