FORMAN CHRISTIAN COLLEGE (A CHARTERED UNIVERSITY)

THE STRUCTURE AND BIBLICAL THEOLOGY OF THE BOOK OF ACTS

SUBMITTED TO DR. WESLEY THOMAS DAVEY

BY
SHOAIB SHAROON
20 JANUARY 2023
 The Structure of the book of Acts:

After explaining the story of Jesus in his gospel, Luke continues to strengthen believers by

writing the progression of the gospel after the ascension of Jesus Christ in the book of Acts. Luke

structures the whole book of Acts on one single foundational verse Acts (1:8). Before the

ascension of Jesus Christ in Acts chapter one, he appeared to his disciples and commanded them

in verse 8 to stay in Jerusalem, and wait for the coming of the Holy Spirit upon them who will

empower them to witness Jesus Christ first starting from Jerusalem, then secondly to Judea, and

Samaria and lastly to the ends of the earth. After mentioning the receiving of the Holy Spirit on

the day of Pentecost, Luke explains the progress of the Gospel by developing the structure of the

book into three major sections based on the three missional directions mentioned by Jesus in

verse 8.

The first section of Acts (2-8) highlights the proclamation of Christ’s gospel specifically in

Jerusalem. Jews were the only targeted audience to whom the gospel was preached. The apostles

were preaching in and around the Temple where Jews were coming for prayer services. God was

authenticating their preaching by doing many miracles. The usage of the Old Testament

references can be seen clearly in the preaching of the apostles because the Jews were waiting for

the Messiah who was well told in the Old Testament writings. This approach of the apostles was

to tell Jews about the true Messiah for whom they were waiting. Peter’s speech in Acts 2 and

Stephen’s speech in Acts 7 clearly show that the apostles introduced Jesus to Jews by telling

them from their Jewish scriptures.

Then the cost of “witnessing Jesus” started in Jerusalem, the apostles were persecuted and as

Jesus directed in Acts 1:8, the apostles moved towards Judea and Samaria. The second section of

Acts (8-12) records the witnessing of the gospel by the apostles to the people of Judea and
Samaria. In this part, evangelism continues and the gospel progressed from Jews to Samarians

and God-fearers. Peter’s vision in Acts 10 in which God taught Peter that He has a plan for the

gentiles shows God’s love towards gentiles. God was proving His words through his apostles by

showing different signs and wonders. The conversion of Paul, Simon the Sorcerer, and Cornelius

shed light on the fact that the gospel is not just for the Jews but it’s gradually progressing to non-

Jews as well.

The third section of Acts (13-28) testifies to the progression of the gospel to a much wider range.

The apostles preached the gospel to the Jews, Samarians, God-fearers, and Pagans also. The

major part of this section consists of Paul’s three missionary journeys in which he traveled in

different areas of the world preaching the gospels to everyone including pagans. Paul with his

other fellows was traveling to different places to proclaim the gospel, especially to the Gentiles,

and to strengthen his disciples also. The dispute and final result declaration regarding gentiles

over the observance of the law is also mentioned in this section in which it was decided that they

will only keep themselves away from idol practices including sexual and sacrificial rituals. Then

Paul move towards Jerusalem and there his persecution started, he was arrested and then his

trials started. Paul was presented before higher authorities for the charge of deceiving Jews

regarding the law. Paul then appealed to move his death case to the court of Caesar in Rome. The

silence at the end of the book of Acts regarding the outcome of Paul’s trial is I think because

Luke was very familiar with the writing styles of ancient Greco-Roman writers and he used their

technique of open ending to encourage readers to reflect their own insight by reading the pieces

of evidence mentioned in the text.

Biblical Theology of the Gospel of the Mark (Themes in the Gospel of Mark):

God’s Mission:
One of the major themes in the book of Acts is the mission of God. Luke begins writing Acts by

mentioning what Jesus preached and did when he was on earth, now he is continuing in doing

that work from heaven. The mission of God was that every soul should believe in Jesus’ death

and resurrection. The greatest ever missionary on the earth was Jesus, he lived an exemplary life,

he was filled with compassion for the soul, he preached, healed, forgave sins, and raised the

dead. Jesus’ works show that His mission was to give salvation to the world. Now the greatest

missionary was sending other missionaries to expand his missional work. After Jesus’ ascension,

he commanded his disciples to wait for the Holy Spirit’s empowerment and then to take his

mission to the whole world. This specific theme of God’s mission we can see in the whole book

of Acts. The apostles were carrying the message of the gospel from Jerusalem to the neighboring

places and then to the whole world. The mission that Jesus was carrying while he was on the

earth, now the apostles were continuing. In other words, we can say that Jesus is still expanding

his mission. In fulfilling God’s mission, the apostles passed through many hard times.

The Holy Spirit:

The Holy Spirit is the greatest gift given to believers. The person and works of the Holy Spirit

can be seen throughout the book of Acts. Many scholars have suggested that the title of this book

shouldn’t be “The Acts of Apostles” but instead it should be “The Acts of the Holy Spirit”. The

reason why scholars said so is because the Holy Spirit was the one who was working behind the

apostles. Before sending apostles to the mission to preach the gospel, He commanded them to

stay in Jerusalem and wait for the coming of the Holy Spirit who will empower them to witness.

The Holy Spirit came upon them and empowered them and then through them, He healed the

sick, cast out demons, and raised the dead. The emphasis of Acts is that we desperately need
Holy Spirit as the apostles needed Him in their missionary work. The outpouring of the Holy

Spirit to the gentiles shows that the Holy Spirit is for everyone.

The Church:

The church is one of the prominent themes in the book of Acts. When the Holy Spirit came on

the day of the Pentecost, the church begins. Then the growth of the church begins by witnessing

the gospel to everyone including gentiles. The church in Acts sets a pattern of an exemplary

church to us, they were reading the Bible together, worshipping together, and praying together.

They were living like a family, sharing their money and giving time to support one another (Acts

2:42-47; 4:32-37). But we should note that instead of all positive things, the early Church was

not perfect. The early church also struggles with the issues like lying, and cheating (Acts 5:1-11;

6:1; 15:36-41). We should take lessons from this that our church should be pure and without sin.

Today’s church’s utmost responsibility is to share the good news of Jesus with the dying world.

Our church approach should be missional as it was among the early church mentioned in the

book of Acts.

Persecution:

As the gospel of Jesus Christ was proclaimed all over, people were believing him and there was a

great increase in the number of believers, similarly, the sufferings and persecutions were also

increasing in the life of the apostles and the church. Those who were witnessing were beaten, put

in prison, and even some were murdered. They were arrested and beaten again and again.

Stephen was stoned to death because he was preaching the gospel (Acts 7:54-60). The apostle

James was even executed by King Herod. The apostles knew that their persecutions will be a

great testimony and encouragement for the other believers. The final seven chapters of Acts
speak about Paul’s imprisonment but in his sufferings, he continually preached Jesus Christ. We

see that suffering doesn’t stop us from doing God’s work, we can keep doing God’s work

through the empowerment and guidance of the Holy Spirit. Sufferings and persecutions are part

of a believer’s life.