Silas and departed,having been commended bythe brothers tothe grace of the lord. Without this historical record, little would be known about the expansion of the church. Jesus had shown himself alive by many proofs for 40 days. Introducing the book of acts cole community church. Acts of the apostles is the one historical book of the new testament, and much of what we know about the early years of christianity comes from this book.
Acts of the apostles 15, new living translation nlt. This is the story of christianitys beginnings and how evangelism played. Now viewing scripture range from the book of acts chapter 8. Acts 15 esv the jerusalem council but some men bible gateway. This man might have been a christian wanting instruction. Peter, that justification by faith, and sanctification by the holy ghost, cannot be separated.
Before they read, explain that the phrase when there had been much disputing in verse 7 means that the apostles had vigorously debated the issue of circumcision after sufficient time, invite a few students to report their responses to the class. The book of acts provides a detailed, orderly, eyewitness account of the birth and growth of the early church and the spread of the gospel immediately after the resurrection of jesus christ. Acts 2 new international version niv the holy spirit comes at pentecost. Acts 15 commentary william barclays daily study bible. We have great cause to bless god that we have heard the gospel. Acts does feature the notable figures in the early years. Jewish males were required to assemble for this holy day, just as they had been for passover 2. The book of acts is the first history of the christian church. Its narrative supplies a bridge connecting the life and ministry of jesus to the life of the church and the witness of the earliest believers.
This may be the greatest threat to the work of the gospel yet seen in the book of acts. Acts also gives us a glimpse behindthescenes into the messiness of the church. A history of the early church gene taylor2an outline of the book i. Luke is the writer, as he states in his introduction v. From chapter to the end of the book, we have a somewhat detailed account of pauls missionary journeys and his experiences with different churches. The book of acts is the link between the gospels and the epistles. Acts 1 new international version niv jesus taken up into heaven.
Paul was conflicted by the many debates that arose from the church, specifically over the matter of circumcision. The greek word translated acts praxeis was often used to describe the achievements of great men. It records the journey of paul and barnabas to jerusalem and the council of jerusalem. The full name of it is, the acts of the apostles, but there are not many apostles mentioned in it. Its subject and intention is nicely summarised by the words of the lord in chapter 1. As the second book luke addressed to theophilus see luke 1. Acts 15 cjb but some men came down from yhudah bible gateway. Acts introduction scofield reference bible commentary. Aug 27, 2015 therefore not a few students of acts believe that chapter 15 is the most crucial chaper in the entire book. Wright on the book of acts p23 paul still on trial, loyalty to judaism, n. Lesson 2 will sketch a very high level view of the main divisions and events in acts.
Luke spends much time telling his audience about sauls conversion it is rehearsed three times in the book of acts, with a special emphasis on the revelation of the risen lord to saul 9. This work, originally out in 1857, has proved helpful to many, though it is now far out of date as to literature commenting on acts. A chapterbychapter bible study of the book of acts 2 acts the beautiful, amazing, powerful, weak, dysfunctional church table of contents scripture passage page 1. He decides to hang around with all his favorite disciples for forty days. Acts of the apostles 15, new living translation nlt the. Introducing luke the physician, author of the book of acts. James, john, peter, and paul are the only ones who appear in. Feb 26, 2015 lesson 3 part 2 book 5 old testament progress. Watch our overview video on the book of acts, which breaks down the literary design of the book and its flow of thought.
It might appropriately be called some of the acts of some of the apostles since it does not try to describe all of the acts of all the apostles. To make the picture abundantly clear, god has given us a hand picked record of the activities of the early church. It is normative practical wisdom, applicable as a matter of courtesy and. Acts 15 what was the objective of the jerusalem council. Acts 15 niv the council at jerusalem certain bible gateway. Acts with book summary versebyverse bible commentary. Rather, the focus is clearly on some of the acts or. Acts 6, new international version niv the bible app. Consider the copernican revolution, when nicolaus copernicus 14731543 showed that the earth was not the center of the universe but actually circled the sun. Acts 15 the church of jesus christ of latterday saints. Im not sure exactly which sunday marching into january, but we will do that.
Judas returns to jerusalem, but silas continues with paul and barnabas, teaching and preaching, acts 15. Acts 15, new international version niv the bible app. The book of acts is the record of that commission beingcarried out. For many basic details verse by verse, it still is of good value and often. The church has continued acts s story for thousands of years and will continue until jesus returns. In acts 1 jesus had instructed the apostles to wait in jerusalem to receive the holy spirit. Darrell bock provides a thoroughly evangelical commentary on acts in this volume. The short answer to the question of who wrote the book is luke. The study of acts is a challenge partly because of its length. As it is expected, the book of acts has a similar literary style as the gospel of luke because it is the second volume of lukes account. The book of acts is the action book of the new testament, and it constitutes therefore one of the most exciting books of the bible. Certain people came down from judea to antioch and were teaching the believers.
Session 1 introducing the book of joel page 2 page 2 international house of prayer of kansas city free teaching library 2. There is almost universal agreement among more conservative scholars that this is the case. Paul and barnabasnow the recognized heads of the church at antioch. Acts of the apostles, the second part of the work that begins with the gospel according to luke, is the story of the early church after jesuss martyrdom. They seized stephen and brought him before the sanhedrin.
All the awesome things he said and did and the super cool way he died and came back to life again. Acts 1 niv bible in my former book, theophilus, i wrote. Next chapter of acts the book of acts, chapter 15 we hope that you find the content of the book of acts, chapter 15 from the douay rheims version of the catholic bible helpful to your bible studies and for references which allow you to read the books and individual verses of this chapter. The events in this chapter occurred in jerusalem 2. The rationale in verse 21, the presence everywhere of jews with scruples in these matters, indicates the circumstances in which this responsibility or burden must be met. It is a tonic, the greatest tonic i know of in the realm of the spirit. Chapter 2 begins by describing a meeting of the twelve apostles cf. Our story starts off where the gospel of luke left offjesus is back now that hes resurrected, jesus decides to hang out and chat with his disciples whom luke calls apostles for forty days. There are over forty references to the holy spirit in the first chapters of the book of acts. There is no single chapter that does not exhibit gods power and wisdom in operation. It is an important book in understanding how we can be directed by the holy spirit and the role of jesus lessons in our lives. The early church faced many problems and acts chapter 15 describes one of those main issues.
Jun 19, 20 study of the book of acts chapter 15 ivy baptist church. There are different ways to divide the book of acts. Joseph a alexander acts commentary 1857, 1866 over pages. All the books in the bible the jews held on to this covenant and did not want to depart from the law of moses.
This heliocentric suncentered model radically transformed the way people thought about the cosmos. Like luke, acts is addressed to the unknown reader theophilus, and in the introduction to acts, it is made clear that it is a continuation of luke. Luke is uniformly identified as the author acts by the second century a. Wright on the book of acts p25 theology of the cross in acts. This book is a compilation of 12 thirty minute tv program transcripts, broken down into 3 lessons, with each lesson containing 4 programs. Acts 15 niv bible certain people came down from judea to. After the holy spirit came down, the old testament program just came to. This article reveals the truth regarding the real intent of the councils very narrow. In chapter 15, we have a report concerning the jerusalem council in which the issue concerning circumcision was discussed. Nowhere, in jesus teaching while he was on the earth, did he teach circumcision of. Acts 2 niv the holy spirit comes at pentecost bible. And they said, cornelius the centurion, a just man, and one that feareth god, and of good report among all the nation of the jews, was warned from god by an holy angel to send for thee into his house, and to hear words of thee. In acts, jesus sends the holy spirit to empower his disciples as they carry.
Often times it is true that we refer frequently in future sermons to the facts we uncover today in this introduction to the book. Unless you are circumcised, according to the custom taught by moses. John calvin wrote that the book of acts was a kind of vast treasure. While there are some areas of great detail of the acts of the apostles, many times you must use cross references to the gospels of matthew, mark, luke and john as well as some other epistles in the new testament to get the full picture of. This is an act of faith in jesus and a first step in obedience to his new call. Besides linking the gospel narratives on the one hand and the apostolic letters on. Though there were many different languages represented, the jewish multitude began to hear the wonders of god proclaimed in their own tongue from the mouths of these galileans.
Anyhoo acts starts with jesus already back in black. The greek manuscripts title it acts, and many add of the apostles. Purpose of the book as indicated previously, the original purpose of both the gospel and acts may have been to assist theophilus in some official capacity in learning about jesus and his apostles. Commentary on the book of acts bible study lessons. We will after the first of the year actually begin a verse by verse study of the book of acts. The council handles the second issue through a spiritinspired apostolic decree acts 15. In the acts of the apostles luke continues the account of christianity begun in the gospel which bears his name. It is mainly about two of the apostles peter and paul. To see how the bible fits together because it is all one got his story and its how we react relates to him and so were ready to continue on our journey through the book of acts and were on chapter 15, but if youve been. Authorship of actsluke is the author of the book acts. It is the greatest sequel ever written, the sequel of sequelsthe sequel to the story of christ see 1.
The book containing this chapter is anonymous but early christian tradition. Acts 15, english standard version 2016 esv the bible app. A chapter by chapter bible study of the book of acts 2 acts the beautiful, amazing, powerful, weak, dysfunctional church table of contents scripture passage page 1. Some church members from judea told gentile converts in antioch that they needed to be circumcised in order to be saved. T he book of acts in the bible, written around 6263 a. But ye will receive power, the holy spirit having come upon you, and ye shall be my witnesses both in jerusalem and in all judaea and samaria and to the end of the earth. They debate how the gospel applies to the temple, the law, and the nonjewish believer acts 15. Acts chapter 6 coffmans commentary of the new testament.
The word revolution can refer to a radical change in the way people think, act, and view the world. The authors primary purpose was to give a detailed account of how men and women were. Acts 15 commentary commentary critical and explanatory. Accepting the doctrine of salvation by grace would only be consistent with decisions some of them had reached some years back and are recorded in acts 11. Paul was not one of the original apostles, but he later adopted that title for himself. Martyn lloydjones called acts that most lyrical of bookslive in that book, i exhort you. And certain men which came down from judaea taught the brethren, and said, except ye be circumcised after. It is both structurally and theologically at the center of acts. Study of the book of acts chapter 15 ivy baptist church. Acts also gives us a glimpse behind the scenes into the messiness of the church. The acts of apostles gives us a unique insight into how the church began. They were trying to put all the new gentile converts under the mosaic law. He was also the author of its companion work, the gospel of luke.
Brenda on acts 15 pray always for the lord to know you, ask for the holy spirit to teach you the word, read the same chapter over and over and pray each time for the word to get into your soul, above all else pray that his will be done on earth as it is in heaven and to teach you. Acts cliffsnotes study guides book summaries, test. The mental background of the jew was founded on the fact that he belonged to the chosen people. The book of acts is unique because it is the only book of church history in the new testament. In the former treatise he tells what jesus began both to do and teach. Sir william ramsay, after making a critical study of lukes writings, declared that luke was the greatest historian, ancient or modern. Without acts, the actions of the early church would be unknown to us except for a few facts we could glean from the writings of paul. Acts chapter 15 commentary northwest college of the bible. Luke, the author of the gospel of luke, was a doctor and gentile. Luke acts makes up 28% of the new testamentmore than that written by either paul or john. It is titled acts to emphasize that this book records the acts of the apostles through the work of the holy spirit. With extensive and current research from major works written in the last 15 years and thoughtful chapterbychapter exegesis, bock covers all aspects of the book of actssociological, historical, and theologicalfor a deeper understanding of acts. Acts 15 records the decision of the jerusalem council regarding the way to handle gentile believers who were then coming to faith in yeshua, the jewish messiah.
The commonly held belief that gentiles are under a different law or that the law of moses is not relevant to them is examined. Lesson 1 will cover authorship, date, purpose and main themes. The book of acts is an important book for understanding the actions of the apostles, mostly paul and peter, after jesuss ascension into heaven. Read the following sets of verses and answer the questions below. Acts 15 is the fifteenth chapter of the acts of the apostles in the new testament of the christian bible. The book might well be called the acts of the holy spirit, for it is the spirit who controls the advance of the gospel and guides the movements of the apostles. As a second volume to lukes gospel, it joins what jesus began to do and to teach 1.
Acts of the apostles chapter fifteen objectives in studying this chapter 1 to see how the early church dealt with the issue of circumcision and the law of moses 2 to note that paul, peter, and james were in complete accord, and that judaizing teachers acted without any apostolic authority 3 to notice the rift between paul and barnabas, how. The book of acts, sometimes called the fifth gospel, is a continuation of the gospel of luke. Yet the inspiration and preservation of the book would indicate an important future role in the providence of god. The book of acts provides a bridge for the writings of the nt. Intro to acts biblica the international bible society. Certain persons come from jerusalem, where all was still going on in connection with the requirements of the law. Paul proposes to barnabas to visit the churches where they had preached. This very short chapter narrates the preliminaries of stephens martyrdom, noting that it occurred following a period of great growth and prosperity for the new faith, that stephens rise to prominence was a result of his appointment as one of the seven chosen to administer the distribution of food to the needy, an appointment brought about by complaints of neglecting the grecian. Acts 1 niv jesus taken up into heaven bible gateway. It traces christianity from its beginnings in jerusalem, following jesus resurrection, to the arrest of the apostle paul in rome, the heart of the empire. The book of acts course a, lesson 1 free bible study. The genre of the book of acts is narrative history with several sermons.