The Most Basic Defense

Scripture: And now it is because of my hope in what God has promised our ancestors that I am on trial today. Acts 26:6

Observation: Paul begins his defense with the most basic of all things - the gospel. God promised mankind salvation through a Messiah who would redeem all people ... and he has delivered on that promise.

This is all Paul really says. He goes on to tell his personal story about how he discovered this truth, and then addresses the fact the he does preach this news to everyone as he has been commanded to do. However, there isn't any profound philosophy, surprise revelation, deep theology, or complex belief system. Paul simply says:

-- You all believe in God.
-- You all believe in the promises of the law and the prophets.
-- Well, it happened! Jesus came and fulfilled all prophesy as the Messiah.
-- I am telling people that.

Application: I have two thoughts about this. First ... those four bullets above represent a sound "test" for Christianity or any specific Christian church or denomination. Any church that teaches those four things, is teaching a right message (with of course education about the implications in your life if you do in fact believe in Jesus as Lord and Savior). Any denomination that is adding onto this ... like you can't drink coffee, or only 144,000 people get into heaven, or you can't take medicine ... these things are off. And if they at ALL back away from the fact that Jesus is Messiah, they aren't Christian at all.

Second, this is a evangelical message, but in our current "age" it runs into a problem: The number of non-believers who don't actually believe in God. Some don't believe in any God, some don't believe in a loving God the Creator, and some don't believe in the accuracy of the law and prophets. As a result, the message that "the Messiah came as promised" loses its foothold. This is a serious challenge for the 21st century church, and represents a place where leadership is needed in order to bring awareness of the existence and authority and love of God.

Prayer: Abba, father, I pray for people who refuse to even acknowledge you. I pray for those who will not even acknowledge you exist, or won't accept your nature as a loving and just father who wishes to reconcile us to yourself. Without that, it become so difficult to talk about Jesus. May those far from you, Lord, find you in their hearts anyway, so that there is at least a place where discovery of Jesus can begin. Amen.