After Saul’s miraculous conversion on the road to Damascus, the church continued to experience explosive growth.

The Proclamation of the Truth (Acts 9:20–22)

Dr. Luke reports Saul’s passion for the truth: “And immediately he proclaimed Jesus in the synagogues, saying, ‘He is the Son of God’” (Acts 9:20). This man was committed to preaching God’s Word, a practice that he would employ on his missionary journeys.

The Opposition to the Truth (Acts 9:23–30)

As soon as his ministry was launched, Saul experienced opposition to the truth. Luke indicates that unbelievers intend to take his life. The Greek term is translated as “murder.” It’s interesting to note that the same murderous intent was pumping in Saul’s veins before he was saved by grace. The persecutor has become the preacher! The murderer has become the man on mission.

Saul also experienced opposition from followers of Christ. “And when he had come to Jerusalem, he attempted to join the disciples. And they were all afraid of him, for they did not believe that he was a disciple (Acts 9:26). The Christians in the early church were scared to death of this man, the one who oversaw the stoning of Stephen. Simply put, they did not believe the testimony of the former “persecutor in chief.” Thankfully, Barnabas came to his aid and confirmed that he indeed had been miraculously converted; that he has seen the Lord and preached boldly in the name of Jesus (vv. 27–28).

The Triumph of the Truth

The newly convinced Christ-followers in Jerusalem brought Saul to Caesarea and then sent him off to Tarsus when his life was on the line. In the midst of all this chaos, the church does not decline. The church does not flounder. The church thrives! Luke reveals how the truth triumphed in the early church:

So the church throughout all Judea and Galilee and Samaria had peace and was being built up. And walking in the fear of the Lord and in the comfort of the Holy Spirit, it multiplied. (Acts 9:31, ESV)

First, the church was a peaceful community of faith. Peace (εἰρήνη) means “harmonious relations and freedom from disputes; a state of peace that is a blessing or favor from God.” The early church experienced peace with God and peace with one another. Instead of provoking and envying one another, they were in step with the Spirit (Gal. 5:25–26).

Second, the church was a built-up community of faith. Built up comes from the Greek word that means “to be strengthened, encouraged, and edified.” The apostle Paul highlighted the importance of this kind of community in his letter to the church at Ephesus:

And he gave the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, the shepherds and teachers, to equip the saints for the work of ministry, for building up the body of Christ, until we all attain to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to mature manhood, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ, so that we may no longer be children, tossed to and fro by the waves and carried about by every wind of doctrine, by human cunning, by craftiness in deceitful schemes. (Eph. 4:11–14, ESV)

A built-up church is a unified church. A built-up church is one that is unified around the knowledge of the Son of God, which means she is grounded theologically. A built-up church is growing in maturity – relational maturity, biblical maturity, theological maturity, and ministry maturity. A built-up church is a discerning church, one that is not swept away by the winds and waves of false teaching.

Finally, the church was a thriving community of faith. Whenever a church walks in the fear of the Lord and in the comfort of the Holy Spirit, she can’t do anything but thrive. This is a church that is experiencing the blessing of God in their midst. Is this not what our Savior promised the disciples in Acts 1?

But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth. (Acts 1:8, ESV)

This is the church triumphant! What is preventing you from experiencing this kind of peace? Is there an unforgiving spirit that is preventing you from experiencing God’s peace? Are you resisting God in any way that creates roadblocks for you and prevents you from experiencing his peace?

What is preventing you from being built up like the early church in Acts 9? Are you downplaying theology? Are you minimizing the need for theological education? Are you neglecting time in God’s Word?

The truth triumphed in the first century church? Are you a person of the truth? Are you proclaiming the truth? Delighting in the truth? Defending the truth? May the truth triumph daily in your life!

For more on this topic check out these two issues of Theology for Life:

What is Church Membership? And Why Does it Matter to Me and Biblical Illiteracy: A Plague Upon the Church.