The Acts of the Apostles
Acts, Luke’s second book, commences at the point where his first left off the ascension of our Lord (Luke 24:51; Acts 1:9). “The former treatise have I made, O Theophilus, of all that Jesus began both to do and teach, until the day in which He was taken up, after that He through the Holy Ghost had given commandments unto the apostles whom He had chosen” (Acts 1:12).
A better title for the book would be “The Acts of the Holy Spirit.” With the resurrection and ascension of the Lord Jesus Christ, and the Holy Spirit come down according to His promise (John 16:7), the church, the assembly of God, is formed. Even though Acts covers little more than thirty years, it brings before us an entire outline of the history of the church. We also see the practical guidance of the Holy Spirit in the lives of the apostles and the early church, a guidance that is no less real or applicable in our present day.
Divisions
The book has five divisions. Chapter 1 is prefatory to the whole book. While waiting for the Holy Spirit, the disciples are guided by the Word of God. In chapters 2-7, Jerusalem is the center as God lingers in grace towards the nation of Israel (compare Luke 13:6-9).
After the stoning of Stephen chapters 7-12 the gospel goes out first in Samaria and then to the Gentiles more generally. Cornelius is brought in, and an assembly is established among the Greeks in Antioch. It is there that the disciples are first called Christians. Peter is prominent.
In chapters 13-20 we have the travels and labors of the Apostle Paul. Three journeys are recorded, each beginning in Antioch and all but the last ending there.
From chapter 21 to the end of the book, we have Paul the prisoner carried from Jerusalem to Rome.
The Early Church
Acts gives the only scriptural account of the early church where assemblies are seen as and act as one body. “There is one body, and one Spirit, even as ye are called in one hope of your calling” (Eph. 4:4). We do not find Jewish and Samaritan churches separated on national lines: “For by one Spirit are we all baptized into one body, whether we be Jews or Gentiles, whether we be bond or free; and have been all made to drink into one Spirit” (1 Cor. 12:13). There are no independent churches in the book of Acts. What seemed good to the Holy Spirit in Jerusalem is likewise recognized in Antioch (see Acts 15, especially verses 28 and 31). “Endeavoring to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace” (Eph. 4:3). But the separation of the early church from what is Jewish is clearly unfolded (Acts 19:8-9).
Paul’s return and captivity at Jerusalem prefigures what has happened to Paul’s doctrine in Christendom. Finally, Paul’s voyage from the Fair Havens to Melita gives us a striking summary of the history of Christendom (Acts 27). Though the boat is shattered into countless pieces, Paul is preserved, and a few (perhaps just Luke and Aristarchus) are found with him (Acts 27:2). Not one principle laid down in this book is made obsolete by present circumstances. Sadly, the church has entirely forgotten her heavenly calling—that her Head is Christ in glory and has settled down in this world.
Romans
The grand subject of the Apostle’s letter is the gospel “the gospel of God” (Rom. 1:1). The gospel is neither a philosophy nor a creed; rather, the gospel concerns a divine and glorious Person, “Jesus Christ our Lord” (Rom. 1:3).
We do not find mention of the word “church” until Romans 16:1. The gospel was the subject of promise, not the church. “I will put enmity between thee and the woman, and between Thy seed and her seed; it shall bruise Thy head, and Thou shalt bruise His heel” (Gen. 3:15). Now revealed, the gospel is no longer a promise. “All the promises of God in Him are yea, and in Him Amen, unto the glory of God by us” (2 Cor. 1:20). For the Jew, the link to the promises was particularly important.
Although the letter is to Rome (Rom. 1:7), it addresses both Jew and Gentile. There were many Jews in Rome (Acts 28:17), and throughout the letter both groups are addressed. See Romans 7:1 and 11:13, as well as chapter 1:34.
Outline
The Epistle to the Romans may justly be called the fundamental epistle of Christian doctrine. In chapters 1-8 Paul carefully lays out the foundational principles of Christianity, working from man up to God.
Chapters 9-11 are dispensational. They address the question, “How does the teaching of the first eight chapters affect God’s promises to Israel?”
In the third and final division, chapters 12-16, we have the practical consequences of the doctrine of the first. Each section contains within itself additional divisions.
Summary
Sins are not overlooked in the gospel; the bar has not been lowered. “All have sinned, and come short of the glory of God” (Rom. 3:23). This is God’s standard. God has not been reconciled; it is man that needs reconciliation. In Romans, the gospel of God is the testimony of the righteousness of God. Of human righteousness, He will have nothing: “All our righteousnesses are as filthy rags” (Isa. 64:6).
How can God be righteous in justifying the ungodly? The answer brings us to the feet of the Lord Jesus. Coming in the likeness of sinful flesh, He offered Himself a sacrifice for sin, thereby completely vindicating God’s righteousness, while revealing His love. God can now present Himself in grace be propitious to man (Rom. 3:25-26).
While this book never loses its value, it is of particular importance to the young believer. Herein we find that peace with God rests, not with our thoughts, but on God’s thoughts of His own Son (Rom. 5:1). Not only do we have peace in regard to sins, but we also have present deliverance from the power of sin. Delivered from that old tyrant, we have been set at liberty, not to do as we will, but to serve our new Master, the One who loved us and gave Himself for us (Rom. 6:17-19). The Spirit by whom Christ actively lived should now be our source of every thought and action (Rom. 8:9). Not only is the Holy Spirit within us acting, but God is acting externally, ordering all things for those “called according to His purpose” (Rom. 8:28).
N. Simon