Acts 4:32 - Meaning and Application

These verses give us a broad and beautiful picture of the early church, like a view of childhood before corruption had entered. The believers loved one another deeply. Luke says the whole group of believers was of one heart and one soul (Acts 4:32), and there was no discord or division among them.

There were large numbers who believed, even in Jerusalem, where the chief priests were strongly against the gospel. Three thousand were converted in one day, then five thousand on another day, and others were added daily. No doubt they were all baptized and openly confessed their faith, because the same Spirit who gave the apostles courage to preach also gave the believers courage to own Christ. The growth of the church is its glory, and a large company of believers matters more than their social rank or outward standing.

These people were of one heart and one soul. They came from different ages, temperaments, and social positions, and many had likely been strangers before they believed. Some may even have belonged to different Jewish groups, or had old disagreements over public matters, but all that was put aside in Christ. Once they were joined to the Lord, they were also joined to one another in holy love, fulfilling Christ’s command to love one another and his prayer that they all might be one.

They likely met in several congregations or worship gatherings, depending on where they lived, with different ministers serving them. Yet this did not create envy or hurt feelings. They still loved believers in other congregations as much as those in their own. That was true then, and we should not despair of seeing it again when the Spirit is poured out from above.

The ministers also kept working with great energy and success. The apostles gave powerful witness to the resurrection of the Lord Jesus (Acts 4:33). That message was central, because Christ’s resurrection was a real event that confirmed the truth of the Christian faith. When it is properly understood, it also opens up the great truths of Christian life, duty, privilege, and comfort.

Their witness may be called powerful in two ways. First, they spoke with courage, spirit, and firmness. They did not present the truth timidly, but with confidence, because they were fully convinced of it and wanted others to be convinced too. Second, they confirmed their message with miracles. By works of great power, they bore witness to Christ’s resurrection, and God himself also testified through them.

God’s favor shone on them and on all they did. Great grace was upon them all, not just the apostles but all the believers. Here grace means God’s special favor and power, given in a remarkable way. He gave them much grace from above, fitting them for great service. Their lives also showed clear fruit of that grace, which honored them and showed them to be precious in God’s sight. Some think this also means they were well regarded by the people, who saw real beauty and worth in them.

They were also very generous to the poor and loose in their hold on worldly things. This was as clear a sign of God’s grace in them as anything else, and it made them respected by the people. They did not cling to property, even though most people naturally guard what belongs to them. Worldly people boast in possessions and say, like Laban, “All that you see is mine” (Genesis 31:43), or like Nabal, “My bread and my water” (1 Samuel 25:11). But these believers were so taken up with the hope of a heavenly inheritance that earthly property seemed small to them.

No one said that any of his possessions were his own (Acts 4:32). That does not mean they abolished private property. It means they did not treat possessions as a source of pride or self-importance. They no longer boasted in what they had or trusted in it, because in their hearts they had given all to Christ and expected to lose all for his sake. In truth, we can call nothing our own except sin. What we have in this world belongs more to God than to us, because we received it from him, must use it for him, and will answer to him for it.

They did not say any possession was their own in the sense of being private and exclusive. They were ready to share, willing to help, and did not want to eat their food alone. Whatever they had beyond their own needs, they gladly gave to poor neighbors. Those with estates were not eager to store up more. They were willing to give, even if it meant making themselves less comfortable to help their brothers and sisters. It is no surprise that they were of one heart and soul when they held worldly wealth so loosely, because “mine” and “yours” are often the root of quarrels.

They were also rich in charity, so that in practice they had all things in common. There was no one among them who lacked, because care was taken to meet every need (Acts 4:34). Those who had lived on public charity were likely left without support when they became Christians, so it was fitting that the church should care for them. There were many poor who received the gospel, and there were some rich who could support them, made willing by God’s grace. As Scripture says, those who gather much do not have too much if what is extra is used to help those who gathered little, so that no one lacks (2 Corinthians 8:14, 2 Corinthians 8:15).

The gospel has made all things common in this sense, not by letting the poor rob the rich, but by calling the rich to relieve the poor. Many of them even sold lands or houses to create a fund for charity (Acts 4:34).

Lightfoot calculates that this was the year of jubilee in the Jewish nation, the fiftieth year. It was the twenty-eighth jubilee since Israel settled in Canaan fourteen hundred years earlier. Because land sold that year would not return until the next jubilee, land prices would have been high. So selling land at that time would bring in more money.

We are told what they did with the money they raised: they laid it at the apostles’ feet. That means they left it with the apostles to use as they thought best. The apostles likely used it for their own support, for where else would they get it? By having it laid at their feet, they showed their holy disregard for worldly wealth. They thought it more fitting for the money to be placed at their feet than held in their hands or kept in their pockets. Once it was given, it was not stored away. It was then shared out by the right people to everyone according to need.

Great care should be taken in giving public charity. First, it should go to those who truly need it. That includes people who cannot earn enough for themselves because of age, childhood, sickness, physical disability, weakness of mind, lack of skill or energy, hard circumstances, losses, oppression, or the burden of many dependents. Anyone who truly lacks support, and has no relatives to help, should be cared for. Above all, help should go to those who are poor because they have done right and kept a good conscience. Care should be taken to use what is given in the way that helps them most.

Second, charity should go to each person as intended, according to need, without favoritism or special treatment. In giving charity, as in giving justice, the rule is that those who are equally needy and equally worthy should be helped equally. Charity should be fitted to the need.

One person is singled out here because of his generous giving: Barnabas, who later became Paul’s companion in ministry. His name was Joses. He was from the tribe of Levi, and there were Levites among the Jews living outside Israel. They likely led synagogue worship and, as that tribe was called to do, taught the people the knowledge of the Lord. He was born in Cyprus, far from Jerusalem, where his Jewish parents had settled.

The apostles later changed his name after he joined them. He may have been one of the seventy disciples, and as his gifts and grace grew, he became well known and respected by the apostles. In honor of him, they gave him the name Barnabas. The name means “son of prophecy,” which is its proper meaning, because he was given special gifts for prophesying. But the Hellenist Jews, as Grotius notes, used a word for prayer that can also mean encouragement, so some translate it “son of exhortation,” meaning someone with a fine gift for urging and persuading others. Acts 11:22-24 gives an example of that. Others read it as “son of consolation,” meaning a man who lived in the comfort of the Holy Spirit and helped others find that same comfort. He was a cheerful Christian, and that made him generous to the poor. Or it may mean he was especially skilled at comforting God’s people and speaking peace to troubled consciences. He had a remarkable gift for that.

Among the apostles, two were called Boanerges, or “sons of thunder” (Mark 3:17). Here, by contrast, was a son of consolation among them. Each had his own gift. Neither should criticize the other, but each should help where the other is weak. Let one search the wound, and let the other heal and bind it up.

Barnabas’ charity is also noted, along with his great generosity to the church’s common fund. This is mentioned especially because of his later work in the church, above all in bringing the gospel to the Gentiles. It also shows that his work among the Gentiles did not come from any dislike of his own people, since here we see his kindness to Jewish believers. Or perhaps it is recorded because he was an example to others.

He had land, whether in Cyprus, where he was born, or in Judea, where he then lived, or elsewhere, we do not know. He sold it, not to buy something else for profit, but because, as a Levite, he knew that the Lord God of Israel was his inheritance. He cared less for earthly property and did not want to be burdened by it. He brought the money and laid it at the apostles’ feet to be used for charity. In this way, as one who was to become a preacher of the gospel, he freed himself from the cares of this life. He lost nothing in the end by laying the money at the apostles’ feet, because he himself was afterward counted among the apostles in effect, by the Holy Spirit’s words, “Set apart Barnabas and Saul for the work to which I have called them” (Acts 13:2). So, for the honor he showed the apostles as apostles, he received an apostle’s reward.