This brief pericope illustrates what Luke wrote earlier in 2:44-46 about the early Christians sharing and selling their possessions as well as giving verbal witness. Luke recorded this description to emphasize the purity and unity in the church that resulted from the Spirit's filling (v. 31).
4:32 The unity of the believers extended beyond spiritual matters to physical, material matters (cf. Matt. 22:37-39). They owned personal possessions, but they did not consider them private possessions. Rather they viewed their belongings as common (Gr. koina, cf. koinonia, "fellowship") property. Customarily they shared what they had with one another (cf. 2:44, 46; Deut. 15:4). Their unity manifested itself in a sense of responsibility for one another. Love, not law, compelled them to share.
"Their generosity sprang not from coercive legislation (as modern Socialists and Marxists demand) but from a true union of hearts made possible by regeneration."248
The economic situation in Jerusalem was deteriorating due to famine and political unrest.249Employment opportunities were declining, and unsaved Jews were beginning to put economic and social pressure on the Christians.
4:33 The power in the witness of the believers was their love for one another (cf. John 13:35), not just their rhetorical (homiletical) and miraculous power. Notice the central place the resurrection of Jesus occupied in their witness. His resurrection fulfilled prophecy and identified Jesus as the Messiah (cf. 2:29-32). The abundant grace that rested upon these Christians was the divine enablement that God granted them to speak and to live as they did. This grace was on the young church as it had been on the young Jesus (cf. Luke 2:40).
4:34-35 The voluntary sharing described in verse 32 seems to have been customary, but the occasional selling mentioned here was evidently exceptional (cf. 2:45).250The apostles were in charge of distributing help to those in need (cf. 6:1-4). The Christians were witnessing with their works (vv. 32, 34-35) as well as with their words (v. 33).
Sincerity or insincerity could motivate these magnanimous deeds. An example of each type of motivation follows.
