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The 'I Am's' of Paul - Part 3 -- MMB 8/12/2019

MONDAY MORNING BLOG SERIES

Romans 1:14-16 reveal The Three 'I Am's' of Paul. In parts one and two the first two were uncovered: "I am under obligation ..." (v14 ESV) and "I am eager ..." (v15 ESV). Both spoke to Paul's ministry of serving all in his sphere of influence -- wherever he was and wherever he went -- as a debtor (obliged to give good news without regard to people groups or education levels) and as one prepared (ready to preach the Gospel). Now this leads to Paul's final 'I Am' found in Romans 1 and it's in verse 16, "I am not ashamed of the Gospel of Christ for it is the power of God..." (NKJV).

This is interesting. I thought for a moment about what Paul really meant here. The most modern versions of the Bible (Contemporary English Version and the Message) say instead of "not ashamed", use "I am proud...". To be ashamed means to be embarrassed or guilty because of one's actions. Synonymous words are 'shamefaced, regretful or apologetic'. I also thought of the word 'fear' being part of being ashamed and the online dictionary confirmed that. Clearly, "I am not ashamed" is a statement of a spiritual focus. The words go on to say, "Gospel of Christ" and "the power of God"! That is significant because if God is for us ... who can be against us. This is also a clear statement of Paul's new calling away from persecuting Christians to proclaiming to be a Christ-Follower and serving Him.

By the way, you can't have it both ways: you can't claim to proclaim the Gospel and be ashamed of the Gospel. In 2019, the Gospel of Christ is under attack by some of those who profess to proclaim it. I will not go into detail nor will I mention any names as it's not important. But I will say, the Christian community in this day and age is divided on life issues due to being ashamed of what Scripture asserts. Paul predicted this in 2 Timothy 3. Jude in his single chapter in the New Testament warns of a coming apostasy where a number of Christ-Followers will "fall away" (2 Thessalonians 2:3) from the Bible and Christ Himself. This is happening in our culture today ... right now. No wonder the power of God appears to be absent in Christ's church. It is absent. Too many who claim the name of Christ are ashamed of His teaching, His life of holiness and His very word. Some actually speak against Him in certain contemporary issues. It's not my intent to demean anyone. It is my intention to show Paul's final 'I Am' is one that He is deeply serious about and committed to. It wasn't an issue with Paul if his preaching was popular. It was an issue with him if his preaching was empowered by the Almighty. See these words he spoke in 1 Corinthians 1:18, "For the message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God." (NKJV). Please spend time reading through that chapter. Correlate Paul's words here with his words in Romans 1. It's striking!

Let me say this. The Scriptures we read are a challenge to us. Our mindset at times are wayward thoughts. Isaiah 55 tells us that that God's ways are higher than our ways and God's thoughts are higher than our thoughts. We are called as Christ-Followers to follow Him fully. Christ is perfect. 1 John 2:6 says, "whoever says he abides in Him ought to walk in the same way in which he walked" (ESV). BOOM! There it is. The CHALLENGE! See these three blog posts on Paul's 'I Am's' as a challenge to become more serious in your walk as a Christ-Follower.

In our next blog post I will share an interesting facet of our LifeJourney here in Florida. So stay tuned and check it out!

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