Part 4 – The Post-Acts Period

This Article is part of a multi-part Study Series called Paul’s Acts Ministry.

Paul, a Roman Jew and former Pharisee of Israel, was the first to receive “the revelation of the Mystery(Rom. 16:25) of the indwelling “Spirit of life in Christ” in every believer regardless of race, Jew and Gentile alike. Paul was the Apostle of the ‘transition’ period of the Book of Acts. We note that during the Acts period noted by this change … Paul initially during the Acts period preached to and taught “the Jew first” in the synagogues of each city he visited… but after Acts 28 (the last book of Acts) this all changed.

  • After Acts 28:28 Paul’s ministry was only concerned the Gentile church, “body of Christ.” Paul made this proclamation to Israel’s leader in Rome at the end of the book of Acts saying;

“Be it known therefore unto you (Israel), the salvation of God is sent unto the Gentiles, they will hear it. (Acts 28:28)

Paul’s ministry was no longer “to the Jew first;” it was now to “all men” with all men seen as Gentiles.

  • After Acts 28:28, Paul, in his core ministry, stoppedwater baptizing’ (1 Cor. 1:17), and Paul could no longer physically ‘heal’ other believers who were sick. To Timothy Paul wrote; ‘take wine for thy stomach sake’ (1 Tim. 5:23) and Trophimus I left sick at Miletum (2 Tim. 4:20), and so on.

Though God today can still miraculously heal on occasion according to His will, but it is rare. After Acts any healing by the laying on of hands of specially endowed men, and anointing with oil for healing ended, except in Israel’s later program (cf. James 5:14).

Paul’s temporary miracle working ministry during Acts was of God in order to show Israel that He was now working through Paul’s ministry… not the twelve.” The seemingly confusing passages in Acts, where Paul does things that had belonged to Israel’s program, are actually the Lord Jesus Christ validating Paul’s apostleship for unbelieving Israel’s benefit.

But the Pauline Acts passages have nothing to do with the grace church today. They occurred only during the transitional period of Acts, while God was moving from Israel under the Lawto the Gentile church under grace; “… ye are not under the law, but under grace.” (Rom. 6:14b), having Christ in them.

Paul, when teaching “the church, which is His body” in his last seven pure grace epistles, from prison;

  • never instructs us to be water baptized,
  • never instructs us to lay hands on sick people in order to heal them,
  • never instructs us to lay hands on people to give the Holy Ghost to them,
  • never instructs us to raise the dead,
  • never instructs us to be physically circumcised for salvation,
  • never instructs us to cast out devils,
  • never instructs us to offer animal sacrifices, etc.

When Paul did those things, it was not a ‘pattern’ for us to follow; these were things God wanted only Paul to do in order to teach Israel his new doctrine of The Cross; and that his ministry was replacing Peter and the 12’s.

Now Paul, his message, ministry, and experience of God’s mercy and grace became the new pattern for us in this age of “the grace of God.”

“And I [Paul] thank Christ Jesus our Lord, who hath enabled me, for that he counted me faithful, putting me into the ministry; 13 Who was before a blasphemer, and a persecutor, and injurious: but I obtained mercy, because I did it ignorantly in unbelief. 14 And the grace of our Lord was exceeding abundant with faith and love which is in Christ Jesus.

15 This is a faithful saying, and worthy of all acceptation, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners; of whom I am chief [Gk. protos, the PROTOTYPE]. 16 Howbeit for this cause I obtained mercy, that IN ME [Paul] FIRST Jesus Christ might shew forth all longsuffering, for a PATTERN to them which should hereafter believe on him to life everlasting.” (1 Timothy 1:14-16 (KJV)

So since then, if any Jews wanted salvation, they would have to come to Paul’s ministry and his message of the new “gospel of the grace of God (Eph. 3:2), applying to “all men” alike.

AFTER Acts 28:28 Israel’s program had fully diminished’ and fully fallen.’ The 30-year-long Acts transitional period was over, and only “the dispensation of the grace of God” as it continues to this day.

So, nothing new began at the close of the book of Acts, but something endedPaul’s transitional ministry ended as Israel was then ‘fully fallen,’ for a time.  …blindness in part is happened to Israel, until the fulness of the Gentiles be come in.” (Rom. 11:25b). After the Rapture, God will again turn to Israel to fulfill all His Prophesies and Promises.

A few years after Acts 28 the Bible was complete, the temporary knowledge gifts were no longer needed (cf. 1 Cor. 13:8-13). Paul had then written his last seven post-Acts epistles, hisprison epistles,’ while imprisoned in Rome (Ephesians, Philippians, Colossians, 1 Timothy, 2 Timothy, Titus, Philemon). In them we see the details of God’s grace in the cross and the joint-body of Jew and Gentile, now without distinction, whereby “the middle wall of partition” that had favored the Jew over the Gentile in “time past,” is now down in favor of His “One body” consisting of Jew and Gentile on an equal basis, having no distinction racially in God’s eyes .

In Paul’s last seven epistles we see the details of “Christ according the revelation of “the mystery.”

“Now to him that is of power to stablish you according to my (Paul’s) gospel, and the preaching of Jesus Christ, according to the revelation of the mystery, which was kept secret since the world began,” (Rom. 16:25)