Paul, Not Ashamed of the Gospel
What made Paul tick?
Paul opens his letter to the Romans with a line that sounds simple—until you hear it the way his world heard it:
“For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ, for it is the power of God to salvation for everyone who believes…” (Romans 1:16)
At first glance you might think, why would anyone be ashamed of good news? But Paul is not talking about private feelings. In the first-century world, shame was public. It was about honor, reputation, standing, and belonging. So, when Paul says, “I am not ashamed,” he is not admitting insecurity. He is planting a flag.
He is saying: I know what this message costs me. And I am loyal to it anyway.
Why the Gospel Looked “Shameful” to Outsiders
To the outside world, the gospel did not look respectable. It centered on a Messiah who was executed—publicly—by a method designed to humiliate and erase honor.
A crucified Messiah sounded foolish. It sounded offensive. It sounded dangerous.
And the message did more than offend taste. It disrupted the social order. It refused to treat ethnic privilege, religious pedigree, or personal achievement as the pathway to being right with God. It offered righteousness as a gift, not a reward.
That kind of message does not fit neatly into the old honor system.
What Paul Had to Give Up
Now slow down and ask: Who is writing this?
This is Paul—the man trained in a system that prized lineage, learning, zeal, and visible faithfulness. He knew what counted as honor. He knew what secured status. And he knew what kind of credibility he was surrendering.
So “not ashamed” means he is willingly stepping away from an old platform:
Status built on reputation
Authority built on tradition
Credibility built on visible markers of religious achievement
The gospel stripped those markers away. And Paul embraced the loss because he believed the gospel carried something greater—the power of God to save.
The Reason Paul Isn’t Ashamed
Paul immediately explains why the gospel has that kind of weight:
“For in it the righteousness of God is revealed from faith to faith; as it is written, ‘The just shall live by faith.’” (Romans 1:17)
That line is not a footnote. It is the engine. The gospel does not merely announce forgiveness. It reveals how God makes sinners right with Him. And the way God does it overturns the usual system of honor.
Righteousness is not achieved by pedigree.
It is not earned by performance. It is not secured by public displays of religious credibility. It is received by faith. And it produces a life that continues by faith—from faith to faith.
What the Gospel Settles
If you want to understand why Paul “ticks,” here it is: he has come to believe that the gospel exposes the truth about every human system of boasting.
The old system said: Here is how you prove yourself. The gospel says: Here is how God saves—by His power, through faith. And that is why Paul frames the whole letter the way he does. “Not ashamed” is his opening declaration:
This message will not earn me honor in the old world. But it is the only message that reveals the righteousness of God. And it is powerful enough to save.
So, Paul is not ashamed—not because the world suddenly became friendly to the gospel, but because Paul is convinced that God has acted in Christ, and nothing else can do what this message does.