Jesus came to break down barriers that had long existed, including male and female, rich and poor and, especially, between Jews and Gentiles (Galatians 3:28). He broke down “the middle wall of separation,” made “one new man from the two,” and reconciled them “both to God in one body through the cross.” The purpose was to make “peace” and welcome everyone from every possible background into His universal kingdom (Ephesians 2:14-17).

That was not easily accomplished. There were centuries, at least 15 or more, of hatred between the Jews and everyone else. Long engrained enmity dies hard. To sit beside a Gentile Christian in a worship service was a very difficult concept for a Jewish Christian to contemplate.

There was one issue that was especially contentious, the question of circumcision. For many generations, the Jews had considered circumcision to be a symbol of acceptance before God. A circumcised male was pleasing to the Lord; an uncircumcised person never would be acceptable.

While many Jews were willing to accept the idea that Gentiles could become Christians, this problem of circumcision remained. The solution that some came up with was simple. Gentiles who became Christians had to be circumcised. The only problem with that was that it was a “human wisdom” answer, not one that came from God. So when these “Judaizing teachers,” as they are often called, began to insist, “Unless you are circumcised according to the custom of Moses, you cannot be saved” (Acts 15:1), the unity of the body of Christ was in danger.

It was left to the inspired apostles to sort through this matter. This chapter shows us how they solved the dilemma, by appealing to command, apostolic example and inescapable conclusion (often called necessary inference). Using these standards of authority, it was determined that circumcision was not essential for salvation after all. Please notice that they did not take a vote of the attending parties to determine God’s will.

At the end of Chapter 15, Paul and Barnabas decide to go on another preaching tour. A disagreement arises between them about whether to take John Mark with them. In the end, Barnabas takes Mark and sails to Cyprus. Paul chooses Silas and goes a different direction. The inspired record follows the progress of Paul as he begins his second preaching journey.

--Roger Hillis

The Bible’s repeated, clear-cut designation of the Law of Moses as “THE Law” adds a compelling degree of force to its existence. If God saw it as the only Law, it might surprise us to find another Bible passage which would suggest another law’s preeminence. And yet, this is exactly what we find in Hebrews chapters 8, 9, and 10. There, as he expounds the fact that Christ is God’s better plan for redemption in every single way, the writer continually makes passing remarks about The Law’s passing, changing, and fading glory (cf. 2 Cor. 3). In its place, the Bible writers continually elevate what they call “the law of Christ” (1 Cor. 9:21, Gal. 6:2). What is the difference? What does this mean for us?

The difference is simple: Christ.

Christ is the ultimate manifestation of all the necessary tenets of the sacrifice system codified under the Law of Moses. He is the perfected manifestation of moral law-keeping outlined in the Law of Moses. He is the accomplishment of the Laws promises to bless Israel for their faithfulness. He is, in all things, the completion of the Law’s purposes. 

And this is why there is a law “of Christ.” Not just because he is the sovereign power behind this law (although he is), but because he is at the center of this law. The law under which Christians live, then, is governed by him as he extrapolates, explains, and fulfills “The Law” that God’s people have lived under for thousands of years hence. This means, of course, that some of our moral obligations have changed to reflect his superiority to the old system—especially, though not exclusively, the need to offer animal sacrifices. But understanding him as the completion of the Law is healthy in that it keeps us from wholesale abandonment of the principles of holiness outlined in The Law for such a long time.

The Old Testament literally contains thousands of years worth of theology as God revealed himself at various times and in various ways, and we would be foolish to disregard it as though it were only a relic of a bygone time. Rather, we revere The Law because we revere the God who conceived it, the Spirit who inspired it, and the Christ who fulfilled it. To be sure, there are elements of it which no longer bear on our behavior as individuals and groups of believers. But equally sure is the value that it has in teaching us to be holy because he is holy.

- Dan Lankford, minister

Chapters 13 and 14 relate the details of Paul’s first preaching journey.

In Iconium, Paul and Barnabas speak in the Jewish synagogue and convert “a great multitude” of both Jews and Gentiles. They stay “a long time” until some local unbelievers want to stone them, so they flee to Lystra and Derbe, preaching the gospel in both places. In a later chapter, we will be introduced to a young disciple named Timothy, who lived in this area and was probably converted to Christ on this part of Paul’s journey. Paul will refer to him as his “son in the faith.”

Paul performs a miracle of healing on a lame man who had never walked. This causes the people of Lystra to believe that Paul and Barnabas are gods, Zeus (Barnabas) and Hermes (Paul). When the Lystrans try to offer sacrifice to them, they are barely able to convince them to stop (verse 18).

One verse later (verse 19), Jews from Antioch and Iconium come and persuade the Lystrans to stone Paul to the point of death. He mentions this stoning in 2 Corinthians 11:25. Paul immediately arises and goes with Barnabas back to Derbe, where they make many disciples.

As the next phase in their ongoing mission, Paul and Barnabas revisit many of the cities where they have been before and strengthen the Christians to encourage them to remain faithful to the Lord even through difficult times. And they take the amazing step of appointing elders in every church that they have planted.

Visiting a few more cities, Paul and Barnabas sail back to Antioch of Syria, where this first preaching journey began.

“Now when they had come and gathered the church together, they reported all that God had done with them, and that He had opened the door of faith to the Gentiles. So they stayed there a long time with the disciples.”

--Roger Hillis

God’s plan is for the gospel to be taken “to the end of the earth” (Acts 1:8). The church in Antioch of Syria is going to be the launching pad for this worldwide evangelization of all the nations.

The church at Antioch is spiritually strong. They have five primary Bible teachers – Barnabas, Simeon, Lucius, Manaen and Saul. Of this group, the Holy Spirit chooses Barnabas and Saul to lead God’s assault on the gates of hell. After the church has fasted, prayed and laid hands on them, they are sent on their way, taking John Mark with them.

They first go to Seleucia, then to the island of Cyprus, where they visit Salamis and then Paphos. Beginning in verse 9, Saul will be called Paul.

As they leave Paphos, they sail to Perga in Pamphylia. It is here that John Mark leaves them and returns to Jerusalem. We are not told why, but we do find out later that it displeased Paul (see Acts 15:38).

Next Barnabas and Paul come to Antioch in Pisidia and go into the synagogue on the Sabbath Day. They were not “keeping the Sabbath” as they had under the Mosaic Law, but they went where the people were, when they were there, to have opportunity to teach them the gospel. Given a chance to speak publicly, Paul reviews much Old Testament history with them. Notice how this breaks down.

                *13:17 – Genesis and Exodus

                *13:18 – Leviticus, Numbers and Deuteronomy

                *13:19 – Joshua

                *13:20 – Judges and Ruth

                *13:21-22 – 1 and 2 Samuel, 1 and 2 Kings, 1 and 2 Chronicles

In six verses of the text, Paul covers the first fourteen books of the Old Testament. He then begins to tell them about Jesus who was the fulfillment of these and other Old Testament passages (verses 23-41).

A week later (verses 44ff), he continues teaching them, both Jews and Gentiles, about the Christ. The Jews become jealous and expel them from the region. Their next stop will be Iconium.

--Roger Hillis

In Chapter 12, Herod the king turns up the persecution. The events of this chapter take place in approximately A.D. 44. The Herod referred to, in this chapter, is Agrippa I. He kills James, the brother of John, making him the first apostle to die for his faith. When he realizes that the Jews are pleased with this action, Herod also arrests Peter.

The church prays for Peter and God sends an angel in response to those fervent, righteous prayers to free him from prison. This should remind us that prayer is a powerful tool in the battle against sin and unrighteousness. We should always pray when times are difficult and the challenges to our faith are great. Prayer must never be looked at as a last resort, only when all else fails. It is interesting that, although the disciples were praying for Peter’s release, when he is set free, some of them don’t believe it.

As an interesting side note, in verses 18-19, the New Testament tells us that “there was no small stir among the soldiers about what had become of Peter.” Herod gets personally involved in the case and, after searching for him in vain, orders that the guards who let him escape be executed.

Chapter 12 concludes with the account of Herod’s death. While he is giving a speech, the people of Tyre and Sidon refer to Herod as a god. When he fails to give the proper glory to the one, true God, he is “eaten by worms” and dies. (Herod Agrippa I is the father of King Agrippa II, who will tell the apostle Paul in Chapter 26, “You almost persuade me to become a Christian.”)

Barnabas and Saul return to Antioch from delivering the assistance to the region of Judea, bringing with them, John Mark. The work of taking the gospel to the whole world continues.

--Roger Hillis

As Chapter 11 begins, Jewish brethren are upset with Peter for what has happened. When they hear that the Gentiles have had the gospel preached to them, those of the circumcision contended with him saying, ‘You went in to uncircumcised men and ate with them!’ (verses 2-3).

It is difficult for those of us who live two thousand years after these events to realize how deeply engrained in the Jewish people was their hatred for Gentiles. They have been persecuted, mistreated, taken into captivity, killed and tortured by Gentiles for centuries. The animosity between Jew and Gentile will not be easily forgiven by either side. The Jews simply could not believe that God would ever accept these uncircumcised heathens.

Faced with this intense opposition, Peter recounts for his fellow Jews the events that had occurred and tells them about the Gentiles’ Holy Spirit baptism (Acts 11:15-17). And what was their response? “When they heard these things they became silent; and they glorified God, saying, ‘Then God has also granted to the Gentiles repentance to life’” (Acts 11:18).

In Acts 8:4, we were told that the church in Jerusalem was scattered due to intense persecution. The text continues with details about four men, Philip, Stephen, Saul and Peter. During this period of time, Jews, Samaritans and Gentiles have had the gospel preached to them.

As Luke continues in Acts 11:19, we are told of disciples who went to Phoenicia, Cyprus and Antioch (in Syria). Antioch will now be a focus of the inspired record.

Men from Cyprus and Cyrene preached the Lord Jesus in Antioch. “And the hand of the Lord was with them, and a great number believed and turned to the Lord” (Acts 11:21). When the church in Jerusalem (mostly the apostles, perhaps) hears of these many conversions, they send Barnabas to encourage and strengthen the new followers. Barnabas goes to Tarsus to find Saul and brings him to Antioch where they work together for a full year. “And the disciples were first called Christians in Antioch” (Acts 11:26).

A famine arises in Judea and the relatively young church in Antioch sends relief to help these needy saints.

--Roger Hillis

One of the common threads of Old Testament prophecy about the coming kingdom dealt with its universal nature. It was to be a kingdom of all nations, all races, all languages, all people.

That’s why the Great Commission was to “preach the gospel to every creature” (Mark 16:15b). It was God’s plan that the good news of salvation should be taken from Jerusalem, to all Judea and Samaria and then “to the end of the earth” (remember Acts 1:8?).

In God’s plan, the gospel was first preached to the Jews and only when they rejected the Messiah, to Gentiles (Matthew 21:33-43, for example). Romans 1:16 points out that the gospel of Christ is “the power of God to salvation for everyone who believes, for the Jew first and also for the Greek.”

Acts 10 is a significant turning point in the spread of the gospel as it records for us the first occasion on which the message is taken to the Gentiles. Finally “the promise” has reached those “who are far off” (Acts 2:39; see also Ephesians 2:14-16).

Peter is the preacher, as he was in Acts 2, and the household of Cornelius provides the audience. Miraculous circumstances on both sides ultimately bring them together.

An angel of God speaks to Cornelius to tell him to call for Simon Peter, in the city of Joppa, staying with a tanner whose name was also Simon. Verse 4 tells us that Cornelius’ prayers and alms (gifts to the poor, NIV) have been heard by God. Cornelius, a Roman centurion, sends two of his household servants and a devout soldier under his supervision to bring Peter to Caesarea.

The apostle Peter, at the sixth hour (noon), on the same day has gone up on the housetop to pray and sees a vision from God of unclean animals, according to the Law of Moses, being let down from heaven on a sheet. The voice of God tells him to kill and eat them as He has made them clean. This symbolizes the breaking down of the dividing wall between Jew and Gentile (Ephesians 2:14-16).  Only at the culmination of these events does Peter realize that God is teaching him that the Lord truly shows no partiality.

As Peter preaches to Cornelius and those of his household (family, servants, etc.), they are baptized in the Holy Spirit, the second and final case of such in the Bible. Peter then commands them to be baptized in water for the remission of sins (compare verse 43 with Acts 2:38).

--Roger Hillis

Acts 9 gives us an up-close look at a character we have only briefly met so far. Saul, a Jew from Tarsus in Cilicia, is a strict Pharisee who is completely convinced that Jesus was a false Messiah. He is extremely zealous for what he believes to be right and is determined to wipe out any traces of faith in Jesus. What he doesn’t realize yet is that Jesus really is the Christ, the Son of the living God, but he is soon to find out.

Saul decides that he needs to extend his persecution against Christians beyond the walls of Jerusalem. So he receives authority (“letters” from the high priest) to go to Damascus and arrest those who are of the Way to return them to Jerusalem for trial.

We haven’t read of any Christians in Damascus yet. There are at least three possibilities for where they might have come from. First, they might have been in Jerusalem on Pentecost in Acts 2 and converted as part of the original 3000 or shortly after that. Second, they might have been some of the Christians who were scattered from Jerusalem in Acts 8:1. Or, thirdly, those scattered disciples might have preached in Damascus and converted some.

Saul must have had reason to believe there were several Christians there, enough to justify his going there to persecute them.

And then the miracles come. As Saul approaches Damascus, a bright light shines around him and he sees and hears the resurrected Lord, Jesus Christ. The Savior instructs him to go into the city and wait. A disciple named Ananias (the only Christian there whose name we know) comes to Saul, preaches the gospel to him and baptizes him into Christ for the remission of his sins.

Saul immediately begins preaching in the synagogue that Jesus is the Son of God. When he is opposed by the Jews, he escapes and ultimately makes his way back to Jerusalem where Barnabas, the Son of Encouragement, convinces the others that Saul’s conversion was legitimate and that he should be welcomed into the church. “Then the churches throughout all Judea, Galilee, and Samaria had peace and were edified. And walking in the fear of the Lord and in the comfort of the Holy Spirit, they were multiplied” (Acts 9:31).

--Roger Hillis

In Chapter 8, the persecution intensifies. With the opposition led by a young man named Saul (first mentioned in Acts 7:58), the whole church, except the apostles, is scattered throughout Judea and Samaria. Everywhere the disciples go, they preach the gospel.

We are next introduced to another of the seven, Philip. He has two major events in the rest of this chapter. First, he preaches to the city of Samaria and then to an individual, a government official from Ethiopia.

When he is forced out of Jerusalem, Philip initially goes to Samaria. The Samaritans were a despised group of people, half Jew and half Gentile, never fully accepted by either side.

Philip has one message for these lost souls, salvation in Jesus Christ. Again, the miracles that he is able to perform convince many that Philip’s message is the truth. Those who believe are baptized, and as Jesus promised Mark 16:15-16, they are saved by the grace of Almighty God.

One of the Samaritan converts was a sorcerer named Simon, who immediately recognized the difference between his magical tricks and the genuine miracles of Philip. After he becomes a Christian, he wants to buy some of this miraculous power from the apostles and is told to repent and pray to God for forgiveness.

Right in the middle of this city-wide revival, God calls Philip away to a deserted place for a providential meeting with the treasurer of the nation of Ethiopia. Returning to his home from a spiritual journey to Jerusalem, the official is reading from the book of Isaiah, but does not understand what he is reading. Philip preaches Jesus to him, he is baptized and the officer goes on his way rejoicing. Philip moves on to Caesarea.

--Roger Hillis

Stephen was one of the seven servants chosen in Chapter Six to care for the Hellenistic (Grecian) widows.

The qualifications listed in Acts 6:3 describe Stephen as a man “of good reputation, full of the Holy Spirit and wisdom.” He was trustworthy, dependable and always faithful.

In addition, the apostles had laid hands on the seven, imparting to them miraculous, spiritual gifts which enabled Stephen and the others to confirm their words with signs and wonders.

The false charges against Stephen (6:11-14) were that he spoke “blasphemous words” against Moses, God, this holy place (the temple?) and the law (of Moses). When evil people have no legitimate criticisms of the godly, they will simply make something up. It is up to the righteous, not to retaliate, but to seek to overcome evil with good by living a holy life that cannot be faulted. Chapter Seven is Stephen’s response to these untrue charges.

Stephen’s defense is basically a historical review of Israel’s past. By mentioning some of the highlights of Hebrew history, Stephen emphasizes God’s faithfulness to His people throughout the centuries. He draws the sermon to a conclusion in verse 52, by comparing their forefathers’ persecution of the prophets and their own betrayal and murder of Christ.

Filled with anger, the Jews rush at Stephen and stone him to death. Before he draws his final breath, Stephen asks Jesus not to charge them with this sin. Can you imagine the agony of having the life crushed out of you with the intense pain of having your body hit repeatedly with large stones (or even small ones)? Do you think perhaps that Stephen’s last thought was of His crucified Savior, who, in His own anguish on the cross, asked of God, “Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they do?”

--Roger Hillis