Reading Time: 5 minutesQuestion 10018 In Romans 11:25, Paul speaks of a “partial hardening” upon Israel that will continue “until the fullness of the Gentiles has come in.” This phrase—”the fullness of the Gentiles” (τὸ πλήρωμα τῶν ἐθνῶν, to plērōma tōn ethnōn)—has generated considerable discussion. What exactly does it mean? And how does it relate to God’s timetable…
Reading Time: 3 minutesQuestion 009112 Paul uses the word “mystery” in a very specific and technical sense that differs from its ordinary usage. When we speak of mysteries today, we typically mean something puzzling or unknown. Paul’s use of the Greek musterion means something different: not a riddle to be solved by clever reasoning, but a divine secret…
Reading Time: 5 minutesQuestion 11056 Acts 1:8 is the last thing the risen Jesus said before His ascension, and it was not a farewell encouragement. It was a structured programme. “But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria, and…
Reading Time: 5 minutesQuestion 11081 The Samaritan mission in Acts 8 is one of the most theologically charged events in the book of Acts, though Luke narrates it with characteristic restraint. Philip crossed not merely a geographical boundary when he went to Samaria; he crossed a centuries-deep fault line of religious contempt and mutual suspicion. That God used…
Reading Time: 5 minutesQuestion 04108 Acts records four distinct episodes in which the Spirit’s coming upon a group of people is described with enough detail to note the circumstances and sequence. These episodes are not evenly distributed through the book; they cluster at moments of significant transition in the gospel’s outward movement. And they are not uniform. Each…