how does God save believers verse 16 says he does the gospel is the power of God

unto salvation for everyone who believes now how how Jesus how God I'm a sinner

I'm unrighteous you're angry at me what's the hope we know that the gospel saves

unbelievers but how does it save Christians that's the question John

Piper addresses from Romans 1 16 to 17 in this episode of light and truth this

sermon was originally preached at Bethlehem Baptist Church on August 9th 1998

the question this morning is how does the gospel save believers how does it do

how does it save you from that now here's the way I want to go about it we're unpacked

verse 17 today we're on verse 17 today and the way I want to begin by walking into this this

verse that's running neck and neck with a few other verses in Romans for the most important

verse in the Bible is to translate it wrongly for you going to read it and I'm going to read it

wrong in order to highlight what's there and then ask why is it there sometimes to throw

what's there into stark relief by reading what's not there and you might think would be there

is a way to weaken you to what is there and begin to appropriate it for your soul so here's my

wrong reading verse 16 I'll start back there 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 for in it the love of God is revealed from faith to faith

that's not what it says

and yet that's the emphasis that most of us have when we describe the content of the gospel

so here's Paul standing giving the thematic two verses of the whole letter about the gospel

and as he begins to unpack how the gospel has power how it saves how it works

he does not say for in it the love of God is revealed which would be an absolutely true statement

...