<p>4:32- see on Acts 2:44.<br /><i>And the full number of those who believed were of one heart<em>- </em></i>Sitting there in Babylonian captivity, God offered His people a new covenant (Ez. 11:19,20,25 cp. Heb. 10:16); they could have one mind or heart between each other, and a heart of flesh. But Israel would not, and it was only accepted by those who turned to Jesus Christ in accepting the new covenant in Him. Their being of &ldquo;one heart&rdquo; after baptism was a direct result of their acceptance of this same new covenant which Judah had rejected. In the hearing of offer of the new covenant, we are essentially in the position of those of the captivity, hearing Ezekiel&rsquo;s words, and deciding whether or not to remain in cushy Babylon, or make a painful and humanly uncertain aliyah to Zion. &nbsp;</p><p><em>And soul</em>- The phrase only occurs again in Phil. 1:27, where Paul writes that having &quot;one mind striving together for the faith of the Gospel&quot; is an outcome of a way of life appropriate to &quot;the gospel of Christ&quot;. Such unity, encompassing now around 5000 people, was a psychological phenomenon. It was only possible on account of joint belief in the Gospel. It is a lack of focus upon that basic Gospel and working together for it which allows all manner of issues to creep in which then cause disunity.</p><p><em>And not one of them said that anything of the things which he possessed was his own</em>- As a result of this, many sold what superfluous things they had. But those who didn't, we later learn, had their possessions and lands stolen during the persecution of the Hebrew believers that soon followed (Acts 11:19 cp. Heb. 10:32-34). God took back what He had lent them, even before their death. Their realization that they owned nothing was not just a temporary height of enthusiasm; they appreciated a principle which was true before, then and now. That principle applies today just as much as it did then.</p><p>In the early church, &ldquo;not one of them <em>said</em> that any of the things which he possessed was his own&rdquo;. I wonder- and maybe I&rsquo;m clutching at straws and justifying us all- if the emphasis is upon the word &ldquo;said&rdquo;. Their <em>attitude</em> was that they didn&rsquo;t personally possess anything. As Paul wrote to the Corinthians, we are to buy and sell and deal in this world, as if we didn&rsquo;t really buy anything or gain a thing, as if it&rsquo;s all somehow performed by us as in a disconnected dream. See on Lk. 14:33. This attitude that nothing is personally ours is a great freedom- from worry about what we have, about security, changes of values, and from coveting what we might be able to own.</p>