Barnabas Ayibakipreme Prince

The Gospel That Levels Every Man Key Passage: Romans 1:16-17 The gospel of Jesus Christ is not a polishing cloth for decent sinners. It is not a religious improvement plan for people who already think they are almost good enough. It is not a ceremonial badge for church people, a philosophical system for scholars, or an emotional crutch for the weak-minded. The gospel is the power of God unto salvation to every one that believeth. That means the gospel does not come to decorate man. It comes to expose him, condemn him, strip him, and then save him by the grace of God through the blood of Jesus Christ. The trouble with the natural man is that he never wants to be placed on level ground with everybody else. He always wants a little hill to stand on, some tiny rise in the dirt where he can look down on another sinner and say, “At least I am not like him.” But when the gospel comes in, every hill is brought low, every false refuge is blown apart, and every mouth is stopped before God. Paul said in Romans 1:16-17, “For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ: for it is the power of God unto salvation to every one that believeth: to the Jew first, and also to the Greek. For therein is the righteousness of God revealed from faith to faith: as it is written, The just shall live by faith.” That passage destroys human boasting before the argument even gets started. The Jew cannot stand on ancestry. The Greek cannot stand on intellect. The moral man cannot stand on discipline. The pagan cannot plead ignorance. The religious man cannot hide behind ceremony. The educated man cannot reason his way around it. The ignorant man cannot excuse himself by lack of sophistication. The gospel comes down from heaven and addresses every sinner with the same unbending truth: you are not righteous enough to stand before God, but God has provided righteousness in His Son for those who believe. That is why this message levels every man. It does not merely lower the wicked and raise the decent. It proves that all are ruined in Adam and that all need the same Saviour. The gospel is not man climbing to God by law, ritual, performance, lineage, or effort. It is God coming down in mercy through Jesus Christ and offering salvation on the basis of faith in a finished work. That is the scandal of it. Man can tolerate religion because religion gives him room to perform. He can tolerate morality because morality lets him compare himself with other men. He can tolerate philosophy because philosophy allows him to stay on the throne of his own mind. But he cannot tolerate the gospel until the Holy Ghost breaks him down, because the gospel tells him that his best is filthy, his record is bankrupt, and his only hope is a crucified and risen Lord. 1. The Gospel Is Not an Ornament but a Power When Paul says he is “not ashamed of the gospel of Christ,” he is saying something more than a sentimental testimony. He is not merely stating that he still likes Christianity in a hostile world. He is declaring that the gospel is heaven’s answer to earth’s deepest ruin. Men are ashamed of the gospel because it does not flatter them. It does not tell the drunkard that he just needs better habits. It does not tell the church member that he only needs better discipline. It does not tell the professor that he only needs better arguments. It tells every one of them that they are dead in trespasses and sins, guilty before a holy God, and in need of a righteousness they do not possess. That message is offensive to the flesh because the flesh can survive almost anything except the truth. Notice that Paul does not say the gospel contains the power of God, or points to the power of God, or symbolizes the power of God. He says it is “the power of God unto salvation.” The gospel is the divine instrument God uses to bring a sinner from death unto life. First Corinthians 1:18 says, “For the preaching of the cross is to them that perish foolishness; but unto us which