Acts of Apostles in the Early Church 

Luke, the author of Acts, was not an unimaginative editor but a theologian in his own right. He selected, arranged and presented his material in order to serve his particular pastoral purpose.

Luke was a theologian of salvation. "It's hard to overestimate the importance of salvation in the writings of Luke," says Professor Howard Marshall.

Luke's theology is seen in the "Song of Simeon" in his gospel. In speaking to God, Simeon referred to "your salvation, which you have prepared in the sight of all people." (Luke 2:30-31)

Salvation had been promised. The same emphasis recurs in Acts. In the sermons of Peter and Paul--and in Stephen's defense--the life, death and resurrection of Jesus, and in the giving of the Holy Spirit, are all seen as the culmination of centures of a prophetic promise.

Salvation is bestowed by Christ. When Simeon spoke of the God of "your salvation," he was referring to the baby Jesus whom he held in his arms and who had been "born a Saviour" (Luke 2:11).

Jesus himself later made the same unequivocal  statement that he had come "to seek and to save what was lost." (Luke 19:10).

Then, after his death and resurrection, his faithful apostles declared that forgiveness of sins was available to all who would repent and believe in Jesus (Acts 2:38-39; 13:38-39).

Indeed, salvation was to be found in no one else (Acts 4:12). For God had exalted Jesus to his right hand "that he might give repentance and forgiveness of sins . .  ."  (Acts 5:31)

Salvation is offered to all people. Salvation has been prepared "in the presence of all the peoples, to be both a light to the nations and the glory of Israel" (Luke 2:31-32). Without a doubt it's this truth on which Luke lays his major empahsis.

In his gospel (Luke 3:6) he continues his quotation from Isaiah 40 beyond where Matthew and Mark stop, in order to include the statement that "all flesh will see God's salvation." And in Acts 2:17 he records Peter's quotation of God's promise through Joel: "I will pour out my Spirit on all flesh."

These two words pasa sarx, "all flesh" or "all humankind," stand as a signpost near the beginning of each of Luke's two volumes. In both cases they are embedded in an Old Testament prophecy and point to Luke's principal message.

The prominence given to the offer of the gospel is appropriate from Luke's pen. He is the only Gentile contributor to the New Testament. Well educated and widely traveled, he is the only Gospel-writer who calls the Sea of Galilee a "lake", because he is able to compare it with the Mediterranean. He has the broad horizons of the Graeco-Roman world, its history and its geography. So, he sets his story of Jesus and of the early church against this background.

Luke the theologian is essentially an evangelist. He proclaims the gospel of salvation from God in Christ. In Acts we see many sermons and addresses, especially by Peter and Paul. He not only shows them preaching, but also enables them to preach to us. As Peter said on the Day of Pentecost, the promise of salvation is for us too, and for every generation, "for all whom the Lord our God will call." (Acts 2:39).

(Source: The Message of Acts, by John R.W. Stott)