The 19th chapter of the book of Acts opens with the account of the apostle Paul coming to Ephesus and finding a group of men who were disciples. The word “disciples” simply means learners and does not necessarily infer any relationship to God. Probably these men had heard a message about the coming Messiah of Israel from Apollos who had been in Ephesus and he, along with this group, knew only of the baptism of John. Even though John the Baptist’s name appears in the New Testament gospels, he was in reality, the last of the Old Testament prophets (the dividing line between the law of the Old Testament and the grace of the New Testament is the death of Jesus Christ). John’s death prior to the death, burial and resurrection of Jesus Christ kept him from knowing the New Testament gospel (1 Cor. 15:1-4).
A principle found in Scripture is that God holds man responsible for the amount of truth (revealed Scripture) he has been given. John the Baptist had responded faithfully to what had been revealed in the Old Testament concerning sin and its forgiveness and consequently was a saved person. These disciples apparently had the same faith as John but they are living 24 years after the passion of Christ. Another principle found in the Bible is stated in Luke 12:48, “... For unto whomsoever much is given, of him shall be much required: and to whom men have committed much, of him they will ask the more.” At this point in time, these men were responsible for responding faithfully to the gospel that John did not know. Their eternal destiny depended upon either their reception by faith of its truth or their rejection of it.
So how could God hold these men accountable to believe a message they had not heard? That’s where the title of this THOUGHT enters. The requirements of the God’s holiness and justice also requires God’s love. His holiness demands absolute perfection which no man can obtain. We all come into this world as sinners (Psalm 51:5) and we all demonstrate our natures in acts of sin (Romans 3:23). There is absolutely nothing that we can do to redeem ourselves in that the penalty for sin is an eternal death (Isaiah 64:6, Romans 3:20). The heart of God desires that no one perish (2 Peter 3:9) and therefore He obligated Himself to see that these men would hear the good news of what Jesus Christ accomplished on the Cross of Calvary.
The chronology of events that brought Paul to Ephesus is a fascinating study. On his 2nd missionary journey, Paul wanted to go to Ephesus but was prevented by the Holy Spirit (Acts 16:6). At that particular time there were people in Macedonia whose hearts were open to the gospel and so the Spirit of God guided Paul there. Later, he would come to Ephesus (Acts 18:19) but this was before the arrival of Apollos (Acts 18:24-26) and so these men would not have yet been disciples. As the 19th chapter of Acts begins, Paul has just begun his 3rd missionary journey. Luke notes that Paul came to Ephesus “through the upper coasts.” Sir William Ramsay writes that this was not the regular trade route through the valleys, but roads through the hills which would have been more difficult to travel, but shorter and therefore quicker. The time was right for these men to hear and the heart of God moved the feet of Paul to deliver the message of the gospel.
The enormity of God’s love for man was demonstrated at Calvary (John 3:16, John 15:13). It continues to be manifested as His servants declare the message of salvation. It requires the hearer to respond in faith (John 1:12, Ephesians 2:8). And who knows, maybe it moved me to write this THOUGHT because you need to come to Christ today.