The History of Salvation
Closing the series, Paul’s epistles fall within a clear chronology of his ministry, sorted into four natural divisions. What stands out most, tying 1 Corinthians 11:1 to Paul’s final words in 2 Timothy, is how fully Paul lives out the very doctrines of Christ he spent his life writing.
Paul’s third missionary journey carries him through Ephesus, Macedonia, Greece, and Troas, following Christ’s own pattern in setting his face toward Jerusalem. That journey reveals the real focus of the whole book of Acts.
The stage is set with James before turning to the sharp confrontation at Antioch, where Paul corrects Peter to his face. Paul’s letters to the Thessalonians and his wider second missionary journey follow, the same gospel integrity worked out in new territory.
The Gentile mission sits at the very center of God’s plan, summarized as Acts 9-11 spreads the gospel to tribes and tongues far beyond Israel. In a real sense, we ourselves are still that Gentile mission underway.
Saul is traced from his birthplace in Tarsus through his zealous persecution of the church to his supernatural conversion into Paul. That conversion is at once utterly unique and, in its basic shape, common to every true conversion since.
A squabble over deacons sets up Stephen’s ministry and stoning, which actually spreads the gospel rather than silencing it. Philip’s encounter with the Ethiopian eunuch carries that spread further still, always tied to the plain importance of the Word in the apostles’ own miracles.
Four keys for reading the book of Acts rightly get set out: it records the acts of the reigning Christ, the acts of the Holy Spirit, and truly the acts of the apostles, with its whole focus resting on action and activity rather than doctrine alone.
The real difficulties in harmonizing the gospel accounts of the resurrection get worked through honestly, without papering over them. From that honest reckoning come three points on why Christ’s resurrection matters as much as it does.
The Monday and Tuesday before the crucifixion get walked through in detail, letting the events themselves accumulate. What emerges is a genuine mystery: the deliberate, layered rejection of Christ by those who should have known him.
Peter’s faith is heroic before it is mature, still shaped by an earthly, millennial hope rather than true understanding. Jesus corrects it directly at the transfiguration, then turns in chapter 18 to teach the humility that heroic faith still lacks.