At the end of the book of Acts, the apostle Paul is under house arrest in Rome awaiting a hearing from Caesar at his request. He is to appear before Nero and give an account of his work, teaching, and testimony concerning the Lord Jesus Christ and the salvation from sin He provides to all people. He had spent the better part of three decades travelling throughout most of the vast Roman Empire telling everyone he met about the Lord Jesus. At one time a violent opponent of the fledgling church, which he had seen as a threat to God and the Jewish faith had been stopped and dramatically converted on the road to Damascus by the risen, glorified Lord Jesus Christ. He had chosen this murderous fanatic to be His messenger and spread the Gospel to those lands beyond Judea (Acts 1:1-11).
Paul had dealt with numerous hardships. He had written about them in letters to the churches he had founded, helped to strengthen and often rebuke for the sake of the Gospel and to see people freed from the penalties of sin and eternal death through the mercy and grace of Jesus Christ. Over the years he had debated with the Pharisees, cast out demons, healed the sick, silenced sorcerers, argued before the philosophers of Athens, and had survived being nearly stoned to death by a mob outside the city of Lystra. He wrote letters about the need to teach sound doctrine, how to live as a follower of Christ, and issue correction to the churches while he often languished in a prison cell not knowing if he would live to see another day. He spent time with young pastors, encouraging and mentoring them concerning the teaching of Scripture, the rise of false teachers, personal and church conduct, and discipline.
Paul spent time with his fellow Jews, showing in the Scriptures that Jesus Christ was the promised Messiah and fulfilled the prophecies, just as the risen Lord had taught to the two men traveling on the road to Emmaus (Luke 24:13-27). The Gospel message Peter preached on the Day of Pentecost (Acts 2:14-39) resulted in 3,000 Jews repenting of their sins and coming to Christ for salvation. The Gospel remained within Jewish circles until the conversion of the Roman centurion Cornelius, mentioned in Acts 10. The message of salvation was available to the Gentiles also, and it would be Paul, Barnabas, Silas, and others who would commit themselves to spreading the Word to them. Towards the end of Paul's ministry, the opposition to the Gospel from the Jews was escalating, becoming more hostile and argumentative.
Because of this hostility from the Jewish leaders and others, Paul told them that he would take the Gospel to the Gentiles from that time on. When you read his letters, they were all addressed to Gentile cities and individuals (Rome, Corinth. Ephesus, Colossae, Thessalonica, Galatia, Philippi, Philemon, and Timothy). The Gentiles tended to be more open to the Word of God as they saw that their pagan deities really offered nothing. The generations of Christian elders and pastors who followed the lead of the apostles saw the expansion of Jesus' message spread throughout the Empire and lands that included what are today the nations of Russia, India, Persia, the Balkans, Asia, and later, the Americas.
The message of salvation in Jesus Christ (John 14:6; Acts 4:12) has traveled around the world, more so in these final days due to the work of those men and women who were and are dedicated to Him. They brought the Bible and their testimony to places and people who were in spiritual darkness or imprisoned by ungodly authorities who had vowed to prevent the Gospel from entering their countries. Over the centuries, the message has often been blurred and sometimes mishandled by clerics, clerks, and crusaders, but has always been able to return to the original message of the need to repent and surrender their lives to Christ. Salvation is of the LORD and not your words or works (Ephesians 2:8-9). Before we can understand what salvation means in terms of peace with God, we need to know why we even need to be saved in the first place. The question is, "Saved from what?" The Gospel message makes no sense if we fail to answer that question and what it means in terms of the consequences for anyone who either receives the message or rejects it, throwing away their only chance of escaping the wrath of God that is to come upon this world as punishment for our sin, rebellion, and hatred against Him.
We come to Jesus for salvation because we are sinners, wicked and reprehensible. Sin has numerous characteristics such as filthy talk (Proverbs 10:19), contempt for others (Proverbs 14:21), foolish thinking (Proverbs 24:9), unbelief (Romans 14:23), lawbreaking (1John 3:4), and all manner of unrighteous behavior and speech (1 John 5:17). The Bible says that sin originated in the heart of the archangel Lucifer (Isaiah 14:12-17; Ezekiel 28:11-17). He and a third of the angels rebelled against God's rule in heaven. Lucifer believed that he should receive praise and honor and rule instead of God. He and the rebellious angels were thrown out of heaven and cast to the earth. Lucifer, now known as Satan (a word meaning "the adversary") used his evil reasoning to have Adam and Eve doubt God and rebel against Him, believing the lie that the evil one had planted within their mind and heart (Genesis 3:5; Psalm 51:5; Romans 5:19).
Because Adam, the first man, is the federal head of humanity, his rebellious nature was passed to all generations. We are all sinners without exception (Job 4:17; Psalm 14:3, 53:3; Isaiah 53:6, 64:6; Romans 3:23; 1 John 1:8). We have no excuse for our sins, and we do not want to give them up if possible (John 15:22; Romans 1:20, 2:1; Job 15:16, 20:12; Psalm 52:3; 2 Thess. 2:11-12). The end result of sin is spiritual, mental, and physical destruction (Proverbs 8:36, 11:3, 19, 13:20, 18:7, 26:27). God hates sin and will not tolerate it in His presence. He will punish all who persist in their sins (Psalm 11:5, 53:5; Isaiah 43:24; Luke 16:15; Rev.18:4, 20:11-15). Nobody will get away with anything. Everything will be uncovered and exposed. No one will be able to give either excuses or alibis on the day of Judgment (Matt.25:32; Acts 17:31; Romans 2;16, 14:12; 2 Cor. 5:10; Rev. 20:12).
The Bible says that it is Jesus Christ who, as God Incarnate is willing and able to deliver us from the coming wrath (Psalm 72:13; Luke 2:11, 19:10; John 3:16-17; Acts 5:31; 1 Tim. 1:15; 2 Tim.1:10; Hebrews 7:25; 1 John 4:14). Jesus is God's substitute for our sins (Isaiah 53:5, 11; 1 Cor. 15:3; 1 Peter 2:24, 3:18). He willingly bore our sins upon His sinless body out of love and mercy for us (Hebrews 9:28; 1 John 3:5; Matt.8:17; John 19:17). He became the sacrifice for sin, paid in full at the cross (John 15:33, 18:4, 19:30; 1 Peter 3:18; 1 John 3:16; Rev. 1:5). His death and resurrection were the foreordained plan of God to redeem us, since we are incapable of doing it ourselves (John 10:11, 12:23-24; Romans 5:6; 1 Cor. 15:3; Rev. 5:9). Jesus is our only intercessor (Isaiah 59:16). He is the only remedy for sin (John 3:14-17). He is true spiritual nourishment (John 6:35), the only source of truth (John 6:67-68, 14:6), the only Savior (Acts 4:12), and the sure foundation of life (1 Cor.3:11; Colossians 3:11).
To even imply that the story of Jesus and His reason for ministry was some fabrication of a past culture is sheer ridiculousness for these reasons: Why should we even bother to write any type of religious work where it insists that we cannot do anything in our own strength or ability to redeem ourselves before God? Why would we even bother to record humanity's worst behaviors and actions and not gloss over them by rewriting the events or not mentioning them at all? With our egos, over inflated senses of self-worth, and the arrogant belief that we can do no wrong, why then would any of us even want to write a book where we would admit to needing or believing in a deity? We have the idea that we can do everything ourselves, including self-improvement or restitution. Us? Evil? Wicked? Why, that's offensive, narrowminded, and hateful! Leave things to our own care and attention and we become content to wallow in a rancid cesspool of immorality and unethical living.
Scripture says that Almighty God, whom we have sinned and rebelled against throughout the course of history, could have left us to rot in our sins and head to hell at the end of our lives, and He would have been perfectly just in allowing it to happen. Yet, out of His sheer mercy, He chose to deliver us even though we do not deserve it in any way, shape, or form. This is the heart and foundation of what it means to be saved. It is all of God and we play no part except to respond with gratitude Repent of your sins and surrender your life to the Lord Jesus Christ. The gift of salvation is free and yours to receive by faith. He is waiting for you with open arms and a loving embrace. Do not wait or put it off (2 Cor. 6:2). Jesus will save you and never leave or forsake you (Hebrews 13:5). He promised and He has the scars to prove it. Amen.
donaldwhitchard@outlook.com
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