As Christians, we must not be ashamed of Jesus in any way.  Jesus said, “For whoever is ashamed of me and of my words, of him will the Son of Man be ashamed when he comes in his glory and the glory of the Father and the holy angels” (Luke 9:26).  Paul echoed this sentiment in Philippians 1:20. “According to my earnest expectation and my hope, that in nothing I shall be ashamed…”   This should be the attitude of all of us who claim to be followers of Christ.  This week let’s focus on not being ashamed of Jesus or anything associated with Him and let us begin with the gospel of Christ.

Romans 1:16 (ESV)
16 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.

What is the gospel? It is a wonderful story about Christ’s death, burial, and resurrection (1 Corinthians 15:1-4).  However, the gospel is more than that.  The words “gospel,” “doctrine,” “the faith,” “the word,” ‘the word of faith,” etc., all refer to the body of teaching found in the New Testament.  We must not be ashamed of any of it.  Everything taught in the New Testament has been revealed by the Holy Spirit and divulges the mind of God (1 Corinthians 2:6-13).  We should embrace it with enthusiasm and always stand ready to defend it (Philippians 1:17).

One aspect of the gospel that we should never be ashamed of is God’s plan of salvation.  I refer to that specifically because the true, unperverted gospel of Christ is renounced and repudiated by most religious people today.  Those who accept, obey, and advocate it are thought of as heretics.  This is because all mainstream Protestant churches teach that we are saved by faith alone.  Never mind that there is not a single passage in the New Testament that teaches this, it is the foundational belief of almost all churches today.  They like to say that we are saved by the finished work of Christ on the cross, and if anyone teaches anything else, that person is viewed as an unlearned false teacher who denies the sovereignty of God.

Nevertheless, if you are a Christian, do not allow anyone to silence you.  Teach the truth and never be ashamed of it.  The true gospel reveals that there is something for man to do to be justified.  Yes, a person must believe in Jesus (John 8:24), but that is not the only obligation of man to be saved and enter into fellowship with God.  The gospel teaches us that a person must also repent (Acts 17:30), confess that Jesus is the Son of God (Romans 10:9-10), and be baptized for the forgiveness of sins (Acts 2:38).  Do not be ashamed to teach what the Bible teaches.  You will be in the minority but when you consider what Jesus taught in Matthew 7:14, that should not be a problem.  And do not forget, you have the Word of God on your side.  You can give book, chapter, and verse for God’s true plan of salvation.

But does the Bible not teach that we are saved by faith and not works?  Yes, but the works under consideration are works of the law (Romans 3:20, 27, 28; Galatians 2:16, 3:2, 10), and the faith that saves is obedient (Romans 1:5; 16:26).  Now, when you talk to people, make sure they understand that you do not believe that we can earn our salvation.  We cannot.  Still, we must obey God, and obedience has never eradicated grace.  Noah was saved by grace, but he still had to build an ark.  Abraham was justified by faith, but he still had to leave home and go to a strange land.  The list is too long to innumerate all the faithful people of God who were saved by faith and grace but had to do something to experience the favor of God.  Do not be ashamed of this truth.  It is a part of the precious gospel of Christ.

As you wind down for the night, think about these things.