Introduction

What is the Book of Acts About?

Read this 3-minute introduction to help you find your bearings in the Bible story, and be inspired to read Acts!

Videos
on Acts

Historical Context
of Acts

Accordion Content

Acts is a sequel to the Gospel of Luke. Both were written by Luke, a physician who traveled with the apostle Paul.

From Bibles.net: Remember that the ultimate author of every book of the Bible is the Holy Spirit (2 Peter 1:21). He has written this book to equip you for life, to help you know the true God, and to give you hope (2 Timothy 3:16; Romans 15:4). The Holy Spirit wrote Acts for your good and to lead you into joy.

Acts ends with Paul under house arrest, awaiting trial before Caesar, c. AD 62. Many scholars assume Acts was written then because it does not record Paul’s defense, release, and further gospel preaching. 

The Setting of Acts 

c. AD 30-60 

The book of Acts records the spread of the gospel from Jerusalem to Rome, thus fulfilling the risen Christ’s words to his apostles in Acts 18.  

Unless otherwise indicated, this content is adapted from the ESV Global Study Bible® (The Holy Bible, English Standard Version®), copyright ©2012 by Crossway, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

Books

Message Series
on Acts

The Unstoppable Gospel by the Pastors at NCBC

A handful of excellent pastors at New Covenant Bible Church (NCBC) in Illinois preached a phenomenal message series on the book of Acts. As they open God’s Word, you will be filled with greater love for Jesus, and motivated to take his gospel into your world with courage and joy.

Listen to Acts On

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Dwell is the best Bible listening app around. Use the link below to get 50% off their subscription price.

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Acts Dictionary

As you read through Acts, you might come across words and ideas that are foreign to you. Here are a few definitions you will want to know! Note that this dictionary was created for the New International Version (NIV) Bible.

If a Roman citizen accused of a crime thought that the trial or verdict was unfair, he could request that the emperor hear the case. Paul, a Roman citizen, once did this.

To say bad things against God, to swear using God’s name, or to do actions that show disrespect to God. The Bible says that blasphemy is a sin. The Jews punished blasphemers by stoning them to death. Jesus and Stephen were falsely accused of blasphemy.

The family name of Julius Caesar, a famous Roman leader. Later the name Caesar was added to the name of each Roman ruler, so it became a title that meant the same as “emperor” or “king.”

An officer in the Roman army who was the leader of 100 men.

An assembly or gathering. The word church is used to refer both to local groups of believers in Christ (church) as well as to all believers (Church).

Someone who follows the teachings and example of another. In the New Testament, disciple usually refers to a person who believed that Jesus is God’s Son and loved and obeyed him. Sometimes disciples means the twelve men Jesus chose to be his special friends and helpers. At other times, it refers to all people who love Jesus and obey his teachings.

(1) In the Old Testament, an older man in a family, tribe, or town. (2) Also in the Old Testament, a member of a group of older men in a town. The town elders made major decisions for the town. (3) In the first four books of the New Testament, the Sanhedrin—the group of men who governed the Jewish people in Jesus’ time. (4) In the Early Church, the church leaders.

All people who are not Jewish.

The family name of five kings appointed by the Roman emperor to rule Judea in New Testament times. Jesus was born during the rule of Herod the Great. The names of the other four kings are Herod Archelaus, Herod Antipas, Herod Agrippa I and Herod Agrippa II.

The most important priest of all the priests, who served God in the tabernacle and later in the temple. In the Old Testament, the high priest offered the most important sacrifices to God for the people. In New Testament times, he was also a powerful political leader. He was the head of the Sanhedrin—the group of men who governed the Jewish people. He even had a small army. The high priest wore special clothing described in Exodus 28:1-39. Aaron was the first high priest. All other high priests were his descendants. The New Testament says that Jesus Christ is now our high priest, the one who offered himself as the perfect sacrifice for our sins (see Hebrews 8–9).

A statue or other image of a god that is made by people and then worshiped as if it had the power of God. Idols are often made of wood, stone, or metal. Sometimes the Bible calls anything that takes the place of God in a person’s life an idol. God tells us not to worship idols but, rather, to worship only him.

The most important city of Bible times. Jerusalem was the capital of the united kingdom of Israel and the kingdom of Judah. The temple was built in Jerusalem, so many people traveled to the city to worship God. In 587 BC, Jerusalem was captured and mostly destroyed by Babylonian armies. The city was rebuilt when the Jews returned after 70 years of exile in Babylon. Jesus taught in the city of Jerusalem, was crucified outside the city wall, was buried near the city, and then rose again. The first Christian church began in Jerusalem after the Holy Spirit came to the believers there.

(1) At first in the Bible, anyone who was a member of the tribe of Judah. (2) By the return from exile in Babylon, anyone who was a descendant of Abraham or who was a follower of the Jewish religion.

To continually treat someone cruelly or unfairly, even though the person has done nothing wrong. The early Christians were persecuted for teaching that Jesus is God’s Son.

A ruler in the Roman government. The Roman Empire was divided into provinces or states. The highest Roman official in each province was called the proconsul.

Men and women in the Old and New Testaments chosen by God to tell his messages to people. Also refers to the seventeen Old Testament books written by prophets.

To turn around and go in the opposite direction. In the Bible, repent means feeling sorrow for wrongdoing, stopping the wrong action and doing what God says is right. Repentance always involves making a change away from sin and toward God.

The weekly day of rest and worship that God set apart for all people. In the Old Testament, it is the seventh day of the week (Saturday); and today for many Jews and some Christians Saturday is still observed as the Sabbath. For Jews, Sabbath starts at sundown on Friday and lasts until sunset on Saturday. Because Jesus rose from the dead on a Sunday, most Christians set aside Sunday as the day of rest and worship (see Acts 20:7).

(1) To be rescued (or delivered) from evil. (2) To be kept from danger or death. In the New Testament, salvation usually means to be rescued from the guilt and power of sin. By his death and resurrection, Jesus brings salvation to people who believe in him.

The highest Jewish political and religious court. In New Testament times, the Sanhedrin was made up of 71 men who were experts in Jewish laws. The Sanhedrin included the high priest, members of wealthy or prominent Jewish families, and members of the Pharisee and Sadducee religious groups.

A place where Jews meet together to read and study the Old Testament and to worship God.

Languages. The New Testament records miraculous speaking in tongues, indicating that the Holy Spirit enabled believers to speak in languages they had never learned.

A deep, dreamlike state. In the Bible, a person in a trance may receive a message from God. Peter was in a trance when God showed him the vision of the animals in a sheet (see Acts 10:10).

(1) Dirty. (2) Any action, thought, food, person, or place that God has said is displeasing to him. A Jewish person can become unclean by eating food that God had said not to eat, by touching a dead body, or by getting a skin disease called leprosy. A person can become clean again by going through certain ceremonies.

Something seen during a trance or dream. A vision was a way God showed someone a truth that would otherwise not be known. Sometimes people were asleep when God gave them visions (see Ezekiel 8:1-4; Acts 10:9-29).

(1) A person who tells what he or she has seen. (2) To tell others what has been seen. Jesus told his followers to be witnesses. We are to tell what we have seen Jesus Christ do in our own lives.

Dictionary Source

This content is from What the Bible Is All About, written by Henrietta Mears. Copyright © 1953, 2011 by Gospel Light. Copyright assigned to Tyndale House Publishers, 2015. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, a division of Tyndale House Ministries, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved. 

Tough Questions
from Acts

We have found answers to some tough questions that we anticipate may arise as you read Acts. We know we can’t answer every question you will have; therefore, we have written this article, so you know how to find answers for your kids: How Do I Answer Tough Questions About the Bible?

Insights about Acts

The following insights are from pastors and scholars who have spent significant time studying the book of Acts.

As the second book Luke addressed to Theophilus (see Luke 1:3), Acts may originally have had no title. The Greek manuscripts title it “Acts,” and many add “of the Apostles.” The Greek word translated “Acts” (praxeis) was often used to describe the achievements of great men. Acts does feature the notable figures in the early years of the church, especially Peter (chapters 1–12) and Paul (chapters 13–28). But the book could more properly be called “The Acts of the Holy Spirit through the Apostles,” since His sovereign, superintending work was far more significant than that of any man. It was the Spirit’s directing, controlling, and empowering ministry that strengthened the church and caused it to grow in numbers, spiritual power, and influence. 

—John MacArthur  

Source: Copyright 2022, Grace to You. All rights reserved. Used by permission. This Grace to You article originally appeared here at gty.org.

Acts is a historical account of how the resurrection of Jesus changes everything through the birth of the early church.

—Justin Holcomb

Source: Content taken from Acts: A 12-Week Study by Justin S. Holcomb, ©2014. Used by permission of Crossway, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. 

Addressed to a certain Theophilus, about whom nothing is known, the book of Acts records the early history of the Early Church (see Acts 1:1). Beginning with the Ascension of Jesus to heaven, Acts traces the explosive growth of messianic Jewish Christianity in Jerusalem and the land of Israel—with healing signs and wonders confirming the preaching of the gospel—and then its spread also to non-Jews (Gentiles) in Judea, Samaria, Syria, Asia Minor, Macedonia, Greece and, eventually, Rome. The leading figure in the first chapters is the apostle Peter, who delivered the anointed message on the day of Pentecost, explaining the powerful move of God’s Spirit on the original 120 messianic Jewish believers (see Acts 2). The greater part of the book, however, is devoted to the experiences of the apostle Paul and his companions during their missionary journeys. The book of Acts provides a useful background for study of the letters in the remainder of the New Testament.  

—Henrietta Mears 

Source: This content is from What the Bible Is All About, written by Henrietta Mears. Copyright © 1953, 2011 by Gospel Light. Copyright assigned to Tyndale House Publishers, 2015. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, a division of Tyndale House Ministries, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved. 

The narrative [of Acts] describes acts, not committee meetings or study conferences. Miracles are happening; lives are being transformed; the world is being turned upside down. In the space of one generation, a little company of Jesus’ disciples with explosive force sweeps from Jerusalem to Rome and develops from a small sect into a universal church. Nothing can defeat them—not the beatings of swaggering tyrants, not the cunning of embittered religious rulers, not the internal struggles of discontented members—but like a mighty army with banners, they move out to disciple the nations in the name of their risen and reigning Lord. 

—Robert Coleman

Source: Coleman, Robert E. The Master Plan of Discipleship. Grand Rapids, MI: Revell, 2020.

The Lord Jesus Christ was the theme of the preaching of the early church. He is the theme of the Gospel of Luke. He is the theme of the Acts of the Apostles. This is the tragic thing that has been forgotten at the present time. “What we need,” people say, “is the application of his teaching.” But it is not. What you need is to know him and to come into a relationship with him. You do not start with his teaching—you start with him. This is the message: “All that Jesus began both to do and teach.” Our Lord himself said to his disciples, “Ye shall be witnesses unto me” (Acts 1:8). He was sending these men out to preach. He said, “You are not simply going to preach my teaching. You are going to preach about me.” As you read the book of Acts, you will find that our Lord’s disciples always preached “Jesus and the resurrection” (Acts 17:18). They went to people and told them about this person. This was the whole of their teaching. You never find them starting with the political or social situations. They said, “Listen, we have something to tell you about a person whose name is Jesus.”  

—Martyn Lloyd-Jones

Source: Content taken from Acts: Chapters 1-3 by Martyn Lloyd-Jones, ©2013. Used by permission of Crossway, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. 

Here’s my one sentence summary of the book of Acts. Jesus, whom God raised from the dead and who lives as King in heaven, is actively at work in the world by his Holy Spirit through the suffering and witness of his church to bring the good news of forgiveness and eternal life to the ends of the earth. 

—Joe Jones 

Source: Joe Jones, quoted from his message, “God’s Counterintuitive Way of Getting the Gospel to the Ends of the Earth,” from the series, The Unstoppable Gospel: Acts on Acts 27:1-28:31, preached at New Covenant Bible Church on August 28, 2022.

From Bibles.net: We strongly encourage you to listen to this message as a family!

Jesus’ statement of the Great Commission in Acts 1:8 is the key text in this book, highlighting the two main themes of Acts: The Holy Spirit and witness. Jesus’ disciples will become witnesses only after the Holy Spirit comes on them. Jesus then gives the geographical sequence in which the task of witnesses will be carried out—they will begin with Jerusalem, then move to Judea and Samaria, and culminate with witness to fit ends of the earth. This sequence provides an outline for the book of Acts.  

—Ajith Fernando  

Source: Taken from The NIV Application Commentary: Acts by Ajith Fernando Copyright © 2010 by Ajith Fernando. Used by permission of HarperCollins Christian Publishing. www.harpercollinschristian.com

God is clearly central to the gospel’s expansion. He is at the heart of the gospel message and, through the Holy Spirit, he is responsible for its remarkable growth. The gospel expands not through human strength but through the power of God over significant barriers of geography, ethnicity, culture, language, gender, wealth, persecutions, weaknesses, suffering, sickness, and imprisonments. Many of these barriers appear so inviolable that, when the gospel is preached to a new segment of society, riots ensue. But Acts makes clear that no one is beyond the scope of God’s saving power, nor is anyone exempt from the need for God’s redeeming grace.

—Justin S. Holcomb

Source: Content taken from Acts: A 12-Week Study by Justin S. Holcomb, ©2014. Used by permission of Crossway, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. 

While you have one writer and essentially one history starting with the beginning of the gospel of Luke and ending with the end of the book of Acts, one great sweeping history, it is clear that it is the Holy Spirit’s design to split these into two volumes because there is such a dramatic change between the Gospel of Luke and the book of Acts. And that dramatic change primarily occurs in the transformation of the Apostles… What strikes you is that the Gospel of Luke concludes with bewildered Apostles, a fearing Apostles, hiding Apostles, confused Apostles, reluctant preachers of Christ. Yes, the resurrection, of course, energizes them and yes early in the book of Acts we read the history of the coming of the Holy Spirit, that explains, of course, a great measure of the transformation of these Apostles. But when you shut down the Gospels, you still wonder what the future of these men will be, whether they will be bold, or whether they will be cowards. 

…The dramatic transformation of these men from the “O you of little faith” association, from the struggling, fearful disciples that we’re so familiar with, to these emboldened, empowered, courageous preachers who hold back nothing, has occurred because of one other critical reality. And it is this, for the first time they now understand the Old Testament. They understand the big picture. They understand that the plan of redemption that God has set in motion, all the way back at the beginning of the Old Testament after the Fall of man is working out through Jesus Christ. We could say, “Yes, the resurrection emboldened them, yes, the coming of the Holy Spirit empowered them.”  But it was also this grasp of the reality of redemption history and the understanding of the Old Testament. It wasn’t until after the resurrection that they understood the Old Testament, and by that I mean that they understood that Jesus was the fulfillment of the Old Testament. 

—John MacArthur 

Source: Copyright 2023, Grace to You. All rights reserved. Used by permission. This Grace to You article originally appeared here at gty.org.

Luke wrote his Gospel to show what Jesus began to do and to teach when he was on earth. He wrote his Acts to show what Jesus continued to do and to teach after his resurrection, through the agency of the Holy Spirit in a handful of dedicated people whose message became irresistible. God is still engaged in this dynamic enterprise. He has not given up on us. That is why the study of the Acts remains so important. If those first Christians could accomplish so much in so short a space of time with such skimpy resources, what might the worldwide church today accomplish if only it was prepared for the vision, the faith and dedication they exhibited?  

—Michael Green  

Source: Green, Michael. Thirty Years That Changed the World: The Book of Acts for Today. Grand Rapids, MI: Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Co., 2004.

Christianity is a phenomenon of history. It is a fact. The Christian church is one of the most vital facts in the total history of the world. We cannot understand that history without bringing in the story of the church… Only one thing can account for the phenomenon of the Christian church and this amazing history that has continued through the centuries, in spite of the world, the flesh, and the devil and the malignity of men and of hell, and it is the explanation given in the book of Acts.  

—Martyn Lloyd-Jones  

Source: Content taken from Acts: Chapters 1-3 by Martyn Lloyd-Jones, ©2013. Used by permission of Crossway, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers.

Acts Playlist

Discover music inspired by the message and content of the book of Acts.

I’ve Seen too Much
by Andrew Peterson | Folk
Unstoppable God
by Elevation Worship | Praise & Worship 
Holy Spirit, Living Breath of God
by Keith & Kristyn Getty | Hymn
Be Enthroned
by The Worship Initiative feat. Shane & Shane | Praise & Worship
O For a Thousand Tongues
by Chris Rice | Hymn 
Rejoice, the Lord is King
by Norton Hall Band | Praise & Worship
Tell the World
by Lecrae feat. Mali Music | Rap
What Kind of Joy
by Steven Curtis Chapman | 70s 80s 90s
More Songs
Featured Resource

Acts to Revelation

by Dave Stotts with Drive Thru History | Documentary
In this engaging 18-episode documentary series, Dave Stotts investigates what happened after the Gospel accounts of Jesus Christ. This documentary follows the lives of the disciples through Israel, and travels the missionary routes of Paul and his companions. Dave finishes with John on the island of Patmos, and drives through the seven churches of Revelation in Asia Minor.
Play Video about Drive Thru History