I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ, for it is the power of God unto salvation for everyone who believes (Romans 1:16).
A news story addressed an American man who got into his car one early morning. He turned the key in the ignition, but nothing happened, only silence. So, the man popped the bonnet to check the motor. To his amazement, someone had stolen his engine during the night.
A car can look fantastic but has no power without an engine. Biblical doctrine is essential, but without its engine, it will lack redemptive muscle. What is the power of God's word? The apostle Paul tells us it's the gospel, which is the "power of God to salvation."
The gospel is "everlasting" (Revelation 14:6). Why? Notice it is not earth-born, for an angel bears it in midheaven. It derives from God and not from man. As God doesn't change, nor does His gospel. He declared it throughout the New Testament as well as the Old Testament. We find it delivered to Adam and Eve in the garden after they sinned. How was it preached? By a sacrificed animal, likely a lamb, whose skin covered the nakedness of their soul (Genesis 3:21). The sacrifice pointed to the Messiah, who would come and bear humanity's sin, guilt, and penalty. The animal's coat pointed to the Messiah's righteous life, exchanged for the sinner's filthy and sinful one. The gospel is truly "good news!"
What is the gospel's power, then? It is that Christ died for our sins, was buried, and then rose from the grave, according to the Scriptures (1 Corinthians 15:1-4). When we accept the righteous life of Christ as our life, His death as our death, and His resurrection as ours, we are justified and given divine power to live for Him. Paul stated that if an angel from heaven, or any other, preached a different gospel, "let him be accursed" (Galatians 1:8). No other gospel has power, for no other one is from God, and therefore no other one can save. Thus, the gospel is not what we can do. Instead, it is what God has already done for us in Christ.
There was a show by some engineering students at the university I attended. The display was of furniture made from cardboard. I was confident that the material was too fragile to bear a sizable weight. But then, a heavy-set man, more than twice my weight, entered the gallery. To my amazement, he sat in one of the cardboard chairs. I expected to hear a thud as the chair collapsed, but it did not! It fully supported him. He placed his faith in the designer and builder of that furniture. He had faith it would securely hold him, and to prove it, he rested his entire weight upon it.
Likewise, if you put your faith in God and rest entirely on what He has done for you in Christ, you will be driven by divine power unto salvation. Therefore, believe the gospel! You can place your whole weight upon it. Otherwise, you may find the engine is missing.
