Lauren Ducommun

Nancy Guthrie’s newest release, Saved: Experiencing the Promise of the Book of Acts is similar to her other book, Blessed: Experiencing the Promise of the Book of Revelation. Both are comprehensive guides that provide rich context to both books of the Bible.

Saved introduces readers to the promises in the book of Acts. The seventeen chapters of the are broken into three parts: Salvation in Jerusalem, Salvation to Judea and Samaria, and Salvation to the Ends of the Earth. Thus highlighting “God’s plan to save for himself a people from every nation–the story that runs from Genesis to Revelation.”

While advertised as a Bible study for individuals or groups, it is in the form of Bible teaching, not as a workbook with questions and answers. Guthrie is expositing Scripture, passage by passage. Each chapter provides biblical and historical context for the passage, along with the author’s aim for the original audience, well-crafted illustrations and examples that aren’t distracting from the main message, and ways to properly apply each passage of Acts to our lives today.

I was pleased to find that a map accompanies each chapter, and a time line is also included at the end of the book. These are such helpful resources!

Why should we study the book of Acts?

Guthrie shares:

“We want to see how those stories fit into the larger story of the way God is working out his salvation purposes in the world. We want the power that only comes as the Spirit works through his word in the interior of our lives. We want the salvation at the center of this book to become the joy and longing of our hearts. We want to revel in the reality that we have been saved; we are being saved; and we will, one day, be fully and finally saved. So, let’s study Acts.”

Saved by Nancy Guthrie is truly a rich yet accessible guide to the book of Acts, one that I’m so glad to have on my shelf. There is also a companion video series, though I have yet to watch them. Like she continues to remind us, we can trust the saving power of God. One day our glad testimony will be: “All of God’s salvation promises have been fulfilled! All of his salvation purposes have been accomplished in my life and in his world. And everything is exactly as I was told.”

I received this book from Crossway in exchange for an honest review.

Saved: Experiencing the Promise of the Book of Acts
by Nancy Guthrie
Crossway, 2024
304 pages