‘The Gospel’ According to Romans 1:16

Nestle-Aland Greek New Testament, 28th Edition
Οὐ γὰρ ἐπαισχύνομαι τὸ εὐαγγέλιον, δύναμις γὰρ θεοῦ ἐστιν εἰς σωτηρίαν παντὶ τῷ πιστεύοντι, Ἰουδαίῳ τε πρῶτον καὶ Ἕλληνι.

New International Version
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.

New Living Translation
For I am not ashamed of this Good News about Christ. It is the power of God at work, saving everyone who believes—the Jew first and also the Gentile.

English Standard Version
For I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes, to the Jew first and also to the Greek.

King James Bible
For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ: for it is the power of God unto salvation to every one that believeth; to the Jew first, and also to the Greek.

NASB 1995
For I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes, to the Jew first and also to the Greek.

Christian Standard Bible
For I am not ashamed of the gospel, because it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes, first to the Jew, and also to the Greek.

NET Bible
For I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is God's power for salvation to everyone who believes, to the Jew first and also to the Greek.

New Revised Standard Version
For I am not ashamed of the gospel; it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who has faith, to the Jew first and also to the Greek.

In order that…

“For those whom he foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son, in order that he might be the firstborn among many brothers” (Romans 8:29).

Why did God foreknow and predestine some to be conformed to the image of his Son? The answer is not found in us but in God. Romans 8:29 tells us that those who have been predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son were conformed in order that Jesus might be the firstborn among many brothers. Jesus is the point even in our being conformed by God to Jesus. As much as it grinds against our natural disposition to assume that we are the point of all that God does we must press on to know the Lord (Hosea 6:3) and not ourselves if we are in search for the truth.

Psalm 23 also shows us that our being led in the paths of righteousness – or being conformed to the image of Jesus, as it says in Romans 8:29 – is for God’s name’s sake (Psalm 23:3). The main reason that God is pleased to lead us in paths of righteousness or to conform us to the image of his Son is not so that we can be better disciples or even that we can grow in sanctification (although those are often some of the glorious results). The main reason that God leads and conforms us is God. He is concerned mainly with his own glory. And this is good news for those who trust in the Lord because for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose (Romans 8:28).

As theologian and author, J. I. Packer, once said, “The subject of the old gospel was God and his ways with men; the subject of the new is man and the help God gives him. There is a world of difference.” It was J. I. Packer’s urging in his writing and the urging of this brief blog post that we remember our relation to God and the gospel.