# LCMS Convention Proceedings_St. Louis Missouri_2023_S80
# Machine transcription, uncorrected — CHI Digital Archive (demonstration)

Gospel Power
ROMANS 1:14–17

LCMS Second Vice-President Rev. Dr. John C. Wohlrabe, Jr.
68th Regular Convention of The Lutheran Church—Missouri Synod • July 31, 2023 • Matins
Christian Friends: you may remember “Tim the Tool Man
Taylor” on the TV show Home Improvement. He always
wanted “more power,” which often got him into trouble.
Now Tim Allen has again teamed up with Richard Karn on
a History Channel show about power tools called More
Power. It seems that some can’t get enough power, not
only with respect to machinery, but in other aspects of life
too. There is, however, a power that stands in stark
contrast to that of the world—God’s Gospel Power. This
is the power the apostle Paul eagerly preached to the
Romans, of which he was not ashamed. This is the Gospel
power of the crucified Christ that we are bold to proclaim
as well.
The Gospel is about Jesus Christ, God-enfleshed, bringing
salvation through His life, death, and resurrection. The
crucified Christ is the heart and content of the Gospel.
This good news always directs us away from ourselves
and towards Jesus because apart from Christ there is no
salvation. You see, we are lost in iniquity, estranged from
God, conceived and born in sin. St. Paul goes on in his
letter to the Romans demonstrating how both Jew and
Gentile are under God’s righteous judgment. “All have
sinned and fall short of the glory of God” (Rom. 3:23). We
cannot make ourselves righteous either. This was a
misunderstanding held by the Jewish Pharisee Saul. It

was a misunderstanding of many in the medieval Roman
church, including the young monk named Martin Luther.
The Latin word justificare means “to make righteous,” and
Luther disciplined his flesh through monkish ascetic
means attempting to make himself right before God. But
this fantasy brought Luther not only to despise that
phrase “righteousness of God,” but even to hate God. He
was incapable, powerless, and so he was ashamed of
himself before God and others. Then Luther studied
Romans 1:16–17 in the original language, especially the
Greek word dikaiosunai. This has a courtroom
connotation of being declared righteous. Thus,
justification is not a change someone makes within
themselves, but the gracious declaration that God
pronounces sinners righteous for Christ’s sake. Those
who are unable to become righteous, God declares
righteous through faith in the Gospel of Jesus Christ. That
forever changed Luther. From being ashamed of his
shortcomings, the powerful Gospel produced confidence
that he was a redeemed child of God. Luther said it
opened paradise for him. It also made him bold in taking
a stand and proclaiming the Gospel before the world.
Even though many have misunderstood, thinking they
make themselves righteous before God, Paul is clear that
it has always been by God’s grace through faith. He
quotes the Old Testament prophet Habakkuk, “The
righteous shall live by his faith” (Hab. 2:4). From the
faithfulness of the Triune God, we are brought to faith,
from faith to faith. After Adam and Eve fell into sin, God
promised a Savior to crush Satan’s head. The people of old
heard God’s promises of a Savior, and like Abraham, they
believed and were reckoned as righteous. Through the
powerful promise of the Gospel, the Holy Spirit works
faith which receives and holds to God’s powerful Gospel
promise, and this is the power of God unto salvation for
all who believe. It is God’s Gospel power for you!
St. Paul was writing to Christians at the capital of the
Empire. Romans prided themselves in their power:
military power, political power, engineering power, legal,
and literary power. The Greek word dunamis, power,
comes from the word for capable or doable, something
the Romans wanted to demonstrate to the world by way
of their forceful control. But Gospel power stands in stark
contrast. The worldly view of power focuses on strength,
might, assertiveness, force, influence, and aggression. It

80 | PROCEEDINGS OF THE 2023 (68TH) LCMS CONVENTION

Convention Sermons