The wonderful breadth and power of the gospel
I’ve recently started working my way through the book of Romans in my devotional time, and I’m currently in Romans chapter 1 and have been pondering on Romans 1:16–17:
“For I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes… For in it the righteousness of God is revealed from faith for faith, as it is written, ‘The righteous shall live by faith.’”
These verses have been stirring my heart.
The first thing that stands out is the incredible scope of the gospel. It is for everyone. No one is beyond God’s reach. No one is forgotten or overlooked. Jesus came to seek and save the lost and that includes every person we pass in the street, every neighbour, every family, every colleague and every friend.
The second thing is this, the gospel has inherent power within it. It Is the power of God for salvation. When the gospel is proclaimed, God is at work. He opens blind eyes. He softens hard hearts. He draws people to Himself. We see this so clearly in Acts 2. As Peter boldly proclaimed the good news of Jesus, the people were “cut to the heart” and asked, “Brothers, what must we do to be saved?” This truth gives us tremendous confidence.
Tomorrow morning, as we gather to pray for Baku and the people of Azerbaijan, we do so knowing that the gospel is for them too. God is not absent from that nation. He loves its people, and He is already at work by His Spirit. As we pray, we are joining in with His purposes, asking Him to continue opening doors, changing hearts and drawing people to Jesus.
The same is true much closer to home. As we look ahead to our Community Fun Days, we can come with faith and expectation because God loves the people in our neighbourhoods even more than we do. He knows every story, every struggle and every hidden longing. He is concerned about the people in our local community (Jonah 4:11).
So let’s come with confidence - not in ourselves, but in the power of the gospel. Let’s be expectant that God wants to work through us. And as we welcome people, build relationships and have conversations, let’s be willing to step out whenever we sense the prompting of the Holy Spirit. The gospel is still God’s power for salvation, and He delights to use ordinary people to make the extraordinary news of Jesus known.
