Monday, January 2, 2017

Is everything in the book of Acts normative for today?

One of the reasons why the charismatic movement started and went on a side track to follow after another gospel is due to a wrong interpretation and application of the book of Acts.

The book of Acts is predominantly a historical narrative and not normative for today. It is the Acts of the Apostles and not a pattern to follow for believers today. It contains an inspired testimony of the outpouring of the Holy Spirit, the Acts of the Apostles and the signs and wonders that followed them which attest to the validity of their claims to be messengers of God. It serves as a testimony and model for us today about our ongoing mission - making disciples of all nations.

The book of Acts does not primarily contain commands to follow, but rather historical data about the work of the Holy Spirit to begin the church age. It contain both theology and historical data. The theology therein is further and in more detail expounded in the rest of the New Testament. Therefore, one should not use the book of Acts alone to find out which parts is doctrine to follow. Rather, the rest of the New Testament will validate which parts in Acts is normative for today. For example: the charismatic movement uses Pentecost and the subsequent events as normative to say Christians can be baptised with the Holy Spirit after rebirth (second blessing) and speaking in tongues like in Acts.

They also use the various signs and wonders of the apostles to say today there are still apostles with the gift of signs and wonders. They claim we can reproduce all the events in Acts today. These kind of errors arise due to an out of context reading of the book of Acts. We should read the book of Acts within the context of the whole New Testament to understand what is doctrine and what is a testimony to us.

Primarily the book of Acts is a testimony to us about God's signs and wonders to confirm the validity of the gospel and the teachings of the Apostles. The rest of the New Testament confirms what is doctrine and what not.

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