Many Christians focus their ministries on salvation of the lost. Praise God! The lost need to be saved! But is salvation of the lost the only goal to strive for? Or is it just the start of a greater goal?
In Acts 18 when Paul arrived in Corinth he began to teach and reason with people in the synagogue every Sabbath. Verse 4 says he was trying to persuade Jews and Greeks, testifying that the Christ was Jesus. Verse 11 says he stayed a year and six months, “teaching the Word of God among them.” In Ephesus he stayed for two years where Acts 19:8 says, “And he entered the synagogue and for three months spoke boldly, reasoning and persuading them about the kingdom of God.”
In several other places in the book of Acts Paul is said to be teaching or preaching about the “kingdom of God.” This goes beyond simply the message of personal salvation for the forgiveness of our sin (though this is a necessary part of salvation) to the greater concept of living as a part of the kingdom of God, here, now.
The Compact Dictionary of Doctrinal Words defines “kingdom of God” as “A world that emulates heaven; God’s reign as king over all the earth. The Kingdom of God also refers to the kingdom of Jesus.”
As I have studied the book of Acts, I have understood that Paul was preaching that God’s kingdom had come. He was reasoning with people from the Law and the Prophets so they would understand Christ as a part of God’s plan for his creation from the beginning. He taught that He is the One spoken of in Isaiah as the One who would come to rule. (Isaiah 9:6-7 ESV)
Paul faced great opposition from Jewish leaders and from Roman rulers, not because he preached that Jesus came to save us from our personal sins, but because he was teaching that the Kingdom of God was upon us and Jesus had come as King. These other leaders did not want to face a Divine Ruler they could not overtake or conquer.
The question this raises is, are our expectations and practices of evangelism today too small? Does a simple response to the salvation message and a prayer repeated as we recite the words for the “new believer” to follow really save a person from an eternity in Hell? If Paul preached and reasoned with people for days or months, persuading them of the truth from the whole of scripture, can we assume that he was aiming for obedience to the King? For the conquering of the kingdom of darkness?
Are we willing to follow Paul’s example and investment of time to reason with, persuade and preach to his neighbors? Jesus said, “Go and make disciples,” not go and make converts.
Is salvation the destination we want people to reach – or is it the kingdom of God with all its abundance for His disciples, including the work He has prepared for us to do?
For the kingdom of God is not a matter of eating and drinking but of righteousness and peace and joy in the Holy Spirit. Romans 14:17
