Listen Now. The title of the book of Acts comes from the Greek word praxis, a word often used in early Christian literature to describe the great deeds of the apostles or other significant believers.
It shows a clear progression from the gospel according to Luke, picking up just where that book left off. Luke even began to speak in the first person plural in the latter portion of Acts, as he traveled the Roman Empire alongside Paul Acts Acts ends abruptly with Paul imprisoned in Rome, waiting to bring his appeal before Caesar.
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. As such, it provides us with a valuable account of how the church was able to grow and spread out from Jerusalem into the rest of the Roman Empire.
In only three decades, a small group of frightened believers in Jerusalem transformed into an empire-wide movement of people who had committed their lives to Jesus Christ, ending on a high note with Paul on the verge of taking the gospel to the highest government official in the land—the Emperor of Rome. Acts can be neatly divided into two sections, the first dealing primarily with the ministry of Peter in Jerusalem and Samaria Acts 1—12 and the second following Paul on his missionary journeys throughout the Roman Empire Acts 13— Acts is significant for chronicling the spread of the gospel, not only geographically but also culturally.
Many of you already know that the theme verse of Acts is found in the first chapter, "But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth" Acts Notice the phrase "to the ends of the earth.
That was Jesus' plan from the beginning. He always intended that his followers would take his message and go in every direction with the good news.
Share this. Ray Pritchard. Let me summarize the importance of Acts in three simple statements: A. A Different Set of Criteria? The Unstoppable Apostles? Measure ad performance. Select basic ads. Create a personalised ads profile. Select personalised ads. Apply market research to generate audience insights. Measure content performance. Develop and improve products. List of Partners vendors. Share Flipboard Email. Kelli Mahoney. Christianity Expert. Kelli Mahoney is a Christian youth worker and writer.
She previously worked as an administrator for NXT, a high school Christian youth group. Updated September 06, Cite this Article Format. Mahoney, Kelli. Understanding the Book of Acts. Meet Thomas the Apostle of Jesus Christ. Meet Nathanael in the Bible, the 'True Israelite'. Overview: the Epistles of the New Testament. Your Privacy Rights. To change or withdraw your consent choices for LearnReligions.
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