Acts 28:23-28 | Forfeiting the Truth

by | Apr 12, 2021

READ Acts 28:23-28

“For the hearts of these people have grown callous, their ears are hard of hearing, and they have shut their eyes…” (Acts 28:27a)

As we near the end of the book of Acts, we come to a sobering moment. Many Roman Jews have come to the city of Rome to hear Paul preach. From sun-up to sun-down, they listened as Paul laid out God’s plan of salvation through Christ Jesus. Some came to believe, while others did not. They debated among themselves about what they heard until Paul said one thing. He quoted a passage from Isaiah that they (as Jews) would have been familiar with:

“Keep listening, but do not understand;
keep looking, but do not perceive.
Make the minds of these people dull;
deafen their ears and blind their eyes;
otherwise they might see with their eyes
and hear with their ears,
understand with their minds,
turn back, and be healed.” (Isaiah 6:9-10)

Offended by what they heard, the Jews left. “He’s accusing us of being blind, deaf, and dull!” Paul is not afraid to step on toes and bruise egos in his declaration of the Gospel. Jesus did the same during His ministry, quoting the exact same passage. But Paul was right. The Jews who rejected Paul’s message did so because their hearts were hardened, calloused with unbelief. Unbelief is the daughter of Pride. It is born out of the thinking that you’re good, you’re smart, you are worthy, you have no need of a savior, or at the very least you had a hand in your own salvation. It refuses to recognize the bankruptcy of your own heart. The Jews had forfeited the Truth because of their unbelief, their unwillingness to recognize their own depravity.

They didn’t have faith.

Faith comes first by acknowledging that you need a savior, admitting to yourself that you are unworthy, that the only thing you have to offer God is your desperate need of Him—you bring nothing to the table but your brokenness. And that is EXACTLY what Jesus wants. That’s where He gets in, that is where change happens and the miracle of saving faith begins.

When you hear the beautiful message of the Gospel, don’t just listen with your ears, listen with your heart. Get past the offense of your bruised pride and give God your humility and your need. Then hope in Christ…for this hope does not disappoint!

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