Unashamed Reading Plan – W1D4
Check out all the previous Unashamed readings here.
Unashamed Reading Plan | Week 1 | Day 4
Prayer
Take a moment to be silent and still. In order to be fully present in body and mind, take a deep breath in and let it out slowly. Do this three times. Ask God to give you His wisdom today.
Bible Reading: Romans 1:14-17
Read these verses three times slowly.
I am obligated both to Greeks and non-Greeks, both to the wise and the foolish. That is why I am so eager to preach the gospel also to you who are in Rome.
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 Gentile. For in the gospel 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.”
Reflection & Questions
Today we reach the verse of Romans that gives us the title of our series “Unashamed.” Paul loves the gospel and for good reason. Again and again and again he has seen people’s eyes opened and lives changed because of the powerful words of the good news of Jesus Christ. There is nothing like the power of the gospel. It releases captives to sin and sets people’s hearts on fire for God.
What is it about the gospel that is so powerful to achieve this? Paul tells us. “For in the gospel the righteousness of God is revealed.” What does that mean?! There’s a clue in what Paul says next. “A righteousness that is by faith from first to last.” So God’s righteousness is by faith. In plain English: Those who have faith in God are made right with Him. The holiness that God has is given to them! There’s a humility and confidence that is birthed in someone who truly understands these words of Paul. For those who are saved, they can say with all joy:
“I have God’s righteousness. I am clean, accepted and right with God. Not because of anything I have done, but by His grace and gift. I can walk confidently, with humility, because I am His and nothing can change that.”
When those words flow from our minds to our heart, it leads to a powerful transformation. We will see this as we continue to unpack what the gospel is in the next few chapters of Romans, but for now stand in awe of this fact. Let it sink in and rejoice in it.
- Do you consider yourself to have “God’s righteousness”? Why or why not?
- How does your heart respond to these words today? Talk to God about that.
Prayer
Talk to God in response to today’s reading.
Worship Song
You might use this song today to worship Jesus today:
Bible Reading: Romans 1:14-17
Read these verses three times slowly.
I am obligated both to Greeks and non-Greeks, both to the wise and the foolish. That is why I am so eager to preach the gospel also to you who are in Rome.
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 Gentile. For in the gospel 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.”
Reflection & Questions
Today we reach the verse in Romans that gives us the title of our series: “Unashamed.” Paul loves the gospel, the good news of Jesus Christ, because he has seen people’s lives changed for good by those words! There is nothing like the awesome power of the gospel. It makes people free of sin and sets their hearts on fire for God!
What it is about the gospel that makes it so powerful that it can do this? Paul tells us: “For in the gospel the righteousness of God is revealed.” What does that mean?! There is a clue in what Paul says next. “A righteousness that is by faith from first to last.” Do you know what faith in God is? Faith is believing in God, even if you can’t see him. It means trusting him and knowing that he has forgiven our sins, all the bad things we do, so that we can be right with Him.
So if we have faith in God, then we have His righteousness, we are clean and accepted by God, not because we did anything by ourselves, but because He gave us this gift of grace – the forgiveness of our sins. And that’s pretty cool!
- Can you think of one way that you can show that you have faith in God and trust Him to take care of you?
Prayer
Thank Jesus for forgiving your sins. Ask Him to show you how you can have faith in Him.
Check out more Bible Reading Plans here.
Questions?
Ed Applegate
