Interplanner
Well-known member
Here are some of the most solid and vital 'teachings of the apostles' (Acts 4) that matter:
1, God was in Christ, resolving the sin debt of mankind, 2 Cor 5. This is historic fact, as much as creation or the cataclysm themselves. Paul says this after saying that he once knew Christ 'kata sarka'--in an ordinary way, only to realize later what the truth was 'in Christ.' In Christ, God imputed mankinds sins to Christ, and those who believe what Christ did receive the imputation of the righteousness of God back.
The person who is thus forgiven is quite different from the unforgiven one.
2, The resurrection of Christ was God approving his sacrifice for justification from our sins. In other words, the apostles spent more time concerned with what the resurrection proved than what proved the resurrection, though that kind of thing is needed. Act 13, Rom 4.
3, The resurrection was the completion of Abraham's promises, Acts 13. Everything else (land, descendants) had taken place at various times. So now the promise to bless the nations through the Gospel remained to be clarified. Paul's career was spent demonstrating that the mission of God to the nations was contained as far back as Abraham, and that because it was answering the evil attempt by mankind to be their own god and theocracy. He grew up in post-exile Judaism thinking that God no longer had much to do with them, or if so, it was marginal, and through many complications of the law, and what really thrilled Judaism was the prospect of a 'Christ' that would somehow extract Israel from Roman administration. Some Judaizers turned violent trying to believe that last one!
When expressing #1 above (God was in Christ) the 2nd thing Paul says is that God has also given us (believers) the ministry of resolving this debt; the mission of Christ is always that close-held to the MESSAGE.
For those who believed, it was thrilling to hear that the mission of God was moving out all over the earth and was the age prophesied especially in Isaiah about the knowledge of the Lord reaching the islands and edges of the earth. Especially since Israel the country was overrun, collapsing and about to burn.
4, The resurrection of Christ was also his enthronement. #2 is saying that God approved Christ's sacrifice and thus raised him. "Raised" in Acts 13:33 is not Jesus' general appearance on the scene, but resurrection from a vicarious death. But it was also his enthronement, Acts 2:30-31. David foresaw this happening. David's "Lord" could not be just a standard descendant; it had to be God's Holy One who also 'would not see corruption' because of his perfect sacrificial life. "Seeing what was ahead, [David] spoke of the resurrection of the Christ". There was also a gift back to mankind upon his taking his seat, which was the work of the Spirit. This was no abstraction or private affair. Everyone there from 'every nation under heaven' had now heard clearly what had taken place in the Gospel event, and would automatically repeat it when they returned home.
Preaching Christ as Lord meant to preach that he is the Lord of the earth now, to whom all mankind, great and small should bow and submit and obey. That is the arrival of the reign of God that was anticipated from the first things John the cleanser announced.
These doctrines 'turned the world upside down,' confounded Caesar with a God greater than himself, yet presented by people who obeyed Rome's laws, and reached from Spain to India in the first generation.
1, God was in Christ, resolving the sin debt of mankind, 2 Cor 5. This is historic fact, as much as creation or the cataclysm themselves. Paul says this after saying that he once knew Christ 'kata sarka'--in an ordinary way, only to realize later what the truth was 'in Christ.' In Christ, God imputed mankinds sins to Christ, and those who believe what Christ did receive the imputation of the righteousness of God back.
The person who is thus forgiven is quite different from the unforgiven one.
2, The resurrection of Christ was God approving his sacrifice for justification from our sins. In other words, the apostles spent more time concerned with what the resurrection proved than what proved the resurrection, though that kind of thing is needed. Act 13, Rom 4.
3, The resurrection was the completion of Abraham's promises, Acts 13. Everything else (land, descendants) had taken place at various times. So now the promise to bless the nations through the Gospel remained to be clarified. Paul's career was spent demonstrating that the mission of God to the nations was contained as far back as Abraham, and that because it was answering the evil attempt by mankind to be their own god and theocracy. He grew up in post-exile Judaism thinking that God no longer had much to do with them, or if so, it was marginal, and through many complications of the law, and what really thrilled Judaism was the prospect of a 'Christ' that would somehow extract Israel from Roman administration. Some Judaizers turned violent trying to believe that last one!
When expressing #1 above (God was in Christ) the 2nd thing Paul says is that God has also given us (believers) the ministry of resolving this debt; the mission of Christ is always that close-held to the MESSAGE.
For those who believed, it was thrilling to hear that the mission of God was moving out all over the earth and was the age prophesied especially in Isaiah about the knowledge of the Lord reaching the islands and edges of the earth. Especially since Israel the country was overrun, collapsing and about to burn.
4, The resurrection of Christ was also his enthronement. #2 is saying that God approved Christ's sacrifice and thus raised him. "Raised" in Acts 13:33 is not Jesus' general appearance on the scene, but resurrection from a vicarious death. But it was also his enthronement, Acts 2:30-31. David foresaw this happening. David's "Lord" could not be just a standard descendant; it had to be God's Holy One who also 'would not see corruption' because of his perfect sacrificial life. "Seeing what was ahead, [David] spoke of the resurrection of the Christ". There was also a gift back to mankind upon his taking his seat, which was the work of the Spirit. This was no abstraction or private affair. Everyone there from 'every nation under heaven' had now heard clearly what had taken place in the Gospel event, and would automatically repeat it when they returned home.
Preaching Christ as Lord meant to preach that he is the Lord of the earth now, to whom all mankind, great and small should bow and submit and obey. That is the arrival of the reign of God that was anticipated from the first things John the cleanser announced.
These doctrines 'turned the world upside down,' confounded Caesar with a God greater than himself, yet presented by people who obeyed Rome's laws, and reached from Spain to India in the first generation.
