In Acts 13, the apostle Paul got an interesting reaction to his sermon at Antioch. “When the Jews went out of the synagogue, the Gentiles begged that these words might be preached to them the next Sabbath” (v. 42). The people were saying, “Please, we want to hear that message again.” That’s like music to the ears of a pastor.
These Gentiles, who were converts to Judaism, were called God-fearers. They had never heard the gospel of grace before. Every week in the synagogue, they listened to Jewish sermons about the Torah, the Law, the Psalms, etc. “Do this, don’t do that.” “Be a good person. Don’t be a bad person,” etc.
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Paul had preached a message that told them all you need to do is trust in Jesus. Believe by faith, and you’ll be justified and cleansed. You don’t have to go through all these rituals, all this legalism. When the Gentiles heard this, they thought, “We want some more of that!”
“Now when the congregation had broken up, many of the Jews and devout proselytes”—that is, converts to Judaism—”followed Paul and Barnabas, who, speaking to them, persuaded them to continue in the grace of God” (v. 43). Please mark that. They didn’t continue in the law of God, but in the grace of God. Because it was the gospel of grace Paul was preaching. As it says in John 1:17, “For the law was given through Moses, but grace and truth came through Jesus Christ.”
Most people can’t handle the pure gospel of grace. Either they don’t understand it and think it’s a license to do whatever they want, or they’re insulted because, after all, “It has to be up to me! I’ve got to work my way to heaven. I’ve got to make God like me.” So they have a problem with the unmerited favor of God. […]
— Read More: harbingersdaily.com
