Eleanor, you've mostly been great, but you're being a bit rigid and brittle here on several things, sometimes just word choice.
"make every effort" was not to diminish the apostles teaching at all. It's just a human observation about where that teaching is compared to the D'ist who says the church was a plan B surprise right after the crucifixion. Every possible way of saying it was used to get across the connection to the original single faith community. Yet the D'ist does not see it.
In terms of things at risk in the generation following Christ, they had a whole generation to decide to be its missionaries. As the illustration from 2-4 show Peter knew they acted in ignorance and that that much happened as God willed (4). But not believing, after all that, and helping in the mission sunk the nation. This is stated right away; one is the warning about obeying the new Moses at the risk of utterly loss of one's roots. 3:24. The new Moses had said to take his message to the world, which is repeated at the end of 3 in how Peter saw God's blessing could come to them.
Ac 2-4 is neither about Israel as missionaries, nor about losing their roots.
Ac 2-4 is about faith, about believing to their salvation.
The consequential issue of the entire NT is salvation, it is not missionary work.
This sounds like the building block of an extra-Biblical theology which interprets all Scripture through its lense.
You have completely missed the point of Pentecost and more if you don't see the appeal to all Israel to go out as missionaries. It happened automatically as people went home from Pentecost. But it can be seen in all appeals in Acts , in Rom 10-11, many places.
Ro 10-11 are about God's cutting off of Israel.
Please show Scriptures from Ac and Ro which present the appeal to Israel to go out as missionaries.
The tragedy of the opposition of Judaizers is that they go to the nations but put them under the Law! They ghosted Paul's work and snuck into his Gentile contact.
The Judaizers were from Jerusalem. They were Jewish converts to Christianity (
false brothers, Gal 2:4, Ac 14:5, 2 Co 11:26), who insisted that circumcision was necessary for salvation and that Gentles were to obey the law.
The issue was settled by the Jerusalem council in Ac 15.
Their failure to 'be like him except for the chains' is the proof they were to be missionaries for the Gospel, not the Law.
Paul's statement to Agrippa (Ac 26:28-29), regarding Paul's wish that Agrippa were like him, refers to being a Christian, not to being a missionary. He did not wish Agrippa to be a missionary.
It was
1 Thess 2:
because you too suffered the same things from your own countrymen as they in fact did from the Jews, 15 who killed both the Lord Jesus and the prophets[q] and persecuted us severely.[r] They are displeasing to God and are opposed to all people, 16 because they hinder us from speaking to the Gentiles so that they may be saved. Thus they constantly fill up their measure of sins,[s] but wrath[t] has come upon them completely.[u]
(Talk about not being missionaries!!!)
1 Th 2:14-16 is not about missionaries. It's about the Christians in Thessalonica suffering persecution from the Gentiles there, which was instigated by the Jews (Ac 17:5-9).
The issue regarding the Jews in the NT is belief, not missionary work.
Yes the apostles wanted to turn Israel's unbelief around--to belief. Ever read Hebrews? It is specifically about that generations unbelief and what disaster could happen, and did happen,.
Which disaster is the consequences of apostasy; i.e., falling away from belief into unbelief. It is not about failing to be missionaries.
Yes the decision took place over the whole generation. It could have been stopped. You need to know what the zealots were like and that Jesus tried to turn a couple of them.
What a peculiar way of looking at the NT, as though the issue is missionary work rather than belief.
It has all the earmarks of either an extra-Biblical or contra-NT theology.
There was no game over just because of the crucifixion. Otherwise the appeal of Acts 3 is bogus: turn from your evil ways to enjoy the times of refreshing and Jesus, which God will send you. There are many appeals to Israel to turn back from these sins even though the declaration was made, even before the crucifixion, that no stone would be left upon another. But the appeals, and the appeal of Hebrews, was still bona fide; it was not fake. 5000 men had believed by Acts 4. There were signs of hope!
Where the issue is faith, not missionary work.
Yours is either an extra-Biblical or contra-NT theology.
