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When you see the title, you might think I’m going to talk about a heretical church and warn brothers and sisters not to follow it. But the church I am talking about is a devout and pure church recorded in the Bible, which broke bread daily, shared private possessions and was filled with the Holy Spirit. It is the church in Acts 2.

Please do not model yourselves after Acts 2 church. This statement will spark debate. Most Christians, including Charismatics, Reformed, Eastern Orthodox, Baptists, and others, regard Acts 2 as the birth of the church. Then why can’t we model after such a highly esteemed church?

All scriptures are written for today’s church to read, but not all scriptures describe today’s church. There is a group of believers gathered in Acts 2, but is the congregation in this chapter the same as the church today?

NO. First, because your identity does not match.

The twelve apostles in Acts 2 are Jews, and so is the congregation.

“And when the day of Pentecost was fully come, they were all with one accord in one place.” — Acts 2:1

In verse 1, “they” refers to the twelve apostles, confirmed by the last verse of chapter 1. Furthermore, Pentecost was a Jewish festival required by the Old Testament law; Gentiles would not gather for Pentecost, but Jews scattered in various countries would return to Jerusalem to observe this festival:

“And there were dwelling at Jerusalem Jews, devout men, out of every nation under heaven.” — Acts 2:5

When Peter and the eleven apostles preached, it was clear their audience was Jewish:

“But Peter, standing up with the eleven, lifted up his voice, and said unto them, Ye men of Judaea, and all ye that dwell at Jerusalem, be this known unto you, and hearken to my words:” — Acts 2:14

Verse 14 might lead one to question if “all ye that dwell at Jerusalem” includes Gentiles, but subsequent verses exclude the possibility of Gentiles being the audience for the sermon. Peter repeatedly indicated the audience was the people of Israel:

“Ye men of Israel, hear these words…” — Acts 2:22

“Therefore let all the house of Israel know assuredly…” — Acts 2:36

Peter’s sermon was to the Jews, and it also describes the Jews, as verses 16-21 quote Joel 2:28-32, a prophecy concerning the Jews.

“And ye shall know that I am in the midst of Israel, and that I am the LORD your God, and none else: and my people shall never be ashamed.” — Joel 2:27

Joel 2:27 specifies that the audience for the prophecy is the people of Israel, and Joel 2:28-29 was fulfilled in Acts 2. The prophecy states that the Spirit would be poured out on all flesh, and the sons and daughters of Israel would prophesy. Peter and the apostles, filled with the Spirit, spoke in tongues, thus fulfilling this prophecy.

Therefore, the congregation in Acts 2, the reason and timing of their gathering, the miracles that occurred, and Peter’s sermon all align with the Jewish law and prophecies in the Old Testament. The activities in Acts 2 were Jewish activities; Gentiles were not the audience.

Today’s church does not define itself as a Jewish congregation, nor does it observe Jewish holidays, and it does not exclude Gentiles. Today’s church breaks down the identity boundaries between Jews and Gentiles (Ephesians 2:11-16). The doctrine behind this does not come from Peter’s sermon in Acts 2 but from Paul’s letters written after his conversion in Acts chapter 9, such as:

“For as many of you as have been bap­tized in­to Christ have put on Christ. There is nei­ther Jew nor Greek, there is nei­ther bond nor free, there is nei­ther male nor fe­male: for ye are all one in Christ Je­sus.” — Galatians 3:27-28

The church in Paul’s teaching is called the Body of Christ which has saints not limited to one nation or culture. Making today’s church model itself after Acts 2 would mean giving up its identity as the Body of Christ and pretending to be Jewish.

Second, you can’t find the gospel that saves sinners in Acts 2

Different people view the death and resurrection of Jesus differently. Some say Jesus died but he never resurrected; some say Jesus died and resurrected, but it has nothing to do with them or their salvation; some say Jesus’ death was a shameful thing. Among these different voices, today’s church has the mission of clarifying Jesus’ death and resurrection being significant to our salvation. The body of Christ needs to convey that His death is our death, and His resurrection is our resurrection.

“For if we have been plant­ed to­gether in the like­ness of his death, we shall be al­so in the like­ness of his re­s­ur­rec­tion: Know­ing this, that our old man is cru­ci­fied with him, that the body of sin might be de­stroyed, that hence­forth we should not serve sin. For he that is dead is freed from sin. Now if we be dead with Christ, we be­lieve that we shall al­so live with him.” — Romans 6:5-8

We trust Jesus’ death for our sins, and that the same power that raised Jesus from death can also raise us from death. This is how God saves sinners which is not a shameful message, but the glorious Gospel. But when we look back at Acts 2, where Peter talks about Jesus’ death and resurrection, his focus is not on testifying about how the Savior saves.

Let’s examine the points of Peter’s sermon. First, let’s see why Peter quotes David’s words _{(Psalm 16:8-10)}:

“Because thou wilt not leave my soul in hell, neither wilt thou suffer thine Holy One to see corruption.” — Acts 2:27

What does this mean? Peter said in Acts 2:24 that Jesus, who was crucified by the Jews, could not be held by death, which fulfilled the prophecy that the “Holy One would not see corruption.” Jesus testified that he is the Holy One foretold by the scriptures.

We can see Peter’s point now. He was trying to prove that Jesus is the Holy One. In addition, he also tried to prove that Jesus was the Christ, who was the promised Messiah and eternal king to the Jews. In the Old Testament, God promised that a king from the lineage of David would arise for the Jews (2 Samuel 7:12-13), and Jesus’ genealogy seamlessly traces back to King David. If this king cannot defeat death, how can he be the eternal king? Jesus’ resurrection from death perfectly testified that He is the eternal one.

“Therefore being a prophet, and knowing that God had sworn with an oath to him, that of the fruit of his loins, according to the flesh, he would raise up Christ to sit on his throne; He seeing this before spake of the resurrection of Christ, that his soul was not left in hell, neither his flesh did see corruption.” — Acts 2:30-31

Gentiles may not know the promises God made to David, but the devout Jews gathered for Pentecost were knowledgeable of their fathers’ laws and promises. Peter used the words and promises of their Jewish ancestors to demonstrate that Jesus is the Christ. Peter’s conclusion is:

“Therefore let all the house of Israel know assuredly, that God hath made that same Jesus, whom ye have crucified, both Lord and Christ.” — Acts 2:36

Verse 36 is Peter’s final point. He talked of the death and resurrection to prove Jesus is the promised Christ.

Jesus as the Christ is a stumbling block for many Jews. They do not believe that this “weak” man who was crucified is the glorious king foretold in the prophecies; the real Messiah is far different from the one they imagined. The 12 apostles at Pentecost had one main purpose in their sermon which was to convince Jews to believe Jesus’s holy identity. Thus, we can find out who the Savior is in Acts 2, but we cannot learn how the Savior saves.

The significant meaning of the death and resurrection of Jesus to sinners was not revealed until it was given to Paul much later than Acts 2. Through Paul’s letters, we can see how the death and resurrection were preached differently:

“Who was de­liv­ered for our of­fences, and was raised again for our jus­ti­fi­ca­tion.” — Romans 4:25

Merely knowing Jesus is the Christ is not enough for salvation, because even the devil knows about it. If today’s church models itself after the church in Acts 2, our message would be limited to proving that Jesus is the Jewish king, and the gospel of salvation for sinners would not be conveyed.

Therefore, do not copy Acts 2 church. Instead, put on our new identity the Body of Christ, and preach how Jesus as the savior saves.