Who

Luke (protégé to the Apostle Paul) to the Gentile Believer Theophilus in the early Church era

Where & When

Acts was most likely written during Paul’s imprisonment in Rome around AD 64 or AD 65. This is surmised because Acts is Part 2 of a two-part series about Jesus Christ (the first part is the Gospel of Luke; Luke 1:1–4; Acts 1:1–2). In Acts, Luke depicts the work of Jesus Christ through the Holy Spirit in the early church and ends at Paul’s imprisonment in Rome. Arguably, both books were composed around the same time in Rome as Christians awaited Paul’s release. Furthermore, the recipient, Theophilus, is given the title “most excellent Theophilus”, indicating that he may have had rank among the government nobles in Rome. Therefore, Rome is further substantiated as the writing location. Arguably, Luke composed his gospel under the auspices of Paul while he was still alive.

Why

Luke’s intent in Acts is more subtle to Theophilus than it was in Luke (e.g., Luke 1:1–4). Nevertheless, the direction and structure of Acts makes clear that Luke composed Acts to convey a historical account for Theophilus (and all future readers) of the work of Jesus Christ through the Holy Spirit to not only preserve His Church, but to build it through the ministry of the Word of God—a message that proclaims the necessity of repentance to enter the coming kingdom of Christ.

How

Be paying attention to these important terms that occur in this book:

  • Spirit (or Holy Spirit)
  • Repentance (or Repent)
  • Kingdom
  • Name (i.e. Name of Jesus, Name of Christ, His Name, etc.)
  • Testimony (or Testify, Witness)
  • The Word of God (or Word of the Lord)
  • “It is necessary that …” (or “It must be that …”)

Literary Outline

Each section features a summary statement at its conclusion (the span of the verses of the summary in each section below is placed in parentheses next to the section’s passage). In each summary statement (with the exception of the last one in the book; 28:30–31), Luke uses one of these terms/phrases as a recurring refrain that indicates God’s provision through the Spirit to build and unify His Church—“continuing with one accord”, “one heart and soul”, “Word of God”, “growing”, “multiplying”, or a summation of the number of believers thus far.

  • Acts 1:1–14 (1:14) The Testimony of Jesus’ First Followers
  • Acts 1:15–2:47 (2:41–47) The Testimony of the Jesus’ First Converts
  • Acts 3:1–4:4 (4:4) The Testimony of the Healed Man
  • Acts 4:5–35 (4:32–35) The Testimony of Peter and John
  • Acts 4:36–5:16 (5:12–16) The Testimony of Ananias and Sapphira
  • Acts 5:17–6:7 (6:7) The Testimony of the Apostles
  • Acts 6:8–8:4 (8:4) The Testimony of Stephen
  • Acts 8:5–25 (8:25) The Testimony of the Samaritans
  • Acts 8:26–40 (8:40) The Testimony of the Ethiopian Eunuch
  • Acts 9:1–31 (9:31) The Testimony of Saul
  • Acts 9:32–12:24 (12:24) The Testimony of Peter
  • Acts 12:25–16:5 (16:5) The Testimony of Paul’s First Missionary Journey
  • Acts 16:6–19:20 (19:20) The Testimony of Paul’s Second Missionary Journey
  • Acts 19:21–28:31 (28:30–31) The Testimony of Paul’s Third Missionary Journey