Called to be a Light

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PODCAST

September 2nd, 2012

There are two “Antiochs” in Acts: Antioch in Syria, where believers were first called Christians; and Pisidian Antioch, a Roman colony in central Asia Minor or modern-day Turkey.

The residents were divided between Roman “colonists,” mainly retired Roman military and their families, and “natives,” Greek-speaking people. Acts 13 also tells us there was a sizeable Jewish population, including “devout converts” (v. 43).

Paul and Barnabas began their ministry with this Jewish group. Some accepted the message of Jesus, but others opposed it. God had called the Jews to be “a light for the Gentiles” and to “bring salvation to the ends of the earth” (v. 47). They were doing neither. Rather than revealing the light they were obscuring it, rather than bringing salvation they brought condemnation on themselves and their hearers.

Jesus has called us to be “light” in our world and to spread the good news of salvation wherever we go. How sad if we found out we were fighting the very thing God called us to be.