Acts 2

33 God not only raised Christ to life, but He also exalted Him to His right hand (Luke 22:69). God had given His Holy Spirit to Christ, and now Christ had poured this same Spirit out upon His disciples.

However, let us remember that we are talking here about just one God—Father, Son, and Holy Spirit—always acting together.

34-35 When God raised Jesus to sit at His right hand, the prophecy of Psalm 110:1, which Peter quotes here, was fulfilled. The Lord (God) said to my Lord (Christ): “Sit at my right hand…” (verse 34). Here again, David is talking about Christ in this Psalm (see Mark 12:35-36).

36 Finally, we come to the main point of Peter’s sermon: “Therefore let all Israel be assured of this: God has made this Jesus … both Lord and Christ.”

Peter has quoted the prophecies of Joel and David to prove that Jesus was not only the Christ but also the Lord, that is, God. The Jews gave the name “Lord” only to God. Now in this verse, Peter gives the name “Lord” to Jesus also. Above all, it is Jesus’ resurrection from the dead that gives the final proof that He is both Lord and Christ (see Romans 1:4).

Jesus Christ is not only the greatest teacher; He is not only the greatestprophet; He is not only the greatest incarnation. He is God Himself. Jesus is Lord (see Romans 10:9; Philippians 2:11).

37 Peter’s words cut the people to the heart. Why? Because Peter had spoken God’s word in the power of the Holy Spirit. The word of God is like a sword (Ephesians 6:17), which penetrates even to dividing soul and spirit, joints and marrow; it judges the thoughts and attitudes of the heart (Hebrews 4:12). When we speak God’s word by the power of the Holy Spirit, then our listeners also will be cut to the heart by our words. Therefore, let us never dare to preach God’s word without first asking Him for the power of His Spirit.

38 Then those who had been listening to Peter’s sermon asked the disciples, “Brothers, what shall we do?” (verse 37). Peter answered: “REPENT and be baptized … in the name of Jesus Christ.” That was all! That was all these men needed to do—men who only a short while before had murdered the Son of God!

But let us examine what Peter says here. Repent. To repent means to confess your sins and to turn from them. Many people feel sorry about their sins, but they don’t stop committing them. This kind of sorrow is not repentance. To repent of a sin always means to leave that sin.

The second thing Peter says must be done is to be baptized in Jesus’ name. But baptism doesn’t only mean to be immersed in water or to have water sprinkled on one’s head. In order to be truly baptized, one must put FAITH in Jesus Christ.¹⁸

Peter says that we are to be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ. When we receive baptism, we tell the world: “Now I stand with Jesus; I will follow Him; I will take up my cross and suffer for His sake” (Mark 8:34). If we are not ready to do this, then we are not ready to be baptized.¹⁹ Because if we are not ready to take up our cross and follow Jesus, we haven’t really put faith in Him. Baptism is an outward demonstration of our inner faith. Without faith in our hearts, baptism has no meaning.²⁰

After telling the people to repent and be baptized, Peter then said two other things to them. First, after repenting and being baptized, they would receive forgiveness of their sins. Baptism is a sign that our sins have been washed away and that we are now cleansed and pure in God’s sight (see Mark 1:4 and comment). Then, after becoming Christians, we must continue to repent each time we sin, and God each time will forgive us and cleanse us afresh (see 1 John 1:9 and comment).

The second thing that Peter said after telling the people to repent and be baptized was that they would receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. Peter did not say “gifts” of the Holy Spirit, such as the gift of healing or the gift of prophecy. Rather, he said gift of the Holy Spirit—that is, the Holy Spirit Himself. As soon as one becomes a Christian, one receives the Holy Spirit. Without the Holy Spirit, one cannot be a true Christian (Romans 8:9; 1 Corinthians 6:19).

Many Christians say that some time after having put faith in Christ and having received the Holy Spirit the first time, they then have experienced a new filling of the Spirit. These Christians call this new experience of the Spirit a “second blessing,” or the “baptism” of the Spirit.²¹ They are filled with the Spirit in a new and deeper way, and they receive a new power and zeal for serving Christ. But other Christians say that they have experienced this kind of power and zeal from the moment they became Christians. Surely the Holy Spirit can work in different ways in different people’s lives. Whatever way we describe the Spirit’s work or whatever name we give it, it is the Spirit that is doing the work in each person’s life. It is not necessary to compare our own experiences of the Spirit with the experiences of others. Rather, let us be grateful to God for whatever blessings of the Spirit He has given us, and let us daily pray that He might fill us with His Spirit more and more (see 1 Corinthians 12:13 and comment; General Article: Holy Spirit).

39 Even though Peter was himself a Jew speaking to a crowd made up mainly of Jews, he told them that the promise (of the Holy Spirit) was not only for Jews, but was also for all who are far off—that is, the Gentiles (see Ephesians 2:11-13). The promise of the Holy Spirit is for everyone whom the Lord our God will call. God has chosen us, called us, from before the creation of the world (Ephesians 1:4). God knows beforehand who will believe in Christ and who will not. Whoever believes in Christ will be saved (verse 21), and will receive the promise of the Holy Spirit.

40-41 Peter called his generation a corrupt generation, because the men of that generation had crucified Christ, the Son of God. But we must also understand that every generation of men is “corrupt,” because most people in every generation refuse to believe in Christ. They too, like Peter’s generation, stand condemned.

On that day of Pentecost, about three thousand men accepted Peter’s message; that is, they believed in Christ and were baptized. It is not enough to only hear the word; we must also accept it and obey it. Here, on this one day, more people came to believe in Christ than had believed during Christ’s entire three years of public ministry (see John 14:12). Truly the Holy Spirit had come upon these disciples with power. From now on they would not simply be disciples—they would be apostles.

42 In this section Luke gives us a description of the first Christian church. The believers devoted themselves to four main things. First, they devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching. Those believers didn’t have the New Testament, as we do; they had only the Old Testament. Therefore, it was necessary for them to devote themselves to the apostles’ teaching, because it was through that teaching that they would learn about Christ and about how to follow Him. And, of course, that same teaching of the apostles later was written down and became the New Testament. Thus, in the same way those early Christians devoted themselves to the teaching of the apostles, so we today should devote ourselves to the study of the New Testament.

The second thing those early believers devoted themselves to was the fellowship.

The third thing they devoted themselves to was the breaking of bread, that is, the LORD’S SUPPER (see Luke 22:19; 1 Corinthians 11:23-25).

And fourth, they devoted themselves to prayer.

When we compare our own church today with that first church, what do we see?

43 The Holy Spirit never ceased working through those apostles. They continued to perform many wonders and miraculous signs (see Acts 3:6-7).

44-45 Those first believers turned over all their possessions to the apostles for use by the church as a whole. They didn’t keep anything back for themselves.²² They didn’t say of anything, “This is my own.” Instead, they were constantly thinking about the needs of others (see Acts 4:32-35).

Nowadays most Christians don’t sell their possessions; they don’t have everything in common (verse 44). Perhaps it is not necessary for us to do exactly as that first church did in this regard. There is no command saying that we must do as they did.²³ However, there are two things that we must do: one, we must regard all of our possessions, including our own bodies, as belonging to God (Romans 12:1; 1 Corinthians 6:19-20); and two, we must love our neighbors as ourselves (Mark 12:31). If we do these two things, then in God’s sight we will be doing as those first Christians did.

46-47 Those first believers did everything together. They broke bread in each other’s homes; that is, they celebrated the Lord’s supper together, one time in one home, another time in another home. Together with the Lord’s supper, they also ate an ordinary meal.

What a godly, joyful, and caring community that first church was! When other people saw the lives of those first believers, they came to join their fellowship. And the Lord added to their number daily those who were being saved.