Many of Paul’s missionary activities in the book of Acts are not practiced/experienced as normative within the modern church. This indicates that any analysis of Paul’s missionary strategy should consider the redemptive historical context of the New Testament. We are investigating the activities of a major prophet/Apostle who was foundational to the establishment & growth of the early church. This contextualisation is often difficult for us in this century. We are used to the Bible being categorically split into two volumes, the distinct and independent Old and New Testaments. However, the Bible does not present itself as two volumes. The redemptive historical context of the book of Acts is the inauguration of the final & climactic new heavens & earth; wherein the old heavens & earth were waxing & waning. In “this period the old heavens & earth coexisted with the new” (Jordan, 1988, p. 274). From Pentecost, the Gospel spread to the four corners of the earth in various foreign “tongues.” These “tongues” were “a sign of judgment upon Israel. The Gospel was going to the Gentiles & would be preached in new languages” (Jordan, 1988, p. 275). “Tongues” were languages other than Hebrew and were prophesied about in the Old Testament. The first fulfillment of the Gospel in other “tongues” can be found in God sending His people the Good News (in Aramaic) in Ezra, Nehemiah and Daniel (Stiles, 1992). As a result of the language changes the two overarching covenants may feel different. Furthermore, in the Old Testament the symbolism is derived from an agricultural, farming community wherein shepherds or herdsmen are called to be the ministers of the Gospel. This imagery changes in the New Testament. There is a distinct move from the land to the sea. Most everything in the New Testament revolves around fish and those called to minister the Gospel are fishermen. The Gospels shift Biblical imagery away from vineyards and plowing fields to fish, fishermen and the water/sea (Stiles, 1992). This symbolism shows how there is a shift from the land (i.e. Israel) to the sea (i.e. Gentiles). Paul’s missionary endeavors in Acts were used to establish this shift in Kingdom focus and structure.

The church has historically battled the issue of what the Great Commission actually means to individuals, churches, societies and nations. A survey of world history shows a “definite growth and maturation…and though the wicked also grow and mature, their development is in the direction of degradation, not of glorification. The Bible clearly shows a progression for the righteous, and only a retrogression for the wicked” (Jordan, Through New Eyes - Developing a Biblical View of the World, 1988, p. 283). Thus individuals, churches, societies and nations never stagnate; they either move in a direction submitting to Christ’s reign and long term covenantal blessing or they move toward breaking covenant and face God’s covenantal judgment. We must realise that; “because God is Three and One, so is human society, and so the history of redemption is not just about the salvation of individuals but also about the salvation of societies”(Jordan, How To Do Reformed Theology Nowadays, Part 3 , 2007). The language used in the commanding of the Great Commission is important to consider. God is revealed as Trinitarian, He is the one and the many and His creation reflects both of these dimensions. Individuals are made in the image of God (Genesis 1:26-27 , 9:6) and He saves humanity at an individual level (e.g. John 3:16 , Acts 16:31 ). This does not complete the picture. God’s creation reflects not only the image of the individuality of the Persons within the Godhead; it also reflects the Trinitarian nature of the Godhead itself. The same God who saves individuals saves nations (Matthew 28:19 ) and indeed redeems the whole world back to Himself (John 3:17 ). “Jesus Christ came to save the world - not just a sinner here, a sinner there. He wants us to disciple the nations - not just a few individuals. The Lord Jesus will not be satisfied in the success of His mission until the whole earth is singing His praises.”(Chilton, 1994, p. 218). Jesus states; “Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations” (Matthew 28:19 ). Jesus did not command; “disciple the world” or the church might have deduced that nations should disappear. Likewise He did not say; “disciple individuals” or “families” or the church might ignore discipling the nations (Jordan, Concerning the Nations, 1996). Thus the language used by Christ is Trinitarian in structure and He commissions His church to bring all of the nations of the world under His discipleship (Gentry Jr, 2010) in a Trinitarian manner.

Modern Christendom can easily misapply or misunderstand the book of Acts by failing to recognise its historic and literary contexts. Luke is writing in a specific time of transition, a time when the Old World of a centralised Temple and closed Sanctuary was waning and the New World of a decentralised Temple and open Sanctuary was replacing it. In other words, it was a time when God was re-designing and re-structuring the World (i.e. nations) under the rule and reign of the Christ. Jesus was the first born from the dead. He was the first man to ascend and enter into the highest heaven, the Holy of Holies, and thereafter all of the saints have Sanctuary access. Thus the Second, true, Adam restored man's position to being close with God (i.e. in the inner sanctuary, amidst the council of God). It was the time in history when the Kingdom of God was about to go “viral” and the Apostles were soon to walk in the steps of their Lord. Luke writes using a typological literary structure to describe the time when the Jewish leaders had 40 years to repent and accept Jesus, the one they crucified, as their Messiah. The Kingdom was being fulfilled and extended to the ends of the world. The Gentiles were about to be included, with the same positional status as the natural Jews, into the single body of God’s people.

When considering a document it is important to set its historical and literary context. It is vital to understand the context of Acts in order to correctly apply it today. Acts is part of the canon and is thus God breathed ( 2 Timothy 3:16 ). The Old and New Testaments are “the only rule to direct us how we may glorify and enjoy” (Westminster Divines, 1647) God. Christ’s people respond to their Lord in faithful obedience to His ethical mandates ( John 14:15 , 1 John 2:3-6 ). Biblical Christianity is “both a religion and a lifestyle” (Jordan, The Reconstruction of the Church, 1985, p. 1), which runs contrary to modern conventional wisdom. Christianity is our bond to Christ, our living in covenantal unity in His body and our bringing His Word to bear on all of life. This covenantal bond is both individual and corporate (i.e. societal); it reflects the one and the many relationship within the Godhead. Our relationship with God ought to be shaped by the structural relationship within the Trinity and how the Persons therein interact with each other and His people (individually & corporately).