THE GOSPEL OF CHRIST PREACHED IN ROME

Acts 28:23-24 And when they had appointed him a day, there came many to him into his lodging; to whom he expounded and testified the kingdom of God, persuading them concerning Jesus, both out of the Law of Moses, and out of the prophets, from morning till evening. And some believed the things, which were spoken, and some believed not.

Although they considered Christianity as a rebellious sect that defied and opposed the Law of Moses, the Jewish leaders of Rome desired to hear about it and have it explained to them more thoroughly. As he did at every opportunity that availed itself, when asked by these leaders in Rome, Paul gladly preached the gospel message of eternal salvation through the Son of God, Christ Jesus, the promised Savior of the world. When the day that had been appointed for his teaching to take place, there came many to him into his lodging. As he was a prisoner of the supreme magistrate of the Roman government, Paul was unable to go out among the people that desired to hear about his Christian doctrine. Whether room was made in his own abode, we are not told. It could very well have been that he was taken, under guard, to another home or building that was larger and more suitable for this public gathering.

And when they had assembled, Paul expounded and testified the kingdom of God, persuading them concerning Jesus. Paul taught the truth, purpose, and design of the kingdom of God - how He, in His divine wisdom, established His kingdom through, and for, His Son, Jesus Christ. In order to establish these truths without any controversy, Paul taught in a manner that all Jews should be able to relate to and fully understand. He used the inspired Old Testament truths, which all knowledgeable Jews knew and accepted as the will of God. From these, Paul taught the kingdom of God that He established through Christ Jesus, both out of the Law of Moses, and out of the prophets.

Although Luke recorded Paul's sermon in these few words, we are assured that it was delivered to his audience in much greater detail, and with much deeper explanation, because his preaching continued from morning till evening. No doubt Paul quoted many passages from the Old Testament history, which told of the Patriarchs that ruled each family of God's creation. No doubt he told of the calling of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, and the promise of God to each that through their Seed the entire world would be blessed. No doubt he quoted the prophets of old that foretold of the coming Messiah, and the establishment of His kingdom. No doubt Paul taught that, through this kingdom, God would offer eternal salvation to all that would accept His word, believe it to be true, and obey it as He required. No doubt Paul described this kingdom that was established by the Son of God, not as a physical kingdom on earth, but as a spiritual kingdom from which He would rule from His throne in Heaven at the right hand of God. No doubt, Paul taught them that the promised Seed of Abraham, was the Messiah through which all people of the world would be blessed. And finally, Paul, without any doubt, taught them that the promised Seed of Abraham, the Messiah, was the incontestable fulfillment of Old Testament prophecy that was fulfilled in His Son, Jesus Christ.

Paul preached the Holy Spirit-inspired message of God's salvation through Christ Jesus to these Jewish leaders in Rome, from morning till evening. The result of his preaching was that some believed the things, which were spoken, and some believed not. This was the people's response to the gospel of Christ in the first century, and it is has been the same response from people of all ages to the present day - some accepted, believed, and obeyed it, and some refused to hear it and completely rejected it (Also see 17:4-5; 18:6-8; 19:8-9). The verses following the lesson text tell us that there was a disagreement among the Jews about the teaching of Paul. Some agreed with him and some agreed not, remaining obstinately steadfast in their refusal to hear and believe the gospel of Christ, and departed from the assembly (Vs. 23).

When this took place, Paul immediately assured those remaining that such a reaction was foretold to the Jewish nation by the very prophets that their ancestors revered, upheld, and was often cited by their religious leaders. Lead by the Holy Spirit of God, Isaiah gave forth this prophecy. And Paul, quoting Isaiah 6:9-10, gave this reply to the Jews that refused to believe in Christ Jesus as the promised Savior: Hearing ye shall hear, and shall not understand; and seeing ye shall see, and not perceive: for the heart of this people is waxed gross, and their ears are dull of hearing, and their eyes have they closed; lest they should see with their eyes, and hear with their ears, and understand with their heart, and should be converted, and I should heal them (Vss. 27-28). When the disbelief of Christ as the Messiah by the Jewish nation is spoken of in the New Testament, this Old Testament passage is often quoted as the reason for their rejection. It was even quoted by Jesus (See Matt. 13:14; John 12:39-40).

Bias and prejudice, as demonstrated by the religious leaders of the Jewish population of Rome, are human characteristics that are learned. It is is also evident that these traits do not exist in early childhood. Rather, they are learned from the older generation in which children receive their home and scholarly instruction. Such is the case with our religious, or lack of religious, training today. All too often, in the early years of our lives, children gain religious training from parents and other teachers that have little, if any, knowledge of God's truths as revealed in His Holy Word. And how difficult it is to retrain one that has developed religious bias and prejudice from others that are living in sin and error. Even our Savior, Jesus Christ realized that righteous training could only be learned by those that are open and receptive as children to biblical truths. He said that except ye be converted, and become as little children, ye shall not enter into the kingdom of heaven (Matt. 18:3).

When a child is trained up in religious unbelief or error, then Paul's quotation from the Book of Isaiah, is so often also true to life in all ages of mankind. When ears have heard, and when the seeing eyes of the mind have believed, and accepted biblical interpretations that are contrary to the will of God, it is sometimes almost impossible to change them. When one's religious training is biased and prejudiced by false teaching, then all too often people, and especially children, develop ears ...dull of hearing, and ...eyes that are closed (Vs. 27) to the truths found in God's Holy Word. However, if, and when, such bias and prejudice is not completely engrained in one's heart, when a man or woman is capable of seeing the lost condition of their souls, and when one has a heart that is open and receptive to the doctrine of Christ, as it is found in God's new covenant with the world, then, and only then, can anyone be spiritually transformed and healed from the disease of sin, which can eternally destroy the souls of all mankind.

Although Old Testament prophecies assure us that God's plan of salvation was to be offered to the entire world, the Jewish people, taught by their priests, scribes, and other spiritual leaders, looked forward to an earthly kingdom ruled by the promised Messiah that was restricted to the Hebrew nation only. Gentiles were the enemies of the Jewish people. So strongly was this believed that they refused to accept Jesus Christ as the Savior because His gospel was being freely and openly preached to both Jews and Gentiles by the apostles of Christ. The Jews, for the most part, rejected the kingdom of Christ that was first offered to them. Not having the spiritual prejudices of the Jewish people, the Gentiles were more often open to the gospel of Christ. And when preached to them, they were more receptive to God's call to salvation - they heard it (Vs. 28), believed it, repented of their past sinful lives, confessed Jesus Christ to be the Son of God, were baptized for the remission of their sins, and, as it was on the day of Pentecost, were added to the church of Christ by God, Himself.

And when he had said these words, that the salvation of God is sent unto the Gentiles (Vs. 28), the Jews departed, and had great reasoning among themselves (Vs. 29). Turning their backs in unbelieving disrespect to God and His Son Jesus Christ, the Jews that had assembled desiring to hear of thee (Paul) what thou thinkest (Vs. 22a), gathered apart from the assembly, and debated among themselves what Paul had preached unto them. We have no record whether their great reasoning resulted in any of these Jewish leaders accepting God's call to salvation.

What Luke did record by inspiration of the Holy Spirit of God in the final passage of Acts of the Apostles is this: And Paul dwelt two whole years in his own hired house, and received all that came in unto him, preaching the kingdom of God, and teaching those things which concern the Lord Jesus Christ, with all confidence, no man forbidding him. What Paul preached, to whom he preached, and what the results of his preaching were, have been kept from us, but it is not significant, because God's complete plan of salvation through His Son, Jesus Christ has been sufficiently revealed to all people of the world, and in all generations. This we know: the apostle John was inspired by God and assured the world that these are written, that ye might believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God; and that believing ye might have life through His name (John 20:31). This is the basic tenet that every Christian throughout the world has heard, accepted, believed, and obtained the hope of eternal salvation by baptism into the body of Christ.