Ep 416 – Acts 13:42-52

Over the centuries, millions upon millions of people have rejected the offer of salvation from sin offered through Jesus Christ. They heard the message, but deemed it untenable or unnecessary. People from all walks of life and from virtually every nation in the world have chosen to reject Jesus. They preferred the darkness over the light. They found more satisfaction and comfort in what they know, what was familiar to them, than in that which they couldn't fully understand or explain. In Acts 13:42-52, we will see Paul and Barnabas running into just such a group of people. In this case, they were Jews who chose to reject and contradict the words of Paul and Barnabas, refusing to believe what they had to say. And as a result, Paul accused them of being unworthy of eternal life. Paul was not indicating that eternal life has to be earned or deserved in some way. He was simply indicating that their stubborn refusal to accept the message of salvation made possible through faith in Jesus Christ kept them in a state of perpetual spiritual darkness. They had always been unworthy. Their sin separated them from God and condemned them to His judgment. But had they chosen to accept the free gift of eternal life offered to them by God, they would have been made right with Him, deemed worthy not because of anything they had done, but because of what Jesus had done for them.