The Gospel in Acts (Peter's Ministry)

Key to the Book of Acts

Acts 1:8 “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.””

Unpacking this we see:

The power of the Holy Spirit to come upon believers

They are to be witnesses - μαρτυς MARTUS testifying the “good news”

of Jesus - (unto salvation) that they may believe

In Jerusalem, Judea, Samaria, and to the end of the earth (Spain)

This commission starts at home with the Jews and ends up with Gentile nations.

MT the story of Jesus written to the Jews

MK the story of Jesus written to the Romans

LK the story of Jesus written to the Greeks

JN the most evangelical gospel

ACTS the missionary manual (for local and cross-cultural missions)

Two Questions are dealt with in the first half of Acts

Question One - Who can get Saved?

Question Two - What are the Requirements?

Rough Outline

Chapters 1-13 Peter’s Ministry

Chapter 15 Jerusalem Council

Chapters 14-28 Paul’s Ministry

Acts 2:21 “And it shall come to pass That whoever calls on the name of the Lord Shall be saved.’”

Acts 2:36-38 ““Therefore let all the house of Israel know assuredly that God has made this Jesus, whom you crucified, both Lord and Christ.” Now when they heard this, they were cut to the heart, and said to Peter and the rest of the apostles, “Men and brethren, what shall we do?” Then Peter said to them, “Repent, and let every one of you be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins; and you shall receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.”

Cut to heart = believed

Now what - Repent as generation of Israel to enter fellowship (also reinforced Apostolic authority)

Acts 2:42 “And they continued steadfastly in the apostles’ doctrine and fellowship, in the breaking of bread, and in prayers.”

Acts 3:6 “Then Peter said, “Silver and gold I do not have, but what I do have I give you: In the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, rise up and walk.””

Acts 3:14-16 “But you denied the Holy One and the Just, and asked for a murderer to be granted to you, and killed the Prince of life, whom God raised from the dead, of which we are witnesses. And His name, through faith in His name, has made this man strong, whom you see and know. Yes, the faith which comes through Him has given him this perfect soundness in the presence of you all.”

Acts 3:19 “Repent therefore and be converted, that your sins may be blotted out, so that times of refreshing may come from the presence of the Lord,” Still preaching the kingdom for Israel.

Acts 4:1-4 “Now as they spoke to the people, the priests, the captain of the temple, and the Sadducees came upon them, being greatly disturbed that they taught the people and preached in Jesus the resurrection from the dead. And they laid hands on them, and put them in custody until the next day, for it was already evening. However, many of those who heard the word believed; and the number of the men came to be about five thousand.”

Acts 5 the Apostles on trial

Acts 5:38-39 “And now I say to you, keep away from these men and let them alone; for if this plan or this work is of men, it will come to nothing; but if it is of God, you cannot overthrow it—lest you even be found to fight against God.””

Acts 5:42 “And daily in the temple, and in every house, they did not cease teaching and preaching Jesus as the Christ.”

Acts 8:4-40 Philip preaches in Samaria

:9 Simon the sorcerer believes

Acts 8:12-13 “But when they believed Philip as he preached the things concerning the kingdom of God and the name of Jesus Christ, both men and women were baptized. Then Simon himself also believed; and when he was baptized he continued with Philip, and was amazed, seeing the miracles and signs which were done.”

His sin to buy the gift of Holy Spirit - gifts held back

Acts 8:25 “So when they had testified and preached the word of the Lord, they returned to Jerusalem, preaching the gospel in many villages of the Samaritans.”

Acts 8:26-40 Philip with Ethiopian

Acts 8:35 “Then Philip opened his mouth, and beginning at this Scripture, preached Jesus to him.”

Acts 8:37 “Then Philip said, “If you believe with all your heart, you may.” And he answered and said, “I believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God.””

Chapter 9 is Saul’s conversion we will touch on this next week

Acts 10 concerns Peter and Cornelius the Centurion (A Gentile)

Acts 10:28 “Then he said to them, “You know how unlawful it is for a Jewish man to keep company with or go to one of another nation. But God has shown me that I should not call any man common or unclean.”

Acts 10:36 “The word which God sent to the children of Israel, preaching peace through Jesus Christ—He is Lord of all—”

Acts 10:43 “To Him all the prophets witness that, through His name, whoever believes in Him will receive remission of sins.””

Acts 11:1 “Now the apostles and brethren who were in Judea heard that the Gentiles had also received the word of God.”

Acts 11:9 “But the voice answered me again from heaven, ‘What God has cleansed you must not call common.’”

Acts 11:17 “If therefore God gave them the same gift as He gave us when we believed on the Lord Jesus Christ, who was I that I could withstand God?””

Acts 13-14 Paul’s first missionary journey - deals with circumcision as a requirement to salvation

Acts 15 The Jerusalem Council

Acts 15:5 “But some of the sect of the Pharisees who believed rose up, saying, “It is necessary to circumcise them, and to command them to keep the law of Moses.””

Answer to Question One

Acts 15:7 “And when there had been much dispute, Peter rose up and said to them: “Men and brethren, you know that a good while ago God chose among us, that by my mouth the Gentiles should hear the word of the gospel and believe.”

Answer to Question Two

Acts 15:9 “and made no distinction between us and them, purifying their hearts by faith.”

The Gospel

Acts 15:11 “But we believe that through the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ we shall be saved in the same manner as they.””