Sunday Devotional: Acts 17:30-31

30 “Therefore God, having overlooked the times of ignorance, now has proclaimed to men [that] all [people] everywhere repent, 31 because He has established a day in which He is going to judge the world in righteousness by a man whom He has appointed, having offered everyone proof by raising him from the dead.

This is day one of the Blogging from A to Z challenge. For this reason, I have selected a passage in Acts, where Paul is addressing men from Athens.

This is the end of Paul’s sermon on Mars Hill to the men in Athens. His audience was non-Jewish, so Paul could not rely upon them having a background in the Old Testament from which he could proclaim Jesus as the Messiah (as Stephen did in Acts 7). Nevertheless, Paul doesn’t shy away from proclaiming the gospel truth that salvation can only be found in Jesus. I want to take a few minutes looking at Paul’s gospel proclamation here.

While the Jews had the Law given to them on stone tablets, the rest of the world, the Gentiles, were in relative ignorance. As Paul makes clear in Romans 1, that doesn’t mean they could be excused for not worshiping the true God, since He had made His existence plain through creation, and through conscience and the fact that man is made in His image. However, all men suppressed (and continue to suppress) this knowledge of God. Hence, apart from the light of revelation (such as God gave to Israel), they are in darkness and ignorance.

God could have left all but Israel in this state of relative ignorance, however, He issued the call for all men to repent–Jew and Gentile–that they may be spared the day of judgment. That judgment will come through Jesus, whom God revealed to be the means He appointed by raising him from the dead.

Note the elements in Paul’s gospel presentation: 1) the sinfulness of man; 2) the necessity of forgiveness; 3) the role of Christ as judge on that day. This doesn’t sound much like the typical “God loves you and has a wonderful plan for your life” type of gospel presentation popular today. But isn’t this where every gospel presentation should begin? We don’t like to talk about sin and judgment, but if there was no sin problem, then there would be no need for a savior. Christ didn’t come to show us a better way of life. He came to die on the cross, that by his death and resurrection, his people would receive forgiveness of sin, and be made acceptable to God. Only then can they even begin to live lives that are pleasing to God.

So in our evangelism, we cannot–indeed, we must not–avoid talking about the need to recognize one’s sinful condition, one’s need for a savior, and the absolute necessity to repent of one’s sin and throw oneself upon the mercy of Christ. He is the righteous judge. By his decree, those who are not trusting in him will face an eternity separated from God, with God’s wrath forever upon them. And only he is able to clothe the repentant with his righteousness, and make that person presentable to God. That is truly the good news of the gospel.

Have a great week! And watch out for Blogging A to Z articles every day this month!