After Paul’s conversion, he made it a custom to go to synagogues to preach to the God-fearing Jews and Gentiles from Scripture telling them that Jesus was the Messiah they have been waiting for and shared the good news of God’s grace of forgiveness and His kingdom to come to all who believed in Jesus as their Lord.
Ever since the Jews returned from Babylon, they put their hope in the prophesied Messiah return to save them from foreign rulers and once again be free in the promised land.
Today you do not hear of someone like Paul going into Synagogues and preaching about Jesus being their Messiah and now Israel is a free and independent governing state in their promised land which they once believed that their Messiah to come would give them. Today Israel lives with constant unrest, finding no peace from their enemies.
But Revelations those tell us that one day 144,000 Jews will be chosen to be holy to Jesus and will follow and serve him before God’s kingdom comes.
Like Paul, disciples of Jesus must always be prepared to share the gospel, which Peter tells us to be.
1 Peter 3: 15 But in your hearts set apart Christ as Lord. Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have. But do this with gentleness and respect,
Peter said we must always be prepared to share the hope we have in Jesus if someone sincerely asks you why you believe in God. When we know the God of the Bible we can be like Paul as he addressed Greek philosophers in Acts17, who asked him to share his belief in God. These Greek men only believed in their many mythical gods like Zeus and Hermes, which they said Barnabas and Paul were in Lystra.
Read Acts 17: 22-32 and see how Paul shared who his God was.
Like these Greeks we were once like them believing in all kinds of different religious beliefs, superstitions, myths, and mythical gods. Like many in Hawaii we were raised believing in the mythical Pele, goddess of fire. You hear her name spoken on tv news when Kilauea erupts. We hear that it was bad luck to take a lava rock around Kilauea or a heiau and good luck when waving a green tea leaf. When I was young my mom told me, it was bad luck to whistle or cut my toenails at night and when we came home visiting the graveyard or from a funeral service we needed to throw salt over our back to ward off bad spirits from coming in.
Many in Christ church still believe in these kinds of myths and superstitions which would not please Jesus when church leaders are not correcting them to give them up and know their true God.
Paul being understanding of these Greeks never condemns them for their belief. So, in the same way we need to be understanding of people’s beliefs and be like Paul in the way he revealed his God.
Paul knew his audience were religious, so if someone ask you about your faith in God first find out if they are religious. If an atheist asks you to prove your God to them, you know in Romans, Paul said that God’s existence and divine nature is evident in his creation, so you do not need prove to someone God exist he has done that for you.
Jesus and his apostles always shared with God fearing people, so best to share your hope to someone who believes in a divine being.
To share like Paul, you need to know God intimately from the Bible and do not expect those you share to knows the Bible or believe it is the very words of God. Be like Paul and share what you know is true about God from Scripture with conviction and never share what is not true.
Like Paul we believe God created everything and he is the Lord of heaven and earth. God’s home is in heaven and not in buildings made by man. God does not need anything from us for everything belongs to him, even our life and breath he gives to us. We believe through the 1st man he created everyone on earth was made through him. We believe that God has made everyone to be born at a certain time and place specifically to seek him and maybe reach out to him and find him because God is never far from anyone. God being our creator makes everyone his children. God is Spirit and there is no manmade image that can reveal him. God sent his Son to save us by dying for our sins that kept us from Him and he proved it by raising his Son from the grave so that one day his Son will judge this world with justice wanting everyone to repent and be saved before that day comes.
After Paul shared his hope in God some believed and others did not and that will be the same for all Christ ambassadors who share the hope they have in Jesus, trusting that only God knows who he has called to be saved.
Acts 2: 39 The promise is for you and your children and for all who are far off--for all whom the Lord our God will call."
Be safe in Jesus,
Ps Glenn