12 How to Read Acts Download Luke wrote Acts. Acts 1:1-2Acts is the second volume.Luke is about the life of Christ.Acts is about the early expansion of the church. Major events of Acts 1:1-11 Jesus commissions and ascends.1:12-27 Peter initiates replacing Judas.2:1-47 Spirit is poured out, and Peter preaches.3:1-26 Peter heals lame man and preaches.4:1-6:7 Communal living in Jerusalem6:8-7:60 Stephen’s martyrdom8:1-40 Philip’s expansion to Samaria, Ethiopia9:1-31 Paul’s conversion, expansion to Damascus9:32-9:43 Peter’s mission to Lydda and Joppa10:1-11:18 Peter converts Cornelius in Caesarea.11:19-30 Barnabas brings Paul to Antioch.12:1-24 Peter’s arrest and miraculous escape12:25-16:5 Paul’s 1st missionary journey16:6-19:20 Paul’s 2nd missionary journey19:21-21:17 Paul’s 3rd missionary journey21:18-28:31 Paul’s arrest and trip to Rome Organization of the book The first half is about Peter (1-12).The second half is about Paul (13-28).Acts 1:8 outlines the book: they expanded from Jerusalem to Judea to Samaria to the ends of the earth. Leading and experience of God’s spirit Baptized with the spirit, filled with the spirit, pour out the spirit, receive the spirit, spirit fell upon: 1:5, 8; 2:4, 17; 4:31; 8:17; 9:17; 10:44-45; 11:15-16; 13:52Speaking in tongues; prophecy: 2:4, 17-18; 10:46; 11:28; 19:6; 20:22-23; 27:21-22Exorcisms: 5:16; 8:7; 16:18; 19:12-16Healing and miracles: 3:6-7; 5:12, 15-16; 8:39; 9:17-18, 34-35; 12:7-10; 13:11; 14:10; 19:11; 20:9-10; 28:3-6, 8-9Supernatural direction: 1:16, 26; 8:26, 29; 9:10-16; 13:2; 15:28; 16:7; 18:9-10; 20:28; 21:11; 23:11; 27:23-24 Rapid expansion through conversion Convert 3,000 on day of Pentecost (2:41)5,000 after healing lame man at the temple (4:4)Conversions of whole towns: Samaria (8), Lydda, and Joppa (9)Conversions of key people: Ethiopian treasurer (8); Paul of Tarsus (9); Cornelius the centurion (10); Sergius Paulus, proconsul of Cyprus, (13); Lydia, a wealthy Philippian merchant, (16); Crispus, a synagogue leader in Corinth, (18); Publius of Malta (28) Perseverance through persecution Sadducees arrest Peter and John (4).Sadducees arrest apostles (5).A mob stones Stephen (7).Paul leads persecution in Jerusalem (8).King Herod executes James (12).King Herod imprisons Peter (12).Jewish leaders expel Paul and Barnabas from Pisidian Antioch (13).Jewish leaders stone Paul at Lystra (14).City magistrates arrest Paul and Silas at Philippi (16).Jewish mob attacks Jason at Thessalonica (17).Jewish leaders accuse Paul before Proconsul Gallio at Corinth (18).Demetrius instigates riot against Paul at Ephesus (19).Jewish mob attacks Paul at Jerusalem (21).Plot of Jewish leaders to murder Paul (23)Paul’s trial before Felix (24)Paul’s trial before Festus (25)Paul’s defense before King Agrippa (26)Paul’s shipwreck (27)Paul’s house arrest at Rome (28) Respectful of Roman authorities Paul is respectful to his arresting officer, Claudius, (21:33, 37-40).He asserts his Roman citizenship (22:24-29).He cordially converses with Felix, Roman governor of Judea, (24).Paul appeals to have a trial before Caesar in Rome b/c he’s afraid he won’t get a fair hearing in Judea.Paul interacts respectfully with Festus and King Agrippa.King Agrippa says Paul should’ve been set free (26:31-32).Paul complies on the whole journey while under arrest. Including the Gentiles Originally, Christianity was 100% Jewish.Gentiles (non-Jews) began believing in Jesus, and God demonstrated his acceptance through his spirit (see Acts 10:44-45).Both Peter and Paul preached to Gentiles and accepted them as part of God’s family.After a disagreement broke out over the Gentiles (Acts 15:1-2), the disciples decided Gentiles could be part of the church without keeping the law. Acts is the historical spine of the NT Acts tells you about how Christianity came to many places mentioned in other parts of the NT.On Paul’s second missionary journey, he visited Galatia, Philippi, Thessalonica, Corinth, and Ephesus. These are all places to which he wrote Epistles. Prescriptive vs. descriptive Does Acts prescribe how we should live or describe what they did?Acts 2:44-46 talks about sharing all our possessions. Is this normative for all Christians for all time?Fee & Stuart: “Unless Scripture explicitly tells us we must do something, what is only narrated or described does not function in a normative (i.e. obligatory) way—unless it can be demonstrated on other grounds that the author intended it to function in this way.”1 Review Acts is a history of the church that Luke wrote to follow his biography of Christ.Acts describes the spread of Christianity from Jerusalem to Judea to Samaria to the ends of the earth (i.e. the Mediterranean world).In Acts, Luke is interested in the activity of God’s spirit, missionary activity resulting in conversions, and how Christians are respectful to Roman authorities.The inclusion of Gentiles into the early Christian movement ...
