RECEIVE GODS POWER. Acts 2:38 Peter replied, “Each of you must turn from your sins and turn to God, and be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins. Then you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. 39 This promise is to you and to your children, and even to the Gentiles* —all who have been called by the Lord our God.” 40 Then Peter continued preaching for a long time, strongly urging all his listeners, “Save yourselves from this generation that has gone astray!” 41 Those who believed what Peter said were baptized and added to the church—about three thousand in all. 42 They joined with the other believers and devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and fellowship, sharing in the Lord’s Supper and in prayer.-----In answer to the people’s question, Peter presented a fourfold challenge: 1. Turn from your sins—In other words, “repent.” It is a basic and wholehearted change of mind that results in a change of purpose, direction, and values. The words, each of you, remind the listener (and modern reader) that this message is for all. Everyone needs to make a decision about Christ. His offer is the only effective solution for the sin problem that plagues every descendant of Adam. 2. Turn to God—In addition to turning from sin, people must turn to God. It does no good to turn from sin without turning then to the one who can solve the sin problem. 3. Be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins—For believers, baptism is visible proof of repentance and commitment to follow Jesus, the Messiah. The idea of baptism for the forgiveness of sins does not mean that baptism results in forgiveness of sins but rather that forgiveness of sins as a result of accepting Jesus as Savior should result in a baptism—an outward display of an inner conviction. Repentance, not baptism, is what brings forgiveness. 4. Receive the gift of the Holy Spirit—Only through the coming of the Holy Spirit into believers’ hearts can they truly experience forgiveness of sin. The “gift of the Holy Spirit” (not multiple or varied gifts but rather a singular gift) is the Spirit himself. The Holy Spirit is a gift from God. As Jesus had promised, he is the Comforter and the one who guides his people. Philippians 3:9 and become one with him. I no longer count on my own goodness or my ability to obey God’s law, but I trust Christ to save me. For God’s way of making us right with himself depends on faith. 10 As a result, I can really know Christ and experience the mighty POWER that raised him from the dead. I can learn what it means to suffer with him, sharing in his death, 11 so that, somehow, I can experience the resurrection from the dead!----The word for know here is the same form used in 3:8, referring to personal, experiential knowledge. To know Christ is more than merely to know facts or doctrine about him. It should be the goal of every believer to know Christ more fully and personally, and that can be a lifelong process. Paul also wanted to experience the mighty POWER that raised him from the dead. The POWER of the Holy Spirit that brought Jesus back from the dead is available to all believers to raise them from spiritual death now (Ephesians 1:19-20) and from their physical death in the future (Romans 8:11). Paul wanted to know this POWER, personally and experientially, for that POWER assures Christians of their justification (Romans 4:25; 1 Corinthians 15:17) and of their regeneration as they identify with Christ in resurrection (Romans 6:4; Colossians 2:12; 3:1, 10). Paul also wanted to learn what it means to suffer with him, sharing his death. Paul was not referring to sharing Christ’s death on the cross; that suffering could not be shared because it was Christ’s alone. But Paul wanted to participate with Christ, as a believer, in suffering for the gospel (1:29). Even as Paul had already suffered greatly for the gospel and was suffering in prison at the writing of this letter, he still wanted to know, firsthand, what it meant to suffer for Christ. He was willing to experience more in order to serve Christ, who had suffered so much for him (Colossians 1:24). Believers share his death as they “die” to sin and to the old nature. In a transaction we cannot completely understand, when Jesus died on the cross, we died to our former life. Christ took our punishment on himself, so God looks at us as though we have died to sin and then have been raised, along with Christ, to newness of life. When we are united with Christ by trusting in him, we experience the POWER that raised him from the dead. That same mighty POWER will help us live morally renewed and regenerated lives. But before we can walk in newness of life, we must also die to sin. Just as Christ’s resurrection gives us his POWER to live for him, his crucifixion marks the death of our old sinful nature. We can’t know the victory of the Resurrection without personally applying the Crucifixion. God Save the World, Inc.
Posted on: Sun, 06 Jul 2014 09:23:47 +0000
Trending Topics
Recently Viewed Topics
© 2015