"Get up and stand on your feet; for this purpose I have appeared to you, to appoint you a minister and a witness not only to the things which you have seen, but also to the things in which I will appear to you; rescuing you from the Jewish people and from the Gentiles, to whom I am sending you, to open their eyes so that they may turn from darkness to light and from the dominion of Satan to God, that they may receive forgiveness of sins and an inheritance among those who have been sanctified by faith in Me." (Acts 26:16-18)Quite a commission. He would be a "witness." Like the disciples would in Acts 1:8. Paul, like all of us, was called to "witness" ... to tell what he knew. Not a Campus Crusade program. Not Evangelism Explosion. Just what he knew. Like when John starts his epistle with, "What we have seen and heard we proclaim to you also, so that you too may have fellowship with us; and indeed our fellowship is with the Father, and with His Son Jesus Christ" (1 John 1:3). A witness.
The thing about his commission that caught my eye was that call "to open their eyes." Now, that's odd, isn't it? I mean, there weren't a lot of blind people listed in Paul's dealings, so it wasn't physical blindness. So what opening of eyes was required? Paul tells us in his second letter to the Corinthians of "those who are perishing, in whose case the god of this world has blinded the minds of the unbelieving so that they might not see the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God" (2 Cor 4:3-4). According to Scripture, humans as a race are blinded by Satan to the light of the gospel. That explains a lot. Why don't people believe the gospel? They're blinded. Why don't the Jews read their own prophecies and believe in their Messiah? They're blinded. Why is there such opposition to God's truth? They're blinded. And Paul was called to open their eyes. But ... was he? I mean, did he even have the capacity? No, of course not. So Paul writes, "For God, who said, 'Light shall shine out of darkness,' is the One who has shone in our hearts to give the Light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Christ" (2 Cor 4:6). Paul's job, then, was to be the tool God would use to shine the light and open their eyes. So, as in the case of Lydia, "the Lord opened her heart to respond" (Acts 16:14).
Paul's job ... our job ... is to "open their eyes so that they may turn from darkness to light and from the dominion of Satan to God, that they may receive forgiveness of sins and an inheritance among those who have been sanctified by faith in Me." We do it by being available, by being obedient, by telling the truth and not evading the gospel. Every time a person comes to Christ, it is a miracle. Like the man born blind, they can say, "One thing I do know, that though I was blind, now I see" (John 9:25). How? Why? We only know that God did it. And we can be a part of that if we're willing. If we're obedient.
4 comments:
It is such a blessing that God has chosen to cooperate with us to save His people. Unbelievers will claim (falsely) that if God simply showed up and spoke to them, they'd believe. But that isn't His chosen mode if communication. He certainly could, and has in certain cases. He has chosen to bless His followers with aiding in the blessing of other people.
Stan, I am curious if you are familiar with a book by Will Metzger titled, Tell the Truth: The Whole Gospel to the Whole Person by Whole People (originally published in 1981 and revised and expanded in 2002). (It is described as “a training manual on the message and methods of God-centered witnessing.”) Its content mirrors today’s post so much that I wondered if you were perhaps influenced by it. (You don’t mention books or authors much in your posts, but I assume you too are an avid reader; I might be wrong, of course.)
I read a lot, but not that. I just taught Acts 26 and saw it there.
I asked someone once, "What would it take for you to believe?" He said, "If He stood in front of me." I said, "He tried that; it didn't work."
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