Featured Dispensational help with with Acts 2:38

Acts 2:38 Then Peter said unto them, Repent, and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins, and ye shall receive the gift of the Holy Ghost.

Many people have trouble with these instructions at the beginning of this age. A good way to understand this is in a dispensational frame work. As a matter of fact it is the only way to understand it.

Here are some things one should consider as they read and study this event.

1) This is a message to Jews only.
2) The only preachers of this gospel while it is preached to Israel during the first 7 years are the apostles and prophets who ministered with Jesus Christ during his earthly ministry
3) The command to repent (of killing their Messiah and King) was to "every one of them," a fact that is key to understanding this command.
4) This will be the third time that the Godhead has baptized the nation in water.
a) God the Father baptized them at their birth as a nation in the Red Sea - See 1 Cor 10.
b) John the Baptist baptized them in the Jordan in connection with the coming of the Son of God, our Lord Jesus.
c) Now the apostles of Jesus Christ is ready to baptize them in water at the coming of the Holy Ghost to quicken the nation.
5) The Jews who believed in Christ were being baptized in water in the name of Jesus Christ as the condition for receiving the Holy Ghost as late as Acts 19, but this practice lasted until the end of the apostolic age in AD 70 when Israel lost her national identity.
6) Not only were those of Israel to be baptized in water but the apostles must lay hands on those who receive him and that can be proven by comparing John 20, Mark 16, Acts 2, Acts 8, Acts 9, and Acts 22.
7) all members of the Godhead baptized them with water and because they refused the kingship and lordship of all three members, the next baptism will be in fire, meaning intense judgement, to purge out the rebels and unbelievers so the promise of Jer 31 concerning their hearts as a collective may be realized.
8) water is a figure and a type in scripture and the baptism in it symbolized Israel having the Spirit to save their souls in such abundance that all can drink and be saved.

Here is just 8 points but there are many more. When we read how God is dealing with mankind we can be nothing but awestruck by his wisdom and his great long suffereing to us all.


God the Father
1 Sam 8:7 And the Lord said unto Samuel, Hearken unto the voice of the people in all that they say unto thee: for they have not rejected thee, but they have rejected me, that I should not reign over them.

God the Son
Luke 19:14
But his citizens hated him, and sent a message after him, saying, We will not have this man to reign over us.

God the Spirit
51 Ye stiffnecked and uncircumcised in heart and ears, ye do always resist the Holy Ghost: as your fathers did, so do ye.

Acts 7:51 Ye stiffnecked and uncircumcised in heart and ears, ye do always resist the Holy Ghost: as your fathers did, so do ye.
52 Which of the prophets have not your fathers persecuted? and they have slain them which shewed before of the coming of the Just One; of whom ye have been now the betrayers and murderers:
53 Who have received the law by the disposition of angels, and have not kept it.
54 When they heard these things, they were cut to the heart, and they gnashed on him with their teeth.

Does anyone care to talk about this?

 

If you do not have anything to say, don't say anything. Otherwise you could engage the topic and give me your simple view. I would be interested to know when you were baptized in water to receive the Holy Ghost, if you have a Holy Ghost.

 

What about you? Do you have anything?

 

Where did that response come from? I am sorry Marooncat79 but I doubt there is one other person on this whole planet who, after reading my op, would come to the conclusion that it is about more than one Holy Ghost/Spirit. But, thanks for your input, It is very instructive.

 

and it doesn't in Acts 2 either. It is one of the pre-conditions for receiving the gift of the Holy Ghost into the body along with repentance. While the Holy Ghost was poured out from heaven upon Israel first and was called by God a baptism of Israel, the conditions were set by God on how individual members of this family were to receive him. This would be true throughout the apostolic era as evidenced by Paul's dealing with 12 Jews in Acts 19, long after the gentile church in Ephesus, where he met these men, was established.

It was 10 years after Acts 2 before the first gentile was saved and the occasion for it was God sending the apostle Peter to Cesarea to the home of Cornelius, a Roman centurion in Acts 10 to, "open the door of faith to the gentiles." The gentiles, unlike the Jews before them, received the Holy Spirit without the pre-conditions that God had given the Jews. Immediately when they believed in the heart, the lone condition for any sinner now, they were given the gift of the Spirit to indwell them and give them eternal life.

Remember, this book of Acts is a history book. It chronicles the beginning of the Christian church. I am never sure why some fellows can read these words and not know this. It is a transition time for the Jews and the opportunity for the gentiles, albeit not at the same time.

Acts 3:8 But those things, which God before had shewed by the mouth of all his prophets, that Christ should suffer, he hath so fulfilled.
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.
20 And he shall send Jesus Christ, which before was preached unto you:
21 Whom the heaven must receive until the times of restitution of all things, which God hath spoken by the mouth of all his holy prophets since the world began.
22 For Moses truly said unto the fathers, A prophet shall the Lord your God raise up unto you of your brethren, like unto me; him shall ye hear in all things whatsoever he shall say unto you.
23 And it shall come to pass, that every soul, which will not hear that prophet, shall be destroyed from among the people.
24 Yea, and all the prophets from Samuel and those that follow after, as many as have spoken, have likewise foretold of these days.
25 Ye are the children of the prophets, and of the covenant which God made with our fathers, saying unto Abraham, And in thy seed shall all the kindreds of the earth be blessed.
26 Unto you first God, having raised up his Son Jesus, sent him to bless you, in turning away every one of you from his iniquities.

Obviously every one did not turn and it resulted later in God adding the gentiles in his church.

Acts 11:1 And the apostles and brethren that were in Judaea heard that the Gentiles had also received the word of God.
2 And when Peter was come up to Jerusalem, they that were of the circumcision contended with him,
3 Saying, Thou wentest in to men uncircumcised, and didst eat with them.
4 But Peter rehearsed the matter from the beginning, and expounded it by order unto them, saying,
5 I was in the city of Joppa praying: and in a trance I saw a vision, A certain vessel descend, as it had been a great sheet, let down from heaven by four corners; and it came even to me:
6 Upon the which when I had fastened mine eyes, I considered, and saw fourfooted beasts of the earth, and wild beasts, and creeping things, and fowls of the air.
7 And I heard a voice saying unto me, Arise, Peter; slay and eat.
8 But I said, Not so, Lord: for nothing common or unclean hath at any time entered into my mouth.
9 But the voice answered me again from heaven, What God hath cleansed, that call not thou common.
10 And this was done three times: and all were drawn up again into heaven.
11 And, behold, immediately there were three men already come unto the house where I was, sent from Caesarea unto me.
12 And the Spirit bade me go with them, nothing doubting. Moreover these six brethren accompanied me, and we entered into the man's house:
13 And he shewed us how he had seen an angel in his house, which stood and said unto him, Send men to Joppa, and call for Simon, whose surname is Peter;
14 Who shall tell thee words, whereby thou and all thy house shall be saved.
15 And as I began to speak, the Holy Ghost fell on them, as on us at the beginning.
16 Then remembered I the word of the Lord, how that he said, John indeed baptized with water; but ye shall be baptized with the Holy Ghost.
17 Forasmuch then as God gave them the like gift as he did unto us, who believed on the Lord Jesus Christ; what was I, that I could withstand God?
18 When they heard these things, they held their peace, and glorified God, saying, Then hath God also to the Gentiles granted repentance unto life.

The NT epistles must explain the history and I bet I am wasting my time telling you folks these things because usually religious people will not believe the words they read and cannot be taught the truth.

Acts 14:27 And when they were come, and had gathered the church together, they rehearsed all that God had done with them, and how he had opened the door of faith unto the Gentiles.

 

This refers to Peter's sermon as quoted in Acts 2:38.

No, Van, once again you are wrong. Do you understand the ceremonial law of Israel? Do you know that those ceremonies that were practiced over the years by Israel were typical and had the quality of prophecy built into them. When these prophesies came to pass they were no longer to be practiced, except a very few of them would be observed as a memorial.

For 1500 years Israel observed 7 annual feasts, beginning on May 14 with the offering of the Passover Lamb. Practically this was God delivering his people from Egyptian bondage and everyone who had the blood of the spotless Lamb applied on their door posts were delivered because of the blood of the Lamb. Figuratively, this pictures Jesus Christ, the spotless Lamb, that God himself provided to deliver Israel from the bondage of the Law that condemns them and from sin. God very specifically gave them the menu for this feast and even told them how to dress to eat it and what was to be their attitude of heart. Immediately afterward, beginning at the end of the day was the feast of unleavened bread, a theme of the preaching to Israel in the early chapters of the Acts. It signified that the body of Jesus Christ would not suffer any corruption while it lay in the tomb. Next was the feast of firstfruits, the resurrection of Jesus Christ. During these days of these 3 feasts of Israel was a festival. In all three annual festivals of Israel all males, twenty years old and upward were to gather in Jerusalem to observe these feasts.

So, here are the feasts of Israel;

Passover
Unleavened Bread
First-Fruits

Feasts of Weeks (seven sabbaths = 49 days from First Fruits and Pentecost (means 50) the next day, a special sabbath festival. This is the reason all these people of Israel were gathered in Jerusalem. You should study the significance of the offerings at this feast.

the feasts are complete in 7 months, May 14 to October 15.

Trumpets - Oct 1
Day of Atonement - Oct 10
Tabernacles - Oct 15 - festival

The first two festivals are passed and looking back we can see they occurred on the exact days they had been observed by Israel during all those years. There is no reason to believe the third festival will not occur likewise, but because of Israel siding with the gentiles to put Jesus to death and would not receive his Spirit, he destroyed their city and removed their Temple and scattered them out of the land so it would be impossible for them to practice their religion after the the prophesy had been fulfilled. At the proper time God will once again have a temple in Jerusalem and he will fulfill this final festival and every one left of Israel, though few in number, will be saved and brought back to her land and Jesus Christ will be her King and rule all the earth. This is the teaching of the last two feasts and the Feast of Trumpets will be when God calls the remnant and the church to glory. The calling out of the church prior to God completing his promises to Israel are not fanciful but are rooted in the prophecies of the scriptures.


Acts 2:10 Phrygia, and Pamphylia, in Egypt, and in the parts of Libya about Cyrene, and strangers of Rome, Jews and proselytes,

Remember Van, the Acts is a history book. It tells us what happened and many times does not explain whether it is good or bad. Luke is telling what he saw and heard here. A proselyte is someone other than an Israelite who has adopted the Jewish religion and culture and agreed to live as a Jew. When Israel was delivered out of Egypt there were several Egyptians came with them and they were called the mixed multitude and caused grief to Israel later. None of them went into the promised land 40 years later. The apostles were charged to make the call of who received the Holy Ghost from the ones who came for baptism and that by baptizing them and by the laying on of hands to receive the Spirit. This would be true all the way through Acts 9 and then in Acts 10 the gentiles got saved without apostolic intervention. Though things have changed for Jews, it has not changed for gentiles. We receive the Holy Ghost the same way that Cornelius did and now so do Jews.[

 

You are not wrong just because I said it, Van, you are wrong because of the scriptures and what they say. When you attempt to establish a doctrine using one verse in a historical narrative without considering the context you are going to be in error. Luke, the historian, observed that Jews and proselytes came to the festival of Pentecost because it was a command of the Mosaic Law. Luke also observed and reported the sermon that Peter preached in Acts 2 and he said these words, among others.

14 But Peter, standing up with the eleven, lifted up his voice, and said unto them, Ye men of Judaea, and all ye that dwell at Jerusalem, be this known unto you, and hearken to my words:

He has something specific to say the the men of Judaea and those who dwell in Jerusalem, or am I missing something here. This verse is immediately after Luke told us that people from 17 nations were there that day.

After he gives that message, he then says the following;

22 Ye men of Israel, hear these words; Jesus of Nazareth, a man approved of God among you by miracles and wonders and signs, which God did by him in the midst of you, as ye yourselves also know:

The men of Judaea and those who dwell in Jerusalem were the ones doing the mocking and hindering the message of Jesus Christ and therefore they were given a message of doom. It was they who put the Lord Jesus to death and who would lead in resisting the apostles from that time forth. I have read the rest of the Acts. I know this. The message to Israel is that God has sent his Spirit and there is salvation in him because the Spirit is sent from heaven and will indwell the body of anyone who will meet the pre-conditions that he lays out.

So, what were the pre-conditions for receiving the Holy Ghost and salvation? This following lays it out so plain it cannot be missed. It tells us "who" and it tells us "how."

36 Therefore let all the house of Israel ( a house is a family in this context) know assuredly, that God hath made that same Jesus, whom ye have crucified, both Lord and Christ.
37 Now when they heard [this], they were pricked in their heart, and said unto Peter and to the rest of the apostles, Men [and] brethren, what shall we do?

Here it is. Here is what they must do.
38 Then Peter said unto them, Repent, and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins, and ye shall receive the gift of the Holy Ghost.

There is no reason not to believe this. Every one of the house of Israel, to whom this sermon was preached, were told what to do to receive the Holy Ghost, whom God was pouring out on Israel that day (a baptism of God on Israel when they were all immersed in the Holy Ghost) in the fulfillment of the prophesy of the Feast of Pentecost, which they had been observing as a people since Moses commanded them in his law.

Lu 3:16 John answered, saying unto them all, I indeed baptize you with water; but one mightier than I cometh, the latchet of whose shoes I am not worthy to unloose: he shall baptize you with the Holy Ghost and with fire:

The pouring out from heaven of the Holy Ghost upon Israel was the baptism. For proof of this, one of this nation was not required to be in Jerusalem to receive the Holy Ghost. Any and all of them who met the pre-conditions, wherever they were, received the Holy Ghost all through the apostolic era.

You will say then. What about verse 39, which says the gentiles likewise will receive the Holy Ghost. Here is what is said.

Ac 2:39 For the promise is unto you, and to your children, and to all that are afar off, even as many as the Lord our God shall call.

I have good news to report. The promise of the Spirit was given to those whom he called. He gave the Spirit to the gentiles by pouring him out upon the gentiles in Acts 10 in AD 40, ten years after he gave the Spirit to Israel. So, Acts 2:39 is true but it was not at the same time. The gentiles did not know anything about keeping a feast of Pentecost and therefore God gave the Holy Ghost to Israel because he had promised them and he gave the Holy Ghost to gentiles purely by grace.

Acts 11:12 And the Spirit bade me go with them, nothing doubting. Moreover these six brethren accompanied me, and we entered into the man’s house:
13 And he (Cornelius) shewed us how he had seen an angel in his house, which stood and said unto him, Send men to Joppa, and call for Simon, whose surname is Peter;
14 Who shall tell thee words, whereby thou and all thy house shall be saved.
15 And as I began to speak, the Holy Ghost fell on them, as on us at the beginning.
16 Then remembered I the word of the Lord, how that he said, John indeed baptized with water; but ye shall be baptized with the Holy Ghost.
17 Forasmuch then as God gave them (gentiles) the like gift as he did unto us, who believed on the Lord Jesus Christ; what was I, that I could withstand God?
18 When they heard these things, they held their peace, and glorified God, saying, Then hath God also to the Gentiles granted repentance unto life.

Because the Spirit is poured out in all the world, now everyone may be saved by simply believing the gospel of Jesus Christ without per-conditions.

Van, one must read carefully and believe the words of scripture. The words of God are very precise.

 

I showed you, Van, who was being addressed in the context. It was "Ye men of Israel." I also told you that it is a history book. If Luke told us who was in the audience, does that mean that Peter was speaking to them? But let's say Peter was speaking to the proselytes for the sake of our discussion. They would be considered men of Israel because of their conversion to Judaism. So, this proves that Van is almost right about some things but he never seems to nail it and is too proud to be taught.

Most people believe that Cornelius in Acts 10 was a proselyte to the Jewish faith. I tend to think so too. He was certainly a gentile and God went to great lengths to persuade Peter to go to the gentiles and take them the gospel so they can be saved. My question to you is why didn't Peter say the same things to Cornelius in Acts 10 that he said to the proselytes in Acts 2?

Here is Bro Luke's evaluation of the history of Cornelius from Acts 10.

1 There was a certain man in Caesarea called Cornelius, a centurion of the band called the Italian band,
2 A devout man, and one that feared God with all his house, which gave much alms to the people, and prayed to God alway.

What do think about a man like that, Van?

3 He saw in a vision evidently about the ninth hour of the day an angel of God coming in to him, and saying unto him, Cornelius.
4 And when he looked on him, he was afraid, and said, What is it, Lord? And he said unto him, Thy prayers and thine alms are come up for a memorial before God.

Can you imagine what Cornelius would be prayiing for? It might be for what he received when Peter got there, no?

5 And now send men to Joppa, and call for one Simon, whose surname is Peter:
6 He lodgeth with one Simon a tanner, whose house is by the sea side: he shall tell thee what thou oughtest to do.
7 And when the angel which spake unto Cornelius was departed, he called two of his household servants, and a devout soldier of them that waited on him continually;
8 And when he had declared all these things unto them, he sent them to Joppa.

Have you ever wondered why the angel did not tell Cornelius what he "oughtest to do?"

It was because Peter had been commissioned by Jesus Christ in Matt 16 as the apostle who would open the door of faith, first to the Jews, and then to the gentiles, and he had been given the key to the door.

Matt 16:13 When Jesus came into the coasts of Caesarea Philippi, he asked his disciples, saying, Whom do men say that I the Son of man am?
14 And they said, Some say that thou art John the Baptist: some, Elias; and others, Jeremias, or one of the prophets.
15 He saith unto them, But whom say ye that I am?
16 And Simon Peter answered and said, Thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God.
17 And Jesus answered and said unto him, Blessed art thou, Simon Barjona: for flesh and blood hath not revealed it unto thee, but my Father which is in heaven.
18 And I say also unto thee, That thou art Peter, and upon this rock I will build my church; and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it.
19 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.
20 Then charged he his disciples that they should tell no man that he was Jesus the Christ.

I have read the whole history of the beginning of the church of Jesus Christ in the Acts of the Apostles. I have read the first few chapters where the door was unlocked for the Jews to enter in by Peter and I have read how he opened the door of faith to the gentiles. This verifies the prophesy and the privilege of the great apostle Peter to do this and it proves to me that words mean what they say.

I even have read what Paul said about this event after his first missionary journey to the gentiles was complete and he was called to Jerusalem about the gentiles relationship to the Law of Moses.

Acts 14:26 And thence sailed to Antioch, from whence they had been recommended to the grace of God for the work which they fulfilled.
27 And when they were come, and had gathered the church together, they rehearsed all that God had done with them, and how he had opened the door of faith unto the Gentiles.
28 And there they abode long time with the disciples.
1 And certain men which came down from Judaea taught the brethren, and said, Except ye be circumcised after the manner of Moses, ye cannot be saved.
2 When therefore Paul and Barnabas had no small dissension and disputation with them, they determined that Paul and Barnabas, and certain other of them, should go up to Jerusalem unto the apostles and elders about this question.
3 And being brought on their way by the church, they passed through Phenice and Samaria, declaring the conversion of the Gentiles: and they caused great joy unto all the brethren.
4 And when they were come to Jerusalem, they were received of the church, and of the apostles and elders, and they declared all things that God had done with them.

I am hoping this will be a blessing to you, Van. It is reasonable and sensible and it is true.

 

To Van:

Do you want to hear a bummer? There have been 274 views on this thread and I have not received a single "like." Why do you think that is?