About this episode

Paul’s sermon in Pisidian Antioch reaches its conclusion and its purpose. Having shown that God raised Jesus from the dead, Paul now proves from the Hebrew Scriptures that this was God’s plan all along, then tells his listeners what it means for them: forgiveness of sins.

In Acts 13:33–43, Paul quotes Psalm 2 (“You are my Son”), Isaiah 55 (the sure blessings promised to David), and Psalm 16 (“You will not allow your Holy One to rot in the grave”). He then makes a simple, unanswerable argument: David died, was buried, and his tomb was still in Jerusalem. So David’s words must point to someone else. Jesus was raised on the third day, before His body saw decay. The promise was never about David. It was about David’s heir.

In this episode we cover: what “Today I have become your Father” does and does not mean (the Son is eternal, not created — what began was His role as the Messiah and Savior); why God’s everlasting covenant with David was always a promise of Jesus; why Psalm 16 can only be fulfilled by the resurrection; Paul’s declaration that through Jesus there is forgiveness of sins and a right standing with God that the law of Moses could never provide; his warning from Habakkuk not to mock what God is doing; and the response: people begging to hear more, and Paul and Barnabas urging them to continue in the grace of God.

“Be transformed by the renewing of your mind.” — Romans 12:2

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