Pass That Everyone Who Calls

¶ … pass that everyone who calls upon the name of the Lord shall be saved.

"Men of Israel, hear these words: Jesus of Nazareth, a man attested to you by God with mighty works and wonders and signs that God did through him in your midst, as you yourselves know -- this Jesus, delivered up according to the definite plan and foreknowledge of God, you crucified and killed by the hands of lawless men. God raised him up, loosing the pangs of death, because it was not possible for him to be held by it. For David says concerning him, "I saw the Lord always before me, for he is at my right hand that I may not be shaken; therefore my heart was glad, and my tongue rejoiced; my flesh also will dwell in hope. For you will not abandon my soul to Hades, or let your Holy One see corruption. (Acts 2:21-47, English Standard).

Survey- Acts is the fifth book of the New Testament and outlines the basic history of the Apostolic Age. Traditionally, Luke is thought to have been the author, although some scholarship notes that the author relied upon numerous other sources, as well as oral traditions when constructing his account of the early Church and Paul's ministry. Other theories about Acts remain controversial -- some even believe it is borrowed from the Greek text of Euripides' play entitled the Bacchae, others using Josephus, which means it would have been written after 94 AD.

The historiographical questions of authorship are tied with the reliability of Acts. Some view Acts as being extremely accurate using archaeology, while others view it to be historically inaccurate when compared specifically with the Epistles of Paul.

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- In those days when the number of disciples was increasing, the Grecian Jews among them complained against the Hebraic Jews because their widows were being overlooked in the daily distribution of food.

So the Twelve gathered all the disciples together and said, "It would not be right for us to neglect the ministry of the word of God in order to wait on tables. Brothers, choose seven men from among you who are known to be full of the Spirit and wisdom. We will turn this responsibility over to them and will give our attention to prayer and the ministry of the word." This proposal pleased the whole group. They chose Stephen, a man full of faith and of the Holy Spirit; also Philip, Procorus, Nicanor, Timon, Parmenas, and Nicolas from Antioch, a convert to Judaism. They presented these men to the apostles, who prayed and laid their hands on them. So the word of God spread. The number of disciples in Jerusalem increased rapidly, and a large number of priests became obedient to the faith.