The major themes of Acts can be placed under the general category of “witness,” as set forth in the thematic verse (Acts 1:8).
| 1. The witness is worldwide—Judea, Samaria, the “end of the earth.” | 1:8 |
| 2. The witness is inclusive of all kinds of people: Jews, Gentiles, Samaritans, the physically handicapped, pagan mountain people, a prominent merchant woman, a jailer and his family, Greek philosophers, governors, and kings. | chs. 2–5; 8:4–40; 10:1–11:18; 14:8–18; 16:11–15, 25–34; 17:22–31; 24:24–27; 26:1–29 |
| 3. The witness is guided by the providence of God, who preserves his witnesses for their testimony through all sorts of threats: murderous plots, angry mobs, storms at sea, and constant trials before the authorities, to name only a few. | 4:5–22; 18:12–16; 19:23–41; 23:12–22; 24:1–23; 27:21–26 |
| 4. On the other hand, faithful witnesses must be prepared to suffer, even to die for their testimony to Christ. | 5:41–42; 7:54–60 |
| 5. The power behind the witness is the Holy Spirit. The Spirit is granted to all believers, both male and female, whom he empowers for witness. The Spirit guides witnesses in moments of special inspiration and is behind every advance in the Christian mission. | 1:8; 2:1–13, 18, 38; 4:8; 7:55; 8:17; 10:44; 13:2–12; 19:6, 21 |
| 6. In the early days, the witness was often accompanied by “signs and wonders,” the “wonders” being the miracles worked by the apostles, which served as “signs” pointing to the truth of the gospel. Miracles usually opened a door for witness. | e.g., ch. 3 |
| 7. Effective witness demands the unity of the church. | 2:42–47; 4:32–37; 5:12–14 |
| 8. A key component of the witness is the resurrection of Jesus. For the Jews the resurrection demonstrated that Jesus was the promised Messiah. For the Gentiles it pointed to his role as judge and established their need to repent. | 1:22; 2:22–36; 17:30–31 |
| 9. Acceptance of the message borne by the witnesses depends both on human response and on the divine sovereignty behind the response. | e.g., 2:47; 11:18; 13:48 |
| 10. The OT Scriptures point to the death and resurrection of Christ, and the prophecies that point to Christ and to his followers must be fulfilled (1:16). | (The numerous OT citations in the sermons of Acts illustrate this point.) |
| 11. The witness to the gospel calls for a response. Most speeches in Acts end with some sort of invitation. Representative of this is Paul’s exchange with Agrippa II. | 26:27–29 |
| 12. The response called for is repentance of one’s sins in the name of Christ, which brings forgiveness of sins. | e.g., 2:38 |
| 13. Witnesses must always maintain integrity before the world. In Acts this is illustrated by the many remarks from the authorities about the Christians giving no evidence of any wrongdoing. | 18:12–15; 23:29; 25:18; 26:31–32 |
| 14. Christian witnesses continue the ministry that Christ “began” (1:1). This is illustrated throughout Acts with the many implicit parallels between the experiences of the apostles and those of Christ: his miracles, the forebodings of his journey to Jerusalem, the cry of the angry Jewish mob for his death, and his trial before the governor and the king. | 20:36–21:16 (cf. Luke 9:22; 13:31–34; 18:31–34); 21:36; 22:21 (cf. Luke 23:18);24:1–26:32 (cf. Luke 23:1–25) |
| 15. Faithful witness brings great results. Acts is all about the victory of the Christian gospel. The witness brings results among both Jews and Gentiles. The book ends on this note, with Paul bearing his faithful witness to “all” who came to him in Rome. | 4:4; 11:20–21; 13:48–49; 17:4; 18:6–11; 21:20; 28:30–31 |