We discuss how the work of the Spirit causes the confession of Christ and leads preachers to go forth with the gospel. The world that Paul was sent into was filled with magic, false teachers, and Jewish opposition to the gospel. The way we know a work of the Spirit is that He causes the preaching of Christ. We explore the way Luke shows the similarity to Jesus in Luke 3 and 4 with what happens in Acts. This shows that what Jesus commissioned the church to do in Luke 24 is actually happening in Acts. In Luke 3:21-22 when Jesus was baptized prayer was mentioned and the Holy Spirit descended upon Him. In Luke 4 Jesus was tempted in the wilderness where He was fasting. So prayer and fasting were mentioned in Luke 3 and 4 like it is in Acts 13:1, 2. Jesus then went by the power of the Spirit into Galilee and he preached the truth about Messianic salvation that He fulfills.

We discuss the discerning of spirits and how the Holy Spirit causes the confession of Christ. This is how we know. We cannot know the true from the false based on subjective impressions that may or may not be from God. We must know the content of what is preached. When Christ is confessed, then we know the Spirit motivated this. There is an inclusio which brackets this section with Acts 13:2 and Acts 14:26 both mentioning “the work” which they were called to and then which they accomplished. In between Christ was preached. This includes the forgiveness of sins.

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