“But you shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be witnesses to Me in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth” (Acts 1:8). According to Pentecostals, Christ instructed all Christians to receive an impartation of the Holy Spirit subsequent to salvation which is evidenced by the sign of tongues. This power is supposedly some kind of an inward power that makes us more effective at evangelizing or sharing the gospel. This is how the word “witnessing” came to be coined.
But Christ was actually speaking to His apostles about them being eyewitnesses of Him after His resurrection. It was the apostles who were eyewitnesses of the risen Lord, “The apostles whom He had chosen, to whom He also presented Himself alive after His suffering by many infallible proofs, being seen by them during forty days” (Acts 1:2, 3). And apparently they did not misunderstand what He meant by them being witnesses because when it came time to replace Judas Iscariot they declared this as a needed qualification for possible candidates: “Therefore, of these men who have accompanied us all the time that the Lord Jesus went in and out among us, beginning from the baptism of John to that day when He was taken up from us, one of these must become a witness with us of His resurrection” (Acts 1:21-22).
Christ’s resurrection is even the subject of the first sermon preached, “This Jesus God has raised up, of which we are all witnesses” (Acts 2:32). Establishing the one true saving gospel message of Christ dying for our sins and rising from the dead could only be accomplished by actual eyewitnesses of Him. “Then He said to them, ‘Thus it is written, and thus it was necessary for the Christ to suffer and to rise from the dead the third day, and that repentance and remission of sins should be preached in His name to all nations, beginning at Jerusalem. And you are witnesses of these things. Behold, I send the Promise of My Father upon you; but tarry in the city of Jerusalem until you are endued with power from on high’” (Luke 24:46-49).
It could not be any clearer than in this passage that the apostles were eyewitnesses of the resurrected Christ and received a unique power for the task of proclaiming their testimony. The following are several passages which substantiate this fact:
“This Jesus God has raised up, of which we are all witnesses” (Acts 2:32).
“But you denied the Holy One and the Just, and asked for a murderer to be granted to you, and killed the Prince of life, whom God raised from the dead, of which we are witnesses” (Acts 3:15, 16).
“And with great power the apostles gave witness to the resurrection of the Lord Jesus” (Acts 4:33).
“The God of our fathers raised up Jesus whom you murdered by hanging on a tree. Him God has exalted to His right hand to be Prince and Savior, to give repentance to Israel and forgiveness of sins. And we are His witnesses to these things, and so also is the Holy Spirit whom God has given to those who obey Him” (Acts 5:32).
“And we are witnesses of all things which He did both in the land of the Jews and in Jerusalem, whom they killed by hanging on a tree. Him God raised up on the third day, and showed Him openly, not to all the people, but to witnesses chosen before by God, even to us who ate and drank with Him after He arose from the dead” (Acts 10:39-41).
“He was seen for many days by those who came up with Him from Galilee to Jerusalem, who are His witnesses to the people” (Acts 13:31).
“But rise and stand on your feet; for I have appeared to you for this purpose, to make you a minister and a witness both of the things which you have seen and of the things which I will yet reveal to you” (Acts 26:16).
In Acts 1:8, Jesus was not commanding all Christians to receive power from the Holy Spirit for the task of witnessing. This power was an impartation given exclusively to the apostles and a few other ministry offices in the early church who were actual eyewitnesses of Him. But nobody has seen Him since that time because Paul was the last eyewitness, “Then last of all He was seen by me also, as by one born out of due time” (1 Cor. 15:8).
Now what exactly was this power that was given to them? This word “power” is translated from the Greek word “dunamis” and almost always refers s to the miracle working power of God. In fact, it was used for the mighty works that Christ performed when He was on earth.
“Then He began to rebuke the cities in which most of His mighty works [dunamis] had been done, because they did not repent: Woe to you, Chorazin! Woe to you, Bethsaida! For if the mighty works [dunamis] which were done in you had been done in Tyre and Sidon, they would have repented long ago in sackcloth and ashes. But I say to you, it will be more tolerable for Tyre and Sidon in the day of judgment than for you. And you, Capernaum, who are exalted to heaven, will be brought down to Hades; for if the mighty works [dunamis] which were done in you had been done in Sodom, it would have remained until this day” (Matt. 11:20-23).
“Now He did not do many mighty works [dunamis] there because of their unbelief” (Matt. 13:58).
“And when the Sabbath had come, He began to teach in the synagogue. And many hearing Him were astonished, saying, ‘Where did this Man get these things? [dunamis]’” (Mark 6:2).
“Then they were all amazed and spoke among themselves, saying, “What a word this is! For with authority and power [dunamis] He commands the unclean spirits, and they come out’” (Luke 4:36).
“Then, as He was now drawing near the descent of the Mount of Olives, the whole multitude of the disciples began to rejoice and praise God with a loud voice for all the mighty works [dunamis] they had seen” (Luke 19:37).
“Men of Israel, hear these words: Jesus of Nazareth, a Man attested by God to you by miracles [dunamis], wonders, and signs which God did through Him in your midst, as you yourselves also know” (Acts 2:22).
“How God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Spirit and with power [dunamis], who went about doing good and healing all who were oppressed by the devil, for God was with Him” (Acts 10:38).
This same word “dunamis” was also used for the miracles performed by those endued with power from the Holy Spirit in the book of Acts. The apostles’ eyewitness testimony of the resurrected Lord was confirmed by the signs, wonders, miracles, and healings they did.
“And with great power [dunamis] the apostles gave witness to the resurrection of the Lord Jesus. And great grace was upon them all” (Acts 4:33).
“And Stephen, full of faith and power [dunamis], did great wonders and signs among the people” (Acts 6:8).
“Then Simon himself also believed; and when he was baptized he continued with Philip, and was amazed, seeing the miracles [dunamis] and signs which were done” (Acts 8:13).
“Now God worked unusual miracles [dunamis] by the hands of Paul, so that even handkerchiefs or aprons were brought from his body to the sick, and the diseases left them and the evil spirits went out of them” (Acts 19:11, 12).
“In mighty signs and wonders, by the power [dunamis] of the Spirit of God, so that from Jerusalem and round about to Illyricum I have fully preached the gospel of Christ” (Rom. 15:19).
“Truly the signs of an apostle were accomplished among you with all perseverance, in signs and wonders and mighty deeds [dunamis]” (2 Cor. 12:12).
“God also bearing witness both with signs and wonders, with various miracles [dunamis], and gifts of the Holy Spirit, according to His own will?” (Heb. 2:4).
The power of the Holy Spirit was the ability to perform signs, wonders, and miracles and was given only to certain individuals in the early church who were actual eyewitnesses of the risen Lord. To say that this is a power to be received by all Christians at all times for the sake of more effective personal evangelism is an unfortunate misinterpretation that has brought confusion to many.
What better testimony would there be than for actual eyewitnesses of His resurrection to also show tangible proof that He is alive by the undeniable miracles He is working through them? Many of the people who personally saw Jesus working miracles were now seeing Him continue to display the same miracles after His death. What tremendous proof of His resurrection!
This power to be witnesses has nothing to do with Christians today because Christ ceased appearing to anyone long ago. Scripture is clear that it was an endowment to work miracles, signs, and wonders as evidence of His resurrection from those who were actual eyewitnesses.
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