Acts

Author: Luke
Date of Writing: AD 60-69
Type of Book: Historical sequel to the Gospels
Theme: The Holy Spirit establishes the church

The Book of Acts is a continuation of the gospel of Luke. Luke was a physician and historian who kept detailed records of the events that were told to him, as well as the events to which he was an eyewitness. He accompanied Paul on his later missionary journeys, and it is thought that he joined him in Troas as Acts 16:10 has a shifting of pronouns from "they" to "we" which continues to the end of the book. Luke was the only Gentile to write a book in the New Testament, and he wrote two of them, Luke and Acts.

The book was written sometime after AD 60 as we know Paul was imprisoned in Rome around that time and the book ends with Paul in Rome. There is no mention of the destruction of Jerusalem, which happened in AD 70, so it was written sometime between AD 60-69.

The title in our Bible is "The Acts of the Apostles" but it would probably be more accurate to entitle it, "The Acts of the Holy Spirit through the Apostles." The theme of the book is found in Acts 1:8, where Jesus told His disciples, "But you shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be witnesses to Me in Jerusalem, and in all Judea, and Samaria, and to the end of the earth." This provides a threefold outline of the book, as chapters 1-7 chronicle the spread of the gospel in Jerusalem, chapters 8-12 show it spreading to Judea and Samaria, and with chapters 13-28 taking it to the rest of the known world. The book tells the story of how the Holy Spirit established the church. This book is both exciting and challenging for us today as we seek to be empowered and used by the Holy Spirit.

The book is addressed to Theophilus. We don't know for certain who Theophilus was, but tradition says he was a wealthy Roman official who had purchased Luke's freedom for him. Luke was investigating the accounts of Jesus and the establishment of His church and reported the facts back to Theophilus. Some have suggested the name might be a pseudonym, to protect the identity of the man Luke was writing to. The name Theophilus means "lover of God", and I like that idea. If that were the case, then we could say that it is addressed to all lovers of God, which would include us.

-from Pastor Chuck Smith from The Word for Today Bible