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Acts 2:37-47

As soon as the Holy Spirit had been poured out on the Body of Christ on Pentecost, clothing them with
power from on high, the believers immediately began to fulfill their ministry - to reconcile men to God.

And to whom did God extend His reconciliation first? To the Jews in Jerusalem - to the very people who
were especially responsible for putting to death God=s Son, Jesus. This was the nation that God had made
for Himself - and He loved them. Unto them first God, having raised up His Son Jesus, sent Him to bless
them, in turning away every one of them from their iniquities (Acts 3:26). Truly remarkable is the love of
God.

The message of reconciliation came in the form of an indictment of the nation. The Holy Spirit spoke
through Peter, first to explain the meaning of the believers speaking in other tongues - languages that were
unknown to the believers, but were known to their listeners, some of whom were religious pilgrims from
many nations, who had come up to Jerusalem to keep the feast of Pentecost.

Peter told them that what they were hearing - the wonderful works of God, in their own native tongues -
was the outpouring of the Holy Spirit that was prophesied by Joel. The message of Joel emphasized that
judgment was coming; but those who called on the name of the Lord would be saved.

Peter then proceeded to speak of this Lord, on whose name they must call - Jesus. By His miracles,
wonders and signs, it could be clearly seen that Jesus was approved of God; yet the Jews had disapproved of
Him, and had Him crucified. But Peter pointed out that God overruled their judgment of Jesus, in that God
raised Jesus up; first, in His resurrection from the dead, then, in His ascension back to the right hand of the
Father in heaven.

Peter indicated that the believers were witnesses of these things - and the listening Jews would be inclined to
believe their witness, as the believers had been authenticated by God through the speaking in other tongues.
And then Peter demonstrated through the OT Scriptures how these things were prophesied for Israel=s
Messiah - that He would be raised from the dead, and ascend back into heaven.

Having proven his case, Peter then summed it all up for the Jews (v. 36). In the arrangement in the Greek, it
reads: AThen assuredly, let all the house of Israel acknowledge that God made Him both Lord and Christ,
this same Jesus whom you crucified@.

Now, we will see the response of the Jews to what they have heard.

v. 37 The Greek word for Apricked@ means to pierce or to stab; it denotes sudden grief, remorse, and
spiritual conviction. This is not some small twinge of conscience. The literal translation is, AAnd hearing,
they were stabbed in the heart@.

The word of God is living, and powerful, and sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing even to the
dividing asunder of soul and spirit, and of the joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and
intents of the heart (Heb 4:12).

The Spirit had used the word of God like a sword in the hand of Peter, to pierce deeply into the heart of
these Jews - to reach them. Under the guidance of the Spirit, Peter=s sword reached its mark, this time (Jn
18:10-11), and began a work, not of harm, but of healing - a healing from sin-sickness.
The Jews were stunned by Peter=s indictment that they had killed their Messiah. Their hearts were flooded
by a sense of anguish, guilt, fear of retribution, judgment. Their consciences convicted them; they became
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acutely aware that they were under the condemnation of a Holy God.

You have to put yourselves aside for a moment, to see just what a horror this would have been to the Jews.
Generation after generation, Israel had been anticipating their Messiah, looking forward to His coming - the
One who was to be their Sovereign and their Savior.

Their representatives had just crucified Jesus, as a common criminal - and they themselves had called for His
death. Now it had been proven to them that Jesus was the Messiah of Israel. They had killed their own
Messiah. They had rejected Him in whom all their hope of salvation rested. What hope of salvation could be
left to them?

And where was Jesus, now? He was raised from the dead - raised up into heaven, where He sat at the
Father=s right hand. To sit at the right hand means that Jesus has equal honor and dignity to the Father -
which means that He is God. Only God can be equal in honor and dignity to God. So Jesus was both
Messiah and Lord.

The right hand is also the place of power. Jesus now had the infinite power of God at His disposal - would
He not wield that power against them, who had made themselves His enemies? And would it not be a
righteous judgment?

AWhat shall we do?@ The very question showed that these men recognized their guilt and the danger they
were in - they recognized that judgment was imminent. It also showed that they had no answer in
themselves, as to what to do - for they inquired of the ones in whom they recognized was the authority of
God for the answer. And, by the grace of God, there was an answer.

v. 38-39 To repent means to change one=s mind. In repentance, there is sorrow for sin, but there is more -
there is a turning from sin, and a turning unto God. Repentance involves a true change of heart toward God.
It is when an enemy of God recognizes that he is wrong and God is right, and surrenders himself to God,
laying down his arms, and instead chooses to accept God=s peace terms.

These Jews had made themselves the enemies of God, in rejecting the One whom He sent - Jesus. Their
rulers had seen to it that Jesus was put to death on a cross, and the Jews had gone along with it. But God
had raised Jesus from the dead, and exalted Him to the highest place in the universe - a vindication of His
Son Jesus.

The Jews were stabbed in their hearts with the realization of what they had done, and were experiencing the
anguish and fear that accompanied that conviction of the Spirit concerning their sin. Peter now commanded
them to go further - to acknowledge that they were wrong, and that God was right - and to cast themselves
upon the Lord as sinners seeking His mercy.

Their sorrow and fear must lead them to repentance - a decision in their will, to change their minds about
the One whom God sent, Jesus Christ - to believe into Jesus, to agree with God that Jesus is both Lord and
Christ. Apart from that, their sorrow would be ineffectual - mere remorse, with no change of heart. Some
residual guilt, but no escape from condemnation. They must accept God=s peace terms: Jesus.

Peter said, ARepent, and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins@.
Remission simply means forgiveness; it is the release of one=s sins from the sinner.

Remission is a picture word. Sins are like cords that bind a man, keeping him away from God. Man became
a slave of sin because of the sin of Adam; all men, born in Adam are born prisoners of sin. So man is like a
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prisoner of war, a captive, due to the sin of Adam that he is born into, as well as his own personal sin.

When Jesus offered Himself a sacrifice for sin (Ps 118:27), His offering was accepted by the Father, enabling
Jesus to put sin away once and for all, for all mankind. For the man who receives the sacrifice of Jesus in his
stead, Jesus looses him from his sin, freeing the sinner - but concurrently, the man is now joined to God
through the Spirit, enabling him to have power over sin.

The man has been freed from the penalty of sin - he is justified; and throughout his life, he is being freed
from the power of sin - he is being sanctified. And one day, the man will be freed from the very presence of
sin, in the adoption as a full grown son, when he receives his body of glory. All of this shows remission - the
complete release of one=s sins from the sinner.

In Peter=s response to the Jews, we have two commands. The verb Arepent@ is the main verb of the phrase,
and is a direct command. The verb Abe baptized@ - speaking of water baptism - is in the indirect passive
imperative, which means it does not have the same force as the direct command, Arepent@.

The force of the command to repent connects it to the latter part of the verse - ARepent .... unto the
remission of sins, and you shall receive the gift of the Holy Spirit@. The Greek word eis in verse 38,
translated Afor@ in the KJV - Afor the remission of sins@ - would be more accurately translated Aunto@ or Ato@ -
ARepent .... unto the remission of sins@ .

We can see that this is clearly borne out in Scripture. It is repentance that leads to the remission of sins - this
means the forgiveness of sins - and to the receiving of the Holy Spirit.

So it is repentance that leads to salvation. Peter would declare to the Jews on another occasion, ARepent,
therefore, and be converted, that your sins may be blotted out@ (Acts 3:19). And still later, Paul would say,
AIf you confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus, and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the
dead, you shall be saved@ (Rm 10:9).

Conversely, the word of God does not teach that a man cannot be saved unless he is baptized. There are
many examples in the book of Acts which demonstrate that water baptism does not produce salvation; it
follows salvation (Acts 2:41, 8:26-39,10:1-48,16:14-15, 18:8).

So we need to ask, what is the significance of water baptism? And why was Peter specifically commanding
those Jews who repented to be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ?

For the sinner, water baptism is a token - a symbolic act - showing purification from sin - that the sinner=s
sins have been washed away. The Jews were familiar with baptism, which was a part of their religion of
Judaism. The Jews would go through many ceremonial cleansings in baptismal pools, demonstrating their
intent to be pure before God - but did these repeated washings take care of their sin in any way? No - that=s
why they were repeated. Sin is a matter of the heart - it is untouched by a ritualistic washing of the body.

Baptism was also performed by Jews on Gentiles who wished to convert to Judaism. This baptism was to
demonstrate that they were washing away the impurities of their gentile background. It also brought out
another meaning of baptism - identification - in this case, that the Gentile was now identifying himself with
the people of God.

John the Baptist was the forerunner to Jesus. John=s baptism was a baptism of repentance (Lk 3:3); any man
that received John=s baptism was identifying himself as a sinner, in need of a Savior. This, then, was a
preparation of heart for the Coming Savior (Lk 1:16-17).
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Surely many of the Jews that listened to Peter that day had received John=s baptism of repentance, since
those of Jerusalem and all Judea went out to see John (Mt 3:5). And undoubtedly, all of these Jews had
gone through the religious ritual of ceremonial cleansings, which were routinely done before entering the
temple, and as a preparation for the feasts. The proselytes present (Gentile converts) most likely had been
baptized as an initiation rite into Judaism.

All would certainly have been familiar with baptism; but not the baptism that Peter commanded of them.
Peter was commanding these Jews to be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ.

What Peter was asking these Jews and proselytes to do, then, was to identify themselves with Jesus,
indicating their belief in Him, and their decision to be His followers. In being baptized into the name of
Jesus, these Jews would be proclaiming that they believed in the person of Jesus - that He is both Lord and
Christ. And they would be proclaiming that they believed in the work of Jesus - that He died to free sinners
from their sins, and that He was resurrected from the dead, to give them new life - in union with Him.

This water baptism also symbolized spiritual cleansing - it was the outward washing of the body to show
that the sinner=s sins had been washed away. And in this case, their sins really had been - because in
repenting, and turning in faith to Jesus, He had washed away their sin.

Jesus Himself had commanded His apostles to baptize new believers. Turn to Matthew chapter 28. This
command was given to the eleven disciples (v. 16), Judas excepted.

[Matthew 28:18-20] The apostles were commanded by Jesus to make disciples throughout all nations, and
then to baptize them in the name of the triune God.

[Return to Acts] Now, Jesus had told His disciples before He ascended into heaven that they were to wait
for the promise of the Father - the baptism in the Holy Spirit (Acts 1:4-5). And, by the Spirit, all believers
are baptized into one body - the Body of Christ (1 Cor 12:13). Why then did Jesus establish water baptism,
which is merely ceremonial, as an ordinance of the true church, when they had the reality of the baptism of
the Holy Spirit?

I personally believe Jesus established water baptism as an ordinance for the church because people
understood its symbolism. For those being baptized, this outward demonstration of obedience to the
command of Jesus would reflect the inward change that repentance had wrought in their hearts - that,
through the waters of baptism, they were identifying themselves with the death, burial and resurrection of
Jesus, and that He had loosed them from their sins. The water baptism pictured the baptism of the Spirit
that had taken place within them.

Also, water baptism would cause the Jew to publicly take a stand for Jesus - through baptism, they would
openly own Him whom they had disowned. This would prove to be quite a test of their faith, as the rulers in
Jerusalem had issued a decision that those who professed to believe in Jesus as the Christ would be
excommunicated from the Jewish community. This would exclude them from all the rights and privileges of
the Jewish people, both civil and religious. The Jewish people were not even permitted to buy or to sell with
them.

You can see that being baptized in the name of Jesus would be a true test of genuine repentance for a Jew,
and a public testimony to the reality of their faith.

Now, unlike the ritual cleansings of the Jews, which were repeated over and over, the water baptism that
was ordained by Jesus was done only once for the new believer. Why? Because the sacrifice of Jesus was
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effective for all sin, for all time. Turn to Hebrews chapter 9. The author is writing of Jesus as the High
Priest, who sacrificed Himself.

[Hebrews 9:25-26]

Turn back to Hebrews chapter 7.

[Hebrews 7:26-27] He offered up Himself - the High Priest who was also the sacrifice - offered once for
sin.

Because the sacrifice of Jesus was good for all sin, for all time, water baptism was performed only once - to
show that the sinner was completely clean (Col 1:10-14, 1 Jn 1:7, Rev 1:5).

Peter commanded the Jews to repent, to the remission of their sins - not only the heinous sin of crucifying
their Messiah, but of all their sins. Once their sins were washed away, the Lord would send them the gift of
the Holy Spirit.

This does not refer to spiritual gifts, or graces, which is delineated in the Greek by the word charisma; the
word used is dorea, and here it is referring to the gift of the Holy Spirit Himself. In repentance, the vessels
of the Jews would be directed upwards to God, who would cleanse them and fill them with His Spirit, as He
continued to pour out His Spirit.

In verse 39, Peter refers to the promise. What promise is he speaking of? Again, he is speaking specifically
of the Holy Spirit. In his letter to the Galatians, Paul writes that we receive the promise of the Spirit
through faith (Gal 3:14). The promise relates back to Joel=s prophecy (v. 17): AAnd it will come to pass in
the last days, said God, I will pour out of My Spirit on all flesh@.

The promised Spirit was Ato you@ - the Jews; Aand to your children@ - all of their descendants; Aand to all that
are afar off@. Now, at the time, Peter himself may have thought this referred to the Jews who were scattered
by the judgment of God into many lands; but in the Spirit, Peter spoke better than he knew. Turn to
Ephesians chapter 2. Paul wrote these words long after this day of Pentecost - when it had become clear
that the Gentiles were included in God=s plan of salvation (Acts 11:18).

[Ephesians 2:11-18]

v. 11 The Jews (Athe Circumcision@) called the Gentiles the Uncircumcision because they felt that
circumcision marked the Jews out as the people of God.

v. 12 The covenants of promise refer to the eternal covenant based on the Coming Christ that was made
with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, the forefathers of the nation Israel.

v. 13 The Gentiles were Athose who were far off@ - for they were the nations who were outside of the
nation of Israel, the nation that God made for Himself, to whom He gave many spiritual blessings to lead
them to Christ (Rm 9:4-5).

v. 14-18 The thing which distinguished Israel from the other nations was the Law, which God used to keep
Israel separated from the heathen nations. But the Law came to be a barrier, for the Jews developed a
religious system of works around it, by which they saw themselves as righteous, and the heathen nations as
unrighteous.
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When Jesus came in fulfillment of the Law, that barrier was removed, and in its place was the cross of Christ
- which did not separate Jew and Gentile, but joined them together. In light of the cross, both Jew and
Gentile could see that they were sinners, and Jesus was their Savior. The cross united Jew and Gentile in the
one man, Christ Jesus, through the unity of the Spirit.

[Return to Acts]

So as we consider Peter=s words, we can see that the promised Spirit, the source of eternal Life, was
extended to all men, through all time. As many as the Lord our God shall call, shall receive the promised
Spirit. What is the call being spoken of? It is the gospel. The gospel is how God calls men to salvation:
AFor I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ, for it is the power of God unto salvation to everyone that
believes@ (Rm 1:16).

The promise is Ato as many as the Lord our God shall call@. How many does He call? Everyone. God is
not limited in the provision of His grace; and it is the purpose of God to send the gospel to all men. AGod so
loved the world .... whosoever believes ...@ (Jn 3:16). The call of the gospel goes out to all; all who respond
in faith, calling on the name of the Lord, will be saved, receiving the life of the Spirit.

v. 40 So there was more that was said, but we have the tenor of it, by what Luke recorded. Notice that
Peter exhorted the men to Asave themselves@. Now, who is it that saves? It is God who saves; but by this
exhortation, we can see that people have a part in that salvation - to believe the gospel of Christ, turn from
their sin, and receive their Savior. In this respect, they save themselves, exercising their God-given freedom
of choice.

They save themselves by going to Christ; and correspondingly, they save themselves from Athis untoward
generation@. The word Auntoward@ means perverse; crooked; wicked. To whom was Peter referring? To
the Jewish nation and its rulers, in that day. The generation to which these Jews belonged had been
denounced by Jesus as a faithless and perverse generation - an evil generation - because of its unbelief ( Lk
9:41, 11:29). This was a call for separation from the nation that had rejected Jesus, of which they had been
a part.

v. 41 Those who Agladly received his word@ were those individuals who personally embraced his message as
the truth, and received Jesus as their Messiah, their Lord. Three thousand of them! Here was the beginning
of the harvest of souls that was pictured in the feast of Pentecost.

AOf His own will He begat us with the word of truth, that we should be a kind of firstfruits of His creation@
(James 1:18). To what were these three thousand souls Aadded@ (v. 41)? To the Body of Christ; the true
church.

Those that believed, whose sins were washed away by Jesus, then were baptized. It is interesting to note
that archeological work on the south side of the temple mount has uncovered numerous Jewish mikvahs,
which are large baptistry-like facilities, where Jewish worshipers would immerse themselves for ceremonial
purification before entering the temple. More than enough existed to facilitate this large number of baptisms
in a short amount of time.

In the remainder of our passage, we read of something that is no less than a radical community - one which
is based on love for God, and love for the brethren - fellow believers.

v. 42 These new disciples of the Lord faithfully continued with the other believers first and foremost in the
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apostles= doctrine. This simply refers to the apostles= teaching, or instruction. What is it that the apostles
would have taught? What their Master, Jesus taught them. He had opened up the OT Scriptures to them,
and He had taught them spiritual truths directly, as well.

The Spirit led the apostles into all truth; He taught them all things, bringing all the things that Jesus taught
them to their remembrance (Jn 14:26, 16:13-15). These new disciples of Jesus, these babes in Christ, were
fed on the pure word of God - first on milk, the elementary teachings, until such time as they had matured in
the faith, and were ready for strong food - the deep truths of God (Heb 5:12-14, 1 Pet 2:2).

Because the believers only took in the pure word of God, they were like-minded; they had the mind of
Christ. Schisms and contention come when man=s thinking enters in; God=s thinking leads to unity and peace
(Eph 4:3). That unity allowed Christ to truly be the Head - to work in and through His Body; it was a
functional Body, able to carry out the work of the ministry.

Because the believers were steadfast in taking in the teaching, the Body of Christ was edified; they were
enabled to grow up in the Lord; to mature spiritually, growing up into the Head, Christ, in all things (Eph
4:11-16).

The believers also abode in fellowship. This is a word that, in the Greek, means a communion; a sharing-in-
common. What was it that all these diverse believers shared in common? They all shared the Spirit of Jesus;
the Spirit joined them together, one to another, and joined them all with their Head in heaven, Christ. And
that is the basis of true fellowship. Turn to First John chapter 1.

[1 John 1:1-7]

v. 1-2 Of whom is John speaking? Of Jesus, of course. They were witnesses to Him.

v. 3-4 John and the other members of the Body testify of Jesus to the rest of the world, so that they might
also believe, and have fellowship with them. And who is that fellowship with? With the Father, and with His
Son, Jesus Christ.
v. 5-7 Here John declares that it is in walking in the light - the light of truth - that we have that fellowship -
with God, for we then walk in the light, as He is in the light - and one with another, as we walk together in
the light of truth. Walking is a metaphor for the conduct; so we not only believe the truth, we act upon it.
What John is saying is that fellowship is dependent on being like-minded. We will have fellowship with God
when we share His thinking. We will have fellowship with one another, when we all share His thinking.

Can two walk together, except they be agreed (Amos 3:3)? No - so it goes back to the thinking, being in
agreement with God=s thinking, and acting accordingly - for as a man thinks in his heart, so is he (Prov
23:7).

That=s how we have fellowship - by sharing God=s thinking - and then walking together in the truth. And
that goes back to knowing God=s thinking in the first place - by learning it, through being taught the word of
God. So the teaching of the word created the atmosphere of truth among the believers, enabling them to
walk in the light. That is essential to true fellowship - with God, and with one another.

[Return to Acts]

The believers also continued steadfastly in the breaking of bread. Within the context of this list of spiritual
pursuits, we can see that this must refer, not to ordinary eating, but to the Lord=s Supper.

This new body of believers faithfully took in the elements - the bread and the wine - that symbolized the
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body and the blood of their Lord. The Lord had commanded them to do so, in remembrance of Him (Lk
22:19).

Always they were to have before them that Jesus died for them - that they might have Life. With this
constant reminder, they would count the Life that Jesus had died to give them precious - and they would
esteem and love their Lord more and more - and perhaps, themselves, a little less, in the light of the Great
Love that had laid down His life for His friends (Jn 15:13). The Lord=s Supper would continue to fan the
flame of Love within this Body, so that the light of Love would shine brightly into the darkness of this world.

Finally, the believers were constant in prayers; they prayed without ceasing (1 Th 5:17). This speaks
specifically of joint prayer, but does not exclude private prayer. AThe effectual fervent prayer of a righteous
man avails much@ (James 5:16) - it accomplishes much; why? Because God can work through such prayer.
Prayer opens up God=s thinking to us, giving us the opportunity to agree with God, and be part of what He
is doing. The prayer of a righteous man, made in the Spirit, in submission to God, will be in accordance with
the will of God; and then God sees to it that His will is done.

And if the members of the Body are all yielded to God, having no will for themselves, God can accomplish a
great deal through their prayers - as was seen in the early church. In the book of Acts, we will see many
examples of the Lord working through the collective prayers of the members of His Body.

v. 43 AFear@ in the Greek is the word for terror. Here, it conveys the idea of astonishment and amazement.
Those who were outside of this community of believers were amazed by what they saw, beginning with the
startling and imposing miracles done by the apostles. These miracles certainly captured the attention of
those looking on, much as they had done with Jesus.

v. 44-45 Now, this does not mean that all the believers lived together, but that they spent much time
together, as in their daily activities. Also, the believers did not share everything they owned, as in an
commune. Instead, the idea is that they held their own possessions lightly - they were ready to use them at
any moment for someone else, as needs arose.

The believers sold possessions (that is, property) and their goods (substance) as was needed, to provide
money for those of the church who needed it. So we can see that they valued people over possessions.

Now, we do not observe that this practice was specifically done in other churches recorded in the NT. As
the center of Judaism, it would be in Jerusalem that the church would come under perhaps the most intense
persecution, its members being shunned by the Jewish community, its properties being seized by the
authorities. Therefore, it was absolutely necessary in Jerusalem to operate in this way, for the survival of the
community of believers.

v. 46-47 Now, what would you say the believers were doing in the temple? Could they possibly participate
in the perverse religious practices of Judaism? The sacrifices, the prayers? No. They were daily in the
temple for one purpose - their ministry - of reconciling men to God.

That is what their Master did in the temple - and now, they followed in His footsteps. They were there to
share the good news of Jesus Christ, so that others could be saved from that perverse, evil generation. As
we go through the book of Acts, you will see this borne out - beginning in the very next chapter.

This breaking of bread here does refer to eating daily food. The believers did so from house to house.
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Whoever had food, shared with the others. You can see the caring, the love for one another. Their attitude
was one of joyfulness, and unworldly simplicity. Possessions can weigh you down, weaken you - but the joy
of the Lord is your strength - it is uplifting.

They had so little, materially speaking, and yet they were full of praises for their great God, who had
delivered them, and continued to meet all their needs. This must have been as amazing to the outsiders as
the signs and wonders done by the apostles! By more than miracles was the power of the Spirit displayed
among them. It caused the people to favor them - to be drawn to them.

It was the love that captivated the people - divine love - the believers= love for God, their love for one
another. And as the people heard the message of the love of God that these believers shared with them, they
were drawn right in, believing for themselves. And so the Lord added daily to His Body those being saved
by Him.

Next week: Read chapter 3.