Filled with the Spirit

We must be careful to distinguish between Christ and His church. Yes, the church is the body of Christ (1 Cor. 12:27), but Christ is not the church and the church is not Christ. Some theological traditions, including Roman Catholicism and Eastern Orthodoxy, make the error of collapsing the church into Christ, turning the church into a mediator that infallibly dispenses grace through a priesthood instead of a community wherein we encounter Christ through various appointed means—the Word, sacraments, and prayer. This error has significant ramifications for church authority, assurance of salvation, and more. In distinguishing Christ and His church, however, we must be careful not to absolutely separate them. The church is His body, and Jesus is so closely united to His people that we should regard an attack on the church as an attack on the church’s Lord.

The response of the church to the imprisonment of Peter and John, as recorded in Acts 4:1–31, demonstrates that an assault on the church is an assault on Jesus. When the church prayed after Peter and John’s release, they first acknowledged that Jesus fulfilled Psalm 2 as God’s appointed King against whom God’s enemies conspired (Acts 4:23–28). Then, as we see in today’s passage, they prayed for the Lord to look upon the threats against them and to continue to grant the church boldness to proclaim the Word of God (vv. 29–30). Here the threats against the Apostles are identified with the threats against Jesus described in the preceding verses. This is because any attempt to destroy the church, which proclaims the message of Christ, is ultimately an attempt to destroy the Christ revealed in that message. When the world tries to kill the church, it is really trying to kill Jesus once again. God answered their prayer by filling them with the Holy Spirit (v. 31). This was not a second baptism in the Spirit but a fresh empowerment specifically to preach the gospel and to see it confirmed with various signs.

Note that the believers did not pray for threats against the church to go away. They certainly could have done so, for the Bible records many prayers in which God’s people ask for the Lord to eliminate their foes. The early church instead asked for the power and boldness to continue preaching the gospel despite the threats it faced. Persevering in making disciples was more important to the earliest Christians than their physical safety. May it be so for the church today.