Unashamed
“For I am not ashamed of the Gospel of Christ, for it is the power of God to salvation for everyone who believes… for in it the righteousness of God is revealed from faith to faith; as it is written, ‘the just shall live by faith’.” – Romans 1.16
Unashamed. How can we live life unashamed, unembarrassed? I John 2.28-29 tells us that it ultimately depends on Abiding in Him:
“And now little children, abide in Him, that when He appears, we may have confidence and not be ashamed before Him at His coming. If you know that He is righteous, you know that everyone who practices righteousness is born of Him.”
If we abide in Him, live in Him, we will never be ashamed. Why? Because He is righteous – He is always right. And when something is RIGHT, there is no cause for shame. It is only wrong that brings shame. So when you know He is righteous and you live in Him, practicing His righteousness – you will be unashamed.
“Whoever BELIEVES on Him will not be put to shame.” – Romans 10.11
Paul said, “For I am not ashamed of the Gospel of Christ, for it is the power of God to salvation for everyone who believes… for in it the righteousness of God is revealed from faith to faith; as it is written, the just shall live by faith.”
He said, I am not ashamed of the Gospel, and this is why – It is the POWER OF GOD to salvation for everyone who believes. I BELIEVE – therefore I am unashamed. In this Gospel the Righteousness of God is REVEALED, telling us how God makes us right in His sight, accomplished from start to finish BY FAITH. The person in right-standing before God by trusting Him REALLY LIVES.
In Isaiah 49.23, the Lord said – “They shall not be ashamed who wait for Me.” The Message translation of that verse reads – No one who hopes in Me ever regrets it.
There is no shame and no regrets when we live in God and live in faith. But what does it really mean to live in God? Jesus lived in God to the fullest capacity, so He is our example in God-living. More than once He said that His food, His sustenance in life was to do the will of Him who sent Him and to finish His work
. (John 4.34)
Our sustenance in life is also to do the will and work of God. We are called to demonstrate the Gospel of the Kingdom with our entire lives. This is what it means to be unashamed.
One has accurately said that “we are not called to argue this Gospel – we are called to live it.” We are called to live this Gospel of the Kingdom with passion, never shrinking back in uncertainty or intimidation. We must live what we believe.
In science and medicine, there is a process called inoculation. In this process, a small amount of a disease in the form of a vaccine is injected into a human, plant, or animal in order to create an immunity to that particular disease.
As wonderful as that can be in science, everyday the downside of inoculation is being played out through the Body of Christ. We’ve given people a little bit of the Gospel, a little bit of Jesus – just enough to inoculate them to it, instead of winning them over. We can’t convince the world that this is real by giving them a drop here and there. If we really believe this Gospel, then we must live it in absolutely every aspect of our lives.
Let us not give people just a little bit of Christianity – rather, let us go all the way in LIVING the Gospel, living true Christianity. Then you will be unashamed – because you lived life like Jesus.
When Jesus went down to the Jordan River to be baptized by John, John said to Him – “I need to be baptized by You, but You are coming to me.” Jesus replied – “Permit it to be so now, for thus it is necessary for us to fulfill ALL RIGHTEOUSNESS.” (Matthew 3.15)
For thus it is necessary for us to fulfill all righteousness… What does it take for us to fulfill all righteousness? Jesus said that man shall not live by bread alone, but that he shall live by every word that comes from the lips of God. (Matthew 4.4)
How can we know what is required for us to fulfill all righteousness? LIVE BY THE WORDS OF GOD. If you fulfill His Words, you will fulfill all righteousness. Because as Romans 1.16 has told us, in the Gospel the righteousness of God is revealed – and it’s accomplished from start to finish by faith. So by mixing faith with the Word of God, we fulfill all righteousness.
On a certain Sabbath, Jesus entered the synagogue in Nazareth and stood up to read. He was handed the scroll of the Prophet Isaiah, and He opened to where it was written:
“The Spirit of the Lord is upon Me, because He has anointed Me to preach the Gospel to the poor; He has sent Me to heal the broken-hearted; to preach deliverance to the captives, and recovery of sight to the blind, to set at liberty them that are bruised; to preach the acceptable year of the Lord.”
Then He closed the book and said – “Today, this Scripture is fulfilled in your hearing.” (Luke 4.16-21) What did He mean by that statement?. He was continuing to walk out what He told John back at the Jordan River. He was fulfilling “all righteousness.” He was living by every word that came forth from the lips of God. He had mixed faith with God’s Words and it was revealing the righteousness of God. And for the benefit of those around Him, He said – “Today, this Scripture is fulfilled in your hearing.”
Somewhere in the countless hours He had spent meditating God’s Word, He came to realize that Isaiah 61 was talking about Him, about what God had anointed and appointed Him to do. And as He stood and read that Scripture before the congregation that day, He knew by the Spirit that His day of fulfillment had come – TODAY, this Scripture is fulfilled in your hearing.
It is the same for you and for me. So often, it seems, we have thought that somehow Jesus came to earth already supernaturally knowing everything. However, Scripture tells us that in coming to earth, He laid aside His glory and took on human flesh to be just like us. He had to learn to crawl and to walk, just like we did. He had to learn to read and write, just like we did. He wasn’t born with automatically knowing how to do all those things. Yes, He was still very much fully God. But He was also fully man.
From His youth, He spent hour upon hour studying and meditating the Word of God, and much time in prayer. Everything He accomplished in His earthly ministry came out of that place of communion with God and His Word.
That is how each and every one of us will fulfill what God has called us to do – through living in God, living in His Word. Jesus came to be just like us, so that we could be just like Him.
At the Last Supper of our Lord, after Jesus had served the bread to His disciples, He took the cup, gave thanks, and gave it to them with these words – “Drink from it, all of you. For this is My blood of the New Covenant…” (Matt. 26.27-28)
“Drink from it, all of you.” He was still, to the very end, fulfilling “all righteousness.” And now, He was beckoning His followers to do the same. From now on, no longer would it be just “His Blood of the new covenant” – He was urging them, and us, to also drink from this cup, saying – “my blood of the new covenant. Jesus, not just Your blood, but my blood.” This is the highest pledge of honour. Leviticus 17.11 instructs that “the life of the flesh is in the blood.” Your blood represents your life. In pledging your blood, you are pledging your life for the Gospel.
Jesus’ ultimate demonstration of fulfilling “all righteousness” was yielding to the will of God for Him in the Cross, the grave, hell, and finally, the Resurrection. He gave His life, completely – nothing held back from doing the will of His Father. He requires no less of us.
“It is necessary for us to fulfill all righteousness.” No, our call is not to die for the sins of the world as Jesus did. That was settled once and for all. But we are required to give our life, completely – holding nothing back from doing the will of the Father, just as He did – fulfilling all righteousness.
In a conversation I had with the Lord in my youth, I expressed to Him that I would like to be a martyr. I did not receive an immediate reply. But a few days later, He spoke this to me: “There is something higher than being a martyr. It is being a Living Martyr.” In an instant I understood what He meant.
Being a martyr is not the particular call of everyone. But being a living martyr is every Christian’s sacred duty – living dead to the dictates of the flesh and alive to the life and will of God.
The Apostle Paul, and others like him, received witness from the Lord that they would die for the sake of the Gospel. And they did. They remained faithful to the end, and were unashamed to bear reproach and give their life for the sake of His Name. Through all the ages, the blood of those who gave their lives in such a way for the Gospel is very precious in the eyes of God.
But Paul and others were not just martyrs – they were living martyrs. The Greek word from which “martyr” is derived is witness, and can literally mean “one who bears witness by his death.”
We each died when we made Jesus the Lord of our lives. Paul said, “I have been crucified with Christ, nevertheless I live, YET NOT I, BUT CHRIST LIVES IN ME. The life I now live in the flesh, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself for me.” (Galatians 2.19)
We died with Christ, yet we are still alive – but it is not us – it is the Anointed One, Christ who is now living in us. And every day, every moment, that is the life we have to choose to let live in and through us. Choosing to live in God, live in His Word. Choosing to fulfill “all righteousness” and lay aside the works of the flesh. Choosing to do His will and His desire in the earth.
The Lord said in Psalm 2.8 – “Ask of Me, and I will give the Nations as an inheritance for you.” Why should we ask Him for the nations? Because He desires all men to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth. (I Tim. 2.4) That is part of “all righteousness.”
Remember what I John 2.28 said to us? “And now, little children, ABIDE IN HIM, that when He appears, we may have confidence and not be ashamed before Him at His coming.”
Abide in Him, live in Him. Then you can stand before Him on that day and say:
I lived in Him. I did what He asked me to do. I did it in joy. I finished my divine assignment… Therefore I am UNASHAMED.
Copyright © First Love Ministries International aka FERVOUR
All Rights Reserved
“For I am not ashamed of the Gospel of Christ, for it is the power of God to salvation for everyone who believes… for in it the righteousness of God is revealed from faith to faith; as it is written, ‘the just shall live by faith’.” – Romans 1.16
Unashamed. How can we live life unashamed, unembarrassed? I John 2.28-29 tells us that it ultimately depends on Abiding in Him:
“And now little children, abide in Him, that when He appears, we may have confidence and not be ashamed before Him at His coming. If you know that He is righteous, you know that everyone who practices righteousness is born of Him.”
If we abide in Him, live in Him, we will never be ashamed. Why? Because He is righteous – He is always right. And when something is RIGHT, there is no cause for shame. It is only wrong that brings shame. So when you know He is righteous and you live in Him, practicing His righteousness – you will be unashamed.
“Whoever BELIEVES on Him will not be put to shame.” – Romans 10.11
Paul said, “For I am not ashamed of the Gospel of Christ, for it is the power of God to salvation for everyone who believes… for in it the righteousness of God is revealed from faith to faith; as it is written, the just shall live by faith.”
He said, I am not ashamed of the Gospel, and this is why – It is the POWER OF GOD to salvation for everyone who believes. I BELIEVE – therefore I am unashamed. In this Gospel the Righteousness of God is REVEALED, telling us how God makes us right in His sight, accomplished from start to finish BY FAITH. The person in right-standing before God by trusting Him REALLY LIVES.
In Isaiah 49.23, the Lord said – “They shall not be ashamed who wait for Me.” The Message translation of that verse reads – No one who hopes in Me ever regrets it.
There is no shame and no regrets when we live in God and live in faith. But what does it really mean to live in God? Jesus lived in God to the fullest capacity, so He is our example in God-living. More than once He said that His food, His sustenance in life was to do the will of Him who sent Him and to finish His work
. (John 4.34)
Our sustenance in life is also to do the will and work of God. We are called to demonstrate the Gospel of the Kingdom with our entire lives. This is what it means to be unashamed.
One has accurately said that “we are not called to argue this Gospel – we are called to live it.” We are called to live this Gospel of the Kingdom with passion, never shrinking back in uncertainty or intimidation. We must live what we believe.
In science and medicine, there is a process called inoculation. In this process, a small amount of a disease in the form of a vaccine is injected into a human, plant, or animal in order to create an immunity to that particular disease.
As wonderful as that can be in science, everyday the downside of inoculation is being played out through the Body of Christ. We’ve given people a little bit of the Gospel, a little bit of Jesus – just enough to inoculate them to it, instead of winning them over. We can’t convince the world that this is real by giving them a drop here and there. If we really believe this Gospel, then we must live it in absolutely every aspect of our lives.
Let us not give people just a little bit of Christianity – rather, let us go all the way in LIVING the Gospel, living true Christianity. Then you will be unashamed – because you lived life like Jesus.
When Jesus went down to the Jordan River to be baptized by John, John said to Him – “I need to be baptized by You, but You are coming to me.” Jesus replied – “Permit it to be so now, for thus it is necessary for us to fulfill ALL RIGHTEOUSNESS.” (Matthew 3.15)
For thus it is necessary for us to fulfill all righteousness… What does it take for us to fulfill all righteousness? Jesus said that man shall not live by bread alone, but that he shall live by every word that comes from the lips of God. (Matthew 4.4)
How can we know what is required for us to fulfill all righteousness? LIVE BY THE WORDS OF GOD. If you fulfill His Words, you will fulfill all righteousness. Because as Romans 1.16 has told us, in the Gospel the righteousness of God is revealed – and it’s accomplished from start to finish by faith. So by mixing faith with the Word of God, we fulfill all righteousness.
On a certain Sabbath, Jesus entered the synagogue in Nazareth and stood up to read. He was handed the scroll of the Prophet Isaiah, and He opened to where it was written:
“The Spirit of the Lord is upon Me, because He has anointed Me to preach the Gospel to the poor; He has sent Me to heal the broken-hearted; to preach deliverance to the captives, and recovery of sight to the blind, to set at liberty them that are bruised; to preach the acceptable year of the Lord.”
Then He closed the book and said – “Today, this Scripture is fulfilled in your hearing.” (Luke 4.16-21) What did He mean by that statement?. He was continuing to walk out what He told John back at the Jordan River. He was fulfilling “all righteousness.” He was living by every word that came forth from the lips of God. He had mixed faith with God’s Words and it was revealing the righteousness of God. And for the benefit of those around Him, He said – “Today, this Scripture is fulfilled in your hearing.”
Somewhere in the countless hours He had spent meditating God’s Word, He came to realize that Isaiah 61 was talking about Him, about what God had anointed and appointed Him to do. And as He stood and read that Scripture before the congregation that day, He knew by the Spirit that His day of fulfillment had come – TODAY, this Scripture is fulfilled in your hearing.
It is the same for you and for me. So often, it seems, we have thought that somehow Jesus came to earth already supernaturally knowing everything. However, Scripture tells us that in coming to earth, He laid aside His glory and took on human flesh to be just like us. He had to learn to crawl and to walk, just like we did. He had to learn to read and write, just like we did. He wasn’t born with automatically knowing how to do all those things. Yes, He was still very much fully God. But He was also fully man.
From His youth, He spent hour upon hour studying and meditating the Word of God, and much time in prayer. Everything He accomplished in His earthly ministry came out of that place of communion with God and His Word.
That is how each and every one of us will fulfill what God has called us to do – through living in God, living in His Word. Jesus came to be just like us, so that we could be just like Him.
At the Last Supper of our Lord, after Jesus had served the bread to His disciples, He took the cup, gave thanks, and gave it to them with these words – “Drink from it, all of you. For this is My blood of the New Covenant…” (Matt. 26.27-28)
“Drink from it, all of you.” He was still, to the very end, fulfilling “all righteousness.” And now, He was beckoning His followers to do the same. From now on, no longer would it be just “His Blood of the new covenant” – He was urging them, and us, to also drink from this cup, saying – “my blood of the new covenant. Jesus, not just Your blood, but my blood.” This is the highest pledge of honour. Leviticus 17.11 instructs that “the life of the flesh is in the blood.” Your blood represents your life. In pledging your blood, you are pledging your life for the Gospel.
Jesus’ ultimate demonstration of fulfilling “all righteousness” was yielding to the will of God for Him in the Cross, the grave, hell, and finally, the Resurrection. He gave His life, completely – nothing held back from doing the will of His Father. He requires no less of us.
“It is necessary for us to fulfill all righteousness.” No, our call is not to die for the sins of the world as Jesus did. That was settled once and for all. But we are required to give our life, completely – holding nothing back from doing the will of the Father, just as He did – fulfilling all righteousness.
In a conversation I had with the Lord in my youth, I expressed to Him that I would like to be a martyr. I did not receive an immediate reply. But a few days later, He spoke this to me: “There is something higher than being a martyr. It is being a Living Martyr.” In an instant I understood what He meant.
Being a martyr is not the particular call of everyone. But being a living martyr is every Christian’s sacred duty – living dead to the dictates of the flesh and alive to the life and will of God.
The Apostle Paul, and others like him, received witness from the Lord that they would die for the sake of the Gospel. And they did. They remained faithful to the end, and were unashamed to bear reproach and give their life for the sake of His Name. Through all the ages, the blood of those who gave their lives in such a way for the Gospel is very precious in the eyes of God.
But Paul and others were not just martyrs – they were living martyrs. The Greek word from which “martyr” is derived is witness, and can literally mean “one who bears witness by his death.”
We each died when we made Jesus the Lord of our lives. Paul said, “I have been crucified with Christ, nevertheless I live, YET NOT I, BUT CHRIST LIVES IN ME. The life I now live in the flesh, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself for me.” (Galatians 2.19)
We died with Christ, yet we are still alive – but it is not us – it is the Anointed One, Christ who is now living in us. And every day, every moment, that is the life we have to choose to let live in and through us. Choosing to live in God, live in His Word. Choosing to fulfill “all righteousness” and lay aside the works of the flesh. Choosing to do His will and His desire in the earth.
The Lord said in Psalm 2.8 – “Ask of Me, and I will give the Nations as an inheritance for you.” Why should we ask Him for the nations? Because He desires all men to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth. (I Tim. 2.4) That is part of “all righteousness.”
Remember what I John 2.28 said to us? “And now, little children, ABIDE IN HIM, that when He appears, we may have confidence and not be ashamed before Him at His coming.”
Abide in Him, live in Him. Then you can stand before Him on that day and say:
I lived in Him. I did what He asked me to do. I did it in joy. I finished my divine assignment… Therefore I am UNASHAMED.
Copyright © First Love Ministries International aka FERVOUR
All Rights Reserved
