Acts 28:31 (KJV)
Preaching the kingdom of God, and teaching those things which concern the Lord Jesus Christ, with all confidence, no man forbidding him.
The Bible says that for two whole years, Paul stayed in his own hired house with a Roman guard keeping him. People, both Jews and Gentiles, were permitted to visit him. Many did, because the Bible states that during those two years, he received all who came to him, “Preaching the kingdom of God, and teaching those things which concern the Lord Jesus Christ, with all confidence….” It further says, “…no man forbidding him.”
Imagine the impact this period of preaching must have had.
Rome was the central hub of the world at that time. “All roads,” they used to say, “lead to Rome.” People came and went from the city, spreading out to all parts of the known world: Europe, the Middle East, India, Africa, and possibly even China. Although it is speculative, it’s worth considering that some who had been influenced by Rome might have traveled as far as North and South America. History tells us Columbus discovered America, but there is evidence that Scandinavian and Norwegian explorers were here before him. The absence of documented history recording a Christian witness on the American continents before the 1400s does not necessarily mean there wasn't one.
Some believe the Apostle Paul was eventually released from his hired house prison, traveled to Spain and perhaps the British Isles, and was later imprisoned again in Rome, placed in a dungeon, and executed sometime after that. I do not know. The Bible does not give any indication of this. However, I am confident that, just as Paul was able to win Onesimus to the Lord and return him to Philemon, he must have led many others to the Lord from various parts of the known world. These new believers likely returned with the gospel message to places we cannot even imagine.
God is not limited by what we think we know. Nor does His influence need to be associated with myths, such as those proposed by the Mormons. It is very possible that the gospel, as it was preached in the first century, reached the uttermost parts of the world prior to and independent of recorded church history.
#PreachingInRome #KingdomOfGod #PaulInChains #UnstoppableGospel #EarlyChristianWitness
Unhindered: Paul's Final Years
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