The Witness of the Church

The gift of the Spirit equips the Church to bear witness to what God has done in His Son, especially through his death and resurrection.

At the beginning of the Book of Acts, Jesus tells his disciples that they will be baptized in the Holy Spirit in a few days, and this will empower his people to testify of what God has accomplished through His Son. The Spirit enables the Church of Jesus Christ to proclaim the Gospel to every nation, man, woman, and child.

This does not mean that the sole purpose of the Spirit is to enable believers to preach the Gospel. However, testifying to the world is a key function of the Church, and the Book of Acts records the rapid growth of the early Church and the Gospel, all under the guidance of the Holy Spirit.

The Book of Acts wants us to understand that the Spirit’s presence is pivotal to the spread of Christianity and the health of the Church.

[Light - Photo by Jimmy Conover (Boise, ID) on Unsplash]

The preaching of the Gospel to the nations of the Roman Empire (and beyond) was in response to the commission that Jesus gave to his Church, and this was in fulfillment of the Scriptures:

• “Thus, it is written, that the Christ should suffer and rise again from the dead the third day, and that repentance and remission of sins should be preached in his name to all the nations, beginning from Jerusalem. You are witnesses of these things. And behold, I send forth the promise of my Father upon you! But wait in the city until you are clothed with power from on high” - (Luke 24:46-49. Note the verbal allusion to Isaiah 43:10).

• “And being assembled together with them, Jesus commanded them not to depart from Jerusalem, but to wait for the promise of the Father, which you heard from me. For John baptized with water, but you will be baptized in the Holy Spirit not many days from now. <…> But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes upon you. And you will be my witnesses both in Jerusalem, and in all Judaea and Samaria, and to the uttermost part of the earth” – (Acts 1:4-5. 8. Note the allusions to Isaiah 43:10 and 52:10. Compare also Psalm 2:6-9).

In their evangelistic activities, the Apostles emphasized their calling to be witnesses to what God had done through His Messiah. For example, as Peter explained in his sermon at Caesarea to Cornelius and his household:

• “How God anointed Jesus with the Holy Spirit and with power, who went about doing good, and healing all that were oppressed of the devil, for God was with him. And we are witnesses of all things which he did both in the country of the Jews, and in Jerusalem, whom also they killed, hanging him on a tree. He whom God raised up the third day, and gave him to be made manifest, not to all the people, but to witnesses that were chosen before of God, even to us, who ate and drank with him after he rose from the dead. And he charged us to preach to the people, and to testify that this is he who is ordained of God to be the Judge of the living and the dead. To him bear all the prophets witness, that through his name every one that believes on him will receive the remission of sins” – (Acts 10:38-43. Compare Deuteronomy 21:23, Isaiah 52:10, 53:11).

Peter and his fellow apostles were witnesses to the things that God had done, not only of the miraculous deeds performed by the Nazarene, but especially of his crucifixion and resurrection from the dead.

The call to become the witnesses of Jesus and proclaim his salvation to humanity is central to the Book of Acts, and the presence of the Holy Spirit operating through the Church is essential for achieving this mission. As Peter declared in his sermon on the Day of Pentecost:

• “Brethren, I may say to you freely of the patriarch David, that he both died and was buried, and his tomb is with us till this day. Being therefore a prophet, and knowing that God had sworn with an oath to him, that of the fruit of his loins he would place one upon his throne, he, foreseeing this, spoke of the resurrection of the Christ, that neither was he left unto Hades, nor did his flesh see corruption. God raised up this same Jesus of whom we all are witnesses” - (Acts 2:29-32. Note the citations from 1 Chronicles 17:11 and Psalm 16:10, LXX. Compare Psalm 89:3-4).

The Apostles were eyewitnesses of Christ’s life and resurrection. An apostle is someone who has been with Christ from his baptism until the day that he ascended to Heaven - (Compare 1 Corinthians 15:5-8):

• “Of the men, therefore, that have accompanied with us all the time that the Lord Jesus went in and went out among us, beginning from the baptism of John, unto the day that he was received up from us, of these must one become a witness with us of his resurrection” - (Acts 1:21-23).

• “So then, you are no more strangers and sojourners, but fellow-citizens with the saints, and of the household of God, being built upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Christ Jesus himself being the chief corner stone” - (Ephesians 2:19-20).

EMBOLDENED FOR WITNESS

When the Church experienced pressure from the Temple authorities of Jerusalem, rather than flee the city, the assembled saints prayed for God to empower them to proclaim the Gospel:

• “And when they had prayed, the place was shaken where they were assembled. And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and spoke the word of God with boldness [‘parrésia’]. And the multitude of them that believed were of one heart and soul <…> And with great power the apostles gave their witness of the resurrection of the Lord Jesus, and great grace was upon them all” – (Acts 4:31-33).

The Apostles had witnessed several appearances of the resurrected Christ, and though supernatural miracles accompanied their preaching, far more important for their mission was the “boldness of speech” (Greek, ‘parrésia’) they received from the Holy Spirit. This enabled them to proclaim the Gospel regardless of any opposition and without fear – (Compare 1 Corinthians 15:5-8).

The Book of Acts concludes on this same note with the Apostle Paul under house arrest near the city of Rome, while awaiting trial. Despite his situation, Paul continued to proclaim the Gospel to one and all:

• “And he was preaching the kingdom of God and teaching the things concerning the Lord Jesus Christ with all boldness of speech [‘parrésia’], no one preventing him” – (Acts 28:31).

When Peter and the other apostles were ordered by the High Priest to stop preaching the Good News about Jesus, his response included words spoken centuries earlier by Isaiah the Prophet:

• “The God of our fathers raised up Jesus, whom you killed, hanging him on a tree. Him did God exalt with his right hand to be a Prince and a Savior, to give repentance to Israel, and remission of sins. And we are witnesses of all these things; and so is the Holy Spirit, whom God has given to those who obey him” - (Acts 5:30-32. Compare Deuteronomy 21:23 and Galatians 3:13).

• “Become my witnesses, and I too am a witness, says the Lord God, and my servant whom I have chosen, that you may know and believe and understand, that I am he. Before me there was no other God, and after me there will be none” – (Isaiah 43:10. Quoted from the Septuagint version or LXX).

The claim that God raised His Messiah from the dead was central to the apostolic message and the witness of the Church. And with the empowerment of the Spirit, the saints of the Church became effective witnesses of this very thing.

When the Apostle Paul and Barnabas arrived in Antioch of Pisidia to preach the Gospel, Paul spoke before the local synagogue, and he declared to his audience the news of the resurrection of Jesus:

• “And when they had fulfilled all things that were written of him, they took him down from the tree and laid him in a tomb. But God raised him from the dead. And he was seen for many days of those who came up with him from Galilee to Jerusalem, who now are his witnesses to the people. And we bring you good tidings of the promise made to the fathers, that God has fulfilled the same for our children, in that he raised up Jesus” - (Acts 13:30-31).

The mission of the Body of Christ is to proclaim the Gospel to all nations, and this is foundational in the Book of Acts. We must do so in times of peace and persecution, and the Holy Spirit equips the Church to carry out this task

[Citations of Old Testament passages in this article are based on the ancient Greek translation of the Hebrew Bible, the Septuagint. Text printed in small capital letters represents quotations and verbal allusions from the Old Testament. The Septuagint is represented by the Roman numeral for ‘seventy’ or LXX based on the Latin name of the translation, ‘Interpretatio septuaginta virorum’]

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SEE ALSO:

• The Mission - (The mission of the church between now and Christ’s return is to announce the Good News of his Kingdom to all nations – Matthew 24:14)

• Salvation for the Nations - (The Gospel of the Kingdom announced by Jesus of Nazareth offers salvation and life to men and women of every nation and people)

• The Final Sign - (According to Jesus, the End will not come until this Gospel of the Kingdom of God has been proclaimed to all nations – Matthew 24:14)

• Witnesses for Jesus - (Men and women purchased by Jesus from every nation become priestly witnesses of what God has accomplished in His Son)