Paul is not ashamed of the gospel because it is God's power for salvation to everyone who believes. The message may look weak in a world impressed by status, wisdom, and imperial power, but Paul knows God saves through this announcement about Jesus.
Romans opens with Paul's calling as a servant and apostle, then moves to his desire to preach in Rome. In Romans 1:16-17, his confidence rests on what God reveals in the gospel: saving righteousness received by faith, not human boasting.
The verse teaches readers where Christian confidence comes from. The gospel does not need to be dressed up as power; it is already the way God brings salvation.
Paul's lack of shame is not personal bravado. It is trust in God's saving work and in the reach of the gospel to all peoples.
Original wording based on Romans 1:1-17.
16For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ, for it is the power of God to salvation to everyone who believes; to the Jew first, and also to the Greek.
17For therein is revealed a righteousness of God from faith to faith. As it is written, "But the righteous shall live by faith."