This post is written by Greg Kilgore as a companion for Unit 31, Session 3 of The Gospel Project for Adults, Volume 11: From One Nation to All Nations (Spring 2024).

Stephen’s story in the book of Acts teaches us that God is sovereign and on His throne. God is ruling and reigning over all. At the same time, this passage teaches us about the sinfulness of man. Stephen preached the gospel faithfully, yet the religious leaders responded to the gospel with hate and murder. Stephen’s boldness for the gospel ended up costing him his life. Yet even in the face of death, Christians can faithfully witness for their Savior because He has defeated sin and death.

Stephen was introduced in Acts 6 as one of the deacons chosen to serve the Hellenistic widows. Acts 6:5 says, “So they chose Stephen, a man full of faith and the Holy Spirit.” In Acts 6:8, Stephen was described as “full of grace and power.” Yet this man who was full of faith, grace, and the Holy Spirit was seen as a threat to the sinful religious leaders, so they brought false charges against Stephen to have him murdered.

Stephen responded to the accusations of blasphemy by the religious leaders not with a defense as much as with a prophetic indictment of the Jewish leaders for missing the point of the land, the temple, and the law when they rejected Jesus.

Why was Stephen’s sermon so important? Why was Stephen’s speech about the land, the temple, and the law so important? Stephen showed the Sanhedrin how they were thinking wrongly about God and how they were thinking wrongly about salvation. In his sermon, Stephen described how Jesus fulfilled God’s promises concerning the land, the law, and the temple.

The concept of the promised land in the Old Testament was an important theme and a sign of God’s blessing upon His people. However, the Jews had made the land into an idol.

The law was God’s Word to His people, teaching them how they should live. The Scriptures told them their history and how God had continually delivered His people, but they had twisted the law so that it no longer pointed them to their Savior. Instead, the law was their means of salvation when it was clear that no one can keep the law perfectly.

Finally, the Jews greatly regarded their temple. For the Jews, the temple was the most sacred spot on the earth because it was where God’s presence dwelled on earth. Just like the land, they began to view the temple in an idolatrous way; their hope and joy were found in something they had made with their hands.

Stephen showed them they had missed the point of all these things! The land, temple, and law were meant to point to the “Righteous One.” They had put their trust in the land, they had put their trust in a building, and they had put their trust in their supposed righteousness. The tragedy that we see here is that Israel had thought their joy, hope, fulfillment, and salvation were found in something they had made or had accomplished on their own. The religious leaders were not trusting in the Messiah but trusting in a faulty foundation. Are you trusting in a faulty foundation for your hope?

Greg Kilgore is the associational missions strategist for the Mid-Valley Southern Baptist Association in Fresno, California. He and his wife, Megan, have three children: Owen, Camille, and Judson Titus. Greg is a PhD student at Midwestern Baptist Theological Seminary, where he also teaches as an adjunct professor.