Why Mid-Acts?

​Some people might have seen the Acronym MAD and wonder what this is all about. You might have also read or seen the phrase Mid-Acts and wondered what this really means. MAD stands for Mid-Acts Dispensational” This is an important qualifier because lots of people consider themselves dispensational to some degree. Many churches might even have the term “dispensation” in their statement of faith. Unfortunately, it seems like the much of Christianity does not know this term, nor can they with any clarity explain its use even though it is a Bible word. A basic meaning of the term Mid-Acts refers to when the church started. Much of Christianity today believes the church started in Acts chapter 2. I would challenge you to read Acts chapter 2 very closely twice and see if you can find anything that starts in this chapter. The only reason most Christians believe the church started in Acts 2 is because some person taught them it did. The only reason they were taught this is because most Christian colleges and Seminaries teach it. You can’t read the words alone in Acts chapter 2 and find a church starting anywhere in the chapter. What we teach here at Grace Bible Study is to give God the benefit of the doubt and believe his words over what the professors teach. Nothing starts in Acts 2, but Paul clearly is the first person to explain the Body of Christ made up of everyone including Jews and Gentiles. Yes, there was a church already present in Acts chapter 2, but you are not part of that church. Acts 11:19 clearly shows that this church was not ministering to or even evangelizing the Gentiles. What scripture does clearly show is that Jesus called the Apostle Paul in Acts 9 and told him clearly that he would have a ministry to Gentiles dispensing the gospel of the grace of God. Paul is the first person in scripture to introduce the church which is the Body of Christ. Paul is the one that explains Israel’s fall and diminishing and the new creature made up of all that believe. I completely understand the temptation to hold on to traditions like the Acts 2 beginning of the church. In this tradition, there is security because most of the books, college courses, commentators, and teachers say Acts 2 is the beginning of the church. All I’m asking you to see is the words of the Bible itself DO NOT say this. I could easily write my next 5 blogs with rock solid reasons why the church you are a part of now in this dispensation could not have started in Acts 2. The fact is that most Christians really are not concerned with where the church actually began. When people put the beginning of the Body of Christ before the last offer of the earthly Davidic kingdom by Peter, it caused an unmeasurable amount of confusion in Christianity today. This could be why there are hundreds of “churches” in every city now. The church, the Body of Christ, is mystery information that Jesus revealed to Paul. Paul was saved in Acts 9 hence the term Mid-Acts. This is the scriptural position that the Bible actually teaches. It is tremendously important to know when the church that you are a part of began, so you can have a proper understanding of the Bible.