For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ, for it is the power of God to salvation for everyone who believes, for the Jew first and also for the Greek.  Romans 1:16 NKJV

When Jesus commissioned His disciples to go into all the world to preach the Gospel to every creature (Mark 16:15), He admonish them to wait in Jerusalem for the promise of the Father, i.e., to be clothed with power from on high–Holy Ghost power (Luke 24:49). He further assured them that they would receive “real” operative power when the Holy Spirit would come upon them; and, they would indeed be His witnesses to the ends of the earth (Acts 1:8).  In our text above, the Apostle Paul wrote to the Roman Christians that God’s power resides in the Gospel and its purpose is “salvation.”

“Salvation” (Greek word, soteria) means more than salvation in the conventional sense. It also connotes deliverance, restoration of health, rescue, and safety. Paul preached that the power of Gospel is salvation.

In Luke chapter 4, Jesus demonstrated that the salvation power that the Gospel brings  even in a “wilderness” experience, i.e., a desert place, a most difficult and trying place in your life. “Jesus, full of the Holy Spirit, returned from the Jordan and was led by the Spirit in the desert where for forty days he was tempted by the devil.” During this period of temptation, the devil tempted Jesus with the lust of the flesh, lust of the eyes, and the pride of life (1 John 2:16).  But Jesus was able to overcome these temptations by resisting the devil with the power of the Gospel—the Word of God. The devil departed from Him for a more opportune time; afterwards, “Jesus returned to Galilee in the power of the Spirit.” It was the power of the Gospel that sustained Jesus in great victory before these temptations, during the temptations, and afterward when the temptations had ended. Like in the example of Jesus, the power of the Gospel will grant you a mighty salvation, deliverance, health, rescue, and safety in the face of your “wilderness” temptations.

Resisting the devil with the power of the Gospel is essentially standing on the Word of God—standing on “a foundation, a stone, a tried stone, a precious corner stone, a sure foundation: he that believeth shall not [be ashamed]” (Isa. 28:16; Rom. 10:11). Never be ashamed of or offended by the power of the Gospel. The Gospel is the power of God unto salvation. Holy Ghost power resides in the Word of God—the good news of the Gospel that proclaims that you have been saved; you are being saved, and, you shall be saved. Paul declared in 1 Corinthians 4:20, that the kingdom of God is not in word [only] but in power!