The book of Acts

Main theme

By the power of the Holy Spirit, the risen Christ spreads his gospel from Jerusalem to Rome through witnesses who found churches among Jews and Gentiles.

Outline

1. Acts 1-7 — Witnesses in Jerusalem

   From the ascension to the death of Stephen: the Spirit is poured out and the church is born in the heart of the holy city.

2. Acts 8-12 — In Judea, in Samaria and toward the nations

   Philip, the conversion of Saul, Cornelius and the church of Antioch: the gospel crosses its first borders.

3. Acts 13-15 — First journey and the Jerusalem Council

   Paul and Barnabas evangelize Cyprus and Galatia; the church declares that Gentiles are saved by grace, without circumcision.

4. Acts 16-20 — The gospel in Europe and Asia

   Second and third journeys: Philippi, Thessalonica, Athens, Corinth, then three years in Ephesus.

5. Acts 21-28 — Paul a prisoner, from Jerusalem to Rome

   Arrested at the temple, Paul bears witness before the Sanhedrin, Felix, Festus and Agrippa, then reaches Rome after a shipwreck.

Key points

• The outline of the book fits in one verse: Jerusalem, Judea, Samaria, then the uttermost part of the earth (1:8).
• At Pentecost the promised Spirit is poured out and three thousand people are added to the church in a single day (2:1-41).
• Stephen, the first martyr, dies forgiving his executioners, before the eyes of a young man named Saul (7:58-60).
• Saul’s conversion on the road to Damascus is so pivotal that it is told three times (9:1-19; 22:6-16; 26:12-18).
• At Cornelius’s house, God gives the Spirit to Gentiles and shows that he is “no respecter of persons” (10:34-35, 44-48).
• The Jerusalem Council rules that Gentiles and Jews alike are saved through the grace of the Lord Jesus, without circumcision (15:11, 19-20).
• Three missionary journeys plant churches in Cyprus, Galatia, Macedonia, Greece and Asia (13-21).
• A prisoner, Paul nevertheless reaches Rome and proclaims the kingdom of God without hindrance (28:30-31).

Jesus in Acts

Acts continues “all that Jesus began both to do and teach” (1:1): exalted to the right hand of God, Christ pours out the Spirit (2:33) and carries on his work through his church. Every sermon proclaims his death and resurrection according to the Scriptures, and his name as the only name that saves (4:12). In him the promise made to Abraham is fulfilled: all the kindreds of the earth are blessed (3:25).

Did you know?

• The word “Christian” appears only three times in the whole New Testament: twice in Acts (11:26; 26:28) and once in 1 Peter (1 Pet 4:16).
• Peter and Paul mirror each other: each heals a man lame from birth (3:2; 14:8) and each brings a dead person back to life, Tabitha at Joppa and Eutychus at Troas (9:40; 20:9-12).
• The passages where the narrative switches to “we” (from 16:10, then 20:5 and 27:1) show that the author traveled with Paul, right up to the shipwreck at Malta.