Acts of God

Tonight I drive home after almost three weeks away working on the next book.

My post on Salvation by faith and Mission by works was inspired by diving into the Gospels and Acts and comparing their world to ours.

Today I read this quote that expresses the divergence so well.

Readers who set aside the expectation that Acts is an institutional history, shaped and reshaped by human leaders, will instead see God at work from beginning until well past the end.

God is the one who glorifies Jesus and raises him from the dead, who rescues the apostles from prison, who directs Ananias to baptize Saul, and who insists upon the inclusion of the Gentiles.

God sends Paul and his coworkers into Macedonia, heals people through the hands of Peter and Paul, and finally directs Paul safely to Rome.

If readers of Acts find themselves in a journey, the major sights are not those created by human hands; they result from the actions of God alone.

Beverley Gaventa

I think we're missing something.

"Abingdon New Testament Commentaries - Acts" (Beverly R Gaventa), p26.