In this article we will be moving from the thief on the cross that was converted (last article) to the day of Pentecost. Once again it is noteworthy to see how the people were instructed in that day as compared to what is popular in our day. It is also true that this is not an ordinary event in that this was the day that the Holy Spirit was sent, but still the message of the Gospel is the same. It was good news that Jesus came to deliver His people from the punishment for their sins. It was good news that Jesus came to deliver His people from the dominion of their sins. But it was also good news that Jesus came to save His people “from this perverse generation.” Jesus was and is a complete Savior. The Gospel that rang forth on the day of Pentecost was a Gospel that delivered people from sin in many ways and not focused or limited to the punishment due after death.
32 “This Jesus God raised up again, to which we are all witnesses. 33 “Therefore having been exalted to the right hand of God, and having received from the Father the promise of the Holy Spirit, He has poured forth this which you both see and hear. 34 “For it was not David who ascended into heaven, but he himself says: ‘THE LORD SAID TO MY LORD, “SIT AT MY RIGHT HAND, 35 UNTIL I MAKE YOUR ENEMIES A FOOTSTOOL FOR YOUR FEET.”‘ 36 “Therefore let all the house of Israel know for certain that God has made Him both Lord and Christ– this Jesus whom you crucified.” 37 Now when they heard this, they were pierced to the heart, and said to Peter and the rest of the apostles, “Brethren, what shall we do?” 38 Peter said to them, “Repent, and each of you be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins; and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. 39 “For the promise is for you and your children and for all who are far off, as many as the Lord our God will call to Himself.” 40 And with many other words he solemnly testified and kept on exhorting them, saying, “Be saved from this perverse generation!” 41 So then, those who had received his word were baptized; and that day there were added about three thousand souls. 42 They were continually devoting themselves to the apostles’ teaching and to fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer (Acts 2:32-42).
Clearly the promise of the Father was the Holy Spirit. Peter preached Jesus the Christ to them, but he also preached the Holy Spirit. It was the sending of the Holy Spirit that led to his quote of Psalm 110:1 in verse 34. He shows that it was Jesus who ascended and sat down until His enemies were made a footstool for His feet. It is in light of the Holy Spirit being sent and verse 36 that Israel could know for certain that God make Jesus both Lord and Christ. The next two verses after Psalm 110:1 are also of interest: “The LORD will stretch forth Your strong scepter from Zion, saying, “Rule in the midst of Your enemies.” 3 Your people will volunteer freely in the day of Your power; In holy array, from the womb of the dawn, Your youth are to You as the dew.”
Jesus Christ will rule in the midst of His enemies, and one way He does this is by the Spirit when people come to Him in the day of His power. That very day in Jerusalem when the Holy Spirit was sent three thousand souls were put under the reign and rule of King Jesus. The One that the house of Israel had crucified was indeed the risen King who was now at the right hand of the Father and His enemies were being put under His feet. The way this was being done was that the Holy Spirit was taking the hearts of these enemies and was convicting them of their sin and showing them the truth of Christ. He then gave them new hearts and the power of holiness because the New Covenant is the promise of the Spirit to be in His people working love and obedience to the Law in them.
We can see the steps of the Holy Spirit in taking all of these people who were at one point cheering for Jesus to be crucified not too long before they heard this sermon from Peter. The people heard the preaching of the word of God from Peter, and then the Holy Spirit convicted them of their sin. These people did not just feel a little guilty, but they were pierced. This piercing sorrow and guilt is the same language that the Bible uses when it speaks of the spear being thrust into the side of Jesus while He was on the cross. No longer were they jeering at the Christ or at the apostles for being full of wine, but the Spirit had deeply convicted them of their sin. This is a point that we see over and over in Scripture. The work of God begins with the work of conviction of sin. But it is interesting to note how they became so convicted of their sin. Indeed Peter preached to them that they had crucified Christ, but his sermon was also full of teaching on the Holy Spirit and how that demonstrated the truth that Jesus was the Old Testament Messiah and how He had been crucified and was now risen from the dead. It was not just the facts that Peter presented to them that day, but he preached the Scripture to show that this activity of the Spirit was connected to the Messiah and what He was going to do.
Note the promise that Peter preached. He told them that they would receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. It was receiving the Holy Spirit that was the promise for them, for their children, and “for all those who are far off, as many as the Lord our God will call to Himself.” Forgiveness of sin is a wonderful thing, but if we are still left in the power of our sin we will just be up to the neck of our souls in it again apart from the work of the Holy Spirit. We must also note that Pete never told them to believe, but instead he told them to repent and be baptized. This sounds problematic for many people, but that is the nature of the case. Many are scared to be charismatic and so want to hide from the teaching of Scripture on the Holy Spirit. Others are so afraid of baptism that they want to shy away from some plain teachings of Scripture on it. We must never shy away from any teaching of Scripture. The people who were deeply pierced in their soul for their sin called out to Peter and the apostles and asked them what they were to do. They were told to repent, to be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ, and then they would receive the Holy Spirit. In this verse we have both baptism and the Holy Spirit. So this is where we should stop. Perhaps that would be the safest thing to do, but that is not what we should do if we want God and His truth over our traditions. It is not the safest thing to do if we want ourselves or others to be truly converted rather than deceived about salvation. We can go on blindly adhering to one tradition or another or we can go to Scripture and see what it really says in passage after passage. We need to be saved from many traditions rather than keep them.
Peter did not shy away from the teaching that God must draw sinners to Himself. In fact, that was used as an encouragement. He was there when Jesus said that salvation was impossible with men (Mat 19:26). This is in line with Romans 9:14-18 where we are told that it does not depend on the man who runs or the man who wills, but on God who shows mercy. The same truth is taught in John 1:12-13 where it is clearly taught that the new birth is not of a human will but is of the will of God. It is God who must draw sinners as they cannot bring themselves. It is the Holy Spirit who works in sinners as they cannot come in their own power. It is the Spirit working who brings the enemies of the Messiah down under His feet. It is the Spirit’s work to make the people volunteer in the day of the Messiah’s power. So on one hand those who repent and are baptized in the name of Christ will receive the Holy Spirit, yet on the other hand we see that the promise of the Holy Spirit is for all those that God will call to Himself.
Repentance is to give up on all the efforts of self to gain honor or stature in not living to the glory of God (Rom 1:21; 3:23) and bow at the feet of King Jesus. Repentance is to be turned from a proud heart to one that will receive the kingdom of God like a little child (Mat 18:3). When a Jewish person was baptized in the name of Jesus the Messiah that person took Jesus as Messiah, as King, as God, and as his or her absolute Lord. It was not that the application of water saved the person or washed their sins itself, but to be willing to be baptized in the name of Christ was to forsake the traditions of the Jews and take Christ in public demonstrated a true repentance. One had to turn away from the traditions of the Jews to take Christ as Messiah and to receive the Holy Spirit as the power of love and holiness rather than the keeping of the Law in their own power.
What were those Jewish people saved from? One thing they were saved from was their own perverse generation. They were a generation of people who were very religious, but they needed to be saved from that religion. Jesus blasted the Pharisees more than anyone else, including the liberal Sadducees. The greatest sins are not external sins, but internal and religious sins of the heart. Those Jewish people needed to be saved from their perverse religion. Those who had received his word were then baptized. Three thousand souls rejected the false religion of the Jews and bowed to King Jesus. This is seen in that now they were devoted to the teachings of the apostles and to fellowship. These are signs of converted souls. A converted soul loves the truth and the people of Christ.
We can learn many things from this passage. We must learn to preach Christ in a way where the Spirit works in the hearts of people. We must learn to preach in such a way that the work of the Spirit must be seen as what needs to be done in the soul. In the same passage (I Cor 2:1-5) where Paul said he preached nothing but Christ crucified, he also said that he did not preach with wisdom but in demonstration of the Spirit and of power. That is exactly what Peter did. True salvation comes in true repentance and in being willing to give up religion, family, the world, and all other things. The Spirit is still a promise to those who do not try to will their own salvation or sanctification. Souls that are truly converted are converted from religion to Christ Himself. They become (must do so) devoted to the teaching and people of God. If a soul does not love His word or His children, that soul doesn’t love Him either. A converted soul leaves its false religion and bows to Christ and now loves God’s children for His sake. The Spirit converts a soul and then pours out a love for God in that soul. The one begotten of God loves the things of God.
God Loves... Himself 
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