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ACTS TEST #1 ON 1:1 - 8:4 (with answers)


The number of points for each question is indicated in parentheses after the question number. The total number of points is 100.

1. (3) Give the approximate date for the writing of Acts.        62-63 A.D.

2. (3) Who was the human agent whom God used to reveal Acts, and give two reasons to
support your answer.

Luke -
a. The writer claims to have written an earlier account to Theophilus and
Luke did that.
b. The style and content of Luke's account of the Gospel and Acts are
quite similar and closely related.
c. The "we" portions of Acts reveal that the writer was a close travelling
partner of Paul, and Luke was that.
d. Early writers indicated that Luke was the human agent whom God used.

3. (3) Give three purposes of the book of Acts.
A. Present examples of conversion of sinners.
B. Document establishment, organization, worship, and growth of the Lord's church.
C. Paint a beautiful picture of early Christians.
D. Show that Christianity is the religion for all men of every country.
E. Present valuable information on the work of the Holy Spirit.
F. Demonstrate the reality of persecution.
G. Show the faithfulness of God in the fulfillment of so many promises and prophecies.
H. Show the church in conflict as a result of preaching the Gospel and victorious over all obstacles.

4. (3) Give three reasons why the book of Acts is such an important one.
A. Shows us how the apostles of Christ and others responded to the "great
commission" given by Christ.
B. Provides a valuable link between the four accounts of the Gospel and the
twenty one epistles.
C. Presents convincing evidence for Paul's claim of apostleship.
D. Is a book of beginnings.

5. (10) Give the basic outline of the book through Chapter 7:60.

                                                                             Chapter
I. Part One: The church established in Jerusalem  1-7
A. The church began with power                             1 & 2
    1. Waiting for the promise                                    1
    2. The promise fulfilled & church established      2

B. The church grew in Jerusalem                            3-7
    1. Miracle of Peter & John /                                 3:1
    Opposition of Sadducees
    2. Wrestling with a social problem / Ananias &  4:32-5:11
    Sapphira lie
    3. Prosperity and renewed opposition               5:12-42
    4. Appointment of the seven                              6:1-7
    5. Pharisees aroused by Stephen /                    6:8-7:60
    Stephen's death

6. (3) Give three brief reasons why there is no such thing as "apostolic succession".
A. There are no apostles or other men today who speak, teach, or command by the authority of God as Christ's apostles did because no man is qualified to do so (Acts 1:3,21,22).
B. The New Testament was the final revelation of God's will for mankind;
therefore, no man has the power or authority to reveal Scripture today (Jude 3).
C. Each Christian is a priest and God has warned us to be on guard against those who try to interpret the Scriptures for us (1 Pet 2:5; 2 Tim 2:15; Mt 7:15).

7. (3) How do we know that the promise of the baptism of the Holy Spirit was given only to the apostles?
A. In John 14-16, Jesus promised that the Holy Spirit would empower the apostles to reveal all the word of God.
B. In Lk 24:49, He told the apostles to wait in Jerusalem until they received the promise of power from on high.
C. In Acts 1:5, He told the apostles that the promise was the baptism with the Holy Spirit which they would receive not many days from then.
D. In Acts 1:8, Jesus told the apostles that they would receive power when the Holy Spirit came upon them.
E. In Acts 2:1-4, these promises were fulfilled when the apostles were baptized with the Holy Spirit.

8. (3) What were the qualifications for apostleship mentioned in Chapter one?
A. Must have been with Jesus from the beginning (the baptism of John) until the time He was taken up so that they could serve as eyewitnesses of His resurrection.

9. (3) How do we know that only the apostles received the baptism of the Holy Spirit in Chapter two?
A. The last verse of Chapter 1 says Mathias was numbered with the eleven apostles.
B. Thus, the "they" who were gathered together in 2:1 were the apostles, and they were the ones who were filled with the Holy Spirit and spoke in tongues.
C. Throughout the rest of the chapter, it is obvious that the apostles were the ones performing miracles by the power of the Holy Spirit:
a. 2:7 refers to them as the Galileans, which is how the apostles were described in 1:11.
b. 2:14 - Peter stood up with the eleven (apostles).
c. 2:37 - The crowd addressed their question to Peter and the rest of the apostles.
d. 2:42 - The first Christians continued steadfastly in the apostles'doctrine.
e. 2:43 - The apostles worked many signs and miracles.

10. (5) Contrast Holy Spirit baptism with baptism in water.
Holy Spirit Baptism Water Baptism
1. A promise (Acts 1:8 A command (Acts 10:48)
2. Christ administered Humans administer (Acts 8:35ff)
(Acts 1:5)
3. Described in limited Described in universal terms
terms (Acts 1:8) (Mk 16:15,16)
4. Not for remission of For remission of sins (Acts 2:38)
sins (Acts 2:1-4)
5. Associated with Not associated with miraculous
miraculous gifts (Acts 2) gifts (Acts 2-8)

11. (5) What does the phrase, "the last days" mean in 2:17?
A. Peter said by inspiration that what was happening on the day of Pentecost was the fulfillment of what Joel said would occur in the last days.
B. Thus, the last days had already begun on that day.
C. Actually the last days began when God the Father began to speak through His Son Jesus!
D. And since they are the last days, they represent the last period of time.
E. That is, the period from the first coming of the Messiah until His second coming at the end of time.
F. Thus, mankind has been in the last days for about 2,000 years.
G. And no man knows when the last days will end (Mt 24:36-44)! 

12. (5) Explain what it means to "call upon the name of the Lord".
A. First, it does not mean just calling the Lord's name out (Lk 6:46; Mt 7:21).
B. From Acts 2:37-47; Acts 22:16, and Rom 10:13-17, we learn that to call upon the name of the Lord means to obey Him, including the following:
   a. Hearing the Gospel.
   b. Believing that Gospel message.
   c. Repenting of past sins.                                                 d.  Confessing their faith in the sone of God.
   e. Being immersed in water for the forgiveness of sins.
   f. Being added by the Lord to His church.
   g.Continuing steadfastly in the apostles' doctrine.

13. (3) According to Chapter two, what future event was God foretelling when He promised one to sit on David's throne?

     The resurrection of the Christ from the dead.

14. (3) Give a brief definition of repentance, including what it is based upon and what it leads to.
A. Repentance is a change of mind.
B. It is based upon sincere, godly sorrow for sins.
C. It leads to a change of behavior, which includes a turning away from sin and a turning to serve the living God.

15. a. (3) What did the inspired apostle Peter tell believers who were sorry for their sins to do (2:38)?
Repent and be immersed.
      b. (3) What was the purpose of their taking those actions (2:38)?
         To receive the remission or forgiveness of sins.
     c. (3) How did the Holy Spirit create faith in the hearts of those people on the day of Pentecost (2:37)?
He used the sword of the Spirit, the word of God, spoken by Peter to create faith in the heart of those people.

16. (3) Whose faith was expressed in the miraculous healing of the lame man?
A. The faith of Peter and John was expressed in that miracle.
B. Rather than having faith, the lame man wanted something of a material nature from the apostles.

17. (3) How did Stephen and Philip receive the power to work miracles in Chapter 6?
They received that power through the laying on of the hands of the apostles of Christ.

18. (3) Give three of the charges against Stephen.
A. Blasphemy against Moses.
B. " " God.
C. " " the Temple.
D. " " the Law of Moses.

19. (3) What was the result of the general persecution against the church after Stephen's death?
It grew because the Christians went everywhere preaching the word of God.

20. (3) Give three brief reasons why the benevolence shown by brethren to each other in 2:44,45 and 4:32ff was not communism.
A. This was a temporary measure to meet a special need in the church at Jerusalem.
B. No church outside of Jerusalem did the same thing.
C. Christians retained the right to hold personal property rather than all property being owned by the government as is done in communism.
D. Rather than equal distribution of economic goods to all as is done in communism, these material things were distributed as anyone had need.

21. Briefly discuss the following:

a. (3) Sadducees -
1. An elite group within the Jewish religion.
2. They believed in the resurrection, spirits, and angels.
3. And they were instrumental in Christ's death and the persecution of the church

b. (3) Sanhedrin -
1. The ruling council of the Jews.
2. Consisted of 71 members, mostly Pharisees and Sadducees, including the High Priest, who served as President.
3. Active in the persecution of the church.

c. (3) Witness -
1. One who actually saw something and on that basis, seeks to confirm a truth by his testimony.
2. We get the word martyr from the original word translated witness.

d. (3) Tongues -
The miraculous ability to speak in a language which one has never learned before.

e. (3) Christ -
1. The word means anointed, a term often associated with kings.
2. In the New Testament, it was used to refer to the Messiah, the King whom the Jews expected to be the savior of their nation.

f. (3) Mathias -
1. One of two men who met the qualifications of an apostle after the death of Judas.
2. He was selected by the Lord (through the process of casting lots) to replace Judas.

g. (3) Theophilus -
1. This name literally means one who loves God.
2. Theophilus was the one to whom Luke addressed Acts as well as his account of the Gospel.