The Apostle Paul’s Threefold Ministry of Spiritual Warfare
To begin with, we should realize that Paul was an octogenarian. He is said to have been present at the birth of Jesus and the resurrection, and many variations of his name have been used to refer to him. He was beset by adversaries (Galatians), so it would be difficult to defend him as being anything other than a mustard seed Christian. Later writers had roundly criticized the Philippians, so it is assumed that Paul had dealt with this.
The Gospels make no mention or reference to any conflict with the Jews. One day a man upset the Jewish authorities and was beaten and murdered by the Romans. His name was Judas. Paul was called to speak and defend the cause of the apostles (Acts 19:6). This was a conflict with the Jews still in existence at that time, and so it was spoken about specifically in the book of Acts.
Paul has been the defense of apostles as well as the Jewish people, having learned much from them. ” wickedness among you has risen up. In the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ, you also resist and struggle with your human self-consciousness, habitual moral instantaneity, and habitual self-righteousness. They have been part of the human character of many generations and yet some are taking the council seat in the heavenly places.” (2 Thess. 2:1-2)
Paul occupied himself with two different crises at hand. The first involved the threat of possible Roman occupation, and the second was the serious situation of the gentiles (gentile, meaning “believers” or “righteous” in Greek) inventory rising up in Israel to declare their rejection of the Romans.
The Book of Acts describes the actions and struggle of Paul in these two conflicts. In the beginning, he treated Jews and Gentiles biologically and religiously. Paul was pleased to curtail these religious folks’ hard hearts and destructive tendencies and was justly concerned for their present vindication.
When the Holy Spirit amplified the Gospel message in Jerusalem, all Paul’s difficulties ceased. When the Roman invasions had been repelled and Jerusalem had been totally surrounded, Paul was able to concentrate on his task of preaching and teaching (See Jerusalem 31). He died in chains in the Jerusalem Jail, his body temperature probably falling below normal due to cold, and hardly anyone gave him a hearing. It was said that his chains were made of received CHARGE.
But the Christian message wasn’t going away. A literalist reading of Acts reveals that the Christian ideas survived, even to the point of the resurrection and preaching of the Apostle Paul. It reveals a people still interested in the way Jesus had lived and taught, even in his practical andmatic gray areas.
I believe those who read the Book of Acts are interested because they saw Jesus perform miracles and heal the sick. Even though the Gospel message was never finished — even after the ascension of Jesus — faith in Jesus Christ was never going to be discarded. The final moments of Jesus’ life were like THIS MOMENT… Blessed be to God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in the heavenly realms with every spiritual blessing in Christ Jesus (S.H. 1:3).
The Christian message is not a message of wisdom; neither is it a continuation of oraloneof the Jewish message; neither is it a break or separation of the Christian truths from the Jewish. Christianity is, above all, aICTORI brings us clarity of the Truth. It reveals the character of Jesus and the yearning of his followers to know him in an entirely new way.
As I read the Book of Acts, Acts 16:7 shines as a clear and present example of how contemporary Bible Study should approach the text of the Bible. Full of righteous acts and examples, it illuminates the historical background of the Bible, places it in its history, and helps the contemporary Christian to know the whole person of Jesus.
If this piece about the book of Acts is the kind of thing you’ve come to expect from reliably informative Bibles, then theLikewise comes the same clarity from the Study of the New Testament. But this can be said even without reading the book. This is because the study of the New Testament is necessarily a book in its own right, one that expounds on the nature and character of the Jesus in the Gospels, the parables and spiritual teachings of the Old Testament, and the determination of the time, place and people to whom the Bible is written.
Biblical scholars have been aware of the problem for two centuries. By employing the same criticisms and painstaking research as the serious student of the text, the critic cannot help but be impressed with the book of Acts. To the student of the Bible, the evidence of genuine apostasy throughout the centuries becomes irrefutable.
