There is a lot of talk of amongst Christians about wanting to walk out the books of Acts as a normal way of life and I believe that it is a really good thing. The book of Acts showcases God’s original purposes and pattern for those who would believe in Jesus Christ for all generations until His return. After reading and praying through the book recently myself, I have put together some helpful thoughts on what it means to be a book of Acts Christian.
So if you are looking for a primer on how to walk it out, here it is!
The Book of Acts Christian…
- Loves Supernaturally
Upon believing in Jesus, notice the actions done immediately by the first Christians: “And all who believed were together and had all things in common…” (Acts 3:44).When they believed in Jesus, they had experienced the great love of God through the Holy Spirit. The result of that immediately fleshed out into the community of believers. Selfishness, heightened individualism, bitterness, and unfriendliness were all thrown out the window as the first Christians realized that once they were in the family of God, everyone else who believed was family with them.
Replacing what they originally were to each was the love demonstrated by Jesus for each other- Christ’s deep, selfless, sacrificial, sharing, freely giving, and generous love.
Book of Acts Christians love supernaturally. The New Testament Christian also…
- Is Empowered Supernaturally
The promise spoken of by Jesus, received in part in the Old Testament, and waited upon by the disciples finally came upon everyone freely who believed in Christ Jesus.Jesus’ description of the Holy Spirit highlighted its distinctive purpose: “And you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, and you will be my witnesses…” (Acts 1:8). The Holy Spirit was given so that his disciples would have power to bear witness to the life and message of Jesus.
And that is exactly what they did.
They spoke the message of salvation with power and without apology, despite their glaring weaknesses. Remember that these were the same unschooled disciples who often never understood Jesus. Remember how not too long ago, Peter had just bitterly denied Jesus three times consecutively. Remember how all of them fled after Jesus was arrested.
Yet look at what they were doing now! They are now going everywhere preaching the good news with boldness and urgency. They were possessed by a strength and power not their own- it was the Holy Spirit in them who empowered them.
New Testament Christians are empowered by the Holy Spirit. Along with that, the book of Acts Christian…
- Does the Supernatural
Part of the job of bearing witness to a supernatural God is the ability to represent the supernatural aspect of the supernatural God. Their messages were rarely standalone sermons. They often accompanied or followed works of supernatural ability.And so they went about speaking in tongues, healing the sick, raising the dead, giving cripples walking ability, giving the blind sight, breaking open prison doors, predicting futures, and on and on and on.
Nothing they did was natural. Christianity was not a religion of rhetoric, tradition, and institution; it was not a place to revere saints and dead men’s bones; it was a living kingdom that moved and advanced in supernatural power upon normal everyday people.
And those who believed in Jesus expected nothing less than to operate in that supernatural power. From the greatest of apostles all the way down to the least- everyone who received the Holy Spirit would do the things that Jesus did in his days of ministry.
Quite simply, Book of Acts Christians do the supernatural. Finally, the book of Acts Christian…
- Believes the Supernatural
By no means were the believers rational in the sense that the world understood. To the Greeks, they were fools, and to the Jews, they were stumbling blocks.The message preached by Christ, by many standards of many cultures for many future generations ahead, is foolish, strange, and offensive. God in the flesh? God on a cross? And the resurrection of the dead? What foolishness.
Yet they spoke of only what they knew, and all they knew was Christ Jesus and Him crucified.
And so they went, trumpeting the one message they knew that could bring life to anyone willing to hear. By their faith they lived, not by their sight. And through their belief, would God birth his children, born not of the wisdom of the world, but by the foolishness of God.
His people believed the supernatural, even to point of death. They would never relinquish those beliefs for the sake of acceptance from the world, to be liked, or to be politically correct. The kingdom of heaven was too precious to be found compromising the truths revealed to them in Jesus.
And so fools they would be- fools for Christ. But yet, by their belief would they be saved.
The book of Acts Christian believes the supernatural.
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And so you will see a common thread as I glean from this beloved book: God’s people are a supernatural people.
There is nothing natural about the Christian life once the Holy Spirit takes residence in the temple of our bodies. Though we are fragile, frail, prone to fail, quick to stumble, unschooled, unwise, weak, and seemingly useless, we are the book of Acts Christians who demonstrate that the way of life is not accomplished by power or might, but by the great Spirit of God.
And that’s what it’s like to be a Book of Acts Christian!