David Limbaugh - Jesus Is Risen: Paul and the Early Church

Copyright 2018 by David Limbaugh

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To Christen and SamMay God richly bless your marriage.

T his is my fourth Christian-themed book, and I get more enthused about the subject matter with each one. In my first one, Jesus On Trial , I recounted my personal faith journey from skeptic to believer and laid out the reasons I came to believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God and gave His life for the redemption of all who put their trust in Him. Next was The Emmaus Code , in which I detailed the countless ways the Old Testament points to Jesus Christ.

Then in The True Jesus I presented the Gospels in one unified narrative in chronological order. I went through nearly every verse in all four books, sometimes quoting verbatim and other times paraphrasing, though always striving to remain true to the text. Throughout the narrative, I interlaced commentary and insightsmy own and those of reliable scholars and commentators. My aim was to introduce readersboth inexperienced and advancedto the flow of the Gospels and to help them better understand the material. My ultimate goals, as with all these books, were to whet the readers appetite to read the words of Scripture itself, instill a passion for the Bible, and encourage people to make reading and studying it a lifelong commitment.

When I began The True Jesus , I had the ambitious goal of covering the entire New Testament. As I sunk my teeth into the project, however, I realized I could not cover all the material in sufficient depth. So I decided to cover the Gospels alone and complete the remaining New Testament books, with the possible exception of the Book of Revelation, in one or more additional books.

To briefly review, the New Testament contains twenty-seven books, which fit into three categories: history, doctrine, and prophecy. The first five booksthe four Gospels and Actsare historical books: the Gospels are accounts of Jesus life, death, and resurrection, while Acts is the history of the early Church. The following twenty-one books are epistlesletters written mostly by apostles

The epistles are generally divided into two categories. The Apostle Paul wrote thirteen of them, which are called the Pauline epistles. The other eight are Catholic or General Epistles, sometimes called the non-Pauline epistles, most of which are not addressed to any particular church or individual. Revelation is the last book of the Bible and in its own categoryapocalypse, prophecy, or revelation. Comprising Johns vision, it is a revelation of how God will consummate His plan of redemption and salvation for mankind. Irving Jensen aptly calls Revelation the climax of Gods Book, the last chapter of world history.

Readers seemed to enjoy my chronological narrative of the Gospels in The True Jesus , so it seemed fitting to structure Jesus Is Risen the same way. I initially planned for this book to cover the Book of Acts and the thirteen Pauline epistles, but once again, when I began to write I discovered my original plan was unrealistic. So I decided to cover only Pauls six so-called missionary epistlesGalatians, 1 & 2 Thessalonians, 1 & 2 Corinthians, and Romanswhich are believed to have been written before his other seven epistles. This has worked out nicely, as Luke provides an illuminating picture of the early Church in Acts, including Pauls tireless activities spreading the Gospel. Then in the six epistles, Paul covers some of the historical material chronicled in Acts and addresses issues related to the early Church and Christian doctrine.

I pray that readers will get a flavor for the history of the early Church and how Christianity spread so rapidly throughout the Roman Empire during the first century AD following its founding. As in The True Jesus , I paraphrase the biblical text or quote it verbatim while providing an ongoing commentary designed to aid the readers understanding of the action and theology in the corresponding Scripture. When I do paraphrase, I make every effort to remain absolutely true to the text, which I firmly believe is the inspired Word of God.

The Gospels are where we meet Jesus in personHis words and actions come alive, His character jumps from the pages, and His love and goodness permeate every verse. While we learn Christianity through encountering the Person of Jesus in the Gospels, we see Him and His message from a different perspective in Acts and the epistles, the former showing the apostles fervor for Christ, honoring His Great Commission to spread the Gospel through the power of the Holy Spirit, and the latter setting forth Christian doctrine and instructions for the early Church. Its exciting and powerful stuff.

Since I first began reading the Bible, Paul has been my favorite biblical figure and writer. After his conversion, he becomes a tireless evangelist and literally writes the book on spreading and teaching the Gospel. The richness of his theology and his practical advice to churches is unparalleled in Scripture. He wears his heart on his sleeve, and his theology springs from his prolific pen. In terms of understanding the spiritual message and implications of the Gospel, there is no substitute for reading Pauls writings.

I hope that with this chronological arrangement, you will learn the historical context for the robust activities of the early Church and the genuine challenges the apostles confront as they doggedly preach the Word throughout the Roman Empire. I earnestly pray the books framework will enhance your perspective of the events as they unfold and your understanding of Pauls writings in the setting and mindset in which he writes them. It is riveting to experience the explosion of Christianity through Pauls eyes and those of other Church leaders. You will stand side by side with them as they square off against ruthless opponents and grow through adversity.

Paul expounds the Gospel message like no one else, especially the notion of salvation by grace through faith in Jesus Christ. Thats why preeminent Biblical scholar F. F. Bruce called him the preacher of free grace. Pauls pre-eminent contribution to the world has been his presentation of the good news of free graceas he himself would have put it (rightly), his re-presentation of the good news explicit in Jesus teaching and embodied in his life and work, writes Bruce. The free grace of God which Paul proclaimed is free grace in more senses than onefree in the sense that it is sovereign and unfettered, free in the sense that it is held forth to men and women for their acceptance by faith alone, and free in the sense that it is the source and principle of their liberation from all kinds of inward and spiritual bondage, including the bondage of legalism and the bondage of moral anarchy.