It is worth putting in the hard work to study this period of the church’s history. We can learn much from the early church—what it got right and what it got wrong—and especially from observing God at work in the lives of his people, sometimes through dramatic miracles and at other times through hidden acts of ordinary providence.

What Would the Apostles Do?

A few years ago, there was a viral trend for Christians to wear bracelets bearing the letters WWJD? It was supposed to be a reminder to the wearer in every situation to ask, “What would Jesus do?” and then presumably respond in the same way. One can certainly understand and applaud the desire for Christians to be more Christ-like in our interactions with others, but critics pointed out the obvious flaw in this approach. We cannot and should not always do what Jesus did. Jesus healed the sick and raised the dead, exceptional gifts which we have not been given. He had a unique calling that enabled him to send his disciples fishing for the money to pay their temple tax (Matt. 17:24–27), an approach that, sadly, we cannot emulate when April 15th rolls around. More precisely, we don’t have to emulate it, since we live in a different period of redemptive history. Old Testament believers were obligated to pay this annual fee to support the tabernacle and temple (see Ex. 30:11–16), and since Christ came to live a perfect life under the law, he, too, paid it. But since Christ is himself the new temple (see John 2:19), after his death and resurrection, that Old Testament obligation no longer binds believers.

Similar challenges face us in interpreting the book of Acts. From the earliest days, Christians have sought to emulate the church in Jerusalem in Acts 2:42–47. There is much in that passage that we should imitate: the new believers’ commitment to the apostles’ teaching, to fellowship, to breaking bread together and praying together daily, both publicly and from house to house, is a beautiful demonstration of the Holy Spirit’s work in their hearts. Yet while some Christian groups have also tried to copy the Jerusalem church’s model of mutual sharing of their possessions in support of those who have need (Acts 2:45), most churches don’t regard this as part of the pattern we are to follow. They notice that we don’t see the same pattern of communal living being followed universally by the early church: later in the book of Acts, the churches that Paul plants operate differently, with wealthy Lydia retaining possession of her large house in Philippi (Acts 16:14–15). Even though she generously hosts Paul and his team under her roof, it remains her roof. When Paul is raising money to take care of the needs of poor Christians in Jerusalem, he doesn’t expect the Christians in Corinth to donate everything they possess. Rather, he asks for them to give generously but proportionately from what they have (1 Cor. 16:2).

The apostles also play a distinctive foundational role in the life of the young church (cf. Eph. 2:20). The whole church is involved in the spread of the gospel, proclaiming the good news wherever they go as they are scattered by persecution (Acts 8:1–4). But the apostles have a unique ministry as eye-witnesses to the risen Christ, which is attested by signs and wonders. Peter and John, for example, healed a lame man outside the temple, a clear fulfillment of Isaiah 35:6 (see Acts 3). This testifies to the power of the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth (Acts 3:13), a frequent theme in the healings in Acts (see Acts 3:6; Acts 4:10, 30). This was merely one among many signs and wonders done “among the people by the hands of the apostles” (Acts 5:12). These signs and wonders authenticated the apostles as the authorized witnesses of Jesus: they continued the work of the risen and ascended Jesus through his Holy Spirit in the world. Just as Jesus’s ministry had been attested by miracles, wonders, and signs (Acts 2:22), so too the ministry of the apostles was attested by God in the same way (Acts 1:1-2; 14:3; 15:12; Rom. 15:9). In contrast, when Paul is instructing Timothy and Titus about second generation ministry in the Pastoral Epistles, there is nothing about them performing signs and wonders, only faithfully preaching the word in season and out of season (2 Tim. 4:2). Their ministries would be different from those of the apostles.

Read More