Romans 1:16

Plain English Version

I don’t feel any shame about God’s good news. It is a really good story because it has God’s power in it. Whenever people believe this good news, God saves them. It is the same for everybody, for Jewish people and for people that are not Jews.

Cross References

Mark 8:38

You know that some people are really bad, and they don’t take any notice of God. If you are frightened of them, so that you don’t tell them about me, and you don’t say that you belong to me, then later, I will not say that you belong to me. I’m God’s special man from heaven, and one day my father, God, will make me really great, and I will come back here to the earth, with all God’s angel messengers. But if you don’t tell people now that you belong to me, then when I come back here, I will not say that you belong to me.”

John 7:35

The Jewish leaders asked each other, “Where will he go so that we can’t find him? Will he go and live with our Jewish countrymen in the country called Greece? Maybe he will start to teach Greek people his story.

Acts 3:26

So, you see, first of all, God made Jesus alive again. After that, he sent him to do good things for you. Yes, God sent Jesus to help you Israel mob turn around and stop doing bad things, and live the right way.”

Romans 10:17

But, you see, people have to hear that good message about Jesus Christ before they can believe in him. (The next part, 10:18—11:36, mainly talks to Jewish people, so we have not translated it yet.)

Romans 2:9

And God will not treat one sort of people any better than all the others. It will be the same for Jewish people and for people that are not Jewish. God will punish everyone that does bad things, he will punish Jewish people that do bad things and people that are not Jewish that do bad things. They will all get very big trouble. But God will do good to everyone that does good things, Jewish people and people that are not Jewish. God will make them great. They will feel happy and quiet inside themselves, and everybody will respect them.

1 Corinthians 15:2

And if you keep on believing that good news, God will save you. If you don’t keep on believing it, I reckon you didn’t believe it properly in the first place.

1 Corinthians 2:2

No. I only told you about Jesus Christ, and that he died on the cross for us. I didn’t talk about other things.

1 Corinthians 2:4

I didn’t think up smart ideas or use smart words to get you to believe my message. No. I trusted God’s spirit to use his power to show everyone that my message is true.

1 Corinthians 9:12

Other people ask you to give them things, and that’s all right for them, so it has to be all right for us too. But we never ask you to give us anything. You see, if we ask for things when we tell people the good news about Jesus Christ, some of them will not listen to that good news. But we want everybody to listen to our message about Jesus, so we never ask anybody for anything. We reckon it’s better to go short of things.

1 Corinthians 9:18

And I’m very happy when I can give everyone that good news for nothing. That is like my pay. You see, it is all right for me to ask them for those things. I know that. But I don’t do it.

1 Thessalonians 2:13

And we always thank God for the way you listened to us. We told you God’s message, and you knew that it wasn’t only a message from people. You believed that we told you words from God, and that it was God’s message. And you were right. It is God’s word. And now that you believe that word, it helps you grow strong for him.

1 Timothy 1:11

They do all sorts of bad things. But if we think about that good story about Jesus, we know all those things are wrong. And I go and tell that good story about Jesus to everybody. That’s my job. Our wonderful God gave me this job.

2 Timothy 1:12

So I tell everyone about him. Those people that don’t like Jesus, they make trouble for me. But I know God, and I believe in him, so I don’t feel shame when I get that trouble. I know that he will look after me right up until the day when Jesus will come back.

2 Timothy 1:16

But Onesiforus wasn’t like that. He came here to Rome and looked everywhere for me. And when he found me here in jail, he didn’t feel shame. He often came and cheered me up. So I pray that Jesus, our leader, will be really good to his family. And you already know about that time that he was over there in Ephesus with me, and he helped me in lots of ways. One day our leader will judge everyone, and I pray that he will be good to Onesiforus and his family on that day.

2 Timothy 1:8

You have to tell people about our leader Jesus. Don’t feel shame about that. And don’t feel shame about me because I’m in jail. I’m here because I told people about Jesus. But don’t worry. Just go ahead anyway and tell people about our leader Jesus. And then maybe some people might make trouble for you, just like they made trouble for me. But God will make you strong, and you will not worry about that trouble.

1 Peter 4:16

But if people give you trouble because you follow Jesus, don’t feel shame. No. Just thank God that you belong to Jesus.