Acts 2

[Chris Green]

Being Pentecost in a couple of weeks, i've been asked to look at Acts 2 and do a talk on it.

Bear in mind I am a fairly new Christian, could I have some pointers on how I can bring this passage to life for a small group, some of whom may be non beleivers.

Thank you kindly

 

[AVBunyan]

Bear in mind I am a fairly new Christian, could I have some pointers on how I can bring this passage to life for a small group, some of whom may be non beleivers.

Thank you kindly

Context of Acts 2 – Peter is preaching a message in light of the events that took place earlier – the Holy Ghost coming down. In a nutshell: Peter preaches to the Jews saying, “This Jesus of whom your patriarch David spoke of was your Messiah and look what you did – you murdered him.” The Jews got convicted and said, “What must we do?” Notice they didn’t say, “What must we do to be saved? Like the jailer said later in Acts 16:30. The didn’t asked what to do to be saved because they were not hearing a message about salvation at that time for Peter did not even know about Christ dying for sins at that time. The Jews at Pentecost asked, “What must we do in light of us murdering our messiah?” Peter answers:

“Repent” – not of your sins but of murder and of their rejection of God the Father in the OT and of Jesus in the gospels!

“And be baptized” – according to John’s baptism - Now, why did John baptize? Look at John 1:31 - And I knew him not: but that he should be made manifest to Israel, therefore am I come baptizing with water.

The message during John’s time was, (my paraphrase) “Believe that Jesus was the messiah and to show you believe get baptized.” The issue was – were they going to believe that Jesus was their messiah for if not they would die in their sins - John 8:24 I said therefore unto you, that ye shall die in your sins: for if ye believe not that I am he, ye shall die in your sins.


The message wasn’t the message we preach today (I Cor. 15:1-5). The message was, “Believe Jesus is your messiah and get baptized.”

“in the name of Jesus Christ” – see above – the issue was believing that Jesus was the messiah not believing Jesus was your saviour as today.

“for the remission of sins” – notice Peter used the word remission not forgiveness. Israel would not be forgiven till the second advent (Acts 3:19,20). “and ye shall receive the gift of the Holy Ghost.” – self-explanatory.

The tongues were there as a sign of judgment to the unbelieving Jews that were there (I Cor. 1:22; 14:22).


Don’t want to start another thread here but the reason the signs and gifts are gone today is because God is not dealing with Israel as a nation so the signs left off the scene. When God dealt with unbelieving Jews he always used signs. The tongues were a sign of their rejection of their messiah. Remember tongues are for a sign not to believers but for unbelievers. A little different from how people use tongues today.

That is enough for now but that is what I believe Acts 2:38 is – it is not a salvation message today whatsoever.


I trust this will aid in your understanding for your small group and give you something to study further.


May God bless

 

[Chris Green]

Thank you very much for your help

 

[@@Paul@@]

I'll agree with AV and add that it's alway good to do chapter 2 and 3 together to fully understand Peters message and what was going on. The first three chapters of Acts set the tone for the book...

Act 3:19 Repent ye therefore, and be converted, that your sins may be blotted out, when the times of refreshing shall come from the presence of the Lord;
Act 3:20 And he shall send Jesus Christ, which before was preached unto you:​

Remember, after being taught (He opened up their understanding) by our Lord for 40 days, they asked one question:

Act 1:6 When they therefore were come together, they asked of him, saying, Lord, wilt thou at this time restore again the kingdom to Israel?​

They did not ask about "the church" nor did they ask about forgiveness of sins. They asked about the promised kingdom to Israel (the times of refreshing).......

 

[christian-only]

When reading the first two chapters of Acts there are a few things to remember:

The keys of the Kingdom given to Peter:

Remember that Jesus told Peter "And I will give unto thee the keys of the kingdom of heaven: and whatsoever thou shalt bind on earth shall be bound in heaven: and whatsoever thou shalt loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven." (Mat 16:19)

Jesus told the apostles to Preach to all nations but first wait in Jerusalem to receive power:

(Mat 28:18-20) "And Jesus came and spake unto them, saying, All power is given unto me in heaven and in earth. Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost: Teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you: and, lo, I am with you alway, even unto the end of the world. Amen."

(Luke 24:49) "And, behold, I send the promise of my Father upon you: but tarry ye in the city of Jerusalem, until ye be endued with power from on high."

The apostles are then waiting in Jerusalem to receive power when the Holy Ghost comes on them:

The Holy Ghost coming on them was not only their reception of power, but Peter's cue to open the Kingdom with the keys.

The Remission, that is Forgiveness with Full Removal, of sins is FIRST Preached in Jerusalem:

(Luke 24:47) "And that repentance and remission of sins should be preached in his name among all nations, beginning at Jerusalem."

Now, after having preached to the men there, both Jews and Gentile Proselytes, these men are cut to the heart realizing that Jesus is the Messiah and that they have killed him and ask "what shall we do?" Peter says "Repent, and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ so that your sins may be forgiven; and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit." (NRSV) As AVBunyan pointed out, the King James version says "remission" rather than forgiveness. This, however, means the exact opposite of what he suggests. The KJV uses the word remission to indicate forgiveness accompanied by full removal rather than mere forgiveness only. Remission means that not only did God forgive their sins, but also completely washed away, removed, and eradicated them.

Baptized so that theirs sins would be remitted:

What baptism was this? Water baptism, obviously. But not John's baptism as AVBunyan suggested, since John's baptism was not in the name of Jesus, but Peter indicates that this one is. Peter is here in Acts 2:38 refering to the same baptism that he refers to in 1 Peter 3:21 when he says "And baptism, which this [the flood of Noah's day] prefigured, now saves you--not as a removal of dirt from the body, but as an appeal to God for a good conscience, through the resurrection of Jesus Christ," (NRSV) Baptism is both the appeal for a clean conscience and God's answer. In it we appeal to God for the remission of sins and God grants the same to us in it.

The Times of Refreshing:

(Acts 3:19) "Repent ye therefore, and be converted, that your sins may be blotted out, when the times of refreshing shall come from the presence of the Lord;"

This verse is not teaching the ant-Semitic doctrine mentioned by @@PAUL@@ above that interprets this as "repent now so that your sins can be forgiven thousands of years from now when Jesus finally returns" and that Jews cannot be forgiven until the second coming. Rather, it means that "repent and be converted so that your sins may be blotted out and you will be able to enjoy the second coming, having had your sins removed, and will not be ashamed being found in sin." We must ALL, both Jews and Gentiles, repent now so that we will be able to enjoy the Lord's coming when He comes.

Restoring the Kingdom to Israel:

The disciples asked "Lord, wilt thou at this time restore again the kingdom to Israel?" (Acts 1:6) And Jesus answered "It is not for you to know the times or the seasons, which the Father hath put in his own power." Not only that, but they did not understand, since they had not YET received the Holy Spirit at that time, that "they are not all Israel, which are of Israel:" (Rom 9:6) What does it mean to restore the kingdom to Israel? It means that Christ reigns as head over his church, the true Israel, which is the kingdom of God. (Col 1:13) Jesus was never interesting in setting up an earthly kingdom, therefore he said "My kingdom is NOT of this world: if my kingdom were of this world, then would my servants fight, that I should not be delivered to the Jews: but now is my kingdom not from hence." (John 18:36)

 

[mythbuster]

How about Acts 2:21

" And it shall be that everyone who calls on the Lord shall be saved "

Which was Peter quoting the Old Testament Joel 2:32.

Its a pretty simple subject. Calling on the Lord is everywhere in the Bible, both Old and New. I can put up LOTS of references if you are interested.

 

[SavedByGrace3]

Context of Acts 2 – Peter is preaching a message in light of the events that took place earlier – the Holy Ghost coming down. In a nutshell: Peter preaches to the Jews saying, “This Jesus of whom your patriarch David spoke of was your Messiah and look what you did – you murdered him.” The Jews got convicted and said, “What must we do?” Notice they didn’t say, “What must we do to be saved? Like the jailer said later in Acts 16:30. The didn’t asked what to do to be saved because they were not hearing a message about salvation at that time for Peter did not even know about Christ dying for sins at that time. The Jews at Pentecost asked, “What must we do in light of us murdering our messiah?” Peter answers:

“Repent” – not of your sins but of murder and of their rejection of God the Father in the OT and of Jesus in the gospels!...

Good job AV... I am glad someone else sees this in the passage! I have long been pointing out that these verses were talking about their rejection and murdering of the messiah, and not general savlation.

 

[@@Paul@@]

Good job AV... I am glad someone else sees this in the passage! I have long been pointing out that these verses were talking about their rejection and murdering of the messiah, and not general savlation.

What was the tradition in the OT when there was a sacrifice or offering?

 

[@@Paul@@]

The Times of Refreshing:

(Acts 3:19) "Repent ye therefore, and be converted, that your sins may be blotted out, when the times of refreshing shall come from the presence of the Lord;"

This verse is not teaching the ant-Semitic doctrine mentioned by @@PAUL@@ above that interprets this as "repent now so that your sins can be forgiven thousands of years from now when Jesus finally returns" and that Jews cannot be forgiven until the second coming. Rather, it means that "repent and be converted so that your sins may be blotted out and you will be able to enjoy the second coming, having had your sins removed, and will not be ashamed being found in sin." We must ALL, both Jews and Gentiles, repent now so that we will be able to enjoy the Lord's coming when He comes.

Ah, another person who learned a new word from "The Passion"... It's too bad you have NO Idea what your talking about here...

In no way was my statement "antI-Semitic".

Every baptism(s) of John and those during the acts period were symbolic (in some sense) to a "washing" in the OT... I suggest you grab a concordance and "search the scriptures to see if these things are so" before accusing me of preaching such a doctrine...

Exo 29:4 And you shall take Aaron and his sons to the door of the tabernacle of congregation. And you shall wash them in water.
Exo 40:12 And you shall cause to draw near Aaron and his sons to the door of the tabernacle of the congregation. And you shall wash them with water.​

Here we see the “Washing” of the priests prior to service… Possibly symbolic of the “baptism of John” seeing that Israel was to be a nation of priests.

Lev 1:9 And he shall wash its inward parts, and its legs, with water. And the priest shall burn as incense the whole of it on the altar for a burnt offering, a fire offering of soothing fragrance to Jehovah.​

Here we see the washing of a sacrifice… Jesus’ baptism?

Lev 11:24 And by these you shall be made unclean; any who touches their dead body is unclean until the evening.
Lev 11:25 And anyone who lifts up their dead body shall wash his garments and shall be unclean until the evening;​

Here anyone who touches or lifts up a dead body was to wash. As tradition with all sacrifices, the offering was taken out of the city. As was Jesus’ body…

Num 8:7 And thus you will do to them to cleanse them: sprinkle water of sin offering on them. And they shall make a razor pass over all their flesh and wash their garments and cleanse themselves.​

Here’s yet another “washing” which is ceremonial to beginning service as a priest. Jesus as High Priest and Israel as a nation of priests would fit into this “baptism”.

Num 19:5 And the heifer shall be burned before his eyes; her skin, and her flesh, and her blood with her dung, shall be burned.
Num 19:6 And the priest shall take cedar wood, and hyssop and scarlet, and shall cast it into the midst of the burning of the heifer.
Num 19:7 Then the priest shall wash his clothes, and he shall bathe his flesh in water, and afterward he may come into the camp; and the priest shall be unclean until the evening.​

Here we see the priest washing after the sacrifice. This had to do with the purification of the people… Jesus was a type of sacrificial Lamb and Israel was to become a nation of priests… This is why Peter was baptizing… To “cleanse”.

Deu 21:6 And all the elders of that city nearest to the one slain shall wash their hands by the stream, over the heifer whose neck was broken.​

Again, here the elders are washing after a sacrifice (which paid the price for a man’s death when the killer was not found).

2Ch 4:6 He also made ten lavers, and put five on the right hand, and five on the left, to wash in them; they washed what pertains to the burnt offering with them; and the sea was for the priests to wash in.​

Here again the offering AND the one carrying out the sacrifice wash.

Isa 1:16 Wash yourselves, purify yourselves. Put away the evil of your doings from My sight; stop doing evil.​

In short, God is commanding Israel to wash which in turn purifies.
:topic: sorry,,, please PM or start a new thread to discuss this further..

 

[christian-only]

How about Acts 2:21

" And it shall be that everyone who calls on the Lord shall be saved "

Which was Peter quoting the Old Testament Joel 2:32.

Its a pretty simple subject. Calling on the Lord is everywhere in the Bible, both Old and New. I can put up LOTS of references if you are interested.

Jesus said "Not every one that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven; but he that doeth the will of my Father which is in heaven." (Mat 7:21) Calling on the name of the Lord is NOT a mere oral call, but is baptism. Acts 22:16 says "arise, and be baptized, and wash away thy sins, calling on the name of the Lord." The calling on the name of the Lord here IS baptism.