Now get up and stand on your feet. I’ve appeared to you to appoint you to serve me and tell other people about me. You must tell others what I’ve shown you today and what I’ll show you in the future.
to serve Christ Jesus among the Gentiles. I’m like a priest of the good news, and I want the Gentiles to be an offering that pleases God because it has been made holy by the Holy Spirit.
But you must keep your faith steady and firm and not move away from the hope that the good news is offering you. This is the good news that you heard. It has been preached to every creature under heaven and I, Paul, am its servant.
I went because God showed me that he wanted me to go. I met privately with those who are respected as leaders. I presented to them the good news that I preach among the Gentiles. I wanted to be sure that it wasn’t useless for me to keep presenting the good news that way.
But as for you, stay in control of yourself no matter what happens. Don’t give up when things become difficult. Work to spread the good news. Fulfill all the responsibilities of your work.
If you point out these things to the brothers and sisters, you will be serving Christ Jesus well. You’ll show that you’ve been strengthened by the truths of the faith and by the good teaching you’ve obeyed.
All this is from God, who brought us back to himself through Christ and gave us the task of bringing others back to him. God wants us to let them know that
Through him we received grace to become apostles to the Gentiles and through that grace to bring them to obedience to God by trusting in Jesus. We do this to bring glory to him.
But I’m not going to try to save my own life. My only goal is to finish the race and complete the work that the Lord Jesus has given me, to tell others the good news about God’s grace.