When they had appointed a day for him, they came to him at his lodging in greater numbers. From morning till evening he expounded to them, testifying to the kingdom of God and trying to convince them about Jesus both from the Law of Moses and from the Prophets. And some were convinced by what he said, but others disbelieved.
Acts 28:23-24
And as the book of Acts ends, Paul, faithful to his passion and call to preach Jesus everywhere is doing his best to convince Jews in Rome to believe in Jesus as Lord and Savior. In an evangelistic, doctrinal, apologetic tour de force Paul spends days sharing Christ from the Old Testament, answering questions, and challenging objections so that his fellow countrymen might come to Jesus. He is simply following the pattern of ministry, even as a prisoner in Rome, that began with the first missionary efforts he pioneered so many years earlier. He seeks out the Jews first.
Could you imagine spending an entire day, for several days straight, reasoning out the gospel with someone? That’s not elevator speech evangelism by any means. And that reality described here reminds me of the commitment that Christians should have to seriously talk through the gospel with those who will hear it.
The call to advance Christ’s kingdom takes work. We aren’t telemarketers. Don’t count on a gospel tract to carry the weight of eternity to someone on its own. We must open our lives to those who need to know Jesus. We must have conversations that are engaging. We must be prepared to answer questions and show Jesus from the scriptures as well as our lives.
And in the end some will believe and some will not. We are called to invest in the effort even with mixed results. Sharing Jesus is a privilege and natural outflow of following Jesus.
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