"Not Ashamed of the Gospel of Christ" (Rom 1:16), Part 3/4

Send us Fan MailThe gospel isn’t a set of tips for becoming a better version of yourself. It’s power. We start with Paul’s claim that believers are God’s workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works, and we follow the thread to a conclusion that strips away pride: the first “works” of the new creation are repentance and belief, and even those are not self-produced trophies.From there we dig into effectual calling and why “power of God unto salvation” means something specific. If God’s call is effectual, then it actually accomplishes what he intends. That helps explain the difference between hearing words and receiving life, and it keeps us from treating “to the Jew first and to the Greek” as favoritism instead of the historical order of how God unfolded his promise. Along the way we talk about humility, why seeing our lowliness is tied to seeing God’s greatness, and how real spiritual “magnification” makes God bigger in our eyes while we stop pretending we’re the center.Then we go straight at the controversy: faith as a gift, not a meritorious act, and why the “free will” story can turn into an idol of self-determination that quietly denies grace. We connect election, redemption by the blood of Christ, Jesus coming to do the Father’s will, and the beauty of adoption and sonship, including the Spirit that makes us cry Abba, Father. If you’ve ever felt the tension between modern church culture and the transforming power the Bible describes, this conversation names it clearly.Subscribe for more, share this with someone who’s hungry for depth, and leave a review with the one point you most disagree with or couldn’t stop thinking about.Support the showBE PROVOKED AND BE PERSUADED!