Contextualization In Acts Summary

Paul was an educated man who had an encounter with Jesus and began preaching the gospel to the Gentiles while helping to establish the church through missions. He was a very passionate man who was inspired by the Holy Spirit to spread the gospel. He was formerly known as “Paul of Tarsus”. He had a troubled beginning before he took a journey down Damascus Road. After his conversion, Paul wrote 13 books in the New Testament. Many people’s lives were transformed by Paul’s willingness and diligence to spread the gospel to unbelievers. Because Paul was led by the Holy Ghost, he was able to equip other leaders and caused the gospel to be spread across the world.
Paul was named Saul at birth and his father was from Galilee. Howard suggests …show more content…
Paul wrote 13 books in the New Testament. Some scholars suggest that Paul wrote Hebrews, but others give credit to Luke. Despite that argument, Paul was instrumental in defining the churches’ roles and inspired many missionaries on their journeys. Hengel talks about Paul’s messages and his demeanor on the mission fields. In Hengel’s writing, he suggests Paul was flexible and cultural sensitive. On numerous occasions, Paul was inspired by the Holy Spirit to speak to both Jews and Gentiles. In “Contextualization in Acts”, Hengel writes that there was a difference between Paul’s writing to the churches as opposed to his preaching in the synagogues. As a preacher, Paul was more evangelistic and explained the Messiah’s death, burial, and resurrection. Many of Paul’s sermons were targeted messages and addressed the common ground of a particular audience. Paul contextualized his messages and shared stories to help his audiences understand the gospel. If the demographic of the audience were educated people, Paul adapted his message to ensure everyone was able to grasp his messages. Because Paul was a rabbi, teacher, and lawyer, it helped Paul to win souls from the urban elite to the uneducated farmer. Even when Paul confronted people, his messages were about Jesus and his death burial and resurrection. Flemming suggests that Paul’s messages were similar to Peter’s messages. Peter’s messages used scriptures as a foundation, told the story of Jesus, and climaxes with Jesus’s resurrection. Other parts to Peter’s messages were the promise of salvation and it is available to everyone that believed in the name of Jesus. However, Paul was limited to discussing the identity of the living God with Zeus because it could open the door to syncretism. Paul became all things to all men to ensure that everyone had an opportunity to receive the gospel. Due to his willingness to learn as a young man,