Unhindered: God's Sovereignty in the Book of Acts

Prayer is fueled by conviction of God’s sovereignty. In the words of Calvin, when we address ourselves to prayer, “We may know that all things are subject to God, and ruled by his will, and when the world hath done what it can, there shall no other thing come to pass but that which God hath decreed.”[1] Perhaps nowhere in the Bible is this more clearly seen than in the Book of Acts, where prayer is mentioned about thirty times.[2] Though the book’s themes have been defined variously, it is safe to say that one of Luke’s intentions in writing this theological history was to demonstrate that the church’s expansion was not ultimately the result of human effort, but the sovereign hand of God.

Indeed, when the early church first found itself facing a wave of opposition, the saints responded with a bold prayer—a prayer that looked back with faith and forward with confidence (Acts 4:23-30). Beginning with creation itself, the prayer exalts God’s power: “O Lord, it is you who made the heaven and the earth and the sea” (4:24). The saints saw God’s sovereign hand in Christ’s death, resurrection, and ascension (4:27-28). They remembered God’s power over governors and kings, common men, and his own servants (4:25-30). In the momentous prayer of Acts 4, we find a guide for tracing the sovereign hand of God through the whole of the book.

Predestined Purpose

The book of Acts takes place just on the heels of what may be called the climax of redemptive history. On the hill of Golgotha, the glorious Son was willingly crushed, dying in the place of sinners, “the just for the unjust, so that he might bring us to God” (1 Pet 3:18). The apostles of the early church are consistent in ascribing the events of the crucifixion and resurrection to the power of God. Then in the second chapter of Acts, the sending of the Spirit inaugurated the period of God’s dwelling within his people, in a sense extending his sovereign hand to touch the lives of men more closely than ever before. The event of Pentecost will underpin all that takes place in the remainder of the book.

Redemption

In Peter’s first two recorded sermons, he emphasizes the sovereignty of God over the crucifixion of Jesus. He does not allay the guilt of the Jewish people in the slightest but declares, “You disowned the Holy and Righteous One and asked for a murderer to be granted to you” (Acts 3:14). Even so, Peter finds no contradiction in simultaneously ascribing sovereignty to God; Jesus was “delivered over by the predetermined plan and foreknowledge of God,” just as “God announced beforehand by the mouth of all the prophets” (2:23, 3:18). While the concurrence of divine sovereignty and human responsibility is a challenging concept, it is impossible that anything—even the most unjust of acts—should occur outside of God’s sovereign will.[3]

If we see the sovereignty of God in the crucifixion, how much more joyfully we see it in the resurrection! Again, Peter in both Acts 2 and 3 finds God to be the active agent in the miraculous raising of Christ from the dead. Peter makes his assertion repeatedly: “This Jesus God raised up again” (Acts 2:32).[4] Paul would later make the same statement before the men of Athens, incurring the scorn of those who regarded bodily resurrection as a ridiculous impossibility (17:31).[5] Yet Paul never retracted his statement; later he would write, “We testified against God, that he raised Christ….and if Christ has not been raised, your faith is worthless” (1 Cor 15:15, 17). The power of God to raise Jesus from the dead is the keystone of our salvation.

Pentecost

It is with good reason that some have suggested that a more suitable title than “The Acts of the Apostles” would be “The Acts of the Holy Spirit.”[6] God sent his Spirit as the first fruit of fulfillment, not only to dwell among, as Jesus did, but to dwell within his chosen people (Acts 2:1-4). Spurgeon commented on this staggering reality, “If it were possible for the condescension of the incarnation to be outdone, it would be in the indwelling of the Holy Ghost in the hearts of men.”[7] Though at the time of Pentecost the inauguration of the kingdom was (and still is) partial, Jesus’ instructions to the disciples were clear: “You shall be my witnesses both in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and even to the remotest part of the earth” (Acts 1:8).[8] By the power of the Holy Spirit, the kingdom is being established in the heart of every believer.

Heaven, Earth, Sea

From the unapologetic assertion, “In the beginning God created” to Paul’s bold accusation, “Since the creation of the world his invisible attributes, his eternal power and divine nature have been clearly seen,” we see God as the God who sovereignly reigns over the created universe.[9] Following Christ’s ascension, it quickly becomes clear that God has not left his people to their own devices; he remains active in the world he has made. While often we see God granting a special measure of power to the apostles to work wonders, there are also many instances in Acts wherein he works without human agency.

Supernatural Events in the Natural World

Twice in the book of Acts, God shakes the earth itself. The first earthquake follows the prayer of Acts 4; God responded to the disciples’ pleas by pouring out his Spirit and shaking the ground, demonstrating his power and presence most tangibly (4:31). The second instance of an earthquake occurs during the imprisonment of Paul and Silas in Philippi. The violent earthquake, the failure of the doors and fetters, and the fact that no prisoner took advantage of his surprising release were remarkable events. However, the most monumental salvific act that night was not the opening of prison doors, but the salvation of the jailer and all his household ( Acts 11:31-34). In a single pericope God demonstrated his power to save both body and soul.

In Acts 11, a prophet named Agabus declared to the church at Antioch that a famine would soon take place. We are told little about this prophet, but Luke writes that he spoke “by the Spirit” and that the famine did indeed occur “in the reign of Claudius” (11:28). Throughout the Old Testament, it is made clear that famines as well as prosperous times must be ascribed to the sovereign God, but here Luke also gives a clue as to what God accomplished through this famine.[10] He notes the resultant generosity of the brethren, who gathered their provisions to share with believers who were in more desperate situations (11:29-30). God purposed a trying event to strengthen his church and increase their zeal for good works.

The final two chapters of Acts are noteworthy for many reasons: the difficult Greek, the high-intensity nautical narrative, and the puzzling conclusion to the book.[11] But here we focus on the sovereignty of God over the winds and the waves. Through Paul’s testimony, we find that God was plotting the course of the storm long before the sailors spotted the first cloud on the horizon (27:10). As the story progresses and the storm intensifies, Paul is comforted by an angel from God. His response is straightforward: “I believe God that it will turn out exactly as I have been told” (27:25). As one event after another diminishes their chances of survival, Paul steadfastly advises his shipmates, giving thanks to the God in whom he has confidence. The sovereign Maker of the sea and sky was true to his word. With the satisfied tone of a master storyteller, Luke concludes, “And so it happened that they all were brought safely to land” (Acts 27:44).

Rulers and Kings of the Earth

Worshipers of Yahweh have almost always found themselves under the rule of men who know no fear of God. Yet, just as God was directing the heart of Pharaoh in the days of old, Acts well embodies the proverb, “The king’s heart is like channels of water in the hand of the Lord; he turns it wherever he wishes” (Prov 21:1). At times we see God’s intervention on behalf of his people as he causes rulers, governing bodies, and individuals to extend surprising mercy. At other times—perhaps with even more frequency—we see men’s evil actions purposed for God’s good ends.

Common Grace Demonstrated

As early in the narrative as chapter 5, Peter and the other apostles found themselves on the brink of being killed. Gamaliel spoke up with a moderate view, pointing out that if the disciple’s movement was divine in origin, “You [the Council] will not be able to overthrow them; or else you may even be found fighting against God” (5:39). His advice resulted in the apostles’ flogging and release rather than untimely deaths. Furthermore, at multiple points in his ministry, Paul used his Roman citizenship for the sake of the gospel.[12] This too is a demonstration of God’s common grace. That unredeemed governors can fashion and uphold an ordered society at all is astounding; that their laws can be leveraged for the spread of the gospel is further evidence of God’s sovereignty over even the unregenerate. We find in Acts many individuals and authorities, who are never called believers yet worked for the apostles’ protection and just treatment.[13]

Evil Meant for Good

Naturally, it is not in every case that God moves the godless to act justly; very often he purposes their willfully rebellious acts for good. The central example of this is found following the death of Stephen, when “a great persecution began against the church in Jerusalem” (Acts 8:1). This apparent catastrophe resulted in the fulfillment of Jesus’ commission, as the church by necessity scattered to the very regions that the disciples had been commanded to reach (1:8). It is no wonder that church father Tertullian would later write, “The blood of the martyrs is the seed of the church.”[14] We see a similar series of events when Paul and Silas are driven from Thessalonica by an angry mob (17:1-9). This opposition would send them on to Berea, where they carried on a successful ministry to the “noble-minded” men there (17:11). Yet the troublemaking Thessalonians followed not far behind, and soon Paul was sent to Athens (17:13-15). After delivering a largely rejected sermon, Paul moved on to Corinth and spent some time there (17:32-18:4). At each turn, opposition is found to hasten the spread of the church; the raging of the nations is a part of God’s unimaginably complex plan to establish his kingdom.[15]

Gentiles and Peoples of Israel

God is sovereign not only over authorities and their judgments; in Acts we see that God has appointed every individual man and woman either to belief or to destruction. King Agrippa is a fascinating case study in this right. After hearing Paul’s story and appeal to trust in Christ, mystery man Agrippa declares, “In a short time you will persuade me to become a Christian” (Acts 26:28). Calvin interprets the reply, “Agrippa’s meaning is, that he will not willingly become a Christian; yea, that he will not be one at all; and yet that he is not able to gainsay, but that he is drawn after a sort against his will.”[16] While Agrippa’s story remains ambiguous, Luke is often explicit in noting God’s sovereign intent for the souls of those who heard the gospel. Either they were appointed to salvation and believed, or they remained hard-hearted and rejected the word of truth. The early church’s confidence in God’s sovereignty over salvation was not a source of apathy or indifference—on the contrary, they were unequivocal in calling all men to repent while leaving the outcome of their message in God’s hands.

Appointed to Salvation

First we may examine the hearers of Peter’s Pentecost sermon. Luke’s description of their response is translated variously: they were “pierced to the heart,” “pricked in their hearts,” or “acutely distressed” (2:37).[17] Peter responds to their inquiries with a call to repent and believe, followed by assurance that the promise of salvation applies to “as many as the Lord our God will call to himself” (2:39). Following this event, Luke stated that “the Lord was adding to their number day by day those who were being saved” (Acts 2:47). This divine arithmetic may only be performed by a God who is sovereign over salvation.

Equally clear language is used in Acts 13, in which salvation is brought to the Gentiles. Paul and Barnabas’s message brought a joyous result: “When the Gentiles heard this, they began rejoicing and glorifying the word of the Lord; and as many as had been appointed to eternal life believed” (13:48). Robert Martin points out that a hesitance to recognize the intent of this weighty verse speaks poorly of a commentator’s commitment to faithful exposition.[18] We would do well to set aside our doctrinal prejudices and denominational assumptions and sit beneath the clear teaching of God’s word: God is the one who appoints men to eternal life and to believing.

God’s sovereignly gracious extension of salvation to the Gentiles is a recurring theme in Acts. At Antioch, Paul and Barnabas reported God’s having “opened a door of faith to the Gentiles” (14:27). One such Gentile to be ushered in through this open door was Lydia, the seller of purple. Luke relates her story in simple language: “A woman named Lydia…was listening; and the Lord opened her heart to respond to the things spoken by Paul” (16:14). Buchanan notes, “In every human heart there is a spirit of unbelief and enmity…which is not overcome by any amount of evidence, or by the mere force of truth, and can only be subdued by the inward grace of the Spirit.”[19] It is God who opens the door of salvation; it is God who opens the hearts of individuals to believe.

Prepared for Destruction

Inevitably, Acts also reveals one of God’s harder providences; namely, the reality that not all men will repent and believe. Paul delivers a solemn warning at Pisidian Antioch: “Take heed, so that the thing spoken of in the Prophets may not come upon you…” (Acts 13:40). Paul goes on to reference the hardheartedness of the scoffers described by Isaiah—men who would never believe in God’s work, even when it is clearly proclaimed to them (Isa 6:8-10). This word is fulfilled multiple times across Acts. Paul would choose to withdraw from Ephesus “when some were becoming hardened and disobedient, speaking evil of the Way before the people” (Acts 19:8). Later, we catch a close-up view of a hardened heart in Felix. The godless governor was hoping to be amused but, Martin comments wryly, instead found himself alarmed by a practical theology of “righteousness, self-control, and the judgment to come” (24:25).[20] At the close of Acts, Paul once again gives the divine perspective on this kind of stubborn disbelief (28:26-27). The blind eyes and dull ears of the unbelieving were no surprise to God; as Paul would later write, “Just as they did not see fit to acknowledge God any longer, God gave them over to a depraved mind” (Rom 1:28).

Bond-Servants of the Lord

Commenting on the early church’s first experience of serious opposition in Acts 4, Matthew Henry writes, “From men they might expect every thing that was terrifying, but from God every thing that was encouraging; men would do their utmost to run them down, but God would take effectual care to bear them up.”[21] Disciples of Christ are in possession of some fearful promises. They will be hated (John 15:18). They will be persecuted (Matt 5:11). Yet following his great commission, Jesus left the ultimate promise of comfort: “Lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age” (Matt 28:20). Acts makes it evident that Jesus kept this promise. We see that the apostles were chosen and constrained not by any human authority but by God himself.

Chosen by God

The clearest example of God’s choosing the disciples comes in the first chapter of Acts, wherein the disciples face the gap in their fellowship left by Judas’s defection and death. Though much attention has been given to the decision-making method of casting lots, the emphasis of the text is elsewhere. The disciples looked to the prophetic Psalm’s declaration, “Let another man take his office” and they prayed for the Lord to reveal which of the two candidates he had chosen (Acts 1:20, 24). The religiously astute of the day would marvel at these “uneducated and untrained men” (4:13). Jesus’ band of misfits was sovereignly selected—the foolish chosen to put the wise to shame (1 Cor 1:27).[22]

Constrained by God

In many places across the book of Acts, we see God directing his servants to preach the gospel to specific individuals. One such convert was the Ethiopian eunuch of Acts 8. Though he lacked full knowledge of the truth that would set him free, this north African official was not unknown to God. The Holy Spirit directed Philip to his divine appointment, “Go up and join this chariot” (Acts 8:29). Of course, this resulted in the eunuch’s belief and baptism. Peter was likewise directed—under unique circumstances—to minister the gospel to Cornelius. Cornelius invites Peter to speak, saying, “We are all here present before God to hear all that you have been commanded by the Lord” (10:33, emphasis added). Time and again throughout the book of Acts, the Holy Spirit constrains and directs the apostles on when and where to travel.[23] Occasionally the reasons for this direction are made evident; often the sovereign will of the Lord remains mysterious.

Conclusion

Calvin writes, “Hereby we may persuade ourselves, that howsoever all men, both high and low, do wickedly conspire together against this kingdom, yet shall they not prevail, for what is all the whole world compared with God?”[24] The book of Acts leaves us with no conclusion but that God is sovereign over all he has made—over the natural world, over governors and their decisions, over human hearts, and over those who are called into his great work of kingdom-building. Indeed, one of the convincing proofs of Jesus’ resurrection is the otherwise-inexplicable behavior of those who claimed to be witnesses of it. As redemptive history marches on in the tension between the inauguration of the new creation and the day of its completion, believers today live in the same reality as did the early Christians. Along with them we implore the sovereign God to grant his bond-servants all confidence as we walk forth in obedience.

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[1] John Calvin and Henry Beveridge, Commentary upon the Acts of the Apostles, vol. 1 (Bellingham, WA: Logos Bible Software, 2010), 183.

[2] Tim Barnett, “What We Need to Learn About Prayer from the Early Church,” Stand to Reason, February 5, 2020, www.str.org/w/what-we-need-to-learn-about-prayer-from-the-early-church.

[3] The Heidelberg Catechism summarizes sovereignty eloquently in Q. and A. 27. Christian Reformed Church, The Heidelberg Catechism, last modified 2011, https://www.crcna.org/
welcome/beliefs/confessions/heidelberg-catechism.

[4] See also Acts 2:24 and 3:15.

[5] Bruce Winter, “Introducing the Athenians to God: Paul's Failed Apologetic in Acts 17?” The Gospel Coalition, October 2005, www.thegospelcoalition.org/themelios/article/
introducing-the-athenians-to-god-pauls-failed-apologetic-in-acts-17/. 

[6] Andreas J. Köstenberger, L. Scott Kellum, and Charles L. Quarles, The Cradle, the Cross, and the Crown: An Introduction to the New Testament, (Nashville, TN: B & H Academic, 2016), 399.

[7] Charles H. Spurgeon, “The Spirit’s Work in the New Creation” (sermon, Metropolitan Tabernacle, Newington, England, January 23, 1873), http://spurgeongems.org/sermon/
chs3134.pdf.

[8] G. K. Beale, A New Testament Biblical Theology: The Unfolding of the Old Testament in the New, (Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Academic, 2011), 969.

[9] Genesis 1:1 (emphasis added); Romans 1:20 (emphasis added). See also Psalms 8 and 19:1-6 for David’s exposition of God’s self-revelation in nature.

[10] See, for example, 2 Samuel 24:13, 1 Kings 8:37-40, 2 Kings 8:1, Jeremiah 14:12, and especially Job’s summary statement in Job 2:10.

[11] Andreas J. Köstenberger, L. Scott Kellum, and Charles L. Quarles, The Cradle, the Cross, and the Crown: An Introduction to the New Testament, (Nashville, TN: B & H Academic, 2016), 391.

[12] See Acts 16:38-39 and 22:25-30.

[13] See, for example, Acts 16:38-39, 19:35-41, 23:18-24 and 27:42-44.

[14] Tertullian, Apologeticus, translated by William Reeves, (London, England: 1709), page unknown.

[15] Interestingly, we also see God at work in the breach between Paul and Barnabas in Acts 15:36-41. Though there was almost certainly sin involved in this “sharp disagreement” between two believers, it resulted in the doubling of their ministry efforts.

[16] John Calvin and Henry Beveridge, Commentary upon the Acts of the Apostles, vol. 2 (Bellingham, WA: Logos Bible Software, 2010), 390.

[17] Citations from the New American Standard Bible, Geneva Bible, and New English Translation respectively.

[18] Robert Martin, “Lectures on Acts,” (lecture, Reformed Baptist Seminary, electronically accessed February 11, 2021).

[19] James Buchanan, “The Spirit's Work in the Conversion of Lydia: Acts 16.13-15,” Monergism, www.monergism.com/spirits-work-conversion-lydia-acts-1613-15.

[20] Robert Martin, “Lectures on Acts,” (lecture, Reformed Baptist Seminary, electronically accessed February 25, 2021).

[21] Matthew Henry, Matthew Henry’s Commentary on the Whole Bible: Complete and Unabridged in One Volume (Peabody: Hendrickson, 1994), 2078.

[22] Paul (formerly Saul) is unarguably a poster child of sovereign grace. His conversion alone provides ample material to explore the sovereignty of God in the calling of his servants. See especially Paul’s own testimony of his conversion in Acts 22:1-16 and 26:12-18.

[23] See Acts 16:6-10, 18:9-10, 20:22, 21:14, 23:11, and 27:24.

[24] John Calvin and Henry Beveridge, Commentary upon the Acts of the Apostles, vol. 1 (Bellingham, WA: Logos Bible Software, 2010), 184.