"The History of Salvation" (Acts 13:13–41)

Our salvation is rooted in real history.

The history of our salvation is God’s story.

It was God’s wisdom to choose one man and his descendents to bring about his salvation plan for the whole world.

Acts 13:16 NIV

16 Standing up, Paul motioned with his hand and said: “Fellow Israelites and you Gentiles who worship God, listen to me!

Acts 13:26 NIV

26 “Fellow children of Abraham and you God-fearing Gentiles, it is to us that this message of salvation has been sent.

Genesis 12:1–3 NIV

1 The Lord had said to Abram, “Go from your country, your people and your father’s household to the land I will show you. 2 “I will make you into a great nation, and I will bless you; I will make your name great, and you will be a blessing. 3 I will bless those who bless you, and whoever curses you I will curse; and all peoples on earth will be blessed through you.”

Abraham through Moses (17-18)

Acts 13:17–18 NIV

17 The God of the people of Israel chose our ancestors; he made the people prosper during their stay in Egypt; with mighty power he led them out of that country; 18 for about forty years he endured their conduct in the wilderness;

Joshua (19)

Acts 13:19 NIV

19 and he overthrew seven nations in Canaan, giving their land to his people as their inheritance.

Judges and the Prophet Samuel (20)

Acts 13:20 NIV

20 All this took about 450 years. “After this, God gave them judges until the time of Samuel the prophet.

King Saul (21)

Acts 13:21 NIV

21 Then the people asked for a king, and he gave them Saul son of Kish, of the tribe of Benjamin, who ruled forty years.

King David to Jesus, the Savior (22-23)

Acts 13:22–23 NIV

22 After removing Saul, he made David their king. God testified concerning him: ‘I have found David son of Jesse, a man after my own heart; he will do everything I want him to do.’ 23 “From this man’s descendants God has brought to Israel the Savior Jesus, as he promised.

Preparation for Jesus the Savior: John the Baptist (24-25)

Acts 13:24–25 NIV

24 Before the coming of Jesus, John preached repentance and baptism to all the people of Israel. 25 As John was completing his work, he said: ‘Who do you suppose I am? I am not the one you are looking for. But there is one coming after me whose sandals I am not worthy to untie.’

Jesus of Nazareth, the Messiah and Son of God is the culmination of salvation history.

God’s Plan: Jesus’ Rejection and Death

Acts 13:26–29 NIV

26 “Fellow children of Abraham and you God-fearing Gentiles, it is to us that this message of salvation has been sent. 27 The people of Jerusalem and their rulers did not recognize Jesus, yet in condemning him they fulfilled the words of the prophets that are read every Sabbath. 28 Though they found no proper ground for a death sentence, they asked Pilate to have him executed. 29 When they had carried out all that was written about him, they took him down from the cross and laid him in a tomb.

God’s Plan: Jesus’ Resurrection from the Dead

Acts 13:30 NIV

30 But God raised him from the dead,

Jesus’ Resurrection: Attested by Eyewitnesses

Acts 13:31 NIV

31 and for many days he was seen by those who had traveled with him from Galilee to Jerusalem. They are now his witnesses to our people.

Jesus’ Resurrection: Promised by the Prophets

Acts 13:32–33 NIV

32 “We tell you the good news: What God promised our ancestors 33 he has fulfilled for us, their children, by raising up Jesus. As it is written in the second Psalm: “ ‘You are my son; today I have become your father.’

Psalm 2:7–9 NIV

7 I will proclaim the Lord’s decree: He said to me, “You are my son; today I have become your father. 8 Ask me, and I will make the nations your inheritance, the ends of the earth your possession. 9 You will break them with a rod of iron; you will dash them to pieces like pottery.”

Acts 13:34 NIV

34 God raised him from the dead so that he will never be subject to decay. As God has said, “ ‘I will give you the holy and sure blessings promised to David.’

Isaiah 55:3 NIV

3 Give ear and come to me; listen, that you may live. I will make an everlasting covenant with you, my faithful love promised to David.

In the context of God’s invitation to the thirsty to come and drink and find salvation.

Isaiah 55:1–7 NIV

1 “Come, all you who are thirsty, come to the waters; and you who have no money, come, buy and eat! Come, buy wine and milk without money and without cost. 2 Why spend money on what is not bread, and your labor on what does not satisfy? Listen, listen to me, and eat what is good, and you will delight in the richest of fare. 3 Give ear and come to me; listen, that you may live. I will make an everlasting covenant with you, my faithful love promised to David. 4 See, I have made him a witness to the peoples, a ruler and commander of the peoples. 5 Surely you will summon nations you know not, and nations you do not know will come running to you, because of the Lord your God, the Holy One of Israel, for he has endowed you with splendor.” 6 Seek the Lord while he may be found; call on him while he is near. 7 Let the wicked forsake their ways and the unrighteous their thoughts. Let them turn to the Lord, and he will have mercy on them, and to our God, for he will freely pardon.

Acts 13:35 NIV

35 So it is also stated elsewhere: “ ‘You will not let your holy one see decay.’

Psalm 16:10 NIV

10 because you will not abandon me to the realm of the dead, nor will you let your faithful one see decay.

Acts 2:27 NIV

27 because you will not abandon me to the realm of the dead, you will not let your holy one see decay.

Acts 13:36 NIV

36 “Now when David had served God’s purpose in his own generation, he fell asleep; he was buried with his ancestors and his body decayed.

Acts 2:29 NIV

29 “Fellow Israelites, I can tell you confidently that the patriarch David died and was buried, and his tomb is here to this day.

Acts 13:37 NIV

37 But the one whom God raised from the dead did not see decay.

Acts 2:24 NIV

24 But God raised him from the dead, freeing him from the agony of death, because it was impossible for death to keep its hold on him.

God’s plan to bring salvation through Jesus Christ, the descendent of Abraham and King David, demands a response of faith.

Acts 13:38–39 NIV

38 “Therefore, my friends, I want you to know that through Jesus the forgiveness of sins is proclaimed to you. 39 Through him everyone who believes is set free from every sin, a justification you were not able to obtain under the law of Moses.

The blessings of faith in the crucified and risen Jesus Christ:

Forgiveness of sins

Acts 10:43 NIV

43 All the prophets testify about him that everyone who believes in him receives forgiveness of sins through his name.”

Justification before God by grace not by law

Romans 10:4 NIV

4 Christ is the culmination of the law so that there may be righteousness for everyone who believes.

Galatians 2:16 NIV

16 know that a person is not justified by the works of the law, but by faith in Jesus Christ. So we, too, have put our faith in Christ Jesus that we may be justified by faith in Christ and not by the works of the law, because by the works of the law no one will be justified.

Failure to respond in faith to God’s salvation plan in Jesus, results in judgment.

Acts 13:40–41 NIV

40 Take care that what the prophets have said does not happen to you: 41 “ ‘Look, you scoffers, wonder and perish, for I am going to do something in your days that you would never believe, even if someone told you.’”

Main Idea: Salvation from the judgment of God is found only through faith in the crucified and risen Jesus Christ, the culmination of God’s plan for history.