Grace - the Power of the Gospel (Rom 1:1-17)

[Stephan Choe]

October 17, 2026

Romans 1:1-17

Leading Verses

5a: “Through him we have received grace and apostleship .”

16: “For I am not ashamed of the gospel , because it is the power of God that brings salvation to everyone who believes: first to the Jew, then to the Greek.”

We live in a world characterized by a performance-oriented mindset. After the liberation of Eastern European countries from communism, people there experienced a period of great stress as they had to adapt to a capitalist world that places great value on performance.  

Many people mistakenly believe that the Christian life is merely a continuation of a performance-oriented existence; consequently, they lead a stressful religious life. But the heart of the Gospel is the grace of God. For Jesus Christ died for our sins and rose from the dead to free us from the heavy burden of performance pressure and to grant us forgiveness and eternal life.  

Today we want to understand and gratefully accept the grace of God revealed through the Gospel. Through this, we want to lead a life full of gratitude and joy.    

Grace – The Power of the Gospel (1–7)  

At the beginning of his letter, Paul greets the recipients, “Paul, a servant of Christ Jesus, called to be an apostle, set apart for the gospel of God” (1). He describes himself as a "servant" of Christ, called to be an "apostle." Apostle literally means "messenger" or "envoy." Paul works as a servant of Christ and follows his will as his messenger. As a servant of Christ, Paul's goal is to proclaim the gospel.  

The Gospel is good news that offers people forgiveness, eternal life, and the Kingdom of Heaven. It fulfills God's promises from the Old Testament. The central figure of the Gospel is Jesus Christ. He was born as a descendant of David and Abraham; however, his conception did not occur biologically through Joseph, but through the Holy Spirit. Because Jesus was conceived by God through the Holy Spirit, he is called the Son of God (2–4) or God incarnate (John 1:14).  

In verse 5, Paul speaks about the grace and ministry he has received from God: “Through him we have received grace and apostleship to bring about the obedience of faith in his name among all the Gentiles, to whom you also were called by Jesus Christ” (5).

What grace did he receive? He had actually been a sinner and an enemy of God, for he had not believed in Christ but had persecuted Christians. Yet, Christ loved him and showed him grace by appearing to him, forgiving his sins, and making him a child of God. This was a wonderful act of grace from God. Christ forgave a sinner—yes, even His enemy—all his sins and saved him from damnation and hell. Out of grace, Jesus Christ made him a child of God and freely gave him eternal life and the kingdom of heaven.

The Lord called Paul to be His messenger of the Gospel, for Christ desires to save all people and make them children of God. Out of gratitude and joy, Paul accepted this grace and this commission.

Salvation is a wonderful grace from God. Jesus Christ, the Son of God, sacrificed His life for it. We are deeply grateful.

God also wants to save others and make them His children. God wants us to share the Good News with others from a grateful heart.

Paul did not write in verse 5 that he had received “apostolic office and grace”, but rather “grace and apostolic office”.

This means that he first received God's grace of forgiveness and salvation—and thus the divine calling to be a messenger of the gospel. Without the grace of salvation, no one can become a messenger of the gospel.

In the course of our lives as Christians, we sometimes experience dissatisfaction or discouragement. Sometimes we lose heart because we are not fulfilling our divine task.

In such moments, we should turn to the grace of God. Once we were strangers, unbelievers, and sinners. Without God's grace, our lives would have ended in damnation and hell. But Jesus Christ sacrificed his life to save us from damnation; he made us children of God and leads us safely to heavenly bliss. Thus, we can find joy and happiness again. From this state of bliss, we can help others to accept the gospel and become happy.

Prayer of Thanksgiving (8-15)

Paul says in verse 8: “First I thank my God through Jesus Christ for all of you, that people throughout the world are talking about your faith.”

Above all, he gives thanks that people all over the world are freed from sin and the power of death through the Gospel and become children of God. His life is thus characterized by gratitude.

Paul explains that he wants to come to Rome and proclaim the gospel because he is obligated to all people – the educated and the uneducated alike (13–15).

Why is he a debtor? – He was formerly an unbeliever and a persecutor of Christians. He was destined by God for damnation. But Jesus Christ forgave him, saved him, and adopted him as a child of God. Therefore, Paul recognizes that he owes something to all people, because of God's grace. For this reason, he wants to share the grace he has received with as many people as possible.

Before I came to faith in the gospel, I occasionally succumbed to nihilism at the thought of my eventual death. When I came to faith in the gospel during my first year of university in Korea, I was filled with joy for God's salvation; the campus seemed like paradise. Filled with this joy, I began inviting students to Bible studies and to share faith in the gospel. On January 1, 1978, I came to Germany as a doctoral student to share the gospel with students and others, together with my wife. After completing my doctorate, I dedicated myself to preaching the gospel. Later, I handed over the preaching ministry to Andreas, a German, and now share the gospel online.

Gospel and Faith (16-17)

Paul wants to make the gospel known to all people in the world. He explains this as follows.

Verse 16 reads:

“For I am not ashamed of the gospel, because it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes.”

The Greek word, which is translated as "to make blessed" in the Luther Bible, can be rendered as "to save" or "to make blessed".

God saves us from sin and condemnation through the gospel and makes us blessed as children of God. Therefore, the gospel is the only power of God that can save us from condemnation and grant us eternal, blessed life.

People face a multitude of problems—for example, in the areas of education, employment, marriage, hunger, disease, and war. But humanity's greatest problem is death. Enlightened people claim that death is merely the dissolution of the human body. Despite this view, people are reluctant to talk about death, as it is often associated with dark thoughts. However, death is not merely the dissolution of the body; it is the transition to divine judgment. After this judgment, one either attains eternal bliss with God or suffers damnation in hell. We need God's help to escape damnation and instead enter the kingdom of heaven. The gospel is God's sure way to salvation. When we confess our sins and believe the gospel, God forgives all our sins, warmly accepts us as his children, grants us eternal life, and welcomes us into the kingdom of heaven. This is a wonderful grace from God.

That is why Jesus says in John 5:24,

“Whoever hears my word and believes him who sent me has eternal life and will not be judged, but has passed from death to life.”

How can we receive forgiveness and eternal life and become children of God?

Verses 16-17 respond, “For I am not ashamed of the gospel, because it is the power of God that brings salvation to everyone who believes : first to the Jew, then to the Greek. For in it the righteousness of God is revealed—a righteousness that is by faith from first to last, just as it is written: ‘The righteous will live by faith . ’”

In summary: Faith in the gospel is the blessed, eternal way of life (16).

In this postmodern world, there are countless different schools of thought.

Many say, "After death there is nothing – neither resurrection nor divine judgment. Let's enjoy life to the fullest!"

Others say, “We must follow all religious commandments in order to stand before God and enter the Kingdom of Heaven.”

However, the Bible states that the resurrection and the Kingdom of Heaven are realities and that through faith in Jesus Christ we can receive forgiveness, be resurrected, and enter the Kingdom of Heaven.

We cannot enter the Kingdom of Heaven by following religious rules. Why? Because no human being is capable of perfectly keeping God's laws or moral commandments.

Let's take, for example, the tenth of the Ten Commandments, "You shall not covet." Are there people who have never felt desire?

Of course, the Bible does not say that we should live lawless or immoral lives.

The Bible teaches us to believe the gospel and to live in gratitude for our salvation. The gospel proclaims God's grace so that we may receive forgiveness, become children of God, inherit the kingdom of heaven, and live a happy life. For this purpose, Jesus Christ died on the cross for our sins and rose from the dead for our resurrection. We are not saved by our good works, but by the grace of God.

John Wesley, the founder of the Methodist Church, discovered this grace, for example. Wesley initially tried to gain God's approval through strict adherence to Christian rules and social acts of charity, but he found no peace of mind.

On May 24, 1738, he attended a small gathering in London. Someone there read Martin Luther's preface to the Epistle to the Romans. Wesley wrote about his experience in his diary [1]:

"At about a quarter to nine o'clock, when we reached the point where he (i.e., Martin Luther) describes the transformation God works in his heart through faith in Christ, I felt a strange warmth in my heart. I felt that I trusted in Christ for salvation, in Christ alone, and I was given the assurance that he had taken away my sin, even my own, and saved me from the law of sin and death."

When we gratefully accept the gospel, we are saved from sin and from God's judgment. We are God's children and, after our physical death, we will inherit the kingdom of heaven. Our salvation is solely a work of grace. Therefore, we should be thankful and share the gospel with others.

  The world's population today numbers around 8.3 billion. All people need the Gospel. They are already our brothers and sisters—or will become so. We are called to love with all our hearts both believers and those who have yet to come to faith, and to share God's grace with them. This is the will of God, who has saved us by his grace. Amen!

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[1] http://www.deutschlandradiokultur.de/luther-und-die-wesley-brueder-ich-fuehlte-mein-herz-seltsam.1124.de.html?dram:article_id=347553