Week 24: The Gospel to the Gentiles

Opening Question

Think about a time when you had to defend a decision that others found controversial or uncomfortable. What was at stake, and how did you make your case? How does that experience help you understand Peter’s defense of his Gentile fellowship in Acts 11 or Paul’s defense of his gospel in Galatians 1?

Review of the Week’s Readings

This week traced the explosive expansion of the gospel from the Jewish-Christian heartland to the Gentile world. We began with Peter defending his Gentile outreach before the Jerusalem church (Acts 11), then witnessed Herod’s persecution and Peter’s miraculous deliverance (Acts 12). The narrative accelerated as the Holy Spirit commissioned Barnabas and Saul from Antioch for the first missionary journey (Acts 13), which carried the gospel to Cyprus and the interior of Asia Minor. We watched Paul and Barnabas face fierce opposition at Iconium, near-worship and then stoning at Lystra, and success at Derbe before retracing their steps to strengthen the new churches (Acts 14). The week concluded with Paul’s volcanic opening to his letter to the Galatians, defending the one true gospel against those who would add circumcision to faith in Christ (Galatians 1).

Study Questions

1. The Antioch Revolution: Acts 11 describes unnamed believers from Cyprus and Cyrene who first preached to Greeks at Antioch. Why do you think Luke emphasizes that this breakthrough came from ordinary believers rather than apostles? What does this suggest about how God typically advances his mission?

2. Sovereignty and Suffering: In Acts 12, James is executed while Peter is miraculously delivered. How do we make sense of a God who intervenes dramatically for one believer but apparently does not intervene for another? What does this chapter teach about the relationship between prayer, faith, and God’s sovereign purposes?

3. The Missionary Model: Compare the commissioning of Barnabas and Saul in Acts 13:1-3 with how your church or community sends people into ministry. What elements of the Antioch model – worship, fasting, the Spirit’s initiative, communal affirmation – are present or absent in contemporary practice?

4. Contextual Preaching: Paul’s sermon at Pisidian Antioch (Acts 13:16-41) is built on Jewish salvation history and Old Testament quotations. His speech at Lystra (Acts 14:15-17) appeals to natural revelation and the created order. What principles of communication can we draw from Paul’s ability to adapt his message to different audiences without changing its core content?

5. No Other Gospel: Paul writes in Galatians 1:8-9 that even an angel from heaven should be accursed if preaching a different gospel. What makes the addition of circumcision (or any human requirement) to the gospel such a fundamental distortion rather than a minor adjustment? How do we distinguish between the non-negotiable core of the gospel and legitimate diversity in Christian practice?

Going Deeper

The first missionary journey raises profound questions about the relationship between divine sovereignty and human initiative. The Holy Spirit commands the sending of Barnabas and Saul, yet the missionaries must navigate real dangers, make strategic decisions about where to preach, and endure suffering that God does not prevent. Consider the tension between Paul being stoned and left for dead at Lystra (Acts 14:19) and the promise that he would carry Christ’s name before Gentiles and kings (Acts 9:15). How do you hold together the reality of God’s overarching plan with the genuine suffering of those who carry it out? Does the first missionary journey suggest that God’s will always involves comfort and safety, or does it redefine what divine faithfulness looks like?

Application

• Personal: Paul’s autobiography in Galatians 1:13-24 shows that God can transform anyone, no matter how opposed they have been. Is there an area of your life where you have difficulty believing that transformation is possible – either for yourself or for someone else?
• Communal: The Antioch church was a multiethnic community that became a missionary sending base. What concrete steps could your church or small group take to become more like Antioch – more diverse in its membership and more intentional about sending and supporting those called to ministry elsewhere?
• Theological: Paul insists that adding circumcision to the gospel destroys the gospel. Are there “additions” to the gospel in your own tradition or culture – moral performance, political alignment, social conformity – that function the way circumcision did for the Galatian agitators?

Prayer Focus

Pray this week for missionaries and church planters who are working in hostile or unfamiliar cultural environments. Pray for the courage to preach the gospel without addition or subtraction. Pray for the discernment to distinguish between the unchanging core of the faith and the cultural forms in which we express it. And pray for the kind of community that Antioch embodied – diverse, Spirit-led, and generous in sending its best for the sake of the world.