Acts 4:31,32 - Speaking the word with boldness

4:31

Their prayers had an immediate tangible effect. The place they were in was shaken, and they were all filled with the Holy Spirit. There are interminable debates over the terms “baptism in the Holy Spirit” and being “filled with the Holy Spirit”. Within the first few chapters of Acts there are several instances of the disciples being filled with the Spirit. What the New Testament seems to be more concerned with is the effect, or fruit, of being filled with the Spirit. Being filled with the Spirit is not a once only experience. In Matt 7:15-20 Jesus says “by their fruit shall you know them”. So arguments about whether someone is baptised in the Spirit or not, or when they were baptised, are frankly silly. The Biblical test, the Jesus test even, is the fruit that we bear. Moreover, the fact that there are several instances of the same people being filled with the Spirit in the early chapters of Acts teaches us that no matter how much we have of God, there is always more, and much, much more. In this case the effect of being filled with the Spirit was to continue to speak the word of God boldly. It is always the fruit that demonstrates the reality or otherwise of the claimed experience (and, of course, its consistency with the word of God).

4:32

This verse paints an idyllic picture of the church. All of them were of one heart and mind. And this unity of purpose showed itself in their treatment of their personal possessions. Now this is not an argument for communism! There is a world of difference between state coercion of “common possession” and a freely chosen sharing of goods. This verse also raises questions. As I said, it paints an idyllic picture. However, we know full well that the early church was not perfect. Paul’s letters, especially Galatians and 1 and 2 Corinthians, are testimony to that. In fact the next two chapters demonstrate the reality of problems in the early church, and later on at the Council of Jerusalem. So what are we to make of this? Perhaps we are not intended to take it in an absolute literal sense.