The Purpose of Acts

“The glory of GOD is man fully alive.” –Saint Irenaeus

 “Go…& tell the people the full message of this new life!”–Acts 5:20

I. An Introduction to the Book of Acts-

            The book of Acts continues the narrative of Luke’s Gospel. Doctor Luke wrote it around A.D. 60-62, and it covers the first 30-35 years of Christian history. It is the historic bridge and Christian testimony that links the Gospels to the Epistles.

            “The story of Jesus doesn’t end with Jesus. It continues in the lives of those who believe in HIM. The supernatural does not stop with Jesus. Luke makes it clear that these Christians he wrote about…are in on the action of God, God acting in them, God living in them… which also means… in us.” (Peterson)

            “The Gospels set forth what Christ began to do. Acts shows what HE continued to do by the Holy Spirit, through HIS disciples. The Gospels tell of a crucified and risen Savior. Acts portrays HIM as the ascended and exalted Lord and leader. In the Gospels we hear Christ’s teachings. In Acts we see the effect of HIS teachings on the acts of the apostles.” (Mears)

            While the book is called “The Acts of the Apostles,” it is really the acts of the Holy Spirit through the lives of the followers of Christ. It gives no extensive account of any apostles except for Peter and Paul.

            Luke is clearly less interested in what two apostles accomplished, as in showing what the resurrected Lord Jesus was doing in the days immediately following HIS Ascension. The opening verse refers to the Gospel of Luke as telling “all that Jesus began to do and teach.” This infers that Acts tells all that Jesus continued to do.

            Acts “gives all manner of clues about the sort of things that the Risen Christ wants to continue to do in the modern believer and through the modern church. If the Gospels were a record of Volume I of the things Christ did and Acts is Volume II, then surely we today should be part of the writing of Volume III. Herein lies one of the unique contributions that the Acts can make to life as a disciple of Jesus Christ in the contemporary era.” (D. Stuart Briscoe)

           

II. An Overview of the Book of Acts-

            The theme of Acts is the growth of Christianity through the spread of the Gospel/Word of God by the power of the Holy Spirit.

            There are 3-4 commonly held theories concerning Luke’s intended outline or structure for Acts. The simplest is a 2-fold emphasis on the two main apostles. Their lives, ministry and influence are separated with the emphasis on Peter the apostle to the Jews in Chapters 1-12, and Paul the apostle to the Gentiles in the rest of the book.

Another view focuses on the 3-fold geographic expansion of Christianity as it is seen in Acts 1:8. The witness for Christ starts in Jerusalem (Chapters 1-7), goes further into Judea and Samaria (Chapters 8-12), and then spreads to Europe and throughout the Roman Empire (Chapters 13-20+). Some add a fourth part to this as the witness to the ends of the earth or before leaders (Chapters 21-28). Regardless of the breakdown you use in study, each section of the book focuses on a particular audience, a key personality, and a significant phase in the expansion of the Gospel message, Church growth and the increase of the Kingdom of God.

In “Unlocking the Bible”, David Pawson gives a unique overview of the whole Bible which includes this excerpt on, The Six Sections of Acts:

The three-stage structure (of Acts) may be compelling in some ways, but there is a better and more detailed way of understanding Luke’s approach.  This understanding comes directly from noticing a literary device which Luke seems to be using to underline his theme.  He includes a series of similar phrases at various points in his narrative. Note the following:

Acts 6:7.  ‘So the word of God spread, the number of disciples in Jerusalem increased rapidly and a large number of priests became obedient to the faith.’

Acts 9:31. ‘Then the church throughout Judaea, Galilee and Samaria enjoyed a time of peace.  It was strengthened and encouraged by the Holy Spirit, it grew in numbers, living in the fear of the Lord.’

Acts 12:24. ‘But the word of God continued to increase and spread.’

Acts 16:5.  ‘So the churches were strengthened in the faith and grew daily in numbers.’

Acts 19:20. ‘In this way the word of the Lord spread widely and grew in power.’

            These five statements in Acts about growth in either the Word of God or the Church provide a summary which marks the end of a section.  Luke tells us what happened and then he summarizes that because of what happened the Church grew and spread.

            In the light of these divisions, the suggestion given above that Luke organizes geographically is partly correct, and these marker verses suggest the following six sections:

1-6:7                Jews in Jerusalem

6:8-9:31           Hellenists and Samaritans

9:32-12:24       Gentiles and Antioch

12:25-16:5       Asia Minor

16:6-19:20       Europe

19:21-28-31    Rome

Luke is describing the ‘irresistible force’ of this new religion throughout the Roman Empire.  It is as if the death and resurrection of Jesus are like a stone thrown into a pond.  Luke shows how the ripples have spread, with each summary statement underlining that the ripples are continuing, until eventually they reach Rome itself.  It is clearly a selective description – the expansion is only depicted in one direction, north-west.  The only hint of expansion to the south is the conversion of the Ethiopian on his way home to Africa.