Luke shows that the answer to the church's prayer (vv. 29-30) includes much grace . . . upon them all (v. 33), which results in a Spirit-given unity with practical outworking. All the believers (literally, "the congregation of those who believed," or the church in its corporate totality; compare 6:2, 5; 15:12, 30; see also 2:44) are one in heart and mind (kardia kai psyche mia). This phrase masterfully brings together both the Greek ideal of friendship—"a single soul [mia psyche] dwelling in two bodies" (Aristotle in Diogenes Laertius Lives of the Philosophers 5.20)—and the Old Testament ideal of total loyalty (1 Chron 12:39, note Hebrew and LXX; compare Deut 6:5; 10:12). From this unity comes a mindset. Each member chooses not to look at his possessions as first and foremost his own. Rather, he chooses to see them as first of all available for common use.

Justin Martyr, the early Christian apologist, observed, "We who valued above all things the acquisition of wealth and possessions, now bring what we have to a common stock, and communicate to every one in need" (Apology 1.14:2-3). This is where the common life begins, with the heart and soul and a mindset (see Lk 9:24; 12:19, 22; 14:26; 12:34; Acts 2:46).