Acts— the Acts of the Holy Spirit
02.01.23
But ye shall receive power after that the Holy Spirit is come upon you, and ye shall be witnesses unto me both in Jerusalem, and in all Judea, and in Samaria, and unto the uttermost parts of the earth. (Acts 1:8)
The book of Acts sits alone in its own category in the NT—history. The Greek manuscripts refer to the book as ‘Acts,’ or ‘the Acts of the Apostles.’ It is often, however, called ‘the Acts of the Holy Spirit.’
Two Apostles figure prominently in the book: Peter, in the first twelve chapters [featuring home missions], and Paul in the final sixteen [with a focus on world-wide missions]. Other minor figures include: Barnabas, James, Luke, Philip, Silas and Stephen.
Luke, the beloved physician, is the author of this book. It is a sequel to the Gospel of Luke, and is addressed to the same unknown Greek person, Theophilus.
Luke was a companion of Paul on some of his missionary journeys. This is demonstrated by the sections that include the word ‘we’ [chapters 16, 20, 31, 27]. As he did in his Gospel, Luke makes frequent mention of medical terms (1:3; 3:7+; 9:18, 33; etc.).
Luke was with Paul during his house arrest in Rome, which ended in AD 63, and it is probably at this time that the book was written. The book covers a period of approximately thirty years of the history of the early church (AD 30-63).
The theme of the book is the Church in action. It begins with Christ’s ascension and ends with Paul’s first imprisonment in Rome under house arrest. In the Book we have the continuation of the ministry of Jesus Christ through the Holy Spirit at work in the Apostles. They went forth under Jesus’ command to preach and establish churches, beginning at Jerusalem, and then all over the Roman Empire, even in Rome itself. Acts provides an account of the life of Paul and gives us the historical occasion for his letters.
Our key verse noted above gives us the structure and divisions of the book. The gospel first went to Jerusalem [chapters 1-7], then to Samaria [8-12], and finally to the rest of the known world [13-28]. In this verse we have the divine appointment, the spiritual equipment, and the geographical scope of the witness for Christ.
Perhaps the key word in the book is ‘witness,’ which occurs more than thirty times. Our English word ‘martyr’ comes from this word. A witness is someone who is willing to tell what he knows, even to the point of death. With great power the apostles gave witness of the resurrection of the Lord Jesus. (Acts 4:33)
Chapter 2 is pivotal. It is where we are told of the coming of the Holy Spirit on the Day of Pentecost. His coming was promised by Jesus during His ministry and in our key verse. The new ministry of the Spirit, His indwelling in the lives of believers, began on that day with a baptism, or an immersion of the Spirit. All believers are now indwelt by the Holy Spirit at the time of salvation and are empowered to be witnesses for their Savior.
The Resurrected Christ is the theme of the sermons in this Book. It is His resurrection , the fact that He is both Lord and Christ, that motivated the disciples, and turned the world upside down. To Him give all the prophets witness that through His name whoever believes in Him will receive remission of sins. (Acts 10:43)