Romans 1:16 - Explained

"For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ: for it is the power of God unto salvation to every one that believeth; to the Jew first, and also to the Greek."

The gospel — the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus Christ — is where the power of God is. And this is not the only place the Bible mentions something similar. 1 Corinthians 1:22–23: "For the Jews require a sign, and the Greeks seek after wisdom: but we preach Christ crucified, unto the Jews a stumblingblock, and unto the Greeks foolishness." Throughout the New Testament the Jews were saying if you only give me a sign I will believe. And the Greeks — you think of Greek philosophy, wisdom, logic, and science — were saying give us wisdom and we will believe what you are saying. But what we preach is actually the gospel. Even though the Jews require a sign and the Greeks seek after wisdom, the power is not found in giving them what they think they need.

And here is the application the Bible is trying to give you. There are a multitude of religions around the world, and people have this idea that if I want to reach a Buddhist I need to become an expert on Buddhism and try to answer all of their arguments. I need to become an expert on Hinduism and answer all their arguments. I need to become an expert on evolution and atheism and the big bang theory and be able to disprove them and win debates. But the Bible says the power is not in our wise words or in trying to reach people where they claim they need to be reached. The power is in the gospel.

And what you are going to find is that regardless of what the religion is, even if the vast majority are not interested in hearing what we have to say, there are some who are interested and willing to just listen to the gospel of Jesus Christ. That is what we give them. If you are trying to win an atheist to the Lord, use the gospel of Jesus Christ from the Bible. If you are trying to win a Buddhist to the Lord, use the gospel of Jesus Christ from the Bible. I have been able to see people saved from a lot of different types of religions, and what reached them was actually the gospel of Jesus Christ found in the Bible — not memorising facts about evolution or the big bang theory, but the power of God.

"For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ: for it is the power of God unto salvation to every one that believeth; to the Jew first, and also to the Greek" — and also to the Mormon, and also to the Hindu, and also to the Buddhist. To all religions.

Pastor Matthew Stucky