Paul's Call to Action
'Testing Luke' #32
What's in the series? Previous: What was Paul's Message?
Paul's message was all about Jesus Christ – about who he was, and what he had done. Paul said that Jesus was the Son of God, and that he had died and been raised from the dead. Because of this, people can have their sins forgiven and find peace with God.
Paul was not just giving people information about Jesus. His message also included a call to action – there is something we need to do because of these facts about Jesus. In fact, there are two things:
First, we need to change our attitude towards God – to turn away from going our own way, and turn to God.
The Greek word for this is often translated in English Bibles by the word 'repent.' This just means 'turn around,' or 'change your mind.'
In Paul's world, he was calling people literally to turn away from following other gods, and turn to the one true God. In our world today, it could be a call to turn away from the things that we put in place of God – such as sex, or money, or fame.
Second, Paul called on his hearers to believe in Jesus. 'Believe' means more than just accepting with your mind that something is true. It means trusting in Jesus. It is the difference between 'believing that' something is true and 'believing in' someone.
We have come to the end of this series. We have seen again and again that Luke has written a reliable account of real people in real places, and he gets the local details right. The question now is how will you respond to Paul's message – what will you do about it? What you decide will make all the difference to your life.
To discuss this video please visit www.facebook.com/godnewevidence.
