Understanding the Book of Acts
As much as the book of Acts is a popular book of the bible, it is one of the most abused books. It is in part because of this abuse that grave errors have crept into the Body of Christ.
If the reader will bear the following points in mind, he/she will escape many of the errors being propagated in our day.
The book of Acts is a book of records, or a historical book
Unlike the Epistles which are doctrinal and instructional in nature, the book of Acts primarilly presents records. In order to understand these records, we must look at doctrine as presented by the Apostles and their companions. These doctrines/teachings/instructions are found in the Epistles.
The book of Acts is a record of the foundation-laying of the Church
In this book, we see the accounts of how the Church was started and put down roots. It is a record of the foundation-laying of the Church and the transition from the Law to Grace. In there, you will find the transition from the Old Covenant to the New. In there, you will find the accounts of the activities of the Apostles and their companions. That is why it is aptly titled “Acts of the Apostles“.
Once the reader understands the above, he sees why it is folly and dangerous to attempt to build or derive doctrine from the accounts of the book alone.
Acts tells the story of what the Apostles did and said in laying the foundation of the Church. It also provides us examples of some instructions the Apostles gave in their letters, the Epistles. But unless a believer studies the Epistles first, and interpretes the records of Acts in line with the teachings of the Apostles, he will end up with errorneous and mind-boggling conclusions.
We must follow the teachings of the Apostles, not their acts; for we are not the Apostles. If you honestly want to find out how the Church should function today, pick up the Epistles and read.
We cannot build doctrine from the book of Acts without looking at the teachings and commandments of Jesus and the apostles. The book merely gives us a historical account of the early Church, and that is edifying in many ways, but on it own, not primarilly for doctrine.
