Resurrection Hope on Trial, Pt. 3

Why does Paul take a defense speech and turn it into a time of evangelism before king and governor? The best answer to that question is that Luke is showing us that proclamation of the gospel is the church's best defense. Our behavior is unjustifiable unless Jesus is alive — but if He is, and the New Testament is true, then the rest of it follows from that. We ought to be evangelizing; we ought to be living for God; we ought to be found at the center of riots caused by people who can't stand the good news that Jesus does indeed live. In short, brothers and sisters, Paul's defense is simply "Christianity is true." That is all the church has to say for itself. We don't claim to do good on the world's terms; we are not a social relief organization that even an atheist could endorse. Our activities are only good, only make sense, if Jesus is really alive. We stand or fall on the certainty of His resurrection and reign.