Passage Read: Acts 28 - Romans 1
Meditation Verses: Acts 28:24-26
Thought
"Some were being persuaded..., but others would not believe." It amazes me how quickly Paul expected a response, and how quickly he turned to a rebuke and, in effect, a warning of judgment. Some were being persuaded, yet he wasn't afraid to quote Isaiah about the hardness of their hearts and the impossibility of their hearing and seeing and understanding and believing! He expected faith that day, not just some being closer to believing. He was confident that he had given them enough proof and evidence that Jesus was the Messiah; he expected at least some to believe. When no one indicated belief, he didn't just warn them, but called them out as deaf and blind and stubborn. The Holy Spirit was present at his teaching, and they were resisting Him, even the ones who were being persuaded! Apparently, Paul wasn't afraid that his parting rebuke would derail those who were in process. If the Holy Spirit was drawing them, He would continue to do so—with the help of that rebuke! They needed to humble themselves, recognize their own blindness, repent and believe.
Application
I'm too soft on people today. I rely too much on facts and evidence and intellect, and not enough on the Holy Spirit, so that I think if someone doesn't believe the first time I explain the Gospel, they just need time to process the information or they need more detail. I treat salvation like an intellectual decision, when it's really one of faith that requires the work of the Holy Spirit yet sees the individual as responsible to respond in submission to His work. It is an activity in which I should have confidence that He is participating, doing His part. That doesn't mean I don't need to give a reasoned and sensible explanation of who Jesus is and what God requires of us. It means that when I've explained the truth of God and His call to every person to repent and believe, I should expect people to repent and believe! And if they don't, it's OK to point out that they're resisting the Holy Spirit and threatening their eternity! That's truth, as uncomfortable as it may be to hear and to speak, and it may be the spur they need to get out of their own wisdom and into God's.