Romans 9:33
Jesus was the Rock that was in the wilderness which provided Israel with water when they were thirsty (1 Corinthians 10:4). As a crucified Savior, Christ is called a “stumbling block” (1 Corinthians 1:23), a “stone of stumbling and a rock of offence” (1 Peter 2:8). However, to those who will believe, the preaching of His glorious good news is “the power of God unto salvation” (Romans 1:16). When Paul realized the great power of that good news (gospel), he declared, “I am not ashamed…” (1:16).
As Paul goes deeper into this great epistle to the Romans, he returns to that theme of not being ashamed. Here, Paul declares that “whosoever believes on Him shall not be ashamed” and then in 10:11 he quotes from Isaiah:
“They shall not be ashamed that wait for me” (Isaiah 49:23).
Under the direction of the Holy Spirit, Paul is being led to address a topic that has caused unnecessary guilt and condemnation in many people. I am referring to a statement made by Jesus, which I heard preached and taught growing up as a motivator to get Christians to witness and evangelize:
“Whosoever therefore shall be ashamed of me and of my words in this adulterous and sinful generation; of him also shall the Son of man be ashamed, when He cometh in the glory of His Father with the holy angels” (Mark 8:38).
I had heard that if you were too nervous to tell someone about Jesus or to take a stand against your friends cussing or lying, etc, then you were being ashamed of Jesus and when you stood before God, He would hang His head in shame at you and send you to hell. I spent so many prayers as a young person and even into adulthood, asking God to forgive me for not witnessing for fear that I had shown myself ashamed.
Pay attention to Jesus’ audience in that verse. He is addressing the “adulterous and sinful generation”. This cannot be you and I because we are married to Jesus alone and we are a “chosen generation, a royal priesthood, an holy nation, a peculiar people…which had not obtained mercy, but now have obtained mercy” (1 Peter 2:9, 10). The “ashamed” to which Jesus is referring is the refusal to accept Him as Savior. You have already said “Yes!” to Jesus, thus you are not viewed as “ashamed”.
Paul is stating emphatically that it is impossible to be considered ashamed of Him if you have accepted Him as Lord. The very act of acceptance is the denial of shame, and no one who is born again and knows the love of God could ever be ashamed neither of His salvation nor of His loving grace and favor.
I personally believe that Paul’s fanatical defense of the message of grace contained in the book of Romans is his response to a time period where he may have felt some shame and isolation in his preaching of grace. We know that he faced public opposition to the grace message by Alexander the coppersmith and that his first answer to him caused abandonment by all of his followers (2 Timothy 4:14,16). After having been strengthened by the Lord, Paul is never again ashamed, either in public or in private to “preach the gospel of peace, and bring glad tidings of good things!” (Romans 10:15).
Jesus was the Rock that was in the wilderness which provided Israel with water when they were thirsty (1 Corinthians 10:4). As a crucified Savior, Christ is called a “stumbling block” (1 Corinthians 1:23), a “stone of stumbling and a rock of offence” (1 Peter 2:8). However, to those who will believe, the preaching of His glorious good news is “the power of God unto salvation” (Romans 1:16). When Paul realized the great power of that good news (gospel), he declared, “I am not ashamed…” (1:16).
As Paul goes deeper into this great epistle to the Romans, he returns to that theme of not being ashamed. Here, Paul declares that “whosoever believes on Him shall not be ashamed” and then in 10:11 he quotes from Isaiah:
“They shall not be ashamed that wait for me” (Isaiah 49:23).
Under the direction of the Holy Spirit, Paul is being led to address a topic that has caused unnecessary guilt and condemnation in many people. I am referring to a statement made by Jesus, which I heard preached and taught growing up as a motivator to get Christians to witness and evangelize:
“Whosoever therefore shall be ashamed of me and of my words in this adulterous and sinful generation; of him also shall the Son of man be ashamed, when He cometh in the glory of His Father with the holy angels” (Mark 8:38).
I had heard that if you were too nervous to tell someone about Jesus or to take a stand against your friends cussing or lying, etc, then you were being ashamed of Jesus and when you stood before God, He would hang His head in shame at you and send you to hell. I spent so many prayers as a young person and even into adulthood, asking God to forgive me for not witnessing for fear that I had shown myself ashamed.
Pay attention to Jesus’ audience in that verse. He is addressing the “adulterous and sinful generation”. This cannot be you and I because we are married to Jesus alone and we are a “chosen generation, a royal priesthood, an holy nation, a peculiar people…which had not obtained mercy, but now have obtained mercy” (1 Peter 2:9, 10). The “ashamed” to which Jesus is referring is the refusal to accept Him as Savior. You have already said “Yes!” to Jesus, thus you are not viewed as “ashamed”.
Paul is stating emphatically that it is impossible to be considered ashamed of Him if you have accepted Him as Lord. The very act of acceptance is the denial of shame, and no one who is born again and knows the love of God could ever be ashamed neither of His salvation nor of His loving grace and favor.
I personally believe that Paul’s fanatical defense of the message of grace contained in the book of Romans is his response to a time period where he may have felt some shame and isolation in his preaching of grace. We know that he faced public opposition to the grace message by Alexander the coppersmith and that his first answer to him caused abandonment by all of his followers (2 Timothy 4:14,16). After having been strengthened by the Lord, Paul is never again ashamed, either in public or in private to “preach the gospel of peace, and bring glad tidings of good things!” (Romans 10:15).
