Written by Luke, the book of Acts begins where
the Gospel of Luke ends, namely with the ascension of Jesus. In
his Gospel, Luke traced the advance of the gospel from an obscure
village, Nazareth, to the center of Jewish life, Jerusalem; in
Acts he continued the story of the advance of the gospel from
an obscure city, Jerusalem, to the center of empire, Rome. The
gospel progressed from obscure origins to prominent influence
(1:8).
Luke told about Pentecost, Peter, some early events in Jerusalem,
Stephen and persecution. He described the preaching of Philip,
the conversion of Saul, the ministry of Peter in Judea, the church
at Antioch, and continuing persecution. Luike detailed three missionary
journeys of Paul and concluded with Paul's arrival in Rome ( not
bothering to explain what happened to Paul in Rome!). Luke's focus
in Acts is on the spread of the gospel by the power of the Spirit
of Christ.
Much of this information Luke acquired firsthand while accompanying
Paul (notice the change from "they" to "we"
in (16:10); the earlier events he could have acquired by research
while they were in Jerusalem (21:17 ff.),
Paul wrote Romans in lieu of a trip to Rome.
He was in Corinth, but circumstances prevented his going on farther
(15:25). So instead of a personal visit, Paul explained the things
he would otherwise have told them in person. He wanted to assure
the saints in that the coming of Jesus Christ was indeed the fulfillment
of God's promises in the Old Testament (1:2; 16:26). He put this
coming of Christ into a very comprehensive perspective, so that
the book of Romans is the most powerful theology of history in
the Bible.
Because God created the world, all people ought to be able to
know and worship God simply on the basis of nature (1:20). But,beginning
with Adam, sin has plunged everyone instead into the evils which
bring down God's wrath on them (5:15-17). Even the law which God
gave at Sinai, as good as it was, did not succeed in making Israelites
righteous (8:3). But now, through Christ, God declares people
righteous simply on the basis of their believing in Jesus (3:22;
10:10). So believers are required to order their lives, not on
the basis of the Jewish laws, but on the basis of serving Christ
in the Holy Spirit (14:17,18).
While at Ephesus, Paul heard of various troubles
in the church at Corinth, analyzed them one by one in this letter,and
gave his advice about them. Corinth was at that time (A.D. 55)
a very large, busy - and immoral - city. That environment surely
contributed to the problems in the church.
Paul urged them not to let their preference for various ministers
obscure their primary loyalty to God (3:3 ff.); to expel a member
who was unrepentant for the sin of incest (5:1,2); to avoid lawsuits
(6:1); to flee from sexual immorality (6;18); to prefer celibacy
over marriage (7:1); to accept divorce only if an unbelieving
spouse desired it (7:15); not to be bothered by eating food sacrificed
to idols unless a weaker brother made a point of it (8:9-13);
to dress inoffensively for public worship (11:2-16); to conduct
their church suppers in an orderly way (11:20 ff.); to resist
efforts to deny the resurrection (15:12); and to have a financial
contribution for God's people in Jerusalem ready by the time Paul
got there (16;1-3).
Apparently many people in Corinth did not appreciate
Paul's earlier letter (1 Corinthians), for in this letter Paul
had to deal extensively with their repudiation of his apostolic
authority. Paul had just recently survived a dangerous crisis
in Ephesus (1:8: Acts 19:23), and now he had to deal with his
damaged reputation in Corinth.
Paul reviewed his ministry by reminding the Corinthians that what
he had preached was from God (5:18), by recalling the enormous
sufferings he underwent for the gospel (6:4-10), and by describing
his personal behavior among them (chaps, 10-11). Through it all
Paul kept his priorites clear: he was an ambassador of Christ
using his authority for building up and not for tearing down(13:10).
If the Corinthian church could understand and accept this, it
would grow in spiritual strength, able to appreciate the ministry
of various people as the church matured in faith and obedience
and love.
Though the original date and destination of this
letter is uncertain, it seems probable that it was addressed to
the churches in southern Galatia which Paul and Barnabus founded
on the first missionary journey. Galations was occasioned by the
growing influence in the Galation churches of teachers known as
Judaizers: people who insisted that Gentile Christians must observe
Jewish laws in addition to believing in Christ. The Judaizers
were making headway among the Galations by challenging the adequacy
of Paul's teaching teaching. Paul, they said was not an apostle
like the Twelve, and hence had been preaching only part of the
truth about salvation.
In reply. Paul defended his apostolic authority vigorously, beginning
in the very first verse. Then, going back to the example of Abraham
(3:6 ff.), he insisted that righteousness did not come by observing
the Jewish laws but simply by faith in Christ. And finally, building
on the test case of circumcision, he urged Christians to reject
all such requirements and to stand fast in the freedom of Christ
(5:1,2).
Since some of the oldest manuscripts of this
letter do not containthe words "in Ephesus" many scholars
regard it as a circular letter intended for all the churches
in and around Ephesus. Writing from prison. Paul addressed a
serious problem afflicting the Christians in the province of
Asia: conflict between Jewish and Gentile Christians. This tension
was threatening to split Christians into two groups and thus
to destroy the unity of the church.
Paul insisted that it was God's purpose from eternity that the
gospel be preached to Gentiles (1:10; 3:8,9). That eternal purpose
had now been disclosed in Christ, so that Gentiles, once foreigners
to God's covenants, were made fellow citizens with God's people
(2:12,19).
Colossians
Thessalonians 1 and 2