Summary Verse: The Church Grows

Bible Study series: Acts 9:31. This one of six summary verses. The church prospers.

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I also translate to learn. The translations are mine, unless otherwise noted. If you would like to see many others, please click on this link:

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At the link to the original post, next, I write more commentary and dig a little deeper into the Greek. I also offer a section titled Observations for Discipleship at the end. Check it out!

Acts 9

In this post, links are provided in the commentary section for further study.

Let’s begin.

Scripture: Acts 9:31

³¹ And so the church throughout all of Judea, Samaria, and Galilee enjoyed peace and was being built up and walking in awe of the Lord and the encouragement of the Holy Spirit, and it kept growing. (Acts 9:31)

Comments:

31:

This verse ends the second of the so-called six “panels” of Acts, each one lasting about five years. Here they are:

1:1 to 6:7

6:8 to 9:31

9:32 to 12:24

12:25 to 16:5

16:6 to 19:20

19:21 to 28:31

But this verse is not to be thrown away as a mere summary or transition. With the gospel coming, peace came too. In the past Judea and Samaria and Galilee were rivals. Now peace reigned after the gospel.

“church”: It is singular here, yet it refers to the various churches in Judea, Samaria, and Galilee. Jesus’s commission to go into Judea and Samaria and the ends of the earth is gradually being fulfilled (1:8). It is stunning how rapidly the gospel was spreading in Israel—may it spread as quickly and widely even today in Israel. The church, wherever it is found, should be unified as one. In Greek it is ekklēsia (pronounced ek-klay-SEE-ah) and the meaning has roots in both Hebrew and Greek. It literally means “the ones called out” or “the called out” or “the summoned” who gather together. It describes an assembly or gathering.

What Is the Church?

Bible Basics about the Church

Some extra-enthusiastic and super-confident Renewalists say that from this definition, they can “legislate” events to happen (or something). Of course, they overstate the basic meaning of the word outside of the church context. Just because an assembly can legislate in the pagan world does not mean Christians can now do this in the Spirit world. Further, another legislative body was the Council (boulē, pronounced boo-lay), the upper chamber of the rich landowners. They had to approve of the lower chamber’s legislation. If we take the historical context too far, then where is the Council? So, to judge from the historical context, the church as the ekklēsia cannot legislate. Instead, these extra-human-centered Christians should simplify things and ask God for his intervention. Prayer to our loving Father is sufficient, without complications or convoluted trends and ideas that promote human-centered power.

Fellowship is so important for believers. Don’t believe the lie circulating in American society, particularly in social media, that not going to church is good enough. People who skip constant fellowship are prone to sin and self-deception and satanic attacks. We need each other.

This link has a list of the famous “one another” verses, like “love one another.”

What Is Fellowship?

Further, since American Christianity is undergoing discussion on the sizes of churches, let me add: the earliest Christian community met either in houses (Acts 2:46) or in Solomon’s Colonnade in Jerusalem (Acts 3:11; 5:12) or a large number in Antioch (11:26), where a large meeting could be held a large gathering—call it a mega-church—and presumably in mid-sized gatherings. Size does not matter, since it varies so widely.

Moreover, as of this writing, I’m not a church planter (or planner), but one thing that impresses me about all those above references, is that the apostles, as they planted churches, were guided by the Spirit—always—and they were also deliberate about setting them up and establishing them. Planning is Scriptural. So wisdom says: listen to the Spirit and plan. Listen as you plan and be ready to drop your plans at a moment notice, when the Spirit says so. God will grow the church as we proclaim the good news.

It looks like the persecution initiated by Saul flamed out, because the church enjoyed peace, not least because Paul converted. In Acts 1:8 Jesus said the disciples will be his witnesses or testifiers in Jerusalem, Judea, Samaria and the ends of the earth. It is getting accomplished year by year.

Luke did not have to mention the Holy Spirit here, but it is a major theme in his history. He intends to show the Spirit-filled and Spirit-empowered church. This is how we are supposed to look today. No Spirit-filled believer in the pages of Acts behaved in oddball ways, just to draw attention to themselves (and neither did Jesus). Today, however, too many Spirit-filled believers do act oddly when they walk in the Spirit. No, it must “naturally supernatural.”

“awe”: It has a wide range of meanings, depending on the context. When the church “fears” the Lord, it does not cower in fear and dreads and runs away, but we are supposed to feel a reverential awe, which speaks of being inspired by an atmosphere charged with the tangible or felt presence of the Holy Spirit. Awe and intimacy go together with the Creator of the universe.

“walking”: this is literally. It could be translated as “lived.” Walking in the fear of the Lord = Living in the fear of the Lord.

“encouragement”: One of the ministries of the Holy Spirit is encouragement. Jesus said as much in John 14:26, 26; 15:26; 16:7. The Greek in 9:31 is paraklēsis (pronounced pah-rah-klay-sees), and the Greek in John is paraklētos (pronounced pah-rah-klay-tohs). Both words are related and can mean the following things, depending on the context—or they can mean all of them at the same time.

What do you need from the Spirit? Here are some options: “counselor / counsel,” “advocate (defense attorney),” “helper / help,” “comforter / comfort,” “encourager / encouragement,” and “intercessor / intercession.”

For systematic theology:

The Spirit’s Deity and Divine Attributes

The Personhood of the Spirit

Titles of the Holy Spirit

The Spirit in the Life of Christ

The Spirit in the Church and Believers

GrowApp for Acts 9:31

1. Without being judgmental, do you belong to a thriving church or a stagnant or self-centered one which does not reach out?

2.. How can you help it grow? Maybe by reaching out to people?

Sixteen Characteristics of a Healthy Church

Sixteen Characteristics of an Unhealthy Church

The Historical Reliability of the Book of Acts