Acts 2:42-47 | God's CommunitySample

God’s gift of forgiveness, along with his gift of the Holy Spirit, is not the end. It’s the beginning.

Acts 2 says that after Peter called those hearers to repent and be baptized, 3000 responded and were added to their number that day.

Acts then describes what life was like for that first community of believers. Today, we’ll read it. It encapsulates so many things. But notice this. They were together.

There’s a misconception too many believers buy into, especially in western countries like the United States. The misconception is that a relationship with Jesus is a purely individualistic thing. At one level we alone must decide if we are going to turn to Jesus, follow Jesus, obey Jesus, and give our lives to him. We will give an account of our own lives before God. But that shouldn’t lead us to think the Christian journey is about going it alone.

Acts 2 shows us this. The believers were together, in community. Once we repent, believe, and are baptized for the forgiveness of sins, God wants us to live it out as part of Christ’s new community.

Because it’s not just a question of what God saves us from. It’s also about what God saves us for. As Dietrich Bonhoeffer once said, it’s for life together – Jesus’s way. That’s what Acts 2 shows us. It’s certainly not comprehensive of everything in Christ’s new community, but it paints a compelling picture. Imagine if believers lived this way? Imagine if churches operated this way? Imagine what non-believers would say if they saw this kind of community?

Today, re-read Acts 2:42-47. Count up the number instances where it mentions or implies life together. Consider how you can live this way as a follower of Jesus or invitee to his new community.