Forum.jpgIf I had to summarize Paul’s gospel, I’d use Luke’s last scene in Acts, and I would suggest this text summarizes the missional theology of Paul in the Book of Acts:

28:30 Paul lived there two whole years in his own rented quarters and welcomed all who came to him, 28:31 proclaiming the kingdom of God and teaching about the Lord Jesus Christ with complete boldness and without restriction.

Paul’s gospel is summed up in two expressions: kingdom of God and Lord Jesus Christ. The gospel is about the society where God’s people do God’s reigning will and embody his will in a redemptive way, particularly for Paul now in contrast to the Roman empire’s way of doing things. And, the gospel is all about Jesus, the one from Nazareth; that Jesus is the Messiah, which sums up the entire plan of God through Israel’s Story; and that Messiah Jesus is now the crucified and resurrected and ruling Lord, no matter what kind of statues and cult are being worshiped and observed in the Roman forum — Paul’s gospel, then, strikes at the core of what makes Rome tick, and it strikes into that with force and power through the power of the Spirit.


Missional theology is tied up with these themes: it’s about what God is doing in this world, and what God is doing is redeeming, rescuing, and re-establishing power through and under the life, death, resurrection and ruling exaltation of Jesus, Christ, and Lord.
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