The Three Main Elements of the Gospel

Ch.1:16-18 – We now come to another great subject concerning the gospel – its content. This can be summed up in three themes – “the power of God”, “the righteousness of God” and “the wrath of God”.

Before outlining these three things, Paul says: “For I am not ashamed of the gospel”. While it is true that we should never be ashamed of being publicly identified with Christ in this world, that is not exactly what Paul is saying here. His point is that the preacher of this great gospel never needs to be ashamed of what he proclaims, because the Lord Jesus Christ is better than the preacher could declare. Sometimes, when a person presents something he wants others to accept, he may enthusiastically exaggerate the qualities of the thing, and when the other person accepts it he discovers that such a thing is not as good as it was declared to be. But that will never happen when the gospel is presented. The preacher need not fear that the recipient of the message will be disappointed, because Christ and the blessings promised in the gospel will never be exaggerated.

THE POWER OF GOD (v. 16)

First, “power of God for salvation” has to do with what the gospel can do for the sinner who believes. Those who believe its message and receive Christ as their Savior experience the power of God in salvation. The gospel that Paul preached was something very full and complete. It promises deliverance (“salvation”) from the penalty of sins, deliverance from the power of sin operating in the believer and, finally, when the Lord comes, deliverance from the presence of sin completely, when being taken to heaven. (Salvation and deliverance in Paul's writings are the same thing.)

Satan is no obstacle to the great “power of God” working to save sinners who believe. When the gospel is received, the believer is then delivered from the clutches of Satan (being his captives) and is translated into the kingdom of the Son of God (Luke 11:22; Acts 26:18; Col. 1:13). Sin is also no obstacle to the power of God in the gospel. A person may be a slave to some sinful vice, but the power of God can deliver him from it (Rom. 8:2). Furthermore, the world, with its attractions and involvements, cannot prevent the power of God from working to deliver the believer from it (Gal. 1:4). Thus, all barriers to man's blessing are destroyed by the power of God when a sinner receives the Lord Jesus Christ as his Savior.

“Saved” and “Salvation”

In this verse (16), we come to the first reference to “salvation” in the epistle. Many Christians are not aware that salvation is a broad subject in the Word of God, having many aspects and applications. They rejoice in the fact that they have been saved from the penalty of their sins through faith in Christ, and in their simplicity they imagine that everywhere “saved” or “salvation” is mentioned in the Scriptures, it is referring to that eternal aspect. However, this is a mistake that will certainly lead to various wrong ideas. Mr. Kelly, in fact, points out that the eternal aspect of salvation from the penalty of our sins is generally not what is in view in the majority of passages that speak of salvation! (Lectures on Philippians, p. 43; Lectures Introductory to the Study of the Minor Prophets, p. 379) We would do well to let that statement sink deeply into our minds. This means that when we come across the words “saved” and “salvation” in our Bibles, it is probably not referring to deliverance from the penalty of our sins! That said, the salvation in this verse 16 is the eternal aspect of salvation from the penalty of our sins. Paul adds that the gospel is for “everyone who believes; first for the Jew, and also for the Greek”. This shows that the gospel has no racial boundaries; it is for “all”. It does not matter whether a person is – as the Sunday School children sing – “Red or yellow, black or white, all are precious in His sight.” The only condition connected with the gospel is that the person must believe it. The gospel has no power for those who trust in circumcision for salvation, or for those who are trying to keep the Law for salvation, or for those who trust in baptism and church attendance for salvation, etc. – its power is only for those who believe its message concerning the Lord Jesus Christ.

The Bible indicates that the blessings of the gospel will not be possessed by all people in the human race, because “faith is not of all” (2 Thess. 3:2). It is sad to say that there are many who, after hearing the gospel, choose not to believe it. We can only pray for such that they change their minds before it is too late. Paul's comment: “first for the Jew, and also for the Greek” is a reference to the historical order in which the gospel began; it is not a priority of persons (See Acts 15:11). Note also: Paul does not say that this message of good news is sent to angels. The gospel, which promises salvation, is not for that class of beings. The angel who came to the shepherds in Bethlehem to tell them about the birth of the Lord Jesus made reference to this fact. He said: “For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord” (Luke 2:11). He did not say: “Unto us is born this day...” The elect angels did not sin and therefore do not need redeeming grace, and there is no mercy for the angels who fell (Matt. 25:41).

The message of the gospel is not for angels, nor is it carried by angels. God did not send angels to preach the gospel of His grace. He wanted only redeemed men to carry that message to others – that is, people who have personally experienced its power, love, and grace. Thus, it would be communicated to others, not merely as facts and knowledge, but as something that had a personal effect on the bearer of the good news, in relation to the blessing of his own soul. The old saying is: “What comes from the heart (of one person) goes to the heart (of another person).” An angel cannot convey this, for he has never experienced that grace.

This fact is seen in the account of Cornelius’s salvation (Acts 10). He needed to hear the words by which he and his house could be “saved” (Acts 11:14). An angel appeared and told him what to do; he was to send for a man named Peter, who would tell him how to be saved. God could have sent the angel to tell him the gospel and thus spare the men who were to find Peter the trouble of making the 64-kilometer journey from Caesarea to Joppa. Moreover, it would have spared Peter the work of going to Caesarea. But the angel would not do this, because carrying the message of redeeming grace is not for angels.

THE RIGHTEOUSNESS OF GOD (v. 17)

Secondly, the gospel reveals “the righteousness of God”. This has to do with how God is able to save sinners without compromising what He is in Himself. The righteousness of God concerns God acting in love to save sinners and, at the same time, not setting aside what He is as a holy and righteous God.

Man’s sin apparently placed God in a dilemma. Since “God is love” (1 John 4:9), His own nature claims man’s blessing, for He loves all men (John 3:16). But at the same time, “God is light” (1 John 1:5), and so His holy nature righteously demands that man be judged for his sins (Heb. 2:2). If God acted according to His heart of love and brought men into blessing without dealing with their sins, He would cease to be holy and righteous. On the other hand, if God acted according to His holy nature and judged men according to the claims of divine justice, all men would be righteously sent to hell, and no one would be saved – and the love of God would remain unknown. How then can God save men and still remain righteous? This is what the gospel announces. It declares the righteousness of God and reveals the good news that He has found a way to satisfy His holy claims against sin, and also to reach out in love to save sinners who believe. Thus, God is presented in the gospel as being “Just and the Justifier of the one who has faith in Jesus” (chap. 3:26). (The righteousness of God will be explained in more detail in our comments on chapter 3:21-31).

Paul says that the blessings of the gospel are possessed “from faith to faith” (JND). That is, salvation from beginning to end is something received only by faith. This completely excludes the principle of works. Chapter 4:5 confirms this. It says that “to the one who does not work, but believes in Him who justifies the ungodly, his faith is credited as righteousness”. Also, Ephesians 2:8-9 says: “For by grace you have been saved through faith; and this is not of yourselves; it is the gift of God. Not of works, so that no one may boast”. Paul quotes Habakkuk 2:4 to show that blessing by the principle of faith is not something new. The “righteous” in all previous ages were blessed only under that principle. Hebrews 11 attests to this fact.

THE WRATH OF GOD (v. 18)

Thirdly, the gospel reveals the truth about “the wrath of God”. This has to do with why men need to believe the good news of God. The simple answer is that if a person does not receive the Lord Jesus Christ (the divine Sin-bearer) as his Savior, then he will have to bear the judgment of his own sins, because sins must be dealt with righteously. For God to pass over sin indefinitely would be a denial of what He is in the essence of His being as a holy and righteous God. The wrath of God, therefore, will be manifested “against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who suppress the truth in unrighteousness”. This fact now is “revealed from heaven” (JND) in the gospel. Eternal punishment was not announced in the Old Testament. The Lord Jesus announced it for the first time in His public ministry (Matt. 5:22, etc.), and this solemn fact is announced in the gospel.

Although the wrath of God has been “revealed”, it has not yet been executed. Meanwhile, before judgment is poured out, God is acting in patient mercy toward sinners, calling them to come to Christ for salvation. Thus, mercy, in a general way, has been shown to all mankind (Rom. 11:32), but the person who receives Christ as his Savior experiences God’s special mercy (1 Tim. 1:13; Titus 3:5).