The importance of the book of acts the importance of this second of lukes two. The offering sent by barnabas and saul to the jerusalem elders. Understanding the book of acts in the bible learn religions. Chapters 1 to 12 it is the indispensable bridge between the new testament gospels and epistles. The presence and working of the holy spirit is the dominating mark of the book of acts. It is an important book in understanding how we can be directed by the holy spirit and the role of jesus lessons in our lives.
Acts free bible commentary on the book of acts in easy english. Jul 24, 2018 the bible book of acts comes at a special time in the gospel story of jesus christ. The book of acts is focused on gods mission, as god draws people into his orbit and brings them into his community, and so its spirituality is missional. The book begins with the ascension of jesus and goes on through pauls jail time in rome, which opens his ministry to the church at rome.
Commentary on the book of acts bible study lessons. Acts with book summary versebyverse bible commentary. The esv study bible includes maps on many of the pages in the book of acts that help illustrate the various places mentioned in acts and routes taken by the apostles as they proclaim the gospel. Luke recorded three rejections by the jews to peter and the apostles associated with him to the message of repentance and proclamation of the kingdom.
Book of acts overview insight for living ministries. I emphasized that the two books seem to show us that the ministry of jesus is. Interpreting the book of acts guides to new testament exegesis walter l liefeld on. Its initial chapters describe the churchs founding and early years. This course is based on the lecture series, the book of acts, produced by third millennium ministries and presented by dr. Understanding the book of acts by baker, charles f. The genre of the book of acts is narrative history with several sermons. This book is vitally important in understanding the rest of the new testament. The book of acts, youll discover how the old and new testaments together present christianity as a continuation. It will help the student to gain an understanding of the organization of the book, to. It records that he performed many signs and wonders to validate the ministry. The book of acts is part two of the compelling story of jesus and reveals how the church was established in spite of extreme opposition.
This is the story of christianitys beginnings and how evangelism played. Understanding the book of acts 1 a student and former participant in one of the cruise programs we offer studying the life and journeys of st. The record from the book of acts couldnt be clearer. Intro to acts biblica the international bible society. The focus is on the spread of the message about jesus, and the dramatic ways people either accepted it or rejected it. Here is a summary and overview of the book of acts. The book of acts presents a rich theology of the holy spirit. In what acts did the early church continue steadfastly in.
The acts of the apostles often referred to simply as acts, or formally the book of acts, is the fifth. This is the story of christianitys beginnings and how evangelism played a role in the spread of faith around the. Acts is not a list of policies and formulaeit is something more wonderfulan account of the dynamic and oftentimes unpredictable movement of the spirit of god in the era of the apostles, which puts us in the posture of expecting the unexpected today. Interpreting the book of acts guides to new testament. Jan 02, 2020 the book of acts sheds light on the gift of the holy spirit, who empowers, guides, teaches, and serves as our counselor. As we begin the easter season, the liturgyparticularly the lectionary readingsturn our attention to the book of acts. In the first post of this series i highlighted the unity of lukeacts. Reading the book of acts, we are enlightened and encouraged by the power of the gospel as it spread throughout the world and transformed lives. Luke has several important themes that he develops in acts. In this passage, luke is restating the great commission challenge jesus gave in luke 24. A better title would be the acts or the workings of the holy spirit, because he is the real main character of the book. In this book we see the first mention of the dispensation of the holy spirit and jesus command to take his gospel to all the world. It functions as a bridge which join the gospels and the epistles together. It alone presents an extensive picture of early church life and history.
Luke had no way of knowing how long the church would continue. It tells the inspiring story of the birth and growth of the christian church. Acts and the gospel of luke make up a twopart work, lukeacts, by the same anonymous author, usually dated to around 8090 ad. Understanding these will aid us in understanding what the holy spirits wants to learn from luke. The book of acts functions like a roadmap for the progress of the gospel. The recipient of the book, theophilus, is the same person addressed in the first volume, the gospel of luke see introduction to luke. How did the residents of jerusalem react to the church. Acts understanding the bible commentary series kindle edition by williams, david j download it once and read it on your kindle device, pc, phones or tablets. In acts, jesus sends the holy spirit to empower his.
Have you ever considered what a puzzle the new testament would be without the book of acts. Acts is a fastmoving historical account of the first three decades of. The purpose of the book of acts is governed by the jews response to peter and paul. Understanding the book of acts part 2 teach all nations inc. God takes the initiative using a variety of creative means, and people respond. Understanding the book of acts part 1 teach all nations inc. The fact that the vast majority of the references to the holy spirit in the book of acts are found in the first half of the book has raised a question mark after the contention that the concept of the holy spirit determines the structure of acts. Even that title, of course, was not original because acts was the second part of the gospel of luke. With the coming of the holy spirit on pentecost day, the church was born. This seminarylevel study also retains its depth and uses an engaging interactive format.
Summary and overview t he book of acts in the bible, written around 6263 a. For the following reasons, luke is generally considered to be the inspired author of acts. Lets dive into 4 ways you can dig deeper into acts through specific study tips. Use features like bookmarks, note taking and highlighting while reading acts understanding the bible commentary series. The following outline is intended to be used while studying the book. It is not a biography about the lives of peter or john or even the apostle paul. Peters activities are described at some length, and john and philip are mentioned, but more than half of the book is about paul and his connection with the christian movement. We will explore the original audience of acts in two ways. Understanding the book of acts from on socalled lords supper maurice m. Acts is the only biblical book that chronicles the history of the church immediately after jesuss ascension. In the latter portion of acts, luke recorded three rejections of the jews to pauls overtures of salvation.
One finds embedded in acts a record of christian defenses made to both jews. Luke, the author of the gospel of luke, was a doctor and gentile. Bible study tips for the book of acts unlocking the bible. Paul and the early church were not at odds with the laws of the old testament. Paul requested some of the materials that we hand out, so i am offering them in document files. An awareness of the audience luke sought to reach with the book of acts is critical to understanding his work. Its narrative supplies a bridge connecting the life and ministry of jesus to the life of the church and the witness of the earliest believers. It is titled acts to emphasize that this book records the acts of the apostles through the work of the holy spirit.
We see in the book of acts how the gospel of jesus christ is spread not only to the hebrews, but to the entire world through the empowering of the holy spirit of god. The gospel of luke and the book of acts form a single, twovolume work. Mar 04, 20 the esv study bible includes maps on many of the pages in the book of acts that help illustrate the various places mentioned in acts and routes taken by the apostles as they proclaim the gospel. In acts, christ had just risen from the dead, ascended into heaven, and given the apostles the great commission. One thing peculiar to acts, is that luke reassures in this letter that christians are not trying to overthrow the roman government. Acts understanding the bible commentary series kindle edition. Understanding the book of acts glory of god prayer group. The book of acts repeatedly illustrates that everything in creation the physical world, our economic structures, our political systems, and even the church itself suffers because of humanitys fall into sin. The term new testament refers to a collection of twentyseven first century writings that became the foundation of the faith and practice of christianity. It opens with a greeting to theophilus, who was also the intended recipient of lukes gospel.
There are eleven chapters in acts that contain no reference to the spirit. Learning and observing themes in certain books of the bible can have a tremendous effect on your understanding of the book and whole bible. It describes him as the one that empowers the church to live transformed lives and to evangelize the world. Continuing our walk through the book of acts, we can note the following similarities between what happened to jesus in the gospel of luke and what happens in the life of the church in acts. Understanding the book of acts in the bible thoughtco. The book of acts describes the first thirty years of the growth of the church as it was empowered by the holy spirit to witness to jesus 1. The bible book of acts comes at a special time in the gospel story of jesus christ.
Actus apostolorum, often referred to simply as acts, or formally the book of acts, is the fifth book of the new testament. One of the earliest manuscripts, the codex sinaiticus, gives as the title the simple word acts, with no mention of the apostles. Mar 23, 2015 this video explains the transitional book that is the book of acts, and how it starts with jews to jews, and slowly changes to gentiles, as the jewish nation as a whole rejects jesus christ, and. An overview of the book of acts the life of the early church is recorded and preserved for us in the book of acts and the epistles. Mar 08, 2020 this feature is not available right now.
This video explains the transitional book that is the book of acts, and how it starts with jews to jews, and slowly changes to gentiles, as the jewish nation as a whole rejects jesus christ, and. This free course answers those questions by explaining the background, structure, and content of the book, including a study of the major themes and guidelines for applying the lessons of acts today. An ancient prologue to lukes gospel indicates that luke was first a follower of the apostles and then became close with paul. This is the story of christianitys beginnings and how evangelism played a role in the spread of faith around the world. The book of acts is an important book for understanding the actions of the apostles, mostly paul and peter, after jesuss ascension into heaven. Understanding the book of acts the story of messianic beginnings the book of acts in the new testament collection. The acts of the apostles, often referred to simply as acts, or formally the book of acts, is the fifth book of the new testament. Chapters to 28 it is the indispensable bridge between the new testament gospels and epistles. Acts tells what happened following the ascension when jesus started to work through his new body, which is the church.
The book of acts provides a detailed, orderly, eyewitness account of the birth and growth of the early church and the spread of the gospel immediately after the resurrection of jesus christ. Acts shows what the early church believed and practiced. It will help to keep the whole of the book before you as you work your way through each section. But paul by divine inspiration in 2 corinthians said, henceforth, and wed have to go back and read the first part of that chapter, all the three chapters in 2 corinthians, to see the order and the progress of doctrine. Acts is the second book in the history that luke wrote. Watch our overview video on the book of acts, which breaks down the literary design of the book and its flow of thought. The spread of the good news begins in jerusalem as the resurrected jesus ascends to heaven and then pours out the holy spirit to guide and empower his followers. This versebyverse bible study and commentary of the acts of the apostles the book of acts or simply acts is indepth but uses plain language that everyone can understand, as well as a format that will engage you. The book has been called the acts of the apostles, really a misnomer because acts has very little to say concerning most of the original twelve apostles. After his death and resurrection, when it was time for jesus to ascend to heaven, he told his followers to wait for the promise of the father. The book relates the history3 of the early church beginning with.
As a second volume to lukes gospel, it joins what jesus began to do and to teach 1. The book of acts also describes the work of the two apostles peter and paul. The author of acts had written a former account of jesus life. Thus, lukes purpose in acts is more to provide a bridge for understanding these. Published on oct 4, 2016 watch our overview video on the book of acts, which breaks down the literary design of the book and its flow of thought. God took a christianhating murderer and transformed him into historys greatest christian evangelist, the author of almost half the books of the new testament. Tools to help students understand the purpose, structure, themes, and cultural background of the book of acts. The acts of the apostles is a unique and therefore crucial book of the new testament. The book of acts is thoroughly missional, steve walton explains in a spirituality of acts p. This course is an indepth study of the book of acts, and is designed to demonstrate the place and importance of the book of acts in the new testament. More than likely, luke completed the book before either of these events occurred, sometime between ad 60 and ad 62, while paul sat in prison, awaiting the resolution of his appeal. The book of acts shows how god essentially took a group of fisherman and commoners and used them to turn the world upside down acts 17. This will help you place yourself in the shoes or sandals of the apostles and understand the kindness of god in the gospel being for all people. The holy spirit in the book of acts preaching source.