The Power of the Gospel to Save Sinners

Romans 1:16 says, 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.

While many of us have read that verse over and over again, I wonder how much we actually believe it. It is easy to say, but another thing to believe and hope in. With the way the world is and with the many people that we come across who desire nothing else then to glorify themselves, it is hard to see sometimes.

I think of people in my own life who I at times have wondered if they will ever come to know Christ. I am sure that each one of us has someone in mind who we think about and pray about and go, It would be a miracle if that person got saved? Well, you know what. That statement is true. It does take something supernatural to do this and thanks be to God that He sent Christ to save us and He is the power of the Gospel.

Christ is what saves. He saves us through faith in His life which earned righteousness for you and me (Rom. 5:19). He saves us through faith in His death which paid the penalty for our sin. We deserve to be judged for our sin, but Christ took our place and died in our stead(Is. 53:4,11). He saved us through faith in His resurrection which proved that He was who claimed to be and it proved that the sacrifice for our sin was paid. Christ's sacrifice secured our salvation and that is the power of the Gospel.

We, who were dead in our sins and headed for an eternity away from Christ are now saved by Him so that we might glorify His name and spend forever with Him. We could not do this on our own. Jesus Himself said that with man this is impossible(Luke 18:26-27). Not with God though. He provided a miracle by sending His son to die in the place of sinners so that we might become the righteousness of God in Him.

So take comfort in the fact that if God can save you and me, then He can save anyone. He can save the person that we don't like and that hates Christians. He saved Paul and 12 fisherman. Also take comfort in the truth that the power is not in us, but in Christ and in the message that we share about Christ in His Word. May this motivate us to pray and look for opportunities to declare the power and wonder of the Gospel to others.