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Reading Acts 13:44-52 where after preaching at Pisidian Antioch, many Gentiles came to faith, and as said in verse 48, "As many as were appointed to eternal life believed." Visit wwutt.com for all our videos!
Acts 13 .48 says that when the Gentiles heard the message of the gospel had come to them as well, they began rejoicing and glorifying the word of the Lord. And as many as had been appointed to eternal life believed.
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Here's your teacher, Pastor Gabe.
Thank you, Becky. In our study of the book of Acts, we come back to chapter 13. We have finished up the sermon that Paul preached in the synagogue at Pisidian Antioch, where he proclaimed that Jesus Christ is the fulfillment of all that had been spoken about in the law and the prophets.
And by faith in him, one is justified of those things that they could not be forgiven of by keeping the law. We receive forgiveness by faith in Jesus. Now, the people there in the synagogue have asked that he would come back and preach to them every Sabbath.
So we're going to pick up there in verse 44 with Paul and Barnabas coming back the next Sabbath. And what is going to be the result of their preaching? Let me start here in verse 44 and go through verse 52.
Hear the word of the Lord. And the next Sabbath, nearly the whole city assembled to hear the word of the Lord. But when the Jews saw the crowds, they were filled with jealousy and began contradicting the things spoken by Paul, blaspheming.
Paul and Barnabas spoke out boldly and said, it was necessary that the word of God be spoken to you first, since you rejected and judge yourselves unworthy of eternal life. Behold, we are turning to the Gentiles.
For so the Lord has commanded us, I have placed you as a light for the Gentiles, that you may bring salvation to the end of the earth. And when the Gentiles heard this, they began rejoicing and glorifying the word of the Lord.
And as many as had been appointed to eternal life believed. And the word of the Lord was being spread through the whole region. But the Jews incited the God fearing women of prominence and the leading men of the city and instigated a persecution against Paul and Barnabas and drove them out of their district.
But having shaken off the dust of their feet against them, they went to Iconium and the disciples were continually filled with joy and with the Holy Spirit. Now, in the passage we're looking at today, there is a controversial verse.
It is a passage that has been debated by many, especially in our present time. Many different blogs and podcasts and things like this will come at this verse from different angles and you probably know which one it is.
It's in Acts 13, 48, where it is said, as many as had been appointed to eternal life believed. What is meant by that verse? We'll come to that in a moment, but let's look at it together in context. So we come back to verse 44, where once again, the people who were there in the synagogue had asked that Paul and Barnabas would come back and preach to them every Sabbath.
So it said in verse 44, the next Sabbath, nearly the whole city assembled to hear the word of the Lord. So they come back to the synagogue and it has become the focal point in Pisidian Antioch. This is where all the city is coming now.
People from all over, Jews and Gentiles have returned to hear what Paul and Barnabas are saying. And let me summarize for you again, what the sermon that Paul preached was about. It's right there in Acts 13, verses 38 and 39, therefore, let it be known to you brothers that through him, through Jesus Christ, forgiveness of sins is proclaimed to you.
And that in him, everyone who believes is justified from all things from which you could not be justified from through the law of Moses. In other words, it is by faith in Jesus that we are justified, made innocent before God.
We are not justified through the law of Moses. Your keeping of the law could not justify you because you have already broken it. And so nothing that you could do in keeping it would make you innocent before God.
There had to be somebody who would keep the law perfectly for you. And Paul has already pointed to how Jesus is the fulfillment of everything that had been written down in the law and the prophets. He who had fulfilled all of this, gave up his life as an atoning sacrifice for sins and God raised him from the dead so that whoever believes in him is therefore justified.
The forgiveness of sins has been proclaimed to you in this gospel message that Jesus who died and rose again is the one who justifies you before God. Whoever believes in him will be forgiven their sins.
Whoever does not believe will be of those who have been prophesied about. As Paul proclaimed in verse 41, look you scoffers and marvel and perish for I am accomplishing a work in your days, a work which you will never believe though someone should recount it to you.
If you have hardened your heart against Christ, then there is no hope for you. So Paul had urged them to believe in Jesus lest this prophecy would come upon your head that the judgment of God would befall you because you had rejected his son.
So that is what Paul had proclaimed, working through the history of the Jews, showing how Jesus fulfilled even that promise that God had made to their father David. And when Paul proclaimed this there in the synagogue, he was speaking not just to Jews but even to Gentiles.
And I had showed you how from the very beginning of the sermon and in the middle, Paul had addressed Abraham's family and those among you who fear God. So those who had been descended from Abraham and those who were there who were not of the lineage of Abraham, but who feared the Lord, who came to the synagogue to hear the word of God proclaimed so that they may know God's will and do it.
And here are Paul and Barnabas who are proclaiming the gospel saying that all of this points to Jesus who fulfilled all of this and the people fulfilled the scriptures by putting him to death. God has raised him up and the forgiveness of sins has been proclaimed to you through faith in Jesus Christ.
And now that he's proclaimed this in the synagogue, now people are stirred from all over. The forgiveness of sins has been proclaimed. It's these two men, Paul and Barnabas, who are talking about it. This word is now gone about to everybody, Jew and Gentile, so that now we get to that next Sabbath, Paul doing exactly what was requested of them, that they would come back speaking to them the next Sabbath.
That's in verse 42. And word has gone about throughout the city that these men are proclaiming the forgiveness of sins and reconciliation with God. It's not through the law of Moses. It's through this man, Jesus.
And so the next Sabbath, nearly the whole city assembled to hear the word of the Lord. But when the Jews saw the crowds, they were filled with jealousy and began contradicting the things spoken by Paul, blaspheming.
Now one of the things that Paul says in Romans is that he preaches and magnifies his ministry to the Gentiles, he said, so as to make Israel jealous. He talks about that in Romans chapter 11. So one of the things that he does in proclaiming the gospel to the Gentiles is so that the Jews would become jealous, so that they would turn from their sin and their rebellion against the son of God and believe in him and be saved.
Paul desired that for his kinsmen, for his brethren. So it is good that there are Gentiles that have come to faith in Jesus Christ, but Paul would also especially love to see Jews would turn from their sin to Jesus as well.
So we see that jealousy that comes upon them here because there are many Gentiles that have come. And of course the Gentiles outnumber the Jews in Pisidian Antioch. So when you have the whole city assembled, nearly the whole city is assembled.
It's like they have descended upon this synagogue. They want to hear again from Paul and Barnabas, the word of God that is proclaimed, the message of this gospel. And the Jews are now there. The Jews have requested that Paul and Barnabas would come back.
But now they're seeing, you know what? This means that even more Gentiles will hear than Jews. And even more Gentiles will come into the favor of God than there are Jews. And so now they are not so crazy about what it is that Paul and Barnabas have been proclaiming.
This is something that would bring Gentiles into the kingdom of God. So they are filled with jealousy, and now they're singing a different tune. They're preaching a different word. They are contradicting the things that are spoken of by Paul and blaspheming what's said there in verse 45.
So now they're saying things like, for example, what we will see the Judaizers say at the beginning of Acts chapter 15. They are saying that you must be circumcised in order to be saved. So they're saying, no, it's not by faith in Jesus that you are saved.
It's also by your works. You do have to keep the law of Moses. You still have to do these things like being circumcised in order to be saved. But as Paul said to the Galatians, if you have to be circumcised to be saved, then Christ is of no use to you.
So it is not by our works that we are saved. It's by faith in Jesus Christ. You know, there are, of course, the Roman Catholics and the Eastern Orthodox that will preach this message of faith plus works.
Yeah, you have to believe in Jesus, but you also have to do all these other things in order to be saved. They do the same things that the Judaizers do. And it's not just them. The Mormons also do this.
Like a Mormon apologist will say, and I know this because I've debated with them and they've said exactly this. They will say that in order to be truly saved, you have to be saved in the LDS church, in the church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, which is really not the church of Jesus Christ.
It's a false church. And they proclaim a different Jesus than the Christ of the Bible. But you go to their articles of faith and what do you have to do? Well, you not only have to believe, but you also have to be baptized in the Mormon church and you have to have hands laid upon you by their priests to receive the Holy Spirit.
If not, you cannot attain to the highest levels of heaven. You might be able to go to some level of heaven, but you can't really have that highest level of heaven and that fellowship with God unless you do all of these things that the Mormon church tells you to do.
That is, again, salvation by faith plus works. And the works that they're telling you to do and the faith that they tell you to have, neither of those things save because it's faith in a different God.
The Jehovah's Witnesses, likewise, will proclaim a message of faith plus works. Every false religion proclaims faith plus works. But let me come back to the Roman Catholics and the Eastern Orthodox. When you say this, that that's their message, that they proclaim faith plus works, they will deny it.
They will deny. No, we're not preaching a message of faith plus works. You guys are slandering us, but then what will happen? If you proclaim justification by faith alone, well, then they hammer you for saying that, that you're preaching a false gospel, that that is contrary to what the Bible says.
So they're upset when you say that they preach a message of faith plus works. But when you say, okay, then it's justification by faith alone in Jesus Christ, well, now they get angry. So which is it? Is it wrong to preach justification by faith alone?
Or is it wrong to say that you guys preach a message of faith plus works? It's got to be one or the other. But this is exactly what the Judaizers were doing. They were saying it's wrong for Paul and Barnabas to say what they said there in verse 39.
Once again, whoever believes is justified from all things, which you could not be justified from through the law of Moses. And they're trying to contradict Paul and Barnabas. No, it's not by faith in Jesus.
It is by keeping the law of Moses. So they're now blaspheming Christ and proclaiming that there is another way other than through faith in Jesus. And so verse 46, Paul and Barnabas spoke out boldly and said, it was necessary that the word of God be spoken to you first in the synagogue and to the Jews.
And so this sets up for us here in Acts 13, why when Paul goes on through the rest of the book of Acts to proclaim first to Jews before he goes to Gentiles, we have the explanation that's given here in Acts 13.
It was necessary that you hear it first, just as Jesus had spoken to his disciples. You will be my witnesses first in Jerusalem, then in Judea and Samaria and to the ends of the earth. And as Paul says in Romans 1 16, I am not ashamed of the gospel for it is the power of God for salvation to all who believe to the Jew first and also to the Greek.
And Paul says, he goes on to say here in verse 46, since you rejected and judge yourselves unworthy of eternal life, behold, we are turning to the Gentiles. For as the Lord has commanded us, I have placed you as a light for the Gentiles that you may bring salvation to the end of the earth, not just to the Jews, but to all nations to the end of the earth that is cited from Isaiah 49.
It is too light a thing that you should be my servant to raise up the tribes of Jacob and to bring back the preserved of Israel. I will make you as a light for the nations that my salvation may reach to the end of the earth.
So this is Paul citing from the prophets. It was never God's intention just to save Jews, but also to save Gentiles. And as Paul says this, as Paul says, what we're doing and Gentiles are coming to faith, this is in fulfillment of the law.
This is also in fulfillment of the law and the prophets. This is in fulfillment of what the prophets proclaimed about the Christ. And as a result of Paul saying this verse 48, here's the controversial verse now.
And when the Gentiles heard this, they began rejoicing and glorifying the word of the Lord. And as many as had been appointed to eternal life believed. Now there's the controversial verse. There's where we get into arguments and bickering over this particular thing.
What is meant by this verse? Well, remember that nearly the whole city is gathered there. So you have Jew and Gentile that are gathered together. The Jews are hating what it is that Paul and Barnabas are preaching.
And so they began to preach contrary to it. And they blaspheme God since what Paul and Barnabas are proclaiming is the word of the Lord. Paul says that it was always God's intention that the message of the gospel would go, not just to Jews, but that Gentiles would believe it also.
And so when the Gentiles heard this, they began rejoicing and glorifying the word of the Lord while the Jews were blaspheming it. And then the latter portion of verse 48, and as many as had been appointed to eternal life believed.
So that is to say it was not every Gentile who believed, but those who had been appointed to eternal life, they were the ones who believed the message that Paul and Barnabas said. And God has appointed who would come to faith.
And the ones who have been appointed are the ones who believe by faith. Now there are those who hate that understanding of what this verse says, which I say to you is the plain meaning of the verse. They will try to read the verse another way.
Let me read to you what I found on three different websites, okay? This is one lady who says, Calvinists tend to see this and conclude that those who believed were lined up or arranged by God to believe, chosen to believe, or even for ordained to believe.
Their conclusion, however, is not supported by the context of this passage. So how does she say it's to be understood? Well, she says the Greek word that is translated as appointed modifies the phrase as many.
So in other words, as many who believed had lined up or arranged themselves for eternal life. Her argument then is it is they who had saved themselves ended up believing as if the saving themselves came first and then they believe that's her interpretation of the passage.
Let me give you another one. This guy says that he once had the view that as many as devoted themselves to eternal life believed, he used to read the verse the same way as that lady interpreted it. But now he has a different understanding of this verse.
He says that he understands it now this way. The first group, the Jews, did not receive the message of the gospel and were therefore unworthy of it. They were not prepared to hear the message of the gospel when they heard it.
But the ones who did believe among the Gentiles, they were prepared to receive the message of the gospel and hear it like they were ready in some sense. And so it's in this way that God had appointed or prepared them to hear the message of the gospel.
And so they believed it. That's the way that he interprets the passage. How about Soteriology 101, which is not really Soteriology 101. It's actually anti-Calvinism 101. But of course, they're going to have something to say about this verse.
And there is an article that they wrote, Does Acts 1348 support Calvinism? Of course, they're going to go right after Calvinism. Instead of understanding the verse exactly the way that it reads, we just need to attack the Calvinistic perspective.
And very simply, the way that they summarize their understanding of, well, I say there, but it's late in flowers. That's specifically who it is. But anyway, the way that he understands Acts 1348 is that the gospel had not just come to the Jews, but it had also come to the Gentiles.
So even Gentiles were appointed to eternal life and believe. So he's taking this very broad interpretation of appointed. It's all of the Gentiles. Even Gentiles have been appointed to eternal life, and they also believed.
But it's very particular in the language here that only as many as had been appointed to eternal life believed. Only those whom God had appointed to hear the gospel and believe it actually believed it.
It's very plain from the language here that God had appointed these to be saved. He had appointed even that among Gentiles, there would be those who would come to salvation. And as many as those from the Gentiles that God had appointed to salvation, they believed the message of the gospel and were saved.
It is the only way anybody is saved by the grace of God through faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. And as many as God has appointed to believe this will believe it and be saved. What assurance that is, that God will accomplish all that he means to accomplish.
He will save all whom he means to save and not one of them will be lost. This is what God has done through the preaching of the gospel, and we see it done here in Pisidian Antioch. And what a great phrase.
Praise God for that expression that we have there in verse 48, as many as he has appointed to eternal life will believe. So how can you know if you have been appointed to eternal life? Do you believe in Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins?
Then you have been appointed to eternal life. That's how you know you are elect. It is the only way. Again, the only way that anyone brings somebody into his kingdom is by his grace through Jesus Christ.
Verse 49, and the word of the Lord was being spread through the whole region, not just among Jews, but especially even now among Gentiles. But the Jews incited the God fearing women of prominence and the leading men of the city and instigated a persecution against Paul and Barnabas and drove them out of their district.
And indeed, even to this day, there will be many who hate the gospel and will attempt to persecute those who believe it or discourage those who believe it from believing it. But as it says in verses 51 and 52, Paul and Barnabas shook the dust off their feet against them and went to Iconium and the disciples were continually filled with joy and with the Holy Spirit.
Even through this persecution, it did not stop the advancement of the gospel or the saints from praising God for the salvation that they had been given in Christ. And may we likewise continue to be filled with joy every day because of the salvation that we've been given through the preaching of Jesus Christ to us.
Friends, just as we had read yesterday in verse 43, Paul and Barnabas continued to urge them to continue in the grace of God. And so we must as well, if this grace has been shown to you through the preaching of the gospel, put away all sin and filthiness and walk in holiness in Jesus Christ who has been given for us.
Heavenly Father, we thank you for what we have read and I pray that we would continue in this holy manner of life after our Savior who came to us, who died for us, who was risen for us and has ascended into heaven where he intercedes for us.
May we continue to walk in his ways after his holiness, putting off sin and every weight which so easily entangles and keeping our eyes fixed on Jesus. It's in his name we pray, amen.
Thank you for listening to When We Understand the Text with Pastor Gabe Hughes. If you'd like to support this ministry, visit our website www .wutt .com and click on the Give tab in the top right corner of the page.
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