Biblical Theme Map
Biblical Theme Map: Acts 1–28
Purpose
This document maps the thematic structure of Acts as a whole — how the nine curriculum doctrines named for this project (The Holy Spirit and Pentecost; The Gospel to Jews and Gentiles; Repentance and Baptism; The Church as Community; Apostolic Authority and Miracles; Persecution and Bold Witness; Conversion of Paul; Justification apart from the Law; The Great Commission Fulfilled) relate to one another internally, how each connects across the wider canon (Old Testament roots, Gospel background, Epistle outworking — especially the Romans curriculum already covered by this Language Package), and how the book’s own geographic-narrative structure carries its theology forward. It is organized to support Phase 2 lesson-sequencing and to give reviewers a single-page mental map of “how the whole book fits together” before any segment-level translation work begins.
PART 1 — ACTS’ OWN STRUCTURAL SPINE: ACTS 1:8 AS THEMATIC KEY
Acts 1:8 (“you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth”) functions as the book’s programmatic thesis-statement, in the same structural role that Romans 1:16-17 plays for Romans. Every major theme in this curriculum can be located as an unfolding of one clause of this verse:
| Acts 1:8 Clause | Curriculum Doctrine(s) Unfolding It | Narrative Arc |
|---|---|---|
| ”you will receive power” (Kuasa Allah) | The Holy Spirit and Pentecost; Apostolic Authority and Miracles | Acts 2 (Pentecost) → Acts 3-4 (healing, boldness) → Acts 8, 10, 19 (Spirit given to Samaritans, Gentiles, Ephesian disciples) |
| “when the Holy Spirit has come upon you” | The Holy Spirit and Pentecost | Acts 2:1-4 → 4:31 → 8:17 → 10:44 → 19:6 (repeated “fillings,” not a single isolated event) |
| “you will be my witnesses” (saksi) | Persecution and Bold Witness; Conversion of Paul | Acts 4-5 (before the Sanhedrin) → 7 (Stephen) → 9 (Saul transformed from persecutor to witness) → 22, 26 (Paul’s own witness-testimony before kings) |
| “in Jerusalem” | The Gospel to Jews and Gentiles (Jewish phase); Repentance and Baptism; The Church as Community | Acts 2-7 |
| ”and in all Judea and Samaria” | The Gospel to Jews and Gentiles (transitional phase) | Acts 8-9 |
| ”and to the end of the earth” | The Gospel to Jews and Gentiles (Gentile phase); Justification apart from the Law; The Great Commission Fulfilled | Acts 10-28, climaxing at 28:28-31 |
This geographic progression (Jerusalem → Judea/Samaria → the end of the earth) is Acts’ own organizing principle and should be preserved as the master frame within which all nine curriculum doctrines are taught — no doctrine in this list stands alone; each is a stage in this single unfolding movement of the gospel outward.
PART 2 — THEME-BY-THEME MAP
Theme 1: The Holy Spirit and Pentecost
Core Acts passages: Acts 1:4-5, 8; 2:1-41 (core passage); 4:8, 31; 6:3, 5; 7:55; 8:14-17; 9:17; 10:44-46; 13:2, 9, 52; 19:1-7.
OT roots: Joel 2:28-32 (the direct fulfillment-text); Ezekiel 36:26-27 and 37:9-14 (new-covenant Spirit-giving and the breath that gives life); Numbers 11:24-29 (Moses’ wish, “would that all the LORD’s people were prophets… that the LORD would put his Spirit on them,” directly anticipating Pentecost’s democratized outpouring); Exodus 19 (Sinai theophany, giving of the law, traditionally dated near this same festival — a rich typological contrast between law given at Sinai and Spirit given at Pentecost).
Connection across Scripture: John 14:16-17, 26; 16:7-15 (Jesus’ own promise of the Spirit as Counselor); Luke 3:16; 24:49 (the Gospel of Luke’s own anticipation of this event, since Luke authored both Luke and Acts as a two-volume work). Connection to Romans: Romans 8:9-16 (the indwelling Spirit as the mark of belonging to Christ, the Spirit of adoption crying “Abba, Father”); Romans 8:26-27 (the Spirit’s intercession). Acts narrates the historical inauguration of what Romans 8 describes as the ongoing present experience of every believer — this is a crucial pedagogical link: Acts 2 answers “when and how did this begin,” Romans 8 answers “what does this mean for me now.”
Malaysia-specific rendering concerns: Roh Kudus (baseline Critical) must retain full personal, divine, third-Trinitarian-Person status throughout; the recurring “filled with the Spirit” language (Acts 2:4; 4:8, 31; 13:9, 52) must be taught as repeated Spirit-empowering for witness, distinct from Malay bomoh spirit-possession/trance categories and from the archangel-Jibril misreading already flagged in the baseline.
Thematic arc: Promised (Luke-Acts) → poured out at Jerusalem (Acts 2) → extended to Samaritans (Acts 8) → extended to Gentiles (Acts 10) → extended to disciples with incomplete instruction (Acts 19) — a deliberate widening pattern mirroring the Gospel’s own geographic expansion.
Theme 2: The Gospel to Jews and Gentiles
Core Acts passages: Acts 1:8; 2:5-11, 39; 3:25; 10:1-11:18 (Cornelius); 13:46-48; 15:1-29 (Jerusalem Council); 28:28.
OT roots: Genesis 12:3; 22:18 (Abrahamic promise, “all the families of the earth”); Isaiah 49:6 (“a light for the nations”); Isaiah 56:6-8 (foreigners joining themselves to the LORD); Amos 9:11-12 (rebuilt tent of David, Gentiles called by God’s name).
Connection across Scripture: Matthew 28:19 (“make disciples of all nations”); Galatians 3:8, 28 (Abrahamic promise, “no Jew or Greek”); Ephesians 2:11-22 (the dividing wall broken down). Connection to Romans: Romans 1:16 (“to the Jew first, and also to the Greek”); Romans 3:29-30; 9-11 (the extended argument for God’s faithfulness to Israel alongside Gentile inclusion); Romans 15:8-12 (the OT catena on Gentile praise, directly parallel to Acts 15:16-17). Acts narrates the historical events (Cornelius, the Council) that Romans 9-11 theologically explains and defends at length — these two curricula should be taught as a matched narrative/systematic pair.
Malaysia-specific rendering concerns: Bangsa bukan Yahudi (baseline Medium risk) throughout; the Acts 10 “unclean/common” vision is the single highest-risk new term in this whole curriculum (Critical, see Cross-Reference Analysis) given Malaysia’s operative JAKIM halal-certification system — must never be rendered with haram/halal vocabulary.
Thematic arc: Promise anticipated even within the Jerusalem sermon (Acts 2:39, “all who are far off”) → first Gentile-adjacent breakthrough (Samaritans, Acts 8) → the decisive Gentile Pentecost (Cornelius, Acts 10) → formal doctrinal ratification (Jerusalem Council, Acts 15) → sustained Gentile mission (Acts 16-28) → final programmatic statement (Acts 28:28, “this salvation of God has been sent to the Gentiles”).
Theme 3: Repentance and Baptism
Core Acts passages: Acts 2:38 (core passage, the central text); 3:19; 8:36-38; 9:18; 10:47-48; 11:18; 16:15, 31-33; 17:30; 19:1-5; 22:16.
OT roots: Ezekiel 36:25-27 (cleansing water and new heart/spirit as new-covenant promise); Isaiah 1:16-18 (“wash yourselves… though your sins are like scarlet”); Joel 2:12-13 (“return to me with all your heart”).
Connection across Scripture: Mark 1:4 (John’s baptism of repentance); Luke 3:3, 8 (fruit worthy of repentance); Matthew 28:19 (baptism as part of the Great Commission formula, “Father, Son, and Holy Spirit”). Connection to Romans: Romans 6:1-4 (baptism as union with Christ’s death and resurrection — the fullest theological exposition of what Acts narrates as simple pastoral instruction); Romans 2:4 (God’s kindness meant to lead to repentance); Romans 10:9-10 (confession and calling on the name, the same salvation-pattern as Acts 2:38 and 16:31).
Malaysia-specific rendering concerns: Bertobat/Pertobatan (High risk — shares root with Islamic taubat, must always specify Yesus Kristus as the object/direction of turning, not Allah in the abstract, and must be taught as Spirit-enabled, not self-generated meritorious restitution); Baptisan (High risk — must be taught as marking, not causing by ritual efficacy, forgiveness already secured by grace, and distinguished from wudhu’ ritual ablution).
Thematic arc: Introduced as the twin response to the gospel at Pentecost (Acts 2:38) → repeated as the standard pattern throughout the book at every new group’s conversion (Samaritans, the eunuch, Saul, Cornelius’s household, Lydia, the jailer, the Ephesian Twelve) → its meaning is clarified/distinguished from John’s preparatory baptism at Acts 19:1-5 — establishing that baptism “in the name of the Lord Jesus” specifically, not any water-rite generally, is the pattern.
Theme 4: The Church as Community
Core Acts passages: Acts 2:42-47 (core-passage continuation, the foundational text); 4:32-37; 6:1-6; 11:27-30; 12:5, 12; 13:1-3; 15:1-29 (corporate deliberation); 20:17-38 (elders/shepherding).
OT roots: Deuteronomy 15:4-11 (no poor among you, open-handed generosity); Leviticus 25 (Jubilee provisions for economic restoration within covenant community); Psalm 133 (unity of brothers dwelling together).
Connection across Scripture: John 13:34-35 (“by this all people will know you are my disciples, if you have love for one another”); 1 Corinthians 12 (the body of Christ, many members). Connection to Romans: Romans 12:3-13 (the body-of-Christ metaphor, mutual love, sharing with those in need — the same “koinonia-in-practice” ethic Acts narrates concretely at Acts 2:44-45 and 4:32-35); Romans 16:1-16 (Paul’s own personal greetings, showing the same relational, name-by-name community texture Acts displays in its own cast of named believers).
Malaysia-specific rendering concerns: Persekutuan (baseline Low risk); “all things common” (Medium risk — must be taught as voluntary Spirit-motivated generosity specific to the early Jerusalem community, not a universal command, and distinguished from both communist-ideological readings and the Islamic zakat obligatory-almsgiving framework); penatua/elder and diaken/deacon offices (Medium risk — distinguished from Islamic religious-leadership titles).
Thematic arc: Established immediately at Pentecost (Acts 2:42-47) → tested and strengthened through internal crisis (Ananias and Sapphira, ch.5; the Hellenist-widow dispute and appointment of the Seven, ch.6) → formalized through structures (elders, ch.14, 20) → exercised in corporate discernment at the highest level (the Jerusalem Council, ch.15) → sustained across long distance through mutual care (the famine relief offering, ch.11) — the church consistently modeled as a Spirit-formed family, not a loose voluntary association.
Theme 5: Apostolic Authority and Miracles
Core Acts passages: Acts 1:21-26 (qualification criteria); 2:43; 3:1-10 (healing at the gate); 4:33; 5:12-16; 9:32-42 (Peter’s healings); 13:6-12 (Elymas); 14:8-10; 19:11-12; 20:9-12 (Eutychus); 28:3-9 (Malta).
OT roots: Exodus 4:1-9; 7:8-13 (Moses’ signs authenticating his commission before Pharaoh); 1 Kings 17-18 (Elijah’s authenticating miracles); 2 Kings 4-5 (Elisha’s healing/resuscitation miracles) — establishing a consistent OT pattern of God authenticating his sent messengers through observable acts of power.
Connection across Scripture: John 20:30-31 (Jesus’ own signs written “so that you may believe”); Hebrews 2:3-4 (God bearing witness to the gospel message “by signs and wonders and various miracles”). Connection to Romans: Romans 1:16 (Kuasa Allah, “the power of God for salvation” — the same root-concept, applied there to the gospel message itself rather than to physical miracle, showing the two are related but distinct emphases); Romans 15:18-19 (“what Christ has accomplished through me… by the power of signs and wonders, by the power of the Spirit of God”).
Malaysia-specific rendering concerns: mukjizat (High risk — the standard, most natural Malay word for miracle, but tied in Islamic usage to the closed prophet-authenticating category; must always be paired with explicit teaching that apostolic signs authenticate Spirit-given apostolic authority and the resurrection message, not new scripture-bearing prophethood); sihir/sorcery (High risk, the recurring counterfeit-power contrast: Simon Magus ch.8, Elymas ch.13, the Ephesian magic books ch.19).
Thematic arc: Established as a qualification for apostleship itself (eyewitness testimony, ch.1) → demonstrated publicly and repeatedly to validate the apostles’ message (ch.2-5) → contrasted sharply with counterfeit occult power (ch.8, 13, 16, 19) → extended even to non-apostles under apostolic commissioning (Stephen and Philip, though not among the Twelve) → continues to the book’s final scene (Malta, ch.28), showing this authenticating pattern persists even as the narrative’s center of gravity shifts from Peter to Paul.
Theme 6: Persecution and Bold Witness
Core Acts passages: Acts 4:1-31; 5:17-42; 6:8-7:60 (Stephen); 8:1-3; 9:1-2, 23-25, 29; 12:1-5; 13:50; 14:5, 19; 16:19-24; 21:27-36; 23:12-15; 24-26 (the extended legal defense sequence).
OT roots: Jeremiah 20:7-9 (the prophet compelled to speak despite suffering); Daniel 3, 6 (faithful witness under threat of death, refusing to compromise); Psalm 2 (rulers conspiring against the LORD’s Anointed, applied directly to Christ’s persecutors in Acts 4:25-26); the broader pattern of OT prophets rejected and killed, which Stephen names explicitly (Acts 7:52).
Connection across Scripture: Matthew 5:10-12 (blessed are the persecuted); John 15:18-20 (“if they persecuted me, they will also persecute you”); 2 Timothy 3:12 (“all who desire to live a godly life… will be persecuted”). Connection to Romans: Romans 8:35-39 (nothing — including “tribulation,” “persecution,” “sword” — can separate believers from Christ’s love, the theological ground of assurance underlying the courage Acts narrates concretely); Romans 12:14, 17-21 (bless those who persecute you, overcome evil with good — directly enacted in Stephen’s dying prayer of forgiveness, Acts 7:60).
Malaysia-specific rendering concerns: parrhēsia/boldness (High risk — Spirit-given confidence under threat, not natural recklessness); saksi/witness (High risk — must never be conflated with syahid, the Islamic jihad-martyrdom category); the stoning narratives (High risk — must be framed explicitly as illegitimate mob violence, not legitimate judicial process, given contemporary Malaysian hudud sensitivities).
Thematic arc: First threats and arrests met with prayer for boldness, not safety (Acts 4:23-31) → escalates to flogging (ch.5) → escalates to the first martyrdom (Stephen, ch.7) → triggers the great scattering that paradoxically fuels the mission’s geographic expansion (Acts 8:1, 4; 11:19-21) → recurs throughout Paul’s ministry (beatings, stonings, imprisonments) → culminates in Paul’s own extended legal ordeal (ch.21-28), where bold witness continues even in chains, fulfilling Acts 1:8’s promise under the most adverse conditions.
Theme 7: Conversion of Paul
Core Acts passages: Acts 9:1-31; 22:3-21; 26:9-23 (three tellings of the same event — the most-repeated narrative in the book).
OT roots: Isaiah 49:1, 5-6 (a servant “formed from the womb” to be a light to the nations, echoed in Paul’s own commissioning language, 26:16-18); Jeremiah 1:5 (set apart from the womb for a prophetic task) — background patterns for a divinely-interrupted, sovereignly-initiated calling.
Connection across Scripture: Galatians 1:11-17 (Paul’s own first-person account of the same event, “God… was pleased to reveal his Son to me”); Philippians 3:4-11 (Paul’s reassessment of his prior credentials as loss compared to knowing Christ); 1 Timothy 1:12-16 (Paul as the “foremost” of sinners shown mercy, as a pattern for others). Connection to Romans: Romans 1:1 (“Paul, a servant of Christ Jesus, called to be an apostle, set apart for the gospel of God” — Paul’s own self-description in Romans directly presupposes and echoes the commissioning narrative of Acts 9/22/26); Romans 7:7-25 (Paul’s wrestling with the law’s inability to produce righteousness, arguably illuminated by his own pre-conversion zeal as a law-keeper); Romans 9:1-3; 10:1-2 (Paul’s anguish for Israel, poignant against the backdrop of his own personal history as a former persecutor).
Malaysia-specific rendering concerns: Anak Allah (Critical — the first content of Paul’s own post-conversion preaching, Acts 9:20); the “power of Satan to God” language (Medium-High, ch.26 — requires teaching on the NT cosmic-conflict framework without assumed equivalence to Islamic angelology/demonology’s fuller hierarchy).
Thematic arc: Introduced as a violent persecutor (Acts 8:1, 3; 9:1-2) → sovereignly and dramatically interrupted (9:3-9) → commissioned as “a chosen instrument… to carry my name before the Gentiles and kings and the children of Israel” (9:15) → becomes the book’s dominant missionary figure from ch.13 onward → retells his own conversion twice more under legal pressure (ch.22, 26), using his personal testimony itself as a primary evangelistic and apologetic tool — establishing personal conversion narrative as a legitimate and central form of Christian witness.
Theme 8: Justification apart from the Law
Core Acts passages: Acts 13:38-39 (the clearest single statement); 15:1-29 (the Jerusalem Council); 21:20-25 (Paul’s continued personal observance of Jewish custom without imposing it on Gentiles).
OT roots: Genesis 15:6 (Abraham believed God, and it was counted to him as righteousness — the deep root of the whole doctrine, not directly quoted in Acts but structurally presupposed by Acts 13:39’s argument); Habakkuk 2:4 (“the righteous shall live by faith” — not quoted in Acts, but the shared root-text underlying both Acts 13’s and Romans’ justification arguments); Genesis 17:9-14 (the circumcision covenant-sign, historically bounded, at issue in Acts 15).
Connection across Scripture: Galatians 2:16 (“a person is not justified by works of the law but through faith in Jesus Christ… because by works of the law no one will be justified”); Galatians 3:10-14 (the law’s curse and Christ’s redemption from it); Ephesians 2:8-9 (“by grace you have been saved through faith… not a result of works”). Connection to Romans: this is the most direct doctrinal overlap between Acts and the Romans curriculum. Romans 3:20-28 (“by works of the law no human being will be justified in his sight… but now the righteousness of God has been manifested apart from the law”); Romans 4:1-25 (Abraham justified by faith, not works or circumcision — directly answering the very question the Jerusalem Council settles narratively in Acts 15); Romans 9:30-10:4 (Israel’s pursuit of a law of righteousness instead of the righteousness that is by faith).
Malaysia-specific rendering concerns: Diperbenarkan (Critical, baseline term — full forensic-legal weight, never softened to mere forgiveness); Hukum Taurat (High — never Syariah); sunat/berkhitan (High — must be framed strictly as a historically-bounded Mosaic covenant-sign question, never as commentary on the positively-practiced Islamic rite of khitan); Kasih kurnia (High — the single ground of salvation for Jew and Gentile alike, Acts 15:11).
Thematic arc: Anticipated in Peter’s own Gentile-inclusion argument (Acts 10-11, salvation without proselyte conversion) → stated propositionally for the first time in Paul’s preaching (Acts 13:38-39) → provokes the direct controversy that the whole church must resolve (Acts 15:1-5) → settled decisively and permanently by apostolic council, grounded in Scripture (Amos 9) and shared Spirit-experience (Acts 15:6-29) → Paul’s own subsequent conduct (voluntarily keeping some Jewish customs personally, ch.16, 18, 21, while never requiring them of Gentiles) models the freedom this doctrine secures without becoming legalism in either direction. This entire Acts narrative arc functions as the lived historical prelude to Romans’ fullest systematic treatment of the same doctrine.
Theme 9: The Great Commission Fulfilled
Core Acts passages: Acts 1:8 (the thesis); 13:47 (Isaiah 49:6 cited directly); 28:28-31 (the closing fulfillment statement).
OT roots: Isaiah 49:6 (“I will make you as a light for the nations, that my salvation may reach to the end of the earth” — quoted directly at Acts 13:47); Isaiah 2:2-3; Micah 4:1-2 (the nations streaming to the mountain of the LORD in the last days); Psalm 22:27 (“all the families of the nations shall worship before you”); Genesis 12:3 (Abrahamic universal-blessing promise, the deepest root of all these later texts).
Connection across Scripture: Matthew 28:18-20 (the Great Commission proper, “make disciples of all nations… to the end of the age”); Luke 24:46-49 (repentance and forgiveness proclaimed “to all nations, beginning from Jerusalem” — Luke’s own Gospel-ending version of Acts 1:8’s thesis, since Luke-Acts is a single continuous work); Revelation 7:9 (a multitude from every nation, tribe, people, and language before the throne — the ultimate eschatological fulfillment this Acts trajectory anticipates). Connection to Romans: Romans 1:5 (Paul’s own apostleship given “to bring about the obedience of faith for the sake of his name among all the nations” — nearly verbatim Acts 1:8/13:47 language in Paul’s own self-description); Romans 10:14-18 (“how will they hear without someone preaching?… their voice has gone out to all the earth,” quoting Psalm 19:4 in a way that functionally parallels Acts’ Isaiah 49:6 citation); Romans 15:18-24 (Paul’s own summary of his completed Gentile mission strategy “from Jerusalem… round to Illyricum,” directly narrated in Acts’ second half).
Malaysia-specific rendering concerns: Penyebaran Injil (High — never misi [colonial connotations] or dakwah-style framing; this doctrine also intersects with the evangelism doctrine’s Critical legal-safety flag regarding restrictions on proselytizing Muslims in Malaysia, so all teaching material connected to this theme should route through human theologian review for pastoral and legal-safety framing, consistent with the baseline’s existing escalation rule); Kerajaan Allah (Medium — the closing verse’s “kingdom of God… with all boldness” must not be read as a literal government/monarchy claim).
Thematic arc: Stated as promise/command (Acts 1:8) → confirmed as already-anticipated OT prophecy at the Gentile mission’s formal launch (Acts 13:47) → carried out narratively across the entire second half of the book (Acts 13-28, three missionary journeys plus the journey to Rome) → declared substantially accomplished, though not yet complete, in the book’s final verses (Acts 28:28-31) — Luke deliberately leaves the ending “open” (Paul preaching unhindered in Rome, the empire’s center, but the commission’s “end of the earth” horizon not yet fully closed), inviting the reader to see the church’s ongoing mission (including, implicitly, the Romans letter itself, written to the very city where Acts ends) as the direct continuation of this same unfinished narrative.
PART 3 — INTER-THEME RELATIONSHIPS (HOW THE NINE THEMES INTERLOCK)
The nine curriculum doctrines are not nine independent topics but a single connected chain, as follows:
- The Holy Spirit and Pentecost (Theme 1) is the empowering cause that produces:
- Persecution and Bold Witness (Theme 6) — Spirit-filled believers speak boldly, which provokes opposition, which in turn (through Stephen’s death and the resulting scattering) accelerates geographic expansion, and also provides the setting for:
- Conversion of Paul (Theme 7) — the chief persecutor is himself converted, becoming the primary agent of:
- The Gospel to Jews and Gentiles (Theme 2) — as the message crosses ethnic boundaries, it raises the legal question resolved under:
- Justification apart from the Law (Theme 8) — the Jerusalem Council’s ruling that grace through faith, not law-works, is the single ground of salvation for all, which is received through:
- Repentance and Baptism (Theme 3) — the consistent individual response pattern to gospel proclamation throughout the book, producing converts who are incorporated into:
- The Church as Community (Theme 4) — the visible, corporate result of all the above, sustained and validated by:
- Apostolic Authority and Miracles (Theme 5) — the Spirit-given authentication of the apostles’ message at each stage of expansion, all of which together constitutes the outworking of:
- The Great Commission Fulfilled (Theme 9) — the book’s overarching narrative goal, stated at the outset (1:8) and substantially realized by the close (28:28-31).
This chain should inform Phase 2 lesson sequencing: doctrines are best taught in something like their narrative-causal order (1 → 6 → 7 → 2 → 8 → 3 → 4 → 5 → 9), or, where a more topical approach is preferred, each lesson should explicitly note its place within this chain so learners retain the sense of a single unfolding story rather than nine disconnected topics.
PART 4 — ACTS AND ROMANS AS A MATCHED PAIR: SUMMARY TABLE
| Acts (narrative) | Romans (systematic) | Relationship |
|---|---|---|
| Acts 2 (Spirit poured out at Pentecost) | Romans 8 (the Spirit’s ongoing indwelling, intercession, and witness) | Acts narrates the historical inauguration; Romans expounds its ongoing personal significance. |
| Acts 9, 22, 26 (Paul’s conversion, told three times) | Romans 1:1; 7:7-25; 9:1-3 | Romans’ argument is written by, and partly autobiographically informed by, the very man whose conversion Acts narrates at length. |
| Acts 10-11 (Cornelius, the Gentile Pentecost) | Romans 9-11 (Israel, the Gentiles, and God’s faithfulness) | Acts narrates the decisive historical breakthrough; Romans provides the fullest theological defense of why and how this fits God’s unchanging purposes. |
| Acts 13:38-39; 15:1-29 (justification apart from the law, narrated and adjudicated) | Romans 3:20-4:25 (justification apart from the law, expounded systematically) | The clearest direct doctrinal overlap between the two books; Acts shows the church living out, in real controversy, the doctrine Romans later argues from first principles. |
| Acts 1:8; 13:47; 28:28-31 (mission to the nations, narrated) | Romans 1:5; 10:14-18; 15:18-24 (mission to the nations, explained and personally summarized by Paul) | Acts shows the mission happening; Romans (written from Corinth near the end of this very journey, addressed to the church in the city where Acts’ narrative ends) shows Paul’s own theological account of why it must happen and his plan to extend it further west. |
| Acts 2:36; 2:34-35 (Psalm 110, double-Kyrios, “Lord and Christ”) | Romans 10:9 (“if you confess… Jesus is Lord”) | Structurally identical confessional climax; both curricula’s salvation-confession language must be rendered with matching force and register. |
This theme map extends but does not override the Romans baseline doctrine_risk_registry.json. Risk levels, forbidden substitutions, and review-routing for every term named above follow analysis/08_core_glossary.md and the Romans baseline exactly. See analysis/09_cross_reference_analysis.md for full citation-level detail underlying every connection summarized here.