We continue the series of articles “Learn to evangelize with the Apostle Paul”. Was it adapted from the eBook? Upsetting the World? By John Crotts, available for free download. In this article, Crotts explains the last point of Paul’s gospel message to non-Jewish intellectuals.
But God did not take into account the times of ignorance; now, however, he counsels men that all, everywhere, repent; because he has established a day when he will judge the world righteously, through a man who intended and believed above all, resurrecting him from the dead (Acts 17:30-31).
- Athenian wise ignorance is a recurring theme for Paul.
- Times of ignorance were those in which the light of God’s revelation was confined to a nation; Instead of shining the light of God blessing other nations.
- Israel hid it under a great Celemin.
- The world wallowed in ignorance.
- However.
- As we have seen.
- The world has never been in total darkness.
The dim light of general revelation in creation, conscience, and provision (Acts 14:16, 17) has always shone; But in their sinful state, nations have suppressed their light; spiritual ignorance is never a blessing because it is never innocent. The pagan superstitions and false religions currently practiced in the world are not harmless. Participants in these empty religious activities sin against the one true God. They’re guilty.
The fact that the time of past ignorance was not “taken into account” confirms that it was guilty ignorance. “You Athenians,” Paul says, “are guilty before God, no matter how piously you have acted away from God. “
? Not taking this into account does not mean going unnoticed or forgiven. Romans 3:25 declares that God proposed to Jesus, “in his blood, as a propitiation, by faith, to manifest his righteousness, because God, in his tolerance, has allowed sins committed before unpunished. ” Acts 14:16, 17, Romans 3:25 and Acts 17 indicate to all that the coming of Christ provided a new beginning in God’s relationship with humanity. 49 The gospel of Christ was released from Israel to the nations, but now nations have a higher level of responsibility. FFBruce correctly concludes that “if ignorance of the divine nature was by default before, now it is unforgivable” 50
The call to repentance is universal. Not only do everyone need repentance, but everyone everywhere. The guilt of ignorance will soon be questioned. Repentance is a change in a person’s most fundamental worldview, or a heart attitude that produces a lifestyle change. In Athens, as in Thessaloniki, abandoning idols would be a test of repentance (?Leaving idols, have you converted to God, to serve?The living and true God ?, 1 Thessaloniki 1. 9), but in both cases this call is not limited to idols, God demands a total change of heart and life.
There are three immutable facts about the judgment to come in verse 31:
All people who live on the day of Jesus’ return will be eligible for judgment. All people who died before Jesus’ return will also be eligible for judgment. The rich and the poor will be judged. The ups and downs will also be judged, the judge will look at people with hair of all colors, eyes of all colors and skins of all colors, without exceptions.
There will be no possibility of injustice51. No tortuous lawyer can release a guilty defendant to the judge. This judgment will be a great demonstration of God’s essential righteousness.
I don’t know what day you set for the trial, but I know you’ve already set a day. Every day that passes brings us closer to the day of the trial already set. As Kent Hughes said, “Humanity is not going towards extinction (as epicureans thought), nor towards absorption into the cosmos (as the stoics thought). But does humanity go [directly] to divine judgment?
Not only has the day been determined, but the judge who is the appointee has also been appointed?
How did God anoint with the Holy Spirit and with power Jesus of Nazareth, who walked everywhere, doing good and healing all the oppressed of the devil, because God was with him?And he sent us to preach to the people, and to testify that he was the judge of the living and the dead; from him all the prophets bear witness that, by name, everyone who believes in him receives the remission of sins (Acts 10:38, 42-43).
In truth, I truly tell you, the time has come and the time has come when the dead will hear the voice of the Son of God; And those who hear it will live; for just as the Father has life in himself, he also gave life to the Son in himself; and gave him power to judge, because he is the Son of Man. , for the time comes when all who are in the tombs will hear his voice and come forth: those who did good, for the resurrection of life; and to those who did evil, for resurrection of judgment (John 5:25-29).
“All nations were created from the first man, Adam; by the last Adam, will all nations be judged?. 53 Jesus’ visible validation as a judge came when he rose from the dead. The Resurrection confirmed Jesus and declared it to both. Lord and judge, as Paul said, in his message to the Athenians, God “thought and believed before all, resurrecting him from the dead. “
Everything Jesus taught was confirmed by the Resurrection. Jesus was not only another well-meaning teacher, someone sincere, but sincerely false; he did not die solely for a noble cause. Jesus Christ literally rose from the dead on the third day. His message was correct and his judgment is correct.
And there is Paul, standing, at the center of the scene of the intellectual and religious capital of the Roman Empire. No one believes that a person can rise from the dead. But does Paul, by any chance, involve his audience in a philosophical philosophy?Basis for the plausibility of the resurrection? No, he’s just saying that. Instead of trying to prove that Jesus is alive, he proclaims that Jesus is alive and lets the Holy Spirit open the hearts of his listeners to the authenticity of his story. Then, after simply proclaiming the resurrection as a fact, he uses it as evidence. judgment to come.