As we have been studying the life of Paul in the book of Acts, I hope you have noticed one of the reoccurring themes; the Gentiles were receptive of the Gospel message. After Cornelius and his household were baptized into Christ (Acts 10:34-48), Gentile people became a focus of Paul’s missionary journeys. Paul traveled to idolatrous cities; such as Athens, Corinth, and Ephesus who were Gentile dominant locations (Acts 17:16-23; 18:1-17; 19:1-10). At Athens Paul delivered a powerful message to a Greek audience. Two individuals, whose names were clearly Greek, believed and obeyed Christ (Acts 17:34). At Corinth, the Jews refused the message, but the Gentiles were eager to put on Christ (Acts 18:4-8). In the city of Ephesus, everyone heard about Paul’s miracles and both Jews and Greeks believed (Acts 19:11-18). The Gentiles showed their complete repentance of paganism and magic by bringing these books and burning them (Acts 19:19-20). Why were the Gentiles more receptive to the Gospel compared to the Jews, who knew God and His word?

The Gentiles worshiped their idols because they feared the repercussions if they did not. In Greek mythology, the gods were portrayed as cruel towards mankind; the slightest mistake or offense could result in harsh punishments. This is precisely why the Athenians made an altar to the unknown deity; just in case they overlooked one (Acts 17:22-23). The Canaanite people believed their idols would not answer their prayers unless extreme measures like blood-letting or children being sacrificed were taken (1 Kgs. 18:28; (Deut. 12:29-32). When Gentiles heard that God came in the flesh and died for their sins, they must have been perplexed because in their minds gods did not die for man; that was just foolishness to them (1 Cor. 1:22-24)! To learn that the Son of God willingly died for sinners and the unjust would have been incomprehensible (Rom. 5:6-11). In Isaiah, God prophesied that kings and nations would be startled, or amazed, when they heard the report of Christ bearing their sins (Is. 52:13-53:12). The salvation God provides, the righteous living He demands, and the self-sacrificial love that Christ extended to all people was something they could never obtain outside of Jesus (Titus 2:11-14).

Another factor for the Gentiles eagerly obeying the Gospel was the special relationship available to them through God’s Son (Eph. 3:1-7). Throughout the Roman empire, a person’s ethnicity and citizenship status had a lot of weight on how they were treated by others (Acts 16:35-38). Non-Romans were viewed as beneath the privileged few and not important. Though God had a special relationship with Israel in the Old Testament, that does not mean He abandoned the Gentiles. Melchizedek was a Gentile king and priest to God, Ruth was a Moabite who followed the Lord, and Jonah preached to Gentiles in Nineveh. All of these examples show that God cared for the Gentiles, but there were differences (Ex. 19:5-6). The coming of Christ and His death extended the special relationship with God to all mankind (Gal. 3:26-29). Whether a person was the lowliest slave or the wealthiest master, all were God’s children (Eph. 6:5-9).

God provided the sacrifice that was necessary to forgive the entire world’s sins, (1 Jn. 2:1-2), but each induvial must decide if they will accept God’s salvation (Rev. 3:20-22). God’s sacrificial love and desire to have a special relationship with all has not changed, nor will it ever. The blood was shed and the price paid in full when Jesus died on the cross; the only thing missing is your humility and obedience to God’s plan of salvation.

-Brandon Foresha