Courage to Speak – Romans 1:8-16
Bethel Baptist Church, David Rising
Romans 1:8-16; March 15, 2026, Sunday AM
Courage to Speak
The book of Romans is all about the gospel of Jesus Christ. Paul the Apostle was called by God and set apart for the work of proclaiming the gospel to the world.
This gospel message centers upon Jesus, the son of David, the Son of God, and after the resurrection the world saw that He was the Son of God, whether they acknowledged it or not.
This gospel message had taken root in the lives of many in Rome in this first century, and Paul was writing to them to give them a lot of information about what it all meant. In the opening chapter he explains some of this, and now in verses 8ff he gives to them some personal words that describe his desire for them. Pray.
1. Thanksgiving for Public Testimony (1:8)
8 First, I thank my God through Jesus Christ for you all, that your faith is spoken of throughout the whole world.
The initial point Paul want to make in this letter is to give thanks to God for something. It is interesting as we move farther into the letter that there is no ‘second’ or following. Most commentators believe that Paul was making a list of sorts, but just never called attention to the others in this same way. Speakers and preachers can do the same as they try to communicate their points, only to forget to repeat the outline.
In any case, Paul begins here by thanking God for each of them for the fact that the gospel has spread to Rome and had born fruit there among the Gentiles. Paul thanked God that the gospel had spread that far.
It is quite amazing that this message, which was preached there in Jerusalem on the Day of Pentecost, had spread all the way from the near east, through Asia, to Europe.
Paul calls this the whole world, though he is likely using hyperbole here to refer to the extent to which the gospel had already spread.
For instance, Paul knew, as we see in Romans 15:24 & 28, that that the gospel had not yet gone to Spain.
Paul’s thanksgiving is to God the Father through God the Son. This is a great example of the path we take to the Father – it is through the Son.
The fact that the gospel had spread to Rome shows that disciples of Jesus were faithfully telling others about Jesus.
It also shows that God was faithful in calling to Himself a people for His name through this ordinary gospel testimony.
And notice in a technical sense – Paul is thanking God for the testimony of these particular Roman believers. It was their faith that was spoken of throughout the whole world. “Your faith” is plural, and so he is highlighting those believers in Rome.
When we individually come to faith in Christ, our testimony individually and as a church is that it is our faith now. What Christ did for the world, He did for us.
That was the first thing Paul expressed directly to this church – His gratitude to God.
Notice his personal comments to the church continues in verse where he prays for their spiritual growth:
2. Prayer for Spiritual Growth (1:9-12)
9 For God is my witness, whom I serve with my spirit in the gospel of His Son, that without ceasing I make mention of you always in my prayers, 10 making request if, by some means, now at last I may find a way in the will of God to come to you.
Paul prayed for them continually. He prayed that if God’s will would be so, he would be able to come and visit them.
As I noted last week, it appears that Paul had never met these dear believers.
In the final chapters he gives more details about his personal circumstances and plans, but here he tells them he is praying for them and praying for God to open a door so that he may visit.
Why does he want to visit?
11 For I long to see you, that I may impart to you some spiritual gift, so that you may be established— 12 that is, that I may be encouraged together with you by the mutual faith both of you and me.
He wanted to come to them so he could give them something – some spiritual gift (χάρισμα … πνευματικὸν). The purpose of this spiritual gift was for their spiritual growth, their establishment (εἰς τὸ στηριχθῆναι ὑμᾶς), to strengthen who they now were as a result of the gospel taking root in their lives.
Bible students understand the meaning of this spiritual gift in different ways, but it is linked to Paul the Apostle and relates to the church’s establishment as a church that represented both Gentile and Jewish believers.
The gospel had changes lives, and both Gentiles and Jews needed to recognize this and live together in unity.
Verse 12 clarifies what Paul says in verse 11. Paul’s visit to Rome would result in everyone being encouraged.
There is something special that happens when believers get together.
When we gather together on the Lord’s Day or on Wednesday night, there is a real sense that our faith grows as we encourage each other in that faith.
This is one of the reasons we should make every effort to come together because there is a mutual benefit to our spiritual growth.
Of course, this does not just automatically happen, especially if we come together and we have problems that we are not working out before the Lord. But the great potential for mutual ministry exists when we expose ourselves to one another.
In verses 13-15 Paul continues to tell these Roman readers more details about his plans to visit:
3. Pathway of the Gospel (1:13-15)
13 Now I do not want you to be unaware, brethren, that I often planned to come to you (but was hindered until now), that I might have some fruit among you also, just as among the other Gentiles.
Even though the gospel message had already taken root among many Gentiles there in Rome, Paul wanted to see more fruit among the other Gentiles in the city.
He saw his coming as the means by which he might have fruit among them. He is of course not talking about actual fruit – apples and oranges – but about making disciples – new converts who then would begin the process of spiritual maturity.
Paul explains his motivation to come in verse 14:
14 I am a debtor both to Greeks and to barbarians, both to wise and to unwise. 15 So, as much as is in me, I am ready to preach the gospel to you who are in Rome also.
Paul had an obligation to fulfill, a debt to pay. He had to preach the gospel in Rome.
Even though these readers had already come to faith in Christ, Paul as an apostle always felt the tug to communicate the message of Jesus all around him.
Paul never forgot his call on the Damascus Road (Acts 9). He felt the urgency in his work.
He says something very similar in 1 Corinthians 9:16: “For necessity compels me. For woe is to me if I do not preach the gospel.”
To whom did Paul think he owed the debt to preach? Greeks, barbarians. Wise and unwise.
Why does he mention these? He mentioned in verse 13 the Gentiles, and now he expands upon that.
He wasn’t necessarily ignoring the Jews, but he was in particular an apostle to the Gentiles.
In the Greco-Roman world Ἕλληνες (Greeks) would refer to those who spoke Greek and had adopted Greek culture. The βάρβαροι would be frowned upon since they were unfamiliar with the Greek language and culture. The wise-foolish pair is probably another way of designating the Greek-barbarian split (contra Fitzmyer 1993c: 251).16 Paul reiterates his point to emphasize that the gospel he preaches is for all peoples. Any feelings of cultural and intellectual superiority are relativized by the preaching of the gospel (cf. 1 Cor. 1:18–31).[1]
This is an important verse for his readers, and for us as well. The gospel is not an elitist message for elitist people. It is for everyone. We can so easily fall into the trap of feeling special, and we should feel special, but not at the expense of looking down upon anyone.
(My DMV experience last Monday)
The gospel is not a message that we hold back for some, while we extend to others – others who look to hold a promising return.
The marketing structures of our day are experts at targeted advertising. All of the social media platforms are geared to study your and my habits and target advertising to match our interests.
If you search the internet for a new chicken coop, eventually you will see chicken coop advertisements in your face.
We do not take our cues from the world when it comes to preaching the gospel. The message from Bethel Baptist Church to the world should be the same for anyone who would come. We preach Christ. We preach the whole counsel of God. We preach and teach God’s Word.
We are not to be a club that invites only a certain crowd, or caters to a certain age group, or seeks to entertain families at particular phases of their lives. We may have ministries within the church that addresses the different age groups, but the gospel is for all and should be extended to all.
In what other setting would you see such a mixture as we see in the church?
And so Paul was eager with whatever strength he had to preach the gospel to all who were in Rome.
Notice that Paul continues his focus upon the gospel and gives a strong statement about his personal reaction to it:
4. No Shame (1:16a)
16 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.
16Οὐ γὰρ ἐπαισχύνομαι τὸ εὐαγγέλιον, δύναμις γὰρ θεοῦ ἐστιν εἰς σωτηρίαν παντὶ τῷ πιστεύοντι, Ἰουδαίῳ τε πρῶτον καὶ Ἕλληνι.
What motivated Paul in his work is what should motivate us in that same work. His desire and ours should also be to see fruit born among those to whom we minister.
Paul as an Apostle had a key role in the early church, but our work today is not much different as we too are under obligation to proclaim the gospel to those around us.
His motivation came from the Lord and the message he was delivering. Paul was not ashamed of the gospel of Christ. No shame.
What is shame? It is a feeling of being exposed, of someone seeing us or hearing from us something that embarrasses us. We did something that we should not have done. We said something that was not appropriate. We were observed in a particular weakness that bothers us.
When this happens, our instinct is to cover ourselves in some way to adjust what people think about us. We try to manage the impression of us that others have.
Sometimes we do this because someone else does have the wrong opinion. But often it is because of a failure on our part that bothers us.
When it comes to the gospel of Christ, Paul had no shame in the message he would give.
In the culture of our day where speaking about Jesus is either profoundly ignored or violently opposed, we may retreat to our shells and seek to hide. I know I do more often than I should. Who wants to be the fool?
5. Power of God (1:16b)
For Paul, this was not an option because he knew that the gospel demonstrated the power of God.
That same power that raised Jesus from the dead is the same power that can transform a life through the proclamation of the gospel.
What people most desperately need is not a free meal or some new toys for a happy life. Rather, what they truly need is to hear a message from God that can transform their lives from death unto life.
Paul experienced this, and we who have been saved by God’s grace have experienced this. We have experienced the power of God in our lives.
This is what we hope for when we preach the gospel, and so why should we be embarrassed? Why should we ever be ashamed?
Notice in verse 16 that the gospel of Christ is rooted in the power of God to salvation for everyone who believes.
This is why Paul was not ashamed of the gospel.
What advice or tip can we offer to someone else that is anything close to this?
No matter who we are, we appreciate power – the ability to make changes, to make improvements, to bring about change, to stay warm, to get from one place to the other, to move about.
But what about giving life where there was death?
That is what salvation is all about.
This is why the resurrection of Jesus is at the heart of the gospel message. Verse 4:
4 [Jesus] … declared to be the Son of God with power according to the Spirit of holiness, by the resurrection from the dead.
When we proclaim the gospel, even if it is simply in a conversation between two people, at the heart of that message is the power of God the Spirit working through the message of Jesus that can bring about life where there is death.
The gospel of Christ is not just one of the many opinions out there about religion. Now most people in the world see it that way, and so they seem to dismiss it easily.
But even when that happens, let us not forget what we speak.
It is a life-giving message that God can use by His sovereign will to bring about new life where there was only death.
Ephesians 2:1–7 (NKJV) And you He made alive, who were dead in trespasses and sins, 2 in which you once walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, the spirit who now works in the sons of disobedience, 3 among whom also we all once conducted ourselves in the lusts of our flesh, fulfilling the desires of the flesh and of the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, just as the others.
4 But God, who is rich in mercy, because of His great love with which He loved us, 5 even when we were dead in trespasses, made us alive together with Christ (by grace you have been saved), 6 and raised us up together, and made us sit together in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, 7 that in the ages to come He might show the exceeding riches of His grace in His kindness toward us in Christ Jesus.
I have read that section of Ephesians so many times, but every time I hear it my heart rejoices.
Is there anything else in the world like the truth we see in that passage?
No wonder Paul was not ashamed of the gospel of Christ.
May we also have no shame when we bear the light of the glorious gospel to this world.
The appropriate response to the gospel is to believe. It is salvation for everyone who believes.
Will everyone believe? Of course not. But some will.
Notice how Paul prioritizes his work:
for the Jew first and also for the Greek.
6. Jew, then Greek (1:16c)
Is Paul now contradicting himself? If the gospel is for everyone, why does he say to the Jew first?
We noted in verse 14 his obligation to the Greeks, but what about the Jews? This is the first mention of them.
What Paul says here I think is simply a matter of the progress of God’s work.
When Jesus first sent out His disciples it was to the Jews.
Matthew 10:5–6 (NKJV) 5 These twelve Jesus sent out and commanded them, saying: “Do not go into the way of the Gentiles, and do not enter a city of the Samaritans. 6 But go rather to the lost sheep of the house of Israel.
However, later in the gospel record we see the formal rejection of Jesus by Israel at the end of the gospels.
When we come into the book of Acts and see the church expand, we see the mission of the church did include Gentiles.
In Acts 10 Peter comes to Cornelius and confirms their mutual visions from God.
Paul told Cornelius,
Acts 10:28 (NKJV) 28 Then he said to them, “You know how unlawful it is for a Jewish man to keep company with or go to one of another nation. But God has shown me that I should not call any man common or unclean.
Peter then preaches the gospel to the Gentiles and he said this in
Acts 10:42–43 (NKJV) 42 And He commanded us to preach to the people, and to testify that it is He who was ordained by God to be Judge of the living and the dead. 43 To Him all the prophets witness that, through His name, whoever believes in Him will receive remission of sins.”
And so, yes, the gospel was first for the Jews, but also to the Greeks, the Gentiles – those outside of the commonwealth of Israel.
When we eventually come to Romans 9-11, we will understand this more in detail.
For now here in chapter 1, we see the summary point and can simply recognize that the gospel is for all who hear and believe.
No wonder Paul was not ashamed of the gospel. And the same is true for us. We have no reason to be ashamed of the gospel of Christ because it is not our message and not our power that will changes lives, but God’s power.
He works in wonderful ways, in mysterious ways through the preaching of His Word and by His Spirit.
Verse 17 follows on the heels of verse 16 and it is an important verse to understand, and so next time we will look at verse 17 and understand it in its context and see the importance of faith.
Application
1. There is great potential for mutual encouragement when we meet together. Paul longed to see the believers in Rome so that he could be encouraged and so that he could encourage them.
The writer of Hebrews says
Hebrews 3:12–13 (NKJV) 12 Beware, brethren, lest there be in any of you an evil heart of unbelief in departing from the living God; 13 but exhort one another daily, while it is called “Today,” lest any of you be hardened through the deceitfulness of sin.
As we contemplate gathering together with our church family, let us be thinking of how we can intentionally be an encouragement to someone else as we gather together. And I dare say that God will return that encouragement as we do so.
2. Ask the Lord for courage to speak about the gospel of Christ. Ask yourself: what holds me back from speaking? Why am I reluctant to open my mouth?
One of the great benefits of going through Romans together is that we will be learning or being reminded about the many details of the gospel of Christ. Sometimes we are quiet because we don’t know how to say things or what to say. Where do we start?
We start with what truly is most important in our life. We can find that out by analyzing where we spend our time, money, and resources.
Start right where we are and let our walk with the Lord flow over into our conversations.
If the Lord is the center of our lives, then the most natural conversation will be about what is central in our lives.
We will not have courage to share a message with someone else if it really is not that important to us.
Thus, a study of Romans will fuel our own understanding of the gospel and the work of the Lord in our lives.
As we study, ask the Lord to help us prepare the words to give when we are asked about what matters most in our lives.