Acts 5:32
A plain-spoken deep dive on this verse. Read the chapter →
We are witnesses of these things, and so is the Holy Spirit, whom God has given to those who obey Him.”
Commentaries
Excerpts gathered from published commentaries to ground the reading.
we are his witnesses . . . and the Holy Ghost--They as competent human witnesses to facts, and the Holy Ghost as attesting them by undeniable miracles.
Open source ↗In this chapter we have, I. The sin and punishment of Ananias and Sapphira, who, for lying to the Holy Ghost, were struck dead at the word of Peter (Act 5:1-11). II. The flourishing state of the church, in the power that went along with the preaching of the gospel (Act 5:12-16). III. The imprisonment of the apostles, and their miraculous discharge out of prison, with fresh orders to go on to preach the gospel, which they did, to the great vexation of their persecutors (Act 5:17-26). IV. Their arraignment before the great sanhedrim, and their justification of themselves in what they did (Act 5:27-33). V. Gamaliel's counsel concerning them, that they should not persecute them, but let them alone, and see what would come of it, and their concurrence, for the present, with this advice, in the dismission of the apostles' cheerful progress in their work notwithstanding the prohibition laid upon them and the indignity done them (Act 5:41, Act 5:42).
Open source ↗Cross-references
Other passages the community most often connects to this one. Tap to read.
But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes upon you, and you will be My witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.”
But Peter and the other apostles replied, “We must obey God rather than men.
and for many days He was seen by those who had accompanied Him from Galilee to Jerusalem. They are now His witnesses to our people.
It was revealed to them that they were not serving themselves, but you, when they foretold the things now announced by those who preached the gospel to you by the Holy Spirit sent from heaven. Even angels long to look into these things.
While Peter was still speaking these words, the Holy Spirit fell upon all who heard his message.
And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other tongues as the Spirit enabled them.
It seemed good to the Holy Spirit and to us not to burden you with anything beyond these essential requirements:
He was speaking about the Spirit, whom those who believed in Him were later to receive. For the Spirit had not yet been given, because Jesus had not yet been glorified.
This is the third time I am coming to you. “Every matter must be established by the testimony of two or three witnesses.”
God has raised this Jesus to life, to which we are all witnesses.