A COMPREHENSIVE REVIEW ON THE BEGINNINGS OF THE COMMUNITY AND

THE CHURCH, GOD’S ROLE IN THE PROPHETIC MSSION AND SALVATION,

The Book of Acts: Links Between Jesus’ Life and the Early Church
The book of Acts provides a detailed, orderly, eyewitness account of the birth and growth of the early
church and the spread of the gospel immediately after the resurrection of Jesus Christ. Its narrative
supplies a bridge connecting the life and ministry of Jesus to the life of the church and the witness of the
earliest believers. The work also constructs a link between the Gospels and the Epistles. Written by Luke,
Acts is the sequel to Luke's Gospel, furthering his story of Jesus, and how he built his church. In Acts, as
Luke describes the spread of the gospel and the ministry of the apostles, he focuses primarily on two,
Peter and Paul.
The book of Acts begins with the outpouring of God's promised Holy Spirit on the Day of Pentecost. As a
result, the preaching of the gospel and the witness of the newly formed church sparks a flame that spreads
across the Roman Empire. The opening of Acts discloses a primary theme throughout the book. As
believers are empowered by the Holy Spirit, they bear witness to the message of salvation in Jesus
Christ. This is how the church is established and continues to grow, spreading locally and then continuing
to the ends of the earth.
It's important to recognize that the church did not begin or grow through its own power or initiative.
Believers were empowered and guided by the Holy Spirit, and this remains true today. Christ's work,
both in the church and in the world, is supernatural, born of his Spirit. Although we, the church, are
Christ's vessels, the expansion of Christianity is God's work. He provides the resources, enthusiasm,
vision, motivation, courage and ability to accomplish the work, by the infilling of the Holy Spirit.
Another overriding theme in the book of Acts is opposition. We read about imprisonments, beatings,
stonings and plots to kill the apostles. Rejection of the gospel and persecution of its messengers,
however, worked to accelerate the church's growth. Although discouraging, resistance to our witness for
Christ is to be expected. We can stand firm knowing God will do the work, opening doors of opportunity
even in the midst of severe opposition.
Salvation: Fulfillment of God’s Plan of Love
Heavenly Father has a fulness of love. He loves His children and wants us to become like Him. He
prepared the plan of salvation, also called the plan of love, to make it possible for us to experience this
same love. As we grow in our understanding of Heavenly Father’s plan and as we keep His
commandments, we become more like Him.
God’s plan of salvation teaches us where we came from, why we are here, and where we are going after
mortality. Understanding our place in the plan of salvation helps us develop faith and find joy in a world
with many inequities. We can use our knowledge of the plan of salvation to help us in our earthly
challenges.
According to Romans 5:8, God demonstrated His love for us through the death of His Son. Why did
Christ have to die for us? Because Scripture declares all men to be sinful. To “sin” means to miss the
mark. The Bible declares “all have sinned and fall short of the glory (the perfect holiness) of God”. In
other words, our sin separates us from God who is perfect holiness (righteousness and justice) and God
must therefore judge sinful man. Scripture also teaches that no amount of human goodness, human works,
human morality, or religious activity can gain acceptance with God or get anyone into heaven. The moral
man, the religious man, and the immoral and non-religious are all in the same boat. They all fall short of
God’s perfect righteousness. No amount of human goodness is as good as God. God is perfect
righteousness. In order to be accepted by God, we must be as good as God is. Before God, we all stand
naked, helpless, and hopeless in ourselves. No amount of good living will get us to heaven or give us
eternal life. God is not only perfect holiness (whose holy character we can never attain to on our own or
by our works of righteousness) but He is also perfect love and full of grace and mercy. Because of His
love and grace, He has not left us without hope and a solution. This is the good news of the Bible, the
message of the gospel. It’s the message of the gift of God’s own Son who became man (the God-man),
lived a sinless life, died on the cross for our sin, and was raised from the grave proving both the fact He is
God’s Son and the value of His death for us as our substitute.
The Prophetic Mission Christlike Traits
In each of the prophetic books, we read stories about the prophets and their poems and visions, all
arranged to show the cosmic meaning of Israel's history. How God will turn their tragic story of failure
and exile into a story of hope and restoration for all nations. It is that twin message of prophetic warning
and of hope that the prophets cared about so much. And, it is a message that we still need to hear today.
Prophets identify the “signs of the times,” pointing out where God wants us to give our utmost care and
attention. As the baptized people of God, we share the prophetic mission of Christ to bring
reconciliation to our alienated world. Paul, in his letter to the Corinthians, helps us tremendously to live
out this responsibility. Tested by his own trials and human weaknesses, he hears Christ say to him: “My
grace is sufficient for you, for power is made perfect in weakness.” When we learn to surrender as Paul
did, relying on God to be our strength, our weakness too becomes our strength. Invited by Christ to walk
humbly with him, we receive the faith and courage to serve prophetically God’s kingdom.
Christlike Traits
Compassion
Jesus is often described as compassionate. This is primarily because Jesus was moved by compassion to
enter into humanity’s suffering, into death itself to rescue and bring us near to God and it is this same life
of compassion that Jesus calls his followers to imitate, allowing ourselves to be moved by the pain of
others, to embrace the hurting and to participate in relieving suffering in the world. In this way, we too
can embody the compassion of Jesus. In His words, he said, "Be compassionate just as your father is
compassionate." So, when we are in pain or see others suffering, we can be certain that God is deeply
moved to respond and that he is there to meet us with his deep compassion.
Justice (Just)
God's response to humanity's legacy of injustice is to give us a gift: the life of Jesus. He did righteousness
and justice and yet he died on behalf of the guilty. But then God declared Jesus to be the righteous one
when he rose from the dead. So now, Jesus offers his life to the guilty so that we, too, can be declared
righteous before God, not because of anything we have done, but because of what Jesus did for us. The
earliest followers of Jesus experienced this righteousness from God not just as a new status, but as a
power that changed their lives and compelled them to act in surprising new ways. If God declared
someone righteous when they didn't deserve it, the only reasonable response is to go and seek
righteousness and justice for others. This is a radical way of life. It's not always convenient, or easy. It is
courageously making other people's problems our own problems. This is what Jesus meant by loving your
neighbor as yourself. It is about a lifetime commitment fueled by the words of the ancient prophet Micah.
God has told us what is good and what the Lord requires of us. It is to do justice, to love mercy and walk
humbly with Him.
Faithfulness: Job as a Faithful Christian Despite Suffering
Job's dilemma was frustrating because he had no knowledge of the conversation God and Satan had about
him. Like his friends, he believed good people should enjoy a good life. When bad things started to
happen, he looked for a forgotten sin as the cause. Like us, Job could not understand why suffering
happens to people who don't deserve it.
Putting this into context, I believe his reaction set a pattern we still follow today. Job got his friends'
opinions first rather than going directly to God. Besides Jesus, every Bible hero is flawed. Job, however,
even got an endorsement from God. Perhaps, we have trouble identifying with Job because we know we
don't approach his level of righteousness. Deep down, we believe life should be fair, and like Job, we're
baffled when it is not.
In the end, Job did not get a definite answer from God about the reason for his suffering. God restored, by
double, everything Job had lost. Job's faith in God was steadfast.
In Job’s story, I learned that sometimes suffering is not related to anything we have done. If it is allowed
by God, we must trust him and not doubt his love for us. Job's suffering, and ours too, has a purpose. That
purpose is not always punishment, although sin does bring punishment. But that is only a small part of
suffering's role in the life of the believer. Suffering proves the authenticity of one's faith and produces
righteousness in the true believer. Ultimately, Job’s story teaches us that even if we go through trials
and hardships, we should still be faithful to God and take comfort that He always has a divine plan
in our life and that everything has a purpose. We should always be faithful to Him amidst
unimaginable suffering.
The Covenant and The Present Church
God's covenant in the Old Testament is actually a covenant between God and the Jewish people and is the
basis for the idea of the Jews as the chosen people. God prepared for the coming of the Messiah and the
foundation of the Church by singling out the people of Israel as his chosen people. The covenant was an
alliance and is seen of a new and deeper relationship between God and the whole of humanity.
The present church is related to the Old Covenant as individual members of the church are also
considered as God's chosen people not because God chose us but because we chose Him. Being a member
of the church means we believe in His Gospel and embrace His holy message. The Heidelberg Catechism
states that people who believe in God's Gospel is a living member of a community bound for eternal life
and is always united with Him through faith. The present church is today's invisible church and we are
those people who are chosen for eternal life, the same manner God chose the Israelites in the Old
Testament Covenant as the chosen people bound for eternal life. The Bible makes clear that the chosen
people of God who are saved by grace are not only the Israelites but everyone who profess with their
mouth and their heart that they believe and accept Jesus Christ as their personal Savior. In summary, the
present church is the modern Israel, and the members of the church are also God's chosen people. Putting
the present church in the context of God's covenant in the Old Testament, we (the members of the present
church) are all considered members of the alliance God once forged with the Israelites, because the Old
Covenant was not just an alliance between God and the Israelites, but an alliance between God and the
present church who are members of humanity that believes in Him.
The Marks of the Church
The words one, holy, catholic and apostolic are often called the four marks of the Church.
 One: the Church is one. This means that it is a single, united and global Church which has its
basis in Christ Jesus.
 Holy: the Church is holy, because it is the Body of Christ with Jesus as the head. This does not
mean that all members of the Church are sin free. It means that the Church and her sacraments
help to make the faithful holy.
 Catholic: the word catholic literally means ‘universal.’ The role of the Church is to spread the
Word of God universally across the world.
 Apostolic: the origins and beliefs of the Church started out with the apostles at Pentecost.
The Nicene Creed was written centuries ago to help Christians remember the important beliefs of the
faith. In the Nicene Creed we identify the four marks of the Church. The four marks of the Church are not
characteristics that the Church creates or develops or learns. They are qualities that Jesus Christ shares
with his Church through the Holy Spirit. The four marks of the Church are that it is one, holy, catholic,
and apostolic.
The Relevance of the Four Marks to the Church
A Mark is a given and known sign by which a thing can be distinguished from all others of its kind. The
Church should have a Mark as it is an essential property of the Church because it implies some visible
signs that allow the true Church founded by Christ to be distinguished from others. A Church needs to
have a Mark as it is seen as gifts from God and tasks to be achieved which are inseparably linked with
each other and acts as the feature of the Church and her mission. The Marks are necessary in the Church
because the marks teach us the church's external and visible qualities and allows us to see that the Church
is one than it is infallible. The Marks represent a summary of the most important affirmations of the
Christian faith and are the very attributes that define the heart and mission of the Christian faith and
without them a church cannot exists. A church needs to have a Mark as each of the four Marks display
the faithfulness of God. Each of the mark represents one great Mark which is the Word of God.
Ultimately, each mark expresses an aspect of the Word's life and power in the church since a true church
submits to the Word of God.
In conclusion, a church needs to have a Mark as the four marks (One, Holy, Catholic, and Apostolic) are
the foundation of a church. We need to try to live them out so we can become better people. Many other
religions say these marks in the Creed, but only the Catholic Church reflect on what they actually mean.
The Church is one and all the people in it function as a whole. These four marks have been passed down
since Jesus’ time and continue even up to this day.