NOTES for Act 14:19-28
"Through many tribulations we must enter the Kingdom of God"... What exactly does this mean? Are troubles necessary for salvation, or are they simply inevitable? In other words, where should the emphasis be placed in this phrase?
The emphasis belongs in a place quite different from where we are used to putting it. The main thing in this phrase is not "tribulations," but "enter the Kingdom." There are and will be tribulations for everyone - for Christians and non-Christians alike. Sometimes Christians have far more tribulations than others; sometimes people find themselves in such an unfavorable position not for religious reasons at all, but, for example, because of their nationality...
However, Paul gives us joyful news: these tribulations can and must become our path into the Kingdom of God. And it depends only on us whether we make use of this possibility - to entrust everything into God's hands and receive everything back from Him again, and in this way enter the Kingdom.