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Acts 2:42
“They devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and the fellowship, to the breaking of bread and the prayers.”
Acts 2:1–41 features Luke’s summary of what happened on that momentous day of Pentecost some seven weeks after the resurrection of Jesus. The Holy Spirit descended in His fullness, Peter proclaimed the gospel, and three thousand souls were converted to Christ. At this point in the narrative, Luke takes time to give an overview of life in the early church after Pentecost.
We read in Acts 2:42 that the early Christians “devoted” themselves to four practices: “the apostles’ teaching and the fellowship, . . . the breaking of bread and the prayers.” Before we consider those practices, let us first consider what Luke means by the word “devoted.” This term has the sense of “persevering in” or “continuing in.” Thus, we see that the four practices described were essential to the ongoing life of the church.
First, these early believers devoted themselves to the Apostles’ teaching. That is, they sat under the Apostles’ instruction and learned from them the truths about Christ and the kind of lives His disciples must live. This instruction is available to us today in the Scriptures.
Second, fellowship characterized life in the early church. Through this fellowship, they expressed the love that must define how we relate to other Christians (1 John 4:21). It enabled them to bear one another’s burdens and fulfill the law of Christ (Gal. 6:2).
Third, “the breaking of bread” (Acts 2:42) almost certainly refers to the Lord’s Supper. Some commentators argue that Luke just means fellowship meals wherein Christians dined with one another. Yet the earliest Christians held the Lord’s Supper in conjunction with a larger meal, which argues against limiting “the breaking of bread” to ordinary, everyday meals. Furthermore, Acts 20:7 refers to the breaking of bread by the early believers on the first day of the week, most likely a reference to Christian worship, including the Lord’s Supper. John Calvin contends that Acts 2:42 describes the Lord’s Supper because the practices listed are all public acts of the church.
Finally, the infant Christian community engaged in prayer. This would be corporate prayer, and texts such as Acts 12:12 testify to early Christians’ gathering to pray to God together.
These practices in Acts 2:42, especially devotion to God’s Word through His Apostles and prophets, sacraments, and prayer, are often called “the ordinary means of grace.” As we engage in them, God conforms us to the image of Christ.
Coram Deo Living before the face of God
Reading and teaching, bread, wine, water, and prayer are all aspects of ordinary life. Yet in connection with His Word and sacraments, God has promised to bless these things with extraordinary power. Though outwardly simple, they become means by which the Lord gives us grace to grow in Christ and persevere in faith. Let us encourage one another to remain committed to the ordinary means of grace.
For further study
- Ezra 7:10
- Psalm 141:2
- Matthew 28:18–20
- 1 Corinthians 11:17–34
The bible in a year
- Exodus 5–6
- Matthew 17