After Pentecost: The Disciples DeployedSample

Repent and Believe in the One True God

Burdened by the darkness and ignorance around him, Paul could not be silent, but advanced the truth of the Gospel everywhere he went. 

For the most part, the Athenians were open to the Gospel message. In fact, they were so willing to believe any and every ideology that came along that they had made an altar ‘to an unknown god,’ pretty much inviting anyone who claimed to know something to insert the name of the god they worshipped. Paul accepted this invitation, but rather than giving the Athenians one more thing to believe in, he preached the Gospel of the One True God. 

Paul urged the Athenians to rely on Jesus alone for salvation and to repent, or turn away from their sin and other gods. It was this call to action, this call to practical application of belief through faith, that made some of the Athenians angry. They were willing to add Jesus to their belief system, but unwilling to abandon all else for Him. 

Faced with the reluctance of some to respond appropriately to the Gospel message, Paul did not change it, belabor the point, or beg people to put their faith in Jesus Christ. He simply let the truth of his Gospel message speak for itself, left the results up to the Holy Spirit, and continued to advance, just as Jesus and the other apostles had before him. Those who put their faith in Jesus Christ alone were saved and repented. Those who did not were not. 

From the very beginning of Jesus’ ministry, His Gospel message included a call to repentance, not just good behavior, but complete change brought about by the power of the Holy Spirit as a result of sincere faith in Jesus Christ. He did not tell people to be good so they might be saved, but invited them to be saved so they might be made new. 

What about you? Are you so burdened by the darkness and ignorance around you that you feel compelled to share the Gospel with people? Do you present Jesus as the One True God or one option among many? Do you preach belief or repentance? Do you call people to goodness or transformation?