The book of Acts is a record of the establishment of the church and the salvation of the remnant. It is a record of the gospel going into the world, and the Gentiles coming into the church by faith in Christ.
The Book of Acts serves as a transition from the Old Covenant of law to the New Covenant of grace and faith.
Peter (the apostle of circumcision) and Paul (the apostle to the uncircumcision) are the two major apostles emphasized in this book. Acts records the challenges of the early church as the New Covenant was being established.
God’s mercy upon Israel opens the way for salvation to go to the entire world. The gospel was to the Jew first, and then to the Greek (Gentile). The church is the establishment of a New Covenant people, consisting of both Jew and Gentile, being made one in Christ. This was the mystery that had been hidden in previous ages, but revealed through the ministry of Paul, and culminated in the book of Acts. The remnant of Israel was saved. The book ends with Paul at Rome and the fulfillment of Isaiah’s prophecy of Israel’s blindness and hardness.
Acts begins with Jesus instructing his disciples concerning the kingdom of God (Acts 1:3) and ends with Paul in Rome preaching the Kingdom of God (Acts 28:30). The word temple is mentioned 25 times in the book of Acts.
Key words & Places: Pentecost, Throne of David, Temple, Apostles, Peter, Stephen. Paul, Barnabas, Apollos, Phillip, Samaria, Cornelius, Resurrection, the Church, Gentiles, Circumcision, Grace, Jews, Gentiles
Key Verses:
1:8; 2:1-21, 30: 3:19:26; 4:12; 6:7; 7:47-54; 10:45; 13:23, 40-41, 45-49; 15:14-17; 18:28; 24:7; 28:23-31