A Concise Guide to Reading the New Testament by David R. Nienhuis

Author:David R. Nienhuis
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: New Testament;Bible: New Testament—Canon;Bible: New Testament—Criticism | interpretation |;etc.;REL006220;REL006100
ISBN: 9781493412983
Publisher: Baker Publishing Group
Published: 2017-09-29T00:00:00+00:00

What Does Acts Teach Us about the Spiritual Formation of Christian Disciples?

The salvation described in Acts entails a whole lot more than just going to heaven when we die. In fact, a straightforward reading of Acts leads us to conclude that salvation in Christ involves a complete life transformation orchestrated by the power of the Holy Spirit.

A commonly repeated adage states that the Acts of the Apostles really ought to have been named “The Acts of the Holy Spirit,” for it is in this book that the Third Person of the Trinity makes a full appearance on the narrative stage. The presentation here reinforces the Spirit’s identification in John as “another Advocate,” distinct alongside the Father and the Son, for in these stories the Spirit bears all the characteristics of a divine Person: the Spirit speaks to believers (Acts 8:29; 10:19; 20:23), sends them places (13:4), and gets involved in their decision making (15:28; 16:6–7). While the Spirit can also be tested (5:9) or opposed (7:51), most often the Spirit is depicted as filling people10 in order to empower the mission of the church in the world (1:8).

Peter’s first sermon includes a statement that neatly outlines the mechanics of participation in the Spirit’s transforming power: “Repent, and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ so that your sins may be forgiven; and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit” (Acts 2:38). In response to the gospel message, a decision to change emerges: “Repent.” This is followed by a holy ritual that washes away sins, incorporates the believer into the Christian community (“baptized . . . in the name of Jesus Christ”), and enables participation in divine empowerment to serve God in and through that community (“and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit”).

We watch this communal process take place again and again in the Acts narrative, and what takes shape there appears designed to set a template of sorts for subsequent Christian practice. Much of what is depicted is familiar to any Christian today. The members of this new community “devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and fellowship, to the breaking of bread and the prayers” (2:42); worship today looks much the same, with singing, Scripture reading, hearing a sermon, receiving Holy Communion, and joining in prayer. “Wonders and signs were being done by the apostles” (2:43); so also today people experience healing and deliverance as lives are transformed to serve God with pure hearts. And both then and now, members of the earliest church “spent much time together in the temple” and “broke bread at home and ate their food with glad and generous hearts, praising God” (2:46–47).

But along the way other things are described that might sound rather jarring to modern Western ears: “All who believed were together and had all things in common; they would sell their possessions and goods and distribute the proceeds to all, as any had need” (Acts 2:44–45). In a later, parallel description, we

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