Jensens survey of the old testament adam 422
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time-bound, eternity-a ecting life. The
gospels tell the story of that wonderful life,
but only a few pages relate the events of the
few weeks of his postresurrection ministry.
The Bible’s history would conclude with an
abrupt void if the account of what the
resurrected Christ did to men’s hearts was
limited to only a few instances, such as the
two men’s reaction, “Were not our hearts
burning within us while He was speaking to
us?” (Luke 24:32) and Thomas’s, “My Lord
and my God!” (John 20:28). Acts was
designed by God to complete the story of
the gospels, by showing the gospel of the
resurrected Christ at work. That work was
the transforming of men’s hearts to make
them witnesses of the Way, through the
ministry of the Holy Spirit sent to earth for
that purpose. This is all illustrated by Chart
48.
Acts was not written to furnish a system of
doctrine for the church, or even to do much
interpreting of the tremendous truths of the
gospel. That task was assigned by the Spirit
of God to those who were later inspired to
write the epistles. Acts reports the gospel in
action, and it is the Christian student’s
opportunity to seek out the universal,
timeless, historically-backed principles, by
which he and the church may live and serve
God.
CHART 48: RELATION OF ACTS TO THE
GOSPELS
As you survey the story of Acts, think of it
as a historical link book and a doctrinal
demonstration book. Concerning doctrine,
what does it demonstrate?
II. BACKGROUND
A. TITLE
The short name usually assigned the book
is Acts.1 The full name Acts of the Apostles
is traceable back to the second century.
When the book was originally written, its
author Luke probably combined it with his
earlier writing, the gospel of Luke. Then
when his gospel was joined to the other
three gospels, Acts stood alone. Here are
some observations:
1. The key word in the longer title is Acts.
These are not the dreams, theories, or
speculations of the apostles, but their acts,
their
deeds,
things
they
actually
accomplished.
2. The phrase of the apostles probably
refers to the main apostles during the years
of the book’s record. Of those apostles, Peter
and Paul were the key leaders.
3. It is recognized that the book records
the acts of the Holy Spirit as He worked
through the apostles. In that sense the book
could be called The Acts of the Holy Spirit.
The Holy Spirit’s name appears about
seventy times in the book.
