The Holy Spirit In Acts 2
By Carl O. Cooper
There are those who read Acts 2:38 and conclude that it teaches an “indwelling” of the Holy Spirit for all Christians which occurs at our baptism. Members of the church of Christ who teach this will usually also conclude that we cannot “feel” or “detect” the presence of the Holy Spirit but due to the way they read these verses, it must enter us there.
I would like to examine these Scriptures closely and decide what the Bible is telling us with these verses.
First off, let’s set the conditions of the context here so we can decide what’s going on. Most readers will remember this story in Acts chapter 2.
It is the Day of Pentecost which is a Jewish holiday which occurs 50 days after the Passover. It has been 10 days since Jesus ascended into Heaven. And the Apostles have gathered together in Jerusalem to wait for “The Comforter” which Jesus told them would come. There were great crowds of Jews in Jerusalem to observe the Pentecost holiday.
Suddenly there was the sound of a mighty wind where they were staying and fire appeared on the Apostles heads. This attracted a great crowd of people who were amazed at what they saw. And in addition to all this, there were many foreigners in Jerusalem and they all heard the Apostles speak to them in their own language. Picture this scene in your mind. Would you have been amazed? I think you would and I know I would.
The first reaction of the crowd was to accuse the Apostles of being drunk on wine. When he heard this the Apostle Peter addressed the crowd and gave a logical reason why they were not drunk. It was only the 3rd hour of the day. Too early for men to be drunk and so the explanation must be something else. Peter quoted prophecy and revealed the proper answer. “This is what was spoken by the prophet Joel:”
Acts 2:17-21 (KJV) And it shall come to pass in the last days, saith God, I will pour out of my Spirit upon all flesh: and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, and your young men shall see visions, and your old men shall dream dreams: 18 And on my servants and on my handmaidens I will pour out in those days of my Spirit; and they shall prophesy: 19 And I will shew wonders in heaven above, and signs in the earth beneath; blood, and fire, and vapour of smoke: 20 The sun shall be turned into darkness, and the moon into blood, before that great and notable day of the Lord come: 21 And it shall come to pass, that whosoever shall call on the name of the Lord shall be saved.
Now unless you understand the full context of what is being said in Acts Chapter 2 you can easily jump to conclusions that will lead you to a wrong understanding of what is being said and taught in these verses. There is more to know here than what is so far revealed by Joel. But look at some of the things he says.
It is obvious that Joel is speaking about the Holy Spirit. Look at all the miraculous things this Spirit will cause people to do. Can you do any of these things? Have you seen any of these miracles? No, none of us have. Now if this is the case then it would seem that Joel is not talking about us. So, who is Joel talking about? There is an answer to these questions and I think I can make it clear. But first, what about the last statement in verse 21? “And it shall come to pass, that whosoever shall call on the name of the Lord shall be saved”. How significant to the context is this statement by Joel? We will find out as we study just how significant this statement really is.
As we read in Acts 2 we can see how this miraculous sight affected the crowd and we are told that they understood that they had crucified the “Son of God” and they were “Pricked in their heart”. At this stage they asked Peter what they needed to do to be forgiven. Peter told them what they needed to do to have forgiveness with God and to be saved. Look at Acts 2:38.
Acts 2:38-39 (KJV)
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.
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.
So Peter told them to repent and be baptized for the forgiveness of their sins. This was true for them and it is just as true for us today. But look at the next statement by Peter is verse 38. “and ye shall receive the gift of the Holy Ghost.” Now here is where most people make a grave error in exegesis. Without thinking it through most people jump to the conclusion that “the gift of the Holy Ghost” is the Holy Ghost. And when they do this they equate the words Holy Ghost here with the word “Spirit” in the prophecy of Joel that Peter quoted.
So the error that many people make is to conclude that Joel prophesied that we would all receive the Holy Spirit when we were baptized and Peter confirmed it by saying we would receive “the gift of the Holy Spirit”.
Now it is true that Joel was talking about the Holy Spirit. And Peter confirmed this when he connected Joel’s words to the miraculous events that were going on in Jerusalem on that day. Joel described a miraculous pouring out of the Spirit on men and women. And Joel described several miraculous events and powers that would be seen when that special “Day of the Lord” would come. That very thing was being revealed in Jerusalem on that special day and Peter confirmed it.
But the Holy Spirit spoken of by Joel is not the same as “the gift of the Holy Spirit”. This gift was coming to all men because of a special promise that Peter mentions in verse 39. The promise of this gift is unto you, and to your children, and to all that are afar off. Everyone who repents and is baptized will receive this gift and it is for you and your children and all who are afar off. Now Joel spoke of the Holy Spirit causing miraculous events and wonders. Have you seen this since you were baptized?
The correct exegesis is this;
Joel prophesied about the miraculous events and wonders that would occur as signs to confirm the arrival of the church of Christ. This was the miraculous power that the Apostles had and also those on whom the Apostles laid their hands to transfer the power to them. But the gift of the Holy Spirit is salvation itself. A great promise was made about this salvation and it was given to Abraham by God. God told Abraham that through his seed “all nations of the earth would be blessed”. This was a mystery at that time but it was a promise that everyone would be blessed by the same opportunity to receive salvation. This promise included the Gentiles as well as the Jews. So you can see what is meant by the words in verse 39. This promise is to you and your children and all who are afar off.
So Joel’s prophecy included the Holy Spirit in a miraculous way. And we see that develop in the days of the Apostles. It does not extend into today. We cannot perform these miracles. But this promise of salvation on both Jew and Gentile does extend into us today. This promise will continue as long as time remains.
Remember what was quoted in verse 21 which was a part of Joel’s prophesy? 21 And it shall come to pass, that whosoever shall call on the name of the Lord shall be saved.
Sound familiar? It should. Even Joel quoted the promise given to Abraham about the Gentiles.
Now this is an explanation for the verses quoted in Acts chapter 2. Now don’t misunderstand me and conclude that we do not have the Holy Spirit today. To fully explain how the Holy Spirit works in us today would take another article or perhaps a book. But I will say this; The Holy Spirit indwells us today “thru means”. We receive the Holy Spirit through our contact with the word of God. I will explain that through another article.
Carl O. Cooper
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