The Hinge Chapter

Chapter 2 of Acts is arguably the hinge chapter of the Bible. The coming of the Holy Spirit to indwell followers of Christ (no more going to the Temple to meet with God) and the beginning of the Church. This is a total mindshift for God followers - imagine what it was like for citizens in formerly communist countries to wake up one morning and be a democracy with free enterprise - now multiply by 10.

vv. 2-4 - can you imagine how scared you would've been had you been there? a loud sound of wind (think tornado), fire appears and almost touches your hair, and everyone is now speaking in a different language! FREAKY.

v.11 - tower of Babel (take 2) - this time God has people speak in different (known) languages, but it's for the purpose of proclaiming wonders about God (not to frustrate a group of people who thought they were all that). A note here - when God does something amazing, the glory is to go to Him alone.

v.13 - this verse proves the Bible is true - if you were making this up, you wouldn't put in that your key characters were acting in such a way that other people accused them of being drunk. hilarious.

vv.14-36 - the preaching fisherman - obviously, Peter's sermon here (explaining what was taking place and laying out how Jesus had died for them) has been translated, but he sure seems eloquent and powerful in speech. These are not the usual attributes of a fisherman. Imagine one of the guys on "Deadliest Catch" busting out Shakespeare or the Gettysburg address. On a side note, I think it's funny that he clarifies (in verse 36) who is to blame for Jesus's death. He says, "God made this Jesus, whom you crucified, both Lord and Christ." That's stickin' to 'em.

v.38 - Very confusing - without a doubt, this is one of the most controversial verses in all of the Bible because Peter is point blank answering the question of "how should we respond to the truth we just heard about Jesus?" This is the end-all, be-all question. It would be completely easy to see why many read this verse and say that you must be baptized (along with repenting - nobody disagrees with that part). There's certainly not enough time here to dissect this issue adequately. Suffice to say that the Greek sentence structure here indicates the emphasis is on repenting (and the baptism is an important add on, but not integral) combined with the numerous other passages emphasizing faith alone have convinced me that baptism is not necessary to enter the Kingdom. Again, never allow 1 seemingly contradictory passage to trump multiple clear passages.

vv.42-47 Things that were true of this first church:

• They were devoted (people admire people who have a focus to their life and convictions)
• They ate together (everyone likes to eat and especially with other people)
• They hung out together (pretty much everyday - they lived their lives together)
• They prayed (people love to be prayed for)
• They learned truth/doctrine together and from each other (people learn best in a group when they can see a truth lived out in someone's life right before them)
• They were generous with material possessions, not thinking that what they had was theirs (some have called this Christian Communism - nobody owns anything and everybody gets what they need)
• They were glad; they had joy (people like to be around joyful people)
• They were sincere (people like to be around people who are real)
• They praised God (people like genuine worship and are attracted to it)

The chapter/passage then ends with the statement that the Lord added to their number daily. That one verse (47) by itself seems to say that it's up to God to grow a small group, ABF, Sunday School class, or church. While this is true, it's not an accident that there is this description (possibly a prescription) for what should be taking place in a body of believers if God is going to give people to those bodies. In other words, did God add people to that group daily because they were being obedient in all those areas?