Our readings in this series are from the book, Such a Great Salvation. Here is a brief excerpt from pages 24 and 25:
“When Paul arrived in Ephesus for the first time, he encountered twelve men who professed faith in Jesus Christ. They had heard the message of John the Baptist, that they should prepare for the coming of the Messiah, and they had learned that Jesus, to Whom John pointed, was that Messiah. And they believed and were saved. Truly and sincerely saved.
“These twelve men must have been conspicuous in their belief in Jesus. Perhaps they sold their idols of the city’s patron deity, Diana. Or refused to join in the celebrations at her luxurious temple. Or maybe they just seemed more joyful and at peace in their religion than their frenzied neighbors, who, like all good Greek worshipers, labored to appease their deities, rather than to know and love them.
“But these men, distinct as they must have been—since Paul seems to have had no trouble finding them—had embraced only the barest kernel of Christian faith—what we might call near Christianity. They knew nothing of the Spirit of God and thus nothing of the Kingdom of Jesus, nor the call to seek that Kingdom and live for Christ’s glory in every area of their lives, nor of the power for bearing holy fruit and persuasive witness to Jesus. They had no incentive for evangelism, perhaps concluding that their neighbors would not be interested in what little they could tell them about following Jesus.
“Paul’s response to their status was to immediately begin teaching them ‘the things of the kingdom of God.’”
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T. M. Moore.
