Remission of Sins…
That brings us to the next part of our text: “that repentance for the forgiveness of sins should be proclaimed in his name to all nations…” (emphasis added). Because forgiveness is the greatest need of mankind, Christians have the greatest news to proclaim!
Last year, my wife and I took our son, Zachary, to the doctor and she diagnosed him with an ear infection; and, like good doctors do, she not only prescribed the medication for him but she also provided the right dosage – you could say – how he was supposed to take the medicine: amoxicillin, twice a day, with a specific amount of milligrams. In like manner, when we are sharing the Gospel we want to make sure we properly tell people howto appropriate and receive the great news of the Gospel of Jesus Christ; namely, repent and believe. If we provide the right medicine without giving the proper way for that medicine to be received, our job is in incomplete.
46 Then He said to them, “Thus it is written, and thus it was necessary for the Christ to suffer and to rise from the dead the third day, 47 and that repentance and remission of sins should be preached in His name to all nations, beginning at Jerusalem. (Lk. 24:46,47 NKJV)
After Jesus, recently resurrected from the dead, opened the minds of His disciples to understand the Scriptures (Lk. 24:45), and presumably after He gave them an Emmaus Road-like Bible study similar to the one Cleopas and other unnamed disciples received (vs.27), He concluded by saying, “Thus it is written and thus it was necessary for the Christ to suffer and rise from the dead the third day” (vs.46). Their ‘kingdom now’ expectations had been part of the reason they overlooked the Scriptures explicit predictions – the Christ was to suffer, die, and rise (Isa. 53; Ps. 22; 16:10). It was not an aberration of the plan of God and neither was it a contingency; it always was the plan. The promises found in Moses, the prophets, and the Psalms all bore witness to that.
As the Book of Judges opens there are two things that are immediately noticeable to the reader: (1) Joshua has died and so life without Joshua begins for the children of Israel, and (2), the children of Israel get off to a good start.
Joshua had led the people into the Promised Land and to many wonderful victories but now the nation was in a position where they needed to collectively rely upon God because the presence of an intercessor like a Moses or Joshua wasn’t there.
14 I thank God that I baptized none of you except Crispus and Gaius, 15 lest anyone should say that I had baptized in my own name. 16 Yes, I also baptized the household of Stephanas. Besides, I do not know whether I baptized any other. 17 For Christ did not send me to baptize, but to preach the gospel, not with wisdom of words, lest the cross of Christ should be made of no effect. (1 Corinthians 1:14-17)
Before Paul began an extended discourse about Christ crucified being the wisdom of God and the power of God (1 Cor. 1:18-2:5), he first gave, what we might call, an interesting bit of thanksgiving. Having already given God thanks for the way His grace was at work in the Corinthian church (vs.4-9), he then thanked God that he hadn’t baptized any of the Corinthians except Crispus (vs.14c), the ruler of the synagogue in Corinth who “believed on the Lord with all his household” (Acts. 18:8b), Gaius (1 Cor. 1:14c), the Corinthian believer who hosted Paul while he wrote the epistle to Rome (Rom. 16:23), and “the household of Stephanas” (1 Cor. 1:16b). It’s not every day you hear someone give thanks for who they haven’t baptized. But Paul’s thanksgiving was not without a good explanation.
Don’t Go Down Envy’s Path
Don’t Worry About Anything, Pray About Everything (Phil 4:6)
Focus in Prayer
Embracing Contentment While Trusting God’s Providence (Luke 9:4)
Learning To Be Content (Phil. 4:11)
Knox, Latimer and the Fear of God
Supposed Bible Contradictions – Should We Steal? (Ex 20:15; 19:13; Ex 12:35-36)
Supposed Bible Contradictions – Is God Peaceable? (Rom. 15:33; Ex. 15:3)
Supposed Bible Contradictions – How Should Adulterers Be Punished? (Lev 20:10; Jn 8:3-11)
Supposed Bible Contradictions – Who Moved David to Number Israel?
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