Thoughts From Acts 1

Continuing my thoughts on the book of Acts, I studied chapter 1 this last week. There were many interesting points, however, a few stuck out to me.

Acts 1:1 says, “The first account I composed, Theophilus, about all that Jesus began to do and teach . . .” Luke says that his first account was all about what Jesus did and what He taught. I asked myself if that was a pattern for us to follow: do and teach. And, possibly if that’s the order we should be doing them in. Several commentaries I read pointed out that Jesus did wonderful things, then He preached to the people who had witnessed those things. We are supposed to do as Jesus did (after Jesus washed the disciples’ feet He said, “For I gave you an example that you also should do as I did to you.” John 13:15). So I could conclude that we also should do (works of service) and then teach (about the source of the power to do the things we do).

Later in Acts 1 (verse 8) Jesus tells us exactly what the disciples should be doing. “but you shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be My witnesses both in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria and even to the remotest part of the earth.” What caught my eye is that it says we are to “be [His] witnesses.” Being means much more than just talking about Jesus. Being means doing whatever we do in such a way as for it to represent what Christ would have done. It doesn’t say to go and witness to others. It says to be a witness to others. One of the commentaries I read explained it this way: “To be [Jesus’] witnesses in both word and deed means communicating the verbal content of the Gospel and living God‘s way and not our own.” [Emphasis added] We need to be about the business of doing things the way Jesus would do them.

I think doing service and acts of kindness opens doors to the gospel of Christ. Doing creates a platform for verbally sharing about Christ and salvation. I think doing for others causes them to ask, “Why are you doing this nice thing?” And then we can share that we are just doing what Christ would have us do because He loves everybody and wishes everybody to know and love Him. With this perspective in mind, my church is engaging in doing this Saturday. They call it “Outflow.” Five hundred people strong, members of our church reach out to complete projects needed doing by members of our community. The emphasis is on serving those who do not yet know Christ. Doing, in order to open doors to the verbal sharing. It’s not done with ulterior motives or to make the people doing the good works feel good (although that does happen). It is done to show the love of Christ in real, tangible ways to those who most need His love.

That’s what I think Christ’s example was to us: do and teach, be witnesses. Please pray for this outreach into our community and be a part of doing for Jesus.

Overview of the Book of The Acts of the Apostles

I started a new Bible study this week having finished studying Genesis a couple of weeks ago. Things mentioned in the commentaries about The Acts of the Apostles already intrigue me. Several of the commentaries suggested that Luke wrote the book as a continuation of the story in the gospel of Luke. They basically said that in order to understand the themes and purposes of Acts, the themes and purposes of the gospel of Luke must first be understood.

Not having the inclination or the time to do a complete study on the gospel of Luke before starting my study of the book of Acts, I read several introductions and commentaries about the book of Luke. First thing I noticed was that it is generally agreed among scholars, Luke and Acts were written by the same person. It is also generally accepted that the person was Luke. Luke was not an eye witness to the life of Jesus, so he had to do research to tell the story in Luke, while he was a companion of Paul’s and an eye witness to many of the events in Acts.

Luke wrote the gospel of Luke and the Acts of the Apostles as an explanation or defense of the truth. He was specifically writing to someone called Theophilus (Luke 1:3, Acts 1:1). There is a lot of speculation about who Theophilus was. One theory is that Theophilus was designated as Paul’s “defense attorney” or Paul’s sponsor in Rome. He needed to know the whole story from the birth of Jesus to Paul’s various missionary journeys in order to adequately represent Paul before the rulers in Rome. Regardless of why Luke wrote these two books, they were definitely addressed to Theophilus, a Gentile.

The Ryrie Study Bible’s notes at the beginning of the gospel of Luke explain the distinctive approach Luke took in writing these books. With many references Ryrie builds his case for uniqueness of Luke’s writings. One aspect is that although it was addressed to Theophilus, it is directed toward all Gentiles. Also there’s a pattern of being interested in individuals and mentions many of them by name. Among the many people Luke mentions by name, there’s an abundance of women whose names get recorded for history. There’s an emphasis on prayer and the answers to prayer experienced by the disciples.

In the book of Acts we are given the record of the spread of the gospel starting with the Jews and including the remotest parts of the earth (Acts 1:8). The book of Acts covers approximately thirty years. It ends with Paul imprisoned in Rome awaiting his hearing before Caesar. That fact helps date the writing of this book to around A.D. 63 because if it was later than that other significant events would also have been recorded (like the martyrdom of Paul, the burning of Rome, Nero’s persecution of Christians, and the destruction of Jerusalem) which all happened within a few years of the end of this account.

The key verse for me is Acts 1:8 which says what this book is about: “but you shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be My witnesses both in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and even to the remotest part of the earth.” The account is how the Holy Spirit is used by Jesus to get His message out to all the nations of the world. I’m looking forward to seeing that all take place as I continue in my study of Acts. My goal is to share with you the key things I learn as I go through this study.