Mark is now in my final review stages and I have started Romans. I would value prayer for this. The Lord has already given me some good thoughts. Here are the headings for Romans 1, followed by my draft of what I see as the key verses (1:16-17):
Gripped by the gospel (verses 1-7)
‘I want to preach the gospel to everyone’ (verses 8-15)
The gospel unleashes God’s power (verses 16-17)
The gospel is necessary because God hates sin (verses 18-25)
The depths of sin (verses 26-32)
The key verses (16-17) are: I’m writing this because the gospel isn’t something I’m ashamed of. No! I don’t feel embarrassed about it in the slightest. People laugh at the gospel because it may seem foolish. But I’m thrilled to have the opportunity to declare it: in fact, I’m proud of it. I can’t keep quiet about it because the gospel itself is God’s saving power – his power to bring about salvation. The gospel unleashes God’s power. It’s God’s driving force, his way of working in us to bring about our salvation.
Who is the gospel effective for? Every person who trusts God to save them: God’s salvation is available to everyone who believes, first to those who are Jews and then also to all the people who aren’t Jews but are Gentiles.
This is because the gospel reveals the way we are put right with God. How does this happen? It’s all about trusting God from start to finish. This is what the Scripture confirms, ‘Those who are right with God by trusting him will live. They’ll live by trusting him through thick and thin.’
- Here is the Good News in a fresh new way. Love it. More please.