Read Acts 17:22-31
Paul was committed to sharing the knowledge of salvation through Jesus Christ with everyone he met. When he came to Athens, the great city of culture, learning, and philosophy, he was struck by the many temples and idols to pagan gods. On the Areopagus, Paul shared the message of Christ with the Athenians. Let’s take a look at his method. First, Paul’s approach was personal. He began to compliment the Athenians on their religious nature. Because they had an altar to an “unknown god,” Paul took that as his “hook” to tell them about the one true God in a way they could understand. Second, Paul turned to repentance. He spoke to the Athenians about creation and God’s provision for man. God did this, Paul says in verse 27, because He wanted man to seek Him and follow Him. However, despite man’s sin and idolatry, which Paul calls “ignorance,” God commands “all people everywhere to repent.” Finally, Paul focused on Jesus and His resurrection. At this point, the Athenians might have said that Paul was a “fire and brimstone preacher.” He warned the people that judgement was coming. That judgement was going to be coming through Jesus Christ, who made the claim to be the final judge over all humanity. Many people have made claims. But, God validated Jesus’s claims by raising Him from the dead after His crucifixion. Paul was ridiculed by the Athenians for mentioning a resurrection from the dead. However, a few individuals believed in the message of Christ. Today, we may not get to make a full gospel presentation, either to an individual or a crowd. However, we need to be more mindful of where we can start gospel conversations. Instead of focusing on “social distancing,” are you focused on “gospel opportunity observation”?
Mark Riser - Apologist 