Rēad to Read …Again
Daily Reading: Acts 18-20
Acts 18:6
And when they opposed themselves, and blasphemed, he shook his raiment, and said unto them, Your blood be upon your own heads; I am clean: from henceforth I will go unto the Gentiles.
Personal responsibility.
Paul had a responsibility to tell everyone about the saving knowledge of Jesus Christ. He was commissioned as the Apostle to the Gentiles (Acts 9:15) but he gave the gospel to all including the Jews. He was serious about his calling. All who are saved are called to be witnesses of Christ to a lost and dying world. That is one of the responsibilities connected with being a child of God (Matthew 28:19, Acts 1:8) The apostle Paul took that responsibility seriously.
Those that hear have a responsibility to receive. Yet, these opposed themselves and even blasphemed God. They exercised their free will to reject that which was preached and taught by Paul.
Each will live the results of their decisions.
This principle was not new with Paul. All the way back in Ezekiel it is recorded, Son of man, I have made thee a watchman unto the house of Israel: therefore hear the word at my mouth, and give them warning from me. When I say unto the wicked, Thou shalt surely die; and thou givest him not warning, nor speakest to warn the wicked from his wicked way, to save his life; the same wicked man shall die in his iniquity; but his blood will I require at thine hand. Yet if thou warn the wicked, and he turn not from his wickedness, nor from his wicked way, he shall die in his iniquity; but thou hast delivered thy soul. Ezekiel 3:17-19 That phrase …Your blood be upon your own heads;… comes from a proper application of that which God said to Ezekiel.
But personal responsibility goes way back before Ezekiel’s day. All the way back in Genesis 4:7 God tells Cain, If thou doest well, shalt thou not be accepted?... Cain and Abel knew what to bring to God for sacrifice. Abel chose wisely, Cain did not. It was their personal responsibility to bring the suitable sacrifice to God. But even before that, their parents, Adam and Eve had a personal responsibility to not eat that forbidden fruit.
Not only is personal responsibility an old teaching, it is a future teaching. In the very last chapter of the Bible in verse 17 the last invitation is given. The churches of all time (bride), the individuals in those churches (him that heareth) are to simply invite others to Come. That is their responsibility. Those that hear have the choice, come or not come. Whosoever will, can take of that water of life freely. That is their choice, their responsibility.
Many good, well meaning, and faithful Christians come to the place of despair and discouragement thinking that they have “not done enough”, or failed, or somehow are responsible if those they give the gospel to reject it. None of these feelings or thoughts are true. If any person gives the truth of the Bible to another and it is rejected, it is not the faithful believer’s failure. They fulfilled their responsibility, what the hearer does with it is their responsibility. This is proven in the life of Paul, in Ezekiel and all the prophets, in Genesis all the way unto Revelation.
Dr. William T. Howe
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