Paul Preaches the Gospel

In Acts 17, Paul preached the gospel to Gentiles. He is speaking to people who have never heard the gospel. Let’s examine what Paul does not say in Acts 17. Paul doesn't say Jesus loves you and wants to be your friend, or that God loves you and wants to have a relationship with you. No, Paul preached, "God is now declaring to men that all people everywhere should repent, because He has fixed a day in which He will judge the world in righteousness through a Man whom He has appointed, having furnished proof to all men by raising Him from the dead."

So Paul stood in the midst of the Areopagus and said, “Men of Athens, I observe that you are very religious in all respects. For while I was passing through and examining the objects of your worship, I also found an altar with this inscription, ‘TO AN UNKNOWN GOD.’ Therefore what you worship in ignorance, this I proclaim to you. The God who made the world and all things in it, since He is Lord of heaven and earth, does not dwell in temples made with hands; nor is He served by human hands, as though He needed anything, since He Himself gives to all people life and breath and all things; and He made from one man every nation of mankind to live on all the face of the earth, having determined their appointed times and the boundaries of their habitation, that they would seek God, if perhaps they might grope for Him and find Him, though He is not far from each one of us; for in Him we live and move and exist, as even some of your own poets have said, ‘For we also are His children.’ Being then the children of God, we ought not to think that the Divine Nature is like gold or silver or stone, an image formed by the art and thought of man. Therefore having overlooked the times of ignorance, God is now declaring to men that all people everywhere should repent, because He has fixed a day in which He will judge the world in righteousness through a Man whom He has appointed, having furnished proof to all men by raising Him from the dead.”
Acts 17:22-31 NASB

Everywhere we look in scripture, the people declaring the gospel are declaring to repent. If repentance is not preached and lived out, then a person can't have a relationship with God. They cannot enter into the new covenant that Jesus came to create for us. I hear all the time that people have experiences with God, they think that means God is pleased with them, and they have a relationship with God. These same people practice lawlessness, which is sin. 1 John 3 makes it very clear that if you practice sin, you are not a child of God.

No one who abides in Him sins; no one who sins has seen Him or knows Him. Little children, make sure no one deceives you; the one who practices righteousness is righteous, just as He is righteous; the one who practices sin is of the devil; for the devil has sinned from the beginning. The Son of God appeared for this purpose, to destroy the works of the devil.
1 John 3:6-8 NASB

Romans 2:4 says this:

Or do you think lightly of the riches of His kindness and tolerance and patience, not knowing that the kindness of God leads you to repentance?
Romans 2:4 NASB

Jesus says this in Matthew 5:44–45.

But I say to you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, so that you may be sons of your Father who is in heaven; for He causes His sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous.
Matthew 5:44-45 NASB

We see here that God's goodness and blessings do not equate to God being pleased with one's life. In reality, a disciple of Jesus is promised the refinement process. Which is a process of pain and suffering to learn obedience, like Jesus did. Hebrews says this:

In the days of His flesh, He offered up both prayers and supplications with loud crying and tears to the One able to save Him from death, and He was heard because of His piety. Although He was a Son, He learned obedience from the things which He suffered. And having been made perfect, He became to all those who obey Him the source of eternal salvation,
Hebrews 5:7-9 NASB

Jesus tells us this in Matthew 10.

“A disciple is not above his teacher, nor a slave above his master. It is enough for the disciple that he become like his teacher, and the slave like his master. If they have called the head of the house Beelzebul, how much more will they malign the members of his household! “Therefore do not fear them, for there is nothing concealed that will not be revealed, or hidden that will not be known. What I tell you in the darkness, speak in the light; and what you hear whispered in your ear, proclaim upon the housetops. Do not fear those who kill the body but are unable to kill the soul; but rather fear Him who is able to destroy both soul and body in hell.
Matthew 10:24-28 NASB

We must examine the scriptures to see if what we hear from teachers, preachers, and pastors is actually what is in scripture. I don't want to base my eternity on someone else's teaching or opinion. This is terrifying to me. We shouldn't assume that the person we are listening to is speaking the truth to us. I encourage everyone I disciple to dig into the scripture and examine it themselves; never just listen to what I am telling them.

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1 Heart 1 MindApril 27, 2025