What is the meaning of Acts 5:32? We are witnesses of these things • Peter speaks for all the apostles. They had personally seen Jesus’ life, crucifixion, resurrection, and ascension (Luke 24:48; Acts 1:3–9). • Their eyewitness testimony is not hearsay; it is sworn evidence they cannot deny (Acts 4:19–20). • “These things” includes the very miracles, teachings, and risen life of Christ that the Sanhedrin was trying to suppress (Acts 5:28–30). • God established the requirement of two or three witnesses for truth to be confirmed (Deuteronomy 19:15), and here the apostles fulfill that role with courageous clarity. And so is the Holy Spirit • The Spirit Himself adds divine confirmation to the apostles’ human testimony (John 15:26: “When the Advocate comes… He will testify about Me”). • His witness is supernatural—through signs and wonders (Hebrews 2:4; Acts 5:12), through conviction in hearts (John 16:8), and through inner assurance (Romans 8:16). • By referencing the Spirit, Peter shows that rejecting the apostles’ message is not merely ignoring men but resisting God (Acts 7:51). Whom God has given to those who obey Him • Peter ties the gift of the Spirit to obedience that flows from saving faith (Acts 2:38: “Repent and be baptized… and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit”). • Obedience here is not works-righteousness but the surrender of faith that submits to Christ as Lord (John 14:15-17). • The present tense “has given” underscores that this promise is already being fulfilled in believers’ lives (Romans 5:5; 1 John 3:24). • The statement answers any thought that the religious leaders automatically possess the Spirit; only those who heed God’s Son receive Him (Galatians 3:2). summary Acts 5:32 presents a threefold testimony: apostles who saw, the Holy Spirit who confirms, and obedient believers who receive Him. The verse assures us that the gospel rests on solid eyewitness evidence, is validated by God Himself, and is experientially proven in every life that bows to Christ in obedient faith. |
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