Truly, these times of ignorance God overlooked, but now commands all men everywhere to repent
(Acts 17:30 NKJV)

we must repent of our sins

You have heard the popular religious slogans of the day.  “There is no God.”  “If there is a God, He is off duty.”  “God is not concerned what we do.”  “God will save us; it’s His job.”

It would be difficult for so many to be so wrong about a subject so important.  As Paul addresses the Athenian philosophers, he refutes each of these false claims.  Paul schools these learned men in sound doctrine.  By preserving these lessons in the Bible, the Lord teaches modern man as well.

Paul’s primary premise is that there is a God and He will judge us: “…because He has appointed a day on which He will judge the world in righteousness by the Man whom He has ordained. He has given assurance of this to all by raising Him from the dead” – Acts 17:31.

How can we know the judgment is real?  God’s assurance is based on the resurrection of His Son.  The future Judgment is as certain as this past fact. 

Our only question is this: how should we live in view of the Judgment?

1. We can begin by taking sin seriously v.30. 
2. We must repent of our sins, v.30. 
3. We do not plead ignorance or make excuses for our faults or character flaws, v.30. 
4. We must know the will of God, v.30. 
5. We must realize that if God will judge the world; I will be in that number, v.31.
6. We must know that His standard of judgment is His holy Word, v.31; Jn.12:48.

-- Rick Duggin