Category Archives: bible

NT Doctrine — Acts 19

We come to another critical time in the early Christian religion. It’s easy to miss this point because Luke is more concerned with exonerating Paul before the Emperor’s court than with actually writing history. Luke’s narrative mentions Paul’s role in … Continue reading

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NT Doctrine — Acts 18

The purpose of Luke’s narrative was not to recount all the details of Paul’s ministry, but to show that he never caused trouble. In the case of Athens, when the audience lost interest in his teaching, he moved on. Corinth … Continue reading

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NT Doctrine — Acts 17:16-34

Luke returns to the third person, so he may have stayed for a time in Philippi. After leaving a very strongly established church in Philippi, the trio — Paul, Silas and Timothy — traveled along the Egnation Way to the … Continue reading

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NT Doctrine — Acts 16

Paul and Silas passed through the Cilician Taurus Mountains and went directly to Derbe on the plain beyond. Next was Lystra, the pagan Phrygian town where Jews were too few to have a synagogue, but thanks to Paul, they had … Continue reading

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NT Doctrine — Acts 15

In theory, the Covenant of Moses could have worked, had Israel been faithful. But it failed, and not because God didn’t invest enough effort. He gave far more than He promised. That covenant died on the Cross; its time on … Continue reading

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NT Doctrine — Acts 14

While it was certain the Gentiles would respond more strongly, Paul and Barnabas continued the same standard approach in each city, when possible. They would start with the Jewish synagogue and offer the gospel message to Jews first. So they … Continue reading

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NT Doctrine — Acts 13:13-52

After returning to Antioch, there came a time when prophets praying got the word to send out Paul and Barnabas on a missionary journey. They took John Mark along. The first headed to Barnabas’s home territory, the Island of Cyprus. … Continue reading

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NT Doctrine — Acts 12

The previous chapter takes us up to about AD 46. Once again, Luke pulls back in time to catch up some more background. What had happened in Jerusalem after Paul left? Back in AD 41, there was finally a Herodian … Continue reading

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NT Doctrine — Acts 11:15-30

Peter had used his last key; the Gentile treasury of souls had been opened to the Lord. It was one thing to go into all the world and preach the gospel, and we can be sure the Jewish believers were … Continue reading

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NT Doctrine — Acts 10

Peter had already crossed every ritual barrier of exclusion keeping people from God’s Presence, violating every Jewish prejudice. Jews remained hostile to allowing the Covenant blessings to fall on Gentiles, the very thing for which God had originally called them … Continue reading

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