Acts

Jesus ascends to heaven and the Holy Spirit is given.  The New Testament church begins and grows.

Summary:
Acts was most likely written by Luke as a follow up to his Gospel, making Luke/Acts a two-part volume.  The book of Acts connects the life of Jesus described in the four Gospels historically to the Epistles or letters that follow.  It records the early roots of the church.  Acts begins with the resurrected Christ ascending to heaven after forty-five days of appearances.  Ten days after his ascension, on the festival day of Pentecost, God sends his Holy Spirit and the church is born (Chap. 2).[1]  A small group of fearful men are empowered and move forward to fulfill the Great Commission. The book of Acts is foundational for the understanding of the roots and development of Christianity.[2]

 Some important points to understand about the book of Acts:

  • This book traces the development of the body of Christ (the church) over one generation and shows its development from a primarily Jewish congregation to a Gentile one. 
  • Key verse: But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth  Acts 1:8 
  • It is in this book that we are introduced to the first Christian martyr (someone killed for their faith), Stephen, who is stoned to death for blaming Jewish leaders for the death of Jesus (Chap. 7). This same chapter gives an accounting of God’s work of salvation beginning with his covenant with Abraham.  This is a great summary chapter of God’s work in the Old Testament. 
  • Saul, is introduced as well in this book as a severe persecutor of Christians.  Acts 8:1 tells us that at the stoning of Stephen, “Saul was there, giving his approval to his death.”  Chapter nine records the amazing encounter of Saul with the resurrected Christ, in the form of a flash of light.  Saul converts to the faith and his name is changed to “Paul.” It is this Apostle Paul who will pen most of the New Testament Epistles. 
  • There are twenty-four messages/sermons in twenty eight chapters, with the resurrected Christ as the central theme.[3]  It is in him alone that we are saved: Nor is there salvation in any other, for there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved   Acts 4:12

[1]  Know Your Bible (Uhrichsiville, OH: Barbour Publishing, 2008), 68.

[2] Bruce Wilkinson and Kenneth Boa, Talk thru the Bible (USA: Thomas Nelson Publishing, 2002), 354.

3 Ibid.