In the Fullness of Time: An Introduction to the Biblical Theology of Acts and Paul

by Richard B. Gaffin Jr.

Publisher:

Crossway

, 2022

Overview

An Exegetical Study of the Book of Acts and Pauline Theology.

Christians meticulously research the apostle Paul, but often skip a crucial starting point: the foundations of his deeply nuanced theology. Some studies on the book of Acts attempt to touch on every major theme in Paul’s letters, making them difficult to understand or prone to leaving out important nuances. Christians need a biblical, theological, and exegetically grounded framework to thoroughly understand Paul’s theology.

In this book, Richard B. Gaffin Jr. gives readers an accessible introduction to Acts and Paul. Building on a lifetime of study, Gaffin teaches on topics including the redemptive-historical significance of Pentecost; eschatology; and the fulfillment of redemptive history in the death and resurrection of Christ. In the Fullness of Time is an exegetical “textbook” for pastors, students, and lay leaders seeking to learn more about Acts and Paul from a Reformed and evangelical perspective.

Key Features

• Provides an accessible introduction to Acts and Paul
• Covers topics including the redemptive-historical significance of Pentecost; eschatology; and the fulfillment of redemptive history
• Features an exegetical “textbook” for pastors, students, and lay leaders

Contents

Part 1: The Theology of Acts

• Pentecost and the History of Redemption
• The Kingdom of God in the Teaching of Jesus
• The Holy Spirit and the Kingdom in Luke-Acts
• Pentecost: Aspects of Its Fundamental Significance
• Pentecost: Two Related Issues

Part 2: The Theology of Paul

• Preliminary Remarks
• Paul and His Interpreters
• Paul As Pastor-Theologian
• The Question of Entrée and the Center of Paul’s Theology
• Eschatological Structure
• The Resurrection
• The Resurrection: Christ and the Holy Spirit
• The Resurrection and the Christian Life—Indicative and Imperative
• The Resurrection and the Christian Life—Suffering

Top Highlights

“As a fair and important generalization, verbal revelation is always occasioned by and focused on God’s activity in history. God’s revelatory word is oriented toward his action as Creator and Redeemer.” (Page 29)

“The kingdom, the eschatological rule of God and its arrival in Christ, manifests itself negatively as opposition to the rule of Satan. This is simply to say positively that the kingdom of God, its agenda of action, is essentially redemptive. It arrives for the overthrow of Satan’s rule and so to establish definitive, eschatological deliverance from sin and its consequences for those included in its rule and realm.” (Pages 76–77)

“Rather, in view here is a new state of affairs in the future as far as the Spirit is concerned, one that did not exist previously: the Spirit will be present, not as he was before, but on the basis of and as the consequence of the glorification of Christ having actually occurred.” (Page 124)

“In considering the hermeneutical significance of a biblical-theological approach, then, it is important to see that the unity of Scripture is fundamentally a redemptive-historical or covenant-historical unity.” (Page 35)

“Together they form a unified event-complex, a closely integrated redemptive-historical nexus in which each of these events is part of the whole and any one entails the others.” (Page 121)

Product Details

• Title: In the Fullness of Time: An Introduction to the Biblical Theology of Acts and Paul
• Author: Richard B. Gaffin Jr.
• Publisher: Crossway
• Print Publication Date: 2022
• Logos Release Date: 2022
• Pages: 448
• Era: era:contemporary
• Language: English
• Resources: 1
• Format: Digital › Logos Research Edition
• Subjects: Bible. N.T. Acts › Theology; Paul, the Apostle, Saint › Theology; Bible. N.T. Epistles of Paul › Theology
• ISBNs: 9781433563348, 9781433563379, 9781433563355, 9781433563362, 1433563347, 1433563371, 1433563355, 1433563363
• Resource ID: LLS:FULLNESSTIME
• Resource Type: Monograph
• Metadata Last Updated: 2022-09-30T00:09:11Z

About Richard B. Gaffin Jr.

Richard B. Gaffin Jr. is Professor Emeritus of Biblical and Systematic Theology at Westminster Theological Seminary in Philadelphia. He is a graduate of Calvin College, Grand Rapids, and he holds his ThM and ThD degrees from Westminster. He is the author of Resurrection and Redemption: A Study in Paul’s Soteriology, and Perspectives on Pentecost.