THEMATIC ANALYSIS ESSAY 2:
ACTS 8:1–12:25
Essay Paper
Submitted to
Dr. Paul Brewster
Liberty University
In Partial Fulfillment
Of the Requirements for
BIBL 364-D05 Acts
By Thomas
B. Gainey
October 16, 2018
In Acts 8-12 you begin to not only see the church grow in Jerusalem, but also its spread
to other regions. It also begins to show how the Word of God is spread not only to the Jews, but
the Gentiles as well. In this portion of Acts, it continues to complete the promise given by Jesus
of the Holy Spirit and its power to help the church grow. These chapters and verses continue the
theme of the Holy Spirits power and the increasing of God’s people.
Chapter 8 begins by the persecution of the church in Jerusalem by Saul, which causes the
church to scatter throughout Judea and Samaria. This scattering causes the word of God to be
brought to others and they began to hear the gospel and were saved. Next Philip is in Samaria,
and there many people came to know and follow Christ. Acts states “But when they believed
Philip as he preached good news about the kingdom of God and the name of Jesus Christ, they
were baptized, both men and women.” (Acts 8:12) This theme is also furthered developed when
Philip witnesses to the Ethiopian Eunuch. At this point the gospel is reaching the “ends of the
world” (Acts 1:8) as Christ stated. Another key development is the conversion and baptizing of
Cornelius and his family in Acts 10. This theme is highlighted by those hearing Peters word in
Cornelius residence receiving the Spirit. This is the first time we hear of Gentiles receiving the
Holy Spirit. This is a major transition in the audience of gospel at this point in the book. In the
first seven chapters it was being preached in Jerusalem and only to Jews. In these next five
chapters we see it transition to other regions, pagans, and gentiles. It was no longer restricted in
its audience, it was not being preached to all people. Due to this the theme presented in Acts 1:8
continued to develop and the church of God continued to grow and diversify.
While we do see the main theme of a World Mission in chapters 8-12 there are other
themes present as well. Another major theme present is the power of the Holy Spirit. This is
presented during Saul’s conversion and the raising of Dorcas. One example is in Acts 9 “be filled
with the Holy Spirit.” And immediately something like scales fell from his eyes, and he regained
his sight.” (Acts 9:17-18). One major theme in this section of Acts is the inclusiveness of the
gospel. Polhill states 1“the first steps were taken by Philip in his outreach to the “half-Jewish”
Samaritans and the Gentile Ethiopian (chap. 8).” This section is where we begin to see the
inclusion of multiple people not just Jews. It is also highlighted by the Gentiles receiving the
Spirit at Cornelius’ house. This is the moment in which Peter was convinced that the gospel was
meant for all people and all nations. The last major theme is the providence of God in these
chapters. The Lord provided Peter the vision to express that it was okay to share the gospel with
Gentiles. The Lord also rescued Peter from imprisonment in chapter 12 and provided his safe
escape. These themes are all meant to highlight the true theme of spreading the gospel to all the
ends of the earth.
Acts twice records the encounter of Peter and Cornelius, once for the encounter and once
when Peter explains it to the church. The core elements within the two recordings of this
encounter are primarily the same. First and foremost, that it is through the blood of Christ that all
are redeemed and that who believes in him will be saved. The second core element is one that
brings much joy to all, and that is that the gift is for all of man. Here it shows the realization for
Peter that this gospel of salvation is for all of mankind not just the Jews. These core elements are
very similar to the elements found in the other four sermons of Peter in chapters 1-7. Those being
that it is only through Christ that we are saved and that all who believe will be saved.
1 John B. Polhill, The New American Commentary, vol. 26, Acts (Nashville, TN: Broadman Press, 1992), 66.
In these chapters of Acts the word of God is continued to be preached to all who will here
it. Due to this the church continues to expand and now people of all races are beginning to be
included. This fulfills Christ commandment to preach the Good News to the ends of the world.
References
Polhill, John B. The New American Commentary, Vol. 26, Acts. Nashville, TN: Broadman Press,
1992
