The Book of Acts | God’s Revelation of Transition

Session 41 | Acts 3:17-39

Acts 13:13-43 | Paul’s First Address to the Synagogue in Pisidian Antioch

• Verses 13-16 included on session 40
• Verses 17-22 –
  • Paul begins his sermon with a brief overview of Israel’s history:
    • God chose the Jewish people and made them a nation even while in exile in Egypt, and then brought them out with His strength (v. 17).
    • God endured their complaints for 40 years (v. 18).
    • God destroyed seven nations in the Promised Land in order that His nation could live on the land. According to Deuteronomy 7:1, these nations were the Hittites, Girgashites, Amorites, Canaanites, Perizzites, Hivites, and Jebusites, and these nations were greater and mightier than thou (Dt. 7:1).
    • God provided judges for 450 years, ending with Samuel the prophet (v. 20). (A chronological study is beyond the scope of this study. Interested students should consult Appendix 50 of The Companion Bible by E.W. Bullinger).
    • God punished the nation by giving them King Saul for 40 years (v. 21).
    • God raised up David and prophesied that David shall fulfil all my will (v. 22).
  • Paul’s emphasis will be on this prophecy.
• Verse 23 –
  • David was one which shall fulfil all my will (v. 22), and Paul teaches that it was Of this man’s seed (i.e.: David’s descendants) that God has raised unto Israel a Saviour, Jesus. This Savior is here presented as the Messianic (Kingdom) Savior.
• Verse 24 –
  • When John had first preached God had already raised unto Israel a Savior, Jesus (v. 23), who, at the time of John’s preaching, had not been presented to the world as the Savior.
  • Paul notes that John’s preaching was clearly the baptism of repentance and was a message directed to the people of Israel alone.
    • This baptism is one of repentance not into repentance, that is, both water baptism and repentance of sins were required in John’s preaching.
    • Anyone who preaches this today is not preaching Paul’s Gospel, but up to this point in Israel’s history, it was the only preaching to be found or that could be given.
    • The basis of salvation by grace required the grace of the cross prior and thus could not be offered prior to the cross.
• Verse 25 –
  • Because John fulfilled his course he pointed beyond the baptism of repentance (v. 24) to the Jesus, the One greater than John.
  • John pointed to a dispensational change (though he did not know nor expect the dispensation of grace, rather, he knew and expected the dispensation of the Kingdom).
• Verse 26 –
  • Again, Paul speaks to both the children of the stock of Abraham as well as the whosoever among the crowd.
  • Paul uses a pronoun of this salvation, and the object of the pronoun is difficult to discern.
    • Does he speak of the salvation of John’s preaching? That makes sense in context but doesn’t agree in that John’s message was to the people of Israel (v. 24) and this salvation appears to reach a broader audience.
    • The KJV translators seem to believe that this salvation is not John’s, because they translated the aorist (point in time) verb as is sent rather than was sent, which would be required if they believed it was speaking of John’s message. The aorist tense can be past, present, or future, but must be a single point in time.
• Verses 27-31 –
  • This note steps back in time to discuss how things progressed to this point.
  • Approximately 12 years earlier in Jerusalem sent Jesus to be put to death by Pilate.
    • They did this because they knew him not nor did they understand the prophets which are read every sabbath day.
    • The rulers inadvertently, through ignorance, fulfilled them (i.e.: the prophecies about the Messiah) in condemning him.
    • Everything that took place on the cross was previously prophesied (v. 29).
    • On the third day, Jesus was resurrected (v. 30) and appeared many days to His followers of Galilee, and these followers are his witnesses unto the people (v. 31).
• Verses 32-37 –
  • The promise which was made unto the fathers is the resurrection, specifically.
  • This is made clear in the context, with promises / prophecies quoted from Psalm 2:7, Isaiah 55:3, and Psalm 16:10.
  • If one makes the promise which was made unto the fathers be the Pauline Gospel, then several problems arise, including:
    • Paul claims in several places that his gospel was an unsearchable mystery.
    • None of the Scripture passages quoted support this theory.
    • Paul’s conclusion in verse 37 does not support this theory.
  • The Jewish fathers did receive promises, and they were promises of salvation, but the salvation was always in and through the nation and always earthly and physical.
• Verses 38-39 –
  • I submit to you this proposition: that the good news of these two verses has never previously been proclaimed.
  • This conclusion is fundamentally different from that preached by Peter, who taught the Law and a baptism of repentance unto Salvation. That is, Peter taught the same as John (see v. 24).
  • Peter did not preach:
    • Forgiveness of sins in this manner-
      • Peter taught through a baptism of repentance one could come “unto the forgiveness of sins”
      • Only a stretch of imagination can remove the works aspect of Peter’s sermon. The words themselves demand obedient works.
      • Peter was not incorrect, he was just speaking to a different dispensation.
  • Everyone who believes is justified from all things.
    • Peter’s message was not for everyone but for “as many as the Lord our God will call to Himself.”
    • Peter’s message was not a justification from all things, but rather a justification when there was obedience to the Law. Compare Luke 18:14 and Romans 2:13.
  • Was this the first time we have this Gospel message?
    • No Pauline epistles had been written at this point.
    • John 3:15-16 speaks of a future event, which is a prophesied time of salvation by belief, but is salvation through the Kingdom (note John 3:3).