Words of Grace 11/11

By Rev. Mahlon Nevel

“Paul, a servant of Jesus Christ, called to be an apostle, separated unto the gospel of God.”

These are the opening words of the epistle of Romans. Paul said that he was to set apart to preach “the gospel of God.”

He also made reference to “the gospel of his son” (v.9). That is the same as “the gospel of Christ” (v.16).
Charles Woodbridge points out that the theme of Romans is the gospel of the grace of God. The gospel is the good news about God and his son, Jesus Christ.

It is called the gospel of God, according to Woodbridge, because it originated in the loving heart of God. It is also called the gospel of Christ because the Lord Jesus, the son of God, is the heart and the focus of the good news.

Paul also called the Gospel “my gospel” (2:16). It was the Gospel that he was called to preach. He had “fully preached the gospel of Christ” (15-19).

Some years ago Rev. A. Naismith was asked by a group of young Christians in the city of Glasgow, Scotland to lend a discussion on the subject, “why preach the gospel?” It immediately occurred to him that the letter of Paul to the Romans gave the authoritative answer to the question.

We preach the gospel because of what man is, because of what God is, because of what the gospel is, because of what Christ is, and because of what the Christian is.