Not Ashamed

The verb “be ashamed” is the rendering of aischunomai, and it occurs five times in the New Testament. Again, sin and shame are closely related. In the parable of the unjust steward, he was ashamed to beg (Luke 16:3). Paul was not ashamed to use his authority over the Corinthians (2 Cor. 10:8). Paul did not want to be ashamed (Phil. 1:20), but rather to have Christ be magnified in his body, whether by life or death. Peter says that if we suffer for being Christians, we ought not to be ashamed (1 Pet. 4:16), but with the clear implication that we ought to be ashamed if we get into trouble for our own sins (v. 15), we ought to be ashamed. Too many Christians think they are being persecuted at work “for the gospel,” when the real reason is that they are just hard to get along with. And John urges us to abide in Christ, so that when He appears, we will not be ashamed.