In true form, I did not mention that it was my birthday yesterday. I don’t like a big deal made of these things. 🙂 That being said, on Sunday, Marianne organized a dinner out for me as a ‘kind of’ surprise with my mom and dad, my brother and his wife, as well as Marianne, Sophie, Prim, and Brooklyn. We ate at Como at Carillon Point in Kirkland if you know what that is. It was super thoughtful, we had a ton of fun, and I felt loved and appreciated.
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. 17 For in it the righteousness of God is revealed from faith for faith, as it is written, “The righteous shall live by faith.” Romans 1:16-17
Today’s snippet of Romans 1 is a well-known one. Paul asserts his unabashed embrace of the gospel. During his day, he came under a lot of adversity and persecution. Even he was one who persecuted Christians before the Lord got ahold of him on the road to Damascus.
The gospel is ‘The Power of God’ in terms of Salvation. It is God’s grace and gift alone that saves us from the pit because of what Jesus did on the cross (the gospel). This is for anyone who [truly] believes; shared first with the Jews and then the Gentiles.
This next phase is a little hard to wrap my puny human brain around, but I get the sense that Paul is continuing his comments on the teaching of the gospel and winning souls for the Kingdom. “For in it [the gospel] is the righteousness of God revealed” – meaning the fact that there needed to be a perfect sacrifice for the sins of all those that would believe, shows how pure, holy, and righteous God is. “…from faith, for faith” – which likely means that the righteous life of a believer lived out through their faith, produces faith in others…which then Paul points to with his reciting of the passage in Habakkuk.
“Behold, his soul is puffed up; it is not upright within him,
    but the righteous shall live by his faith.” Habakkuk 2:4
APPLICATION
I must be in constant review of my lived-out witness and testimony! First, I cannot be ashamed to share the very good news that saved me from what I so deserve. Second, I don’t save anyone, God does. It is only the Lord who can call someone to Himself and transform the heart of man. Finally, I need to be constantly thinking in a multiplication context. How can I share the Gospel with someone today? Who has the Lord put in my path to show them His love?