Bill Roach on Acts 22:16

In this video, Bill Roach addresses whether or not Acts 22:16 teaches baptismal regeneration.

Book Review: The Feasts of Repentance by Michael J Ovey

What comes to mind when you hear the word, repentance? Hopefully, if you are a Christian, you think about turning from your sins as you ask God for forgive you disobedience. Many Christians, sadly, do not even believe in repentance. They think it is an extra biblical teaching. Some Christians think that repentance is a one time deal that only comes when you put your faith in Jesus.

Michael J. Ovey takes us through the gospel of Luke and the book of Acts to show us where the Bible talks about repentance in a book titled, The Feasts of Repentance. This book is the latest in the "New Studies in Biblical Theology," which is edited by D.A. Carson and published by InterVaristy Press. This book is from a series a lectures from a conference back in 2013 where Ovey addressed the Bible's emphasis on repentance. Ovey passed from this life to the next in 2017 before this book was even considered to be published.

In the book, we see that repentance was indeed the call in the gospel message. We saw that in the message of John The Baptist just before the public ministry of Jesus. Of course Jesus addressed repentance Himself as He began His public ministry. Ovey showed us, from the pages of the Bible, what repentance looked like and what is didn't look like. Ovey used the example of Zacchaeus as a means to show true repentance. He was a tax collector who took stole money from people so that he could make a profit. He wanted to return what he stole four times the amount and even give half of his possessions. Ovey used the Pharisees as the example of unrepentance because they were driven by greed and pride.

Ovey continues to show that our repentance is evidence of our regeneration as demonstrated with Zacchaeus. If we are regenerated by the Holy Spirit, we are a repentant people. Repentance is not a one time deal as we walk in this life with the Spirit guiding us. There will time we fail, but the Spirit is there to convict us of sin so that we can repent of it.

There are many good things in the book about what repentance is and what is not. This is the first book in the "New Studies in Biblical Theology" series that I have read. I know many have recommended this series, so I hope to get a chance to read a lot more of these books. In regards to this one, pick up and read it.

Thanks InterVarsity Press for letting me review this book.

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Book Review: Exalting Jesus In Acts

For the past couple of years, the B&H Publishing Group has released a series of commentaries called, "Christ-Centered Exposition." These commentaries are geared in not only assisting pastors in their sermon prep, but also for small group settings. These commentaries are like reading a book where there is teaching in them unlike some commentaries where they give the meaning of the verse and attempt to interpret it in its original context. Tony Merida, David Platt, and Danny Akin have been the editors of this series and have a great job gather authors seeking to make much of Jesus in this books by showing Christ in the pages of the Bible.

I recently received Exalting Jesus In Acts which was written by Tony Merida. One of the reasons I wanted to look this commentary over is our church just finished going through the book of Acts in Sunday School for our adults. Like all the commentaries in this series, each chapter is outlined as far as what that particular chapter will be looking at as well what verses it will be covering. Since Acts is such a big book in the Bible, the book itself is pretty lengthy even the chapters are not. This is probably one of the thickest commentaries from this series I have. Each chapter ends with some discussion questions which is good for small group settings and possible application points for a sermon.

I want to touch on a couple of particular verses in Acts the Merida comments on. The first being Acts 2:38-39, which says, "And Peter said to them, “Repent and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins, and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. For the promise is for you and for your children and for all who are far off, everyone whom the Lord our God calls to himself" (The commentary mostly uses the Christian Standard Bible [CSB], but I will quoting from the English Standard Version [ESV]). This is one of the go-to passage for those who embrace Infant Baptist. I wish I could say that Merida did touch on that, but he went in the area of baptismal regeneration, which the belief that when you are baptized, you are saved, which was an interesting discussion, but I wished he would have addressed more on the Infant Baptism viewpoint.

The second one is Acts 8:39-40, which says, "And when they came up out of the water, the Spirit of the Lord carried Philip away, and the eunuch saw him no more, and went on his way rejoicing. But Philip found himself at Azotus, and as he passed through he preached the gospel to all the towns until he came to Caesarea." This passages takes place right after Phillip shared Christ with the Ethiopian Eunuch and baptized him. You might be wondering why I wanted to look at this passage. My reason is a few years ago, I heard a preach say that the reason God took Phillip and zipped him from one place to another was to thank him for his service. You can imagine the confusion I had when I heard that. There is not many answers as to why Phillip was beamed like a Star Trek transporter by God to Azotus. Sadly, Merida does not go there nor did he give a theory as to why that happened. I guess this part of Acts will remain a mystery.

Despite my disappointment with the two passages I mentioned, this is an excellent commentary and highly recommend it.

Thanks B&H Publishing for letting me review this book.

Book Review: Unstoppable Gospel by Gregg Matte

The book of Acts is the story of the early church. It shows how it got started and how the gospel spread throughout the land. Acts has been studied by Christians over the centuries. Church planters go to Acts 2:42-47 as their model in establishing their new church.

Gregg Matte, pastor of Houston's First Baptist Church and found of Breakaway Ministries has written a book that serves as a companion to the book of Acts, called, Unstoppable Gospel. The reason why I call this book a companion is that it does not serve as a commentary. This is book is based on a series of messages that Matte preached at his church.

Matte shares that while people in our culture, and even a few Christians, maybe frustrated with the church, we must never forget that God instituted the church to be the agent of carrying the gospel message to the ends of the earth. The church is also a church that prayers because we are dependent on the Lord. The church is called to preach the uncompromising message of the gospel.

If you think of the book of Acts, you will see no matter what happened, the church kept growing and the gospel spread like wildfire. That is the message of Matte's book. As I mentioned, this is not a commentary but more like a companion to the book of Acts. There were a few things I agreed with Matte on while others I kind of shrugged my shoulders wondering where that came from.

Thanks Baker Books for letting me review this book.