1. Acts 5:14 (ESV)
  2. Exposition

Why would men and women be added to the Lord if they were too scared to join them in Solomon’s Portico?

Acts 5:14 (ESV)

14 And more than ever believers were added to the Lord, multitudes of both men and women,

The conversions of more and more men and women were in response to the signs and wonders being performed1 and the accompanying preaching of the gospel (see Acts 3:1–26).2 The fact that people continued to be added to the number of believers makes sense if we assume that it was the believers who were wary of joining the apostles in Solomon’s Portico. Curious Jews continued to come and learn from the apostles and thus they had the chance to hear of Jesus Christ and commit themselves to joining his body. If we accept, however, that unbelievers were wary of joining the believers in Solomon’s Portico, then it is hard to understand how more people would be added to the church.