Category Archives: ACTS

ACTS, BIBLE, SALVATION

ACTS—THE BOOK OF CONVERSIONS — BOB PRICHARD

Where should we turn in the Bible to learn what we must do to become Christians? Matthew, Mark, Luke and John all describe the life and ministry of Jesus. As Jesus was with the disciples at Caesarea, He promised “I will build my church; and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it” (Matthew 16:18). Since the church was not built until after His death, it is the book of Acts which describes what we must do to become Christians, or members of His church.

Acts begins with the ascension of Christ, and His promise to the apostles, “Ye shall receive power, after that the Holy Ghost is come upon you: and ye shall be witnesses unto me both in Jerusalem, and in all Judaea, and in Samaria, and unto the uttermost part of the earth” (Acts 1:8). From its beginnings at Jerusalem, the church of Christ spread to Judaea, to Samaria and to the uttermost part of the world. Luke shares example after example of people obeying the gospel of Christ as the church began and spread. From its explosive beginning at Jerusalem as recorded in Acts 2, the church grew rapidly.

THE JEWS AT PENTECOST. Just as Jesus had promised, the apostles, filled with the Holy Spirit, preached the gospel at Jerusalem. Peter’s sermon, recorded in Acts 2, climaxed with the words, “Therefore let all the house of Israel know assuredly, that God hath made that same Jesus, whom ye have crucified, both Lord and Christ” (Acts 2:36). The people, moved by his message, asked, “Men and brethren, what shall we do? Then Peter said unto them, Repent, and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins, and ye shall receive the gift of the Holy Ghost.” (Acts 2:37-38). “Then they that gladly received his word were baptized: and the same day there were added unto them about three thousand souls” (Acts 2:41). With His promised church established, “the Lord added to the church daily such as should be saved” (Acts 2:47). Note: these were very religious people, but they still needed to repent and be baptized.

THE SAMARITANS. Because of persecution that came upon the church after Stephen was martyred, Christians were scattered, going everywhere preaching the word. Among those was the evangelist Philip, who preached the gospel to them, even as Simon the Sorcerer led them astray. “But when they believed Philip preaching the things concerning the kingdom of God, and the name of Jesus Christ, they were baptized, both men and women” (Acts 8:12). Note: the Samaritans were following the inadequate religion of the Samaritans, and needed to believe and be baptized.

THE ETHIOPIAN EUNUCH. The treasurer of the queen of Ethiopia had been to Jerusalem to worship, but was returning home without understanding who Jesus is. As he read the book of Isaiah, he needed Philip to explain the passage. “Then Philip opened his mouth, and began at the same scripture, and preached unto him Jesus” (Acts 8:35). Notice that the Ethiopian understood the necessity of being baptized into Christ. “And as they went on their way, they came unto a certain water: and the eunuch said, See, here is water; what doth hinder me to be baptized? And Philip said, If thou believest with all thine heart, thou mayest. And he answered and said, I believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God. And he commanded the chariot to stand still: and they went down both into the water, both Philip and the eunuch; and he baptized him” (Acts 8:36-38).

SAUL OF TARSUS. Saul of Tarsus, later known as the apostle Paul, met Jesus on the road to Damascus, where the Lord told him, “Arise, and go into the city, and it shall be told thee what thou must do” (Acts 9:6). After spending three days in prayer and fasting, a Christian friend, and fellow Jew came to him and said, “And now why tarriest thou? arise, and be baptized, and wash away thy sins, calling on the name of the Lord” (Acts 22:16). Notice: Saul was still in his sins until he called on the name of the Lord by being baptized into Christ.

CORNELIUS THE CENTURION. Cornelius, a devout man who feared God, although a Gentile (Acts 10:1), called Peter to preach to his household. So that the Jews would understand that the Gentiles also were supposed to be Christians, God allowed the Gentiles of Cornelius’ household to speak in tongues as they had at Pentecost. Then Peter “commanded them to be baptized in the name of the Lord” (Acts 10:48). Note again: these were religious people but still needed to be baptized into Christ.

LYDIA. Lydia, a seller of purple from Thyatira, a woman “which worshipped God,” heard Paul and Silas preach the gospel, and she was immediately baptized (Acts 16:14-15). Note: she was a religious woman who chose to obey God’s command to be baptized, and thus became the first Christian in Europe.

THE JAILER OF PHILIPPI. Paul and Silas found themselves in jail, where they “prayed, and sang praises unto God” at midnight. When God sent an earthquake, the jailer was ready to take his own life when Paul stopped him. The jailer asked, “Sirs, what must I do to be saved? And they said, Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved, and thy house.” At this point he knew little or nothing about Jesus, so “they spake unto him the word of the Lord, and to all that were in his house. And he took them the same hour of the night, and washed their stripes; and was baptized, he and all his, straightway” (Acts 16: 25, 28-33). This man who was probably a pagan, understood the need to be baptized the same hour of the night straightway.

THE CORINTHIANS. When Paul came to Corinth, he reasoned in the synagogue, but many of the Jews “opposed themselves.” But “Crispus, the chief ruler of the synagogue, believed on the Lord with all his house; and many of the Corinthians hearing believed, and were baptized” (Acts 18:4-8). 

If you will examine these conversion accounts, you will find one common denominator. The text does not always tell us directly that they believed, although we know they did. The text does not always tell us directly that they repented or confessed their faith in Chris, but we know that they did. What every account tells us, however, is that they obeyed the Lord by being baptized. “He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved; but he that believeth not shall be damned” (Mark 16:16).

ACTS, BIBLE QUESTIONS, LEVITICUS

WHAT WAS PENTECOST? — BOB PRICHARD

Pentecost was one of the three great feast days of the Jews. (The other two being Passover and Tabernacles.) They observed all three of these feast days by making a pilgrimage to Jerusalem. Christians know Pentecost as the birthday of the church, from Acts chapter two. It was the day on which Peter and the other apostles first preached the good news of the resurrection of Jesus Christ, when “they that gladly received his word were baptized: and the same day there were added unto them about three thousand souls.” The church then began meeting in Jerusalem, “and the Lord added to them day by day those that were saved” (Acts 2:47 ASV).

Pentecost means “fifty days,” and was the name that Greek speaking Jews gave to the “Feast of the Harvest,” or “Day of First Fruits.” Pentecost was linked with the Passover, because the date of celebrating Pentecost was determined by counting fifty days from the offering of the first fruits of grain after the celebration of Passover.

Leviticus 23:15-16 tells of the institution of the feast of Pentecost: “And ye shall count unto you from the morrow after the sabbath, from the day that ye brought the sheaf of the wave offering; seven sabbaths shall be complete: Even unto the morrow after the seventh sabbath shall ye number fifty days; and ye shall offer a new meat offering unto the LORD.” The “morrow after the sabbath” would be the first day of the week, or Sunday. Seven weeks later, plus the day itself, would make Pentecost always fall on a Sunday. It is thus easy to understand why the early Christians began to meet each Sunday, or first day of the week for worship, since Christ was raised from the dead on the first day of the week, and the church began on the first day of the week.

One of the essential parts of the feast of Pentecost was the offering of two loaves of leavened bread made from the grain crop that had just been harvested. In many ways the feast of Pentecost was a completion of the celebration which had begun with Passover, also known as the “Feast of Unleavened Bread.” Fifty days before, the people had eaten unleavened bread, as they began harvesting grain. At the end of the period, they again used leaven and offered a thanksgiving to God in the form of bread made from the first fruits of the harvest.

The second chapter of Acts describes the multitude of men gathered at Jerusalem for Pentecost. “And there were dwelling at Jerusalem Jews, devout men, out of every nation under heaven” (Acts 2:5). Thus there were Jews from all over the world in Jerusalem when the church began, and preparation was made for Christians to take the gospel to the world. God planned the church to take the gospel into all the world, so He planned for the church to begin with a core of believers who would be going into all the world as they returned home from Jerusalem. There is no record of the church celebrating Pentecost as a special day in the New Testament. Any celebration of Pentecost by Christians came long after the apostolic period. The church of the New Testament has only one special day, the first day of the week, or Sunday.

ACTS, BIBLE QUESTIONS, CHRISTIAN LIVING, SALVATION

WHAT IS A CHRISTIAN? — BOB PRICHARD

The prophet Isaiah looked to the coming Messianic age and said, “For Zion’s sake will I not hold my peace, and for Jerusalem’s sake I will not rest, until the righteousness thereof go forth as brightness, and the salvation thereof as a lamp that burneth. And the Gentiles shall see thy righteousness, and all kings thy glory: and thou shalt be called by a new name, which the mouth of the LORD shall name” (Isaiah 62:1-2). “Christian” is that new name God promised to his people. After the gospel had spread from the Jewish world to the Gentile world as well, the church in Antioch took a lead in mission efforts. Because of this “the disciples were called Christians first in Antioch” (Acts 11:26).  

The name of “Christian,” found only three times in the New Testament, is a descriptive name that conveys the idea of association and ownership, that the Christian belongs to and associates with Christ. Peter said, “if any man suffer as a Christian, let him not be ashamed; but let him glorify God on this behalf” (1 Peter 4:16). “Christian” is a name to be treasured, even if it means suffering and death. The Christian belongs to Christ and wants to serve  Him.

As Paul pleaded for Agrippa to follow Christ, Agrippa replied, “Almost thou persuadest me to be a Christian” (Acts 26:28). If Agrippa had been altogether persuaded “to be a Christian,” he would have become a child of God, a member of the Lord’s church, and one born again of the water and the Spirit (John 3:3-5).

Several names, including “the church” described the disciples or followers of Christ before they were called Christians. Luke writes of the believers in Jerusalem that “the Lord added to the church daily such as should be saved” (Acts 2:47). Thus those who had obeyed Peter’s command of Acts 2:38, “Repent, and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins,” were the saved, and members of the church. Paul reminded the Romans what they had done to become Christians. “Know ye not, that so many of us as were baptized into Jesus Christ were baptized into his death? Therefore we are buried with him by baptism into death: that like as Christ was raised up from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life. For if we have been planted together in the likeness of his death, we shall be also in the likeness of his resurrection: Knowing this, that our old man is crucified with him, that the body of sin might be destroyed, that henceforth we should not serve sin” (Romans 6:3-6).

As he described his conversion, Paul said of the church, “I persecuted this way unto the death, binding and delivering into prisons both men and women” (Acts 22:4). Paul was persecuting people who knew that being a Christian was a way of life. As he told the Romans, “our old man is crucified with him, that the body of sin might be destroyed, that henceforth we should not serve sin” (Romans 6:6). The Christian, who has become a “new creature” (2 Corinthians 5:17) no longer serves sin, but serves Christ. A Christian has obeyed the gospel of Jesus Christ, and lives for Him daily.

ACTS, BIBLE QUESTIONS, SALVATION

WAS THE PHILIPPIAN JAILER SAVED BEFORE BAPTISM? — BOB PRICHARD

The story of the Philippian jailer is found in Acts 16. The jailer was in charge of Paul and Silas, who had been arrested on false charges by the owners of a slave girl. They had cast a demon out of the girl, depriving her owners of the money they made by exploiting her (Acts 16:20-21). Because of this, Paul and Silas were arrested, beaten, and put into the innermost prison, with their feet in the stocks. The jailer was to keep them safely until the officials could deal with them.

Beaten and bleeding, and locked in the inner prison, Paul and Silas prayed and sang praises to God, even though it was midnight (Acts 16:25). Suddenly an earthquake shook the prison, and the jailer, awakening from sleep was ready to kill himself, because he was sure that the prisoners would have escaped. When Paul calmed him, assuring him that the prisoners were still there, “he called for a light, and sprang in, and came trembling, and fell down before Paul and Silas, and brought them out, and said, Sirs, what must I do to be saved?” (Acts 16:29- 30). Paul and Silas answered very simply: “Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved, and thy house” (Acts 16:31). Since the jailer was not told to be baptized, does this mean that he was saved before baptism? Consider the rest of his story.

Paul and Silas had told the jailer that salvation would come from believing on the Lord Jesus Christ, but what did this jailer know about Jesus Christ? It is unlikely that he had heard any of the sermons that Paul and Silas had preached in Philippi. He probably knew absolutely nothing about Jesus, other than what he had learned from hearing the songs and prayers of Paul and Silas, so they had to teach him. “And they spake unto him the word of the Lord, and to all that were in his house” (Acts 16:32). Did speaking the “word of the Lord” include the necessity of baptism? Remember that it was midnight when Paul and Silas were singing and praying (Acts 16:25). It was after this that the earthquake came, the jailer sprang in and asked “What must I do to be saved?” and they “spake unto him the word of the Lord.” Without question it was in the wee hours of the morning when the jailer responded to their preaching.

Luke tells us, “he took them the same hour of the night, and washed their stripes; and was baptized, he and all his, straightway. And when he had brought them into his house, he set meat before them, and rejoiced, believing in God with all his house” (Acts 16:33-34). When were the jailer and his household baptized? It was “the same hour of the night.” Why didn’t they at least wait until morning light before they were baptized, if baptism was not essential? When did he rejoice?  It was after they were baptized, not before. They rejoiced, knowing that their sins were forgiven, and they had truly obeyed the Lord. The jailer had a saving faith, a faith that responded to the sacrifice of Christ by obeying Him. His obedience in baptism demonstrated his faith, and his faith was demonstrated in his baptism. The jailer was like all other Christians we read of in the New Testament. He was saved after baptism.