Quite often I talk to Christians who feel dry in their spiritual experience—tired of plodding along through all the rituals and forms that make for the supposedly faithful Christian life; tired of the division and politicking they see. Maybe that’s you. You have no problem with consenting to the facts of the gospel, but your experience with it seems to be missing something. In Romans, the apostle Paul shows us how to experience the gospel as power now—power in our trials, doubts, struggles, and questions.
Did you know that study of the book of Romans has led to almost every Christian renewal in history? In 387 A.D. Augustine of Hippo was transformed by one verse in Romans. He later said that through his study of Romans, “all the shadows of doubt were dispelled.” The 16th-century Protestant Reformer Martin Luther said that in Romans we find the “most important piece of the New Testament,” the doctrine on which the church “rises or falls,” and it was his exposition of Romans that led to the Protestant Reformation and the modern mission movement. Romans was a central text for Jonathan Edwards, John Wesley, and George Whitefield. Study the early texts of the Jesus Revolution, which some call the largest spiritual awakening in our country’s history, and you’ll find Romans prominent there, too.
We long for a gospel renewal in our day, and I believe it is likely that it will come, as it has historically, as we plunge into the church’s most majestic gospel treatise. Did you know the gospel is the only thing in the New Testament, other than Jesus himself, called “the power of God.” Not contains the power of God, or connects you to the power of God, but is itself the power of God. The gospel is not a prayer you pray or even a 101 course you add to your spiritual transcript. The gospel is your life. In it, Paul says, is the power of God for salvation who believe—not once, but again and again for the rest of their lives, from faith to faith.
So here’s my invitation: Take the plunge. Immerse yourself in it again. See it anew and savor it. As Martin Luther said, “To progress in the Christian life is always to begin again.” Rediscover the goodness, the excitement, the liberation, and the power of the Christian life. And share it with a friend.
At the very least, it won’t cost you $1,111.
J.D.’s book is a key resource to share with skeptics and spiritually open people. J.D. is also serving on the theological advisory committee of the He Gets Us campaign, which is helping to foster conversations about Jesus around the country.
