Acts 2:38: Two Commands and a Promise

[Charnock]

As you look at Acts 2:38, how many commands (declared imperatives) do you see?

"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."

[Sam]

like the title of this thread,

I see 2 commands:

repent (get saved)
be baptized (follow up that salvation experience with baptism/mikveh)

and one promise i.e. the promise of the HGB (Holy Ghost Baptism) some times referred to as the Promise of the Father.

[mfblume]

TWO: Repent and get baptized.

[Charnock]

Is there any place in the Bible where men are commanded to receive the Holy Ghost?

Peter referred to it as a gift, not a work.

[Sam]

Is there any place in the Bible where men are commanded to receive the Holy Ghost?

Peter referred to it as a gift, not a work.

In Ephesians 5:18 Paul commended them to be filled (ongoingly filled or keep getting filled) with the Holy Spirit. These folks had already been born of the Spirit and sealed with the Spirit according to Ephesians chapter 1 where they are called "saints" and "faithful" and "in Christ" in verse 1 and in verses 13 - 14 it says:
13 And now you Gentiles have also heard the truth, the Good News that God saves you. And when you believed in Christ, he identified you as his own by giving you the Holy Spirit, whom he promised long ago. 14 The Spirit is God’s guarantee that he will give us the inheritance he promised and that he has purchased us to be his own people. He did this so we would praise and glorify him.

So these folks were already saved an were commanded to be filled with the Spirit.

Another place, and some here will not agree with this, is in Acts 1:4-8 and Luke 24:45-53 where Jesus commanded His disciples (who were already saved in my opinion) to wait/tarry for the empowering experience of the Holy Ghost Baptism.

In my opinion, Saul was justified/saved/born again on the Damascus Road on January 25, AD 32 but not baptized in the Spirit or filled with the Spirit until 3 days later when Ananias laid hands upon him. No command here but Saul had been told to go into Damascus and he would be told what to do and when Ananias came in he said, "I've come here to lay hands on you and minister the Holy Ghost Baptism to you" and then commanded him to get up and immerse himself since he had already had his sins washed away when he had called on the Lord.

[mizpeh]

Is there any place in the Bible where men are commanded to receive the Holy Ghost?

Peter referred to it as a gift, not a work. How can someone be commanded to receive the Holy Ghost? We can't take it from God, it has to be given to us. It's a passive thing on our part we receive, God gives. We have to ask.

But as for a command, an imperative to receive the Holy Spirit? John 20:22

[Austin]

Saved, Holy Ghost, operation of the Spirit, all gifts! Two commands. Repent and be baptised. To receive!

[TGBTG]

Is there any place in the Bible where men are commanded to receive the Holy Ghost?

Peter referred to it as a gift, not a work.

We can ask God to fill us. Not sure if that passes for a command though...

Luke 11:13 If ye then, being evil, know how to give good gifts unto your children: how much more shall your heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to them that ask him?

[Scott Hutchinson]

The Holy Ghost is a gift,but we are told in the scripture without the Spirit of Christ we are none of His.

[Sam]

...But as for a command, an imperative to receive the Holy Spirit? John 20:22

20 And when he had so said, he shewed unto them his hands and his side. Then were the disciples glad, when they saw the Lord. 21 Then said Jesus to them again, Peace be unto you: as my Father hath sent me, even so send I you. 22 And when he had said this, he breathed on them, and saith unto them, Receive ye the Holy Ghost: 23 Whose soever sins ye remit, they are remitted unto them; and whose soever sins ye retain, they are retained.
John 20:20-23 KJV

When Jesus breathed on them and said, "Receive the Holy Ghost," what (if anything) do you think happened?

Was this the beginning of a new creation and just like YHWH breathed life into man's nostrils and man became alive, is this YHWH in flesh breathing life/Spirit into a dead body/church and the church became alive?

[Sam]

...But as for a command, an imperative to receive the Holy Spirit? John 20:22

20 And when he had so said, he shewed unto them his hands and his side. Then were the disciples glad, when they saw the Lord. 21 Then said Jesus to them again, Peace be unto you: as my Father hath sent me, even so send I you. 22 And when he had said this, he breathed on them, and saith unto them, Receive ye the Holy Ghost: 23 Whose soever sins ye remit, they are remitted unto them; and whose soever sins ye retain, they are retained.
John 20:20-23 KJV

When Jesus breathed on them and said, "Receive the Holy Ghost," what (if anything) do you think happened?

Was this the beginning of a new creation and just like YHWH breathed life into man's nostrils and man became alive, is this YHWH in flesh breathing life/Spirit into a dead body/church and the church became alive?

[Sam]

20 And when he had so said, he shewed unto them his hands and his side. Then were the disciples glad, when they saw the Lord. 21 Then said Jesus to them again, Peace be unto you: as my Father hath sent me, even so send I you. 22 And when he had said this, he breathed on them, and saith unto them, Receive ye the Holy Ghost: 23 Whose soever sins ye remit, they are remitted unto them; and whose soever sins ye retain, they are retained.
John 20:20-23 KJV

When Jesus breathed on them and said, "Receive the Holy Ghost," what (if anything) do you think happened?

Was this the beginning of a new creation and just like YHWH breathed life into man's nostrils and man became alive, is this YHWH in flesh breathing life/Spirit into a dead body/church and the church became alive?

Jesus “breathed upon them, and saith unto them, Receive ye the Holy Ghost” KJV
In the Amplified Bible it says “Receive (admit) the Holy Spirit.”
Ken Wuest translates this in the Expanded NT as “Receive at once the Holy Spirit.”
Malcolm Smith translates/paraphrases it as “Receive here and now the Holy Spirit.”

There are differences of opinion on what actually happened here that night as they saw and believed in the resurrected Christ and acknowledged Him as Lord.

Some believe this was a symbolic gesture, a preview of when the Holy Spirit would come later on the Day of Pentecost. John Mac Arthur has a note in his Study Bible which says, “Since the disciples did not actually receive the Holy Spirit until the day of Pentecost, some 40 days in the future (Acts 1:8;2:1-3),this statement must be understood as a pledge on Christ’s part that the Holy Spirit would be coming.” Those who hold to this view believe that the disciples were not born again or did not have New Testament salvation at this time but that they would be saved/born again on the Day of Pentecost.

Others believe that this was the beginning of the New Testament dispensation. The disciples had been saved/born again by faith and this was the actual impartation of the Holy Spirit coming to dwell within them. He had been with them but now He was within them. Later, on the Day of Pentecost, the disciples were baptized in and empowered by the Holy Spirit. David J. DuPlessis said, “The upper room on the resurrection day was a maternity ward. Pentecost was a baptismal service,” Those who hold this view believe that a person is born of the Spirit by faith in Jesus and then as a child of God has a promise of a baptism in the Holy Spirit which is called ”the promise of the Father” as an experience subsequent to salvation/regeneration.

Here is a note from The Spirit Filled Life Bible
“The allusion to Gen 2:7 is unmistakable. Now, Jesus breathed life into His own. Some interpret this statement, ‘receive the Holy Ghost’ as symbolic and as anticipating Pentecost. Others understand the Greek to denote immediacy, in the sense of ‘receive right now’ and view the day of the Lord’s resurrection as marking the transition from the terms of the old covenant to those of the new covenant. The old creation began with the breath of God; now the new creation begins with the breath of God the Son.” page 1613

Here is a quote from Derek Prince’s Foundation Series, Vol 2 page 60
“...the tense of the imperative form ‘receive’ indicated that the receiving was a single, complete experience which took place as Jesus uttered the word. It is therefore an incontestable, scriptural fact that at that moment the apostles did actually receive the Spirit.
In this first encounter with the resurrected Christ, the apostles passed from ‘Old Testament salvation’ to ‘New Testament salvation.’ Up to that time the believers of the OT had looked forward by faith, through prophecies and types and shadows, to a redemptive act which had not yet taken place. Those who enter into ‘NT salvation,’ on the other hand look back with clear vision to a single historical event: the death and resurrection of Christ. Their salvation is complete.”

A Jay Snell Evangelistic Assoc. Publication dated June/July 1998 says:
“He meant for them to ‘receive’ the Holy Ghost then and there. How do we know this? We know it because ‘receive’ is in the imperative mood in the Greek text. The imperative mood in the Greek had no future. It was the mood a Greek would use to tell someone very strongly that he/she wanted them to do something now. In other words, Jesus meant for them to ‘receive’ the Holy Ghost then and there. He issued the directive of a command to be obeyed at once. There never was a future concerning the Greek imperative. It always meant ‘do it now.’”

[onefaith2]

Acts 2:38 is two commands and a promise.. Some use John 3:5 to indicate the command of the Spirit baptism.. some use Romans 8:9

John 3:8 ends with so is everyone that is born of the Spirit (does not say so is everyone WHEN they are born of the Spirit) .. to me this says everyone that is saved is supposed to have the experience.. where did the wind blow and have a sound? Acts 2

Romans 8:11 to me is talking about the HG and Romans 8:9, while the Spirit of Christ is the HG, I believe we receive Christ's atonement by faith and baptism into his death.. I believe that repentance is the point we become a child of faith and baptism is the point we take on the name of Jesus.. I DO NOT BELIEVE one that is repentant and baptized still cannot be CHRIST'S That is why I see Romans 8:9, Spirit of Christ, as the work of the atonement, and Romans 8:11 as the work of the Holy Ghost to quicken our mortal bodies so that we may live for him.

just my thoughts

[Originalist]

like the title of this thread,

I see 2 commands:

repent (get saved)
be baptized (follow up that salvation experience with baptism/mikveh)

and one promise i.e. the promise of the HGB (Holy Ghost Baptism) some times referred to as the Promise of the Father.

I also see two commands..

Repent (towards God)

Baptism (faith towards Jesus to remove that which makes it impossible for us to be saved, namely sin)

Then we are given salvation which is the gift of the Holy Ghost (salvation-"we shall be saved by his life")

[Amanah]

this is the what I got from reading The Normal Christian Life by Watchmen Nee, I don't necessarily agree with him word for word, but thought he explained it very well.


Watchman Nee: The Normal Christian Life
Published in 1977 by Tyndale House Publishers, Inc

Chapter 5 - The Divide of the Cross

Nee says that once we realized that we are crucified and have died with Christ, then we are ready for our burial, our baptism.

"The greatest negative in the universe is the Cross, for with it God wiped out everything that was not of himself: the greatest positive in the universe is the resurrection, for through it God brought into being all he willl have in the new sphere." ( Nee 88)

Romans 6 says that we are buried with Jesus through baptism into his death. We are saved by baptism because it is the dividing line of the Cross. Baptism is where we are take our dead selves and bury it in Jesus and what he did on the Cross and where we are translated into the new kingdom.

"You come up in Christ, but your world is drowned." (Nee 90)

Baptism connects us to Jesus' death and resurrection. We are united with him in the likness of his death. His death becomes our death, and by faith we can substantiate his death and resurrection and walk in newness of life.

We are grafted into the olive tree so we can bear good fruit, the fruit of the Spirit.

"God has cut off the old creation by the Cross of his Son in order to bring in a new creation in Christ by resurrection. He has shut the door to that old kingdom of darkness and translated me into the kingdom of his dear Son. My glorying is in the fact that it has been done - that , through the Cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, that old world has 'been crucified unto me, and I unto the world' (Gal 6:14). My baptism is my public testimony to the fact. By it, as by my oral witness, my 'confession is made unto salvation' (Rom. 10:10)" (Nee 98)


Ok, I love Watchman Nee, he explains things in a way that makes it so plain and so real and vibrant. I'm very inspired by him and my faith is strengthened and increased. I'm going to face this day with confidence, knowing that my old self is buried in Christ, and I walk in the newness of his life.

Watchman Nee: The Normal Christian Life
Published in 1977 by Tyndale House Publishers, Inc

From the Cross and the blood of Jesus, we receive remission of sins.
Because Jesus rose from the dead we can have new life
Because Jesus was glorified we can receive the Holy Spirit

Nee believes that Acts 2:38 teaches:

Repentance
Baptism
Forgiveness of Sins
Gift of the Holy Spirit

When we do the first two, Repent, and be baptised as a confession of faith, then God forgives us and fills us with the Holy Spirit

Nee has an interesting take on the the manifestation of the outpouring of the Holy Ghost, see below:

"The Diversity Of The Experience
But you ask: ‘How shall I know that the Holy Spirit is come upon me?’ I cannot tell how
you will know, but you will know. No description has been given us of the personal sensations
and emotions of the disciples at Pentecost. We do not know exactly how they felt, but we
do know that their feelings and behaviour were somewhat abnormal, because people seeing
them said they were intoxicated. When the Holy Spirit falls upon God’s people there will
be some things which the world cannot account for. There will be supernatural accompaniments
of some kind, though it be no more than an overwhelming sense of the Divine Presence.
We cannot and we must not stipulate what particular form such outward expressions
will take in any given case, but one thing is sure, that each one upon whom the Spirit of God
falls will know it.
When the Holy Spirit came upon the disciples at Pentecost there was something quite
extraordinary about their behaviour, and Peter offered an explanation from God’s Word to
all who witnessed it. This, in substance, is what he said: ‘When the Holy Spirit falls upon
believers, some will prophesy, some will dream dreams, and others will see visions. This is
what God has stated through the prophet Joel.’ But did Peter prophesy? Well, hardly in the
sense in which Joel meant it. Did the hundred and twenty prophesy or see visions? We are
not told that they did. Did they dream dreams? How could they, for were they not all wide
awake? Well then, what did Peter mean by using a quotation that seems scarcely to fit the
case at all? In the passage quoted (Joel 2:28, 29), prophesy, dreams and visions are said to
accompany the outpouring of the Spirit, yet these evidences were apparently lacking at
Pentecost.
On the other hand, Joel’s prophecy said not a word about “a sound as of the rushing of
a mighty wind”, nor about “tongues parting asunder like as of fire” as accompaniments of
the Spirit’s outpouring; yet these were manifest in that upper room. And where in Joel do
we find mention of speaking in other tongues? And yet the disciples at Pentecost did so.
What did Peter mean? Imagine him quoting God’s Word to show that the experience
of Pentecost was the outpouring of the Spirit spoken of by Joel, without a single one of the
evidences mentioned by Joel being found at Pentecost. What the Book mentioned the disciples
lacked, and what the disciples had the Book did not mention! It looks as though Peter’s
quotation of the Book disproves his point rather than proving it. What is the explanation
of this mystery?
Let us recall that Peter was himself speaking under the control of the Holy Spirit. The
Book of the Acts was written by the Spirit’s inspiration, and not one word was spoken at
random. There is no misfit, but a perfect harmony. Note carefully that Peter did not say:
‘What you see and hear fulfills what was spoken by the prophet Joel’. What he said was:
“This is that which hath been spoken by the prophet Joel” (Acts 2:16). It was not a case of
fulfillment, but of an experience of the same order. “This is that” means that ‘this which you
see and hear is of the same order as that which is foretold’. When it is a case of fulfillment,
each experience is reduplicated and prophecy is prophecy, dreams are dreams, and visions
are visions; but when Peter says “This is that”, it is not a question of the one being a replica
of the other, but of the one belonging to the same category as the other. “This” amounts to
the same thing as “that”; “this” is the equivalent of “that”; “this is that”. What is being emphasized
by the Holy Spirit through Peter is the diversity of the experience. The outward
evidences may be many and varied, and we have to admit that occasionally they are strange;
but the Spirit is one, and He is Lord."

Here is the link to his book online
http://www.ccel.org/ccel/nee/normal.pdf

So, I was taught that this experience is evidenced by speaking in tongues, and I have seen enough people receive the HG speaking in tongues that I'm good with that interpretation. But I still thought Nee's take on it was interesting.

[Truthseeker]

"Holy Ghost, whom God hath given to them obey him" acts 5:32.

[Amanah]

It's like this, if you repent and get baptized you are promised a gift

a gift is a good thing, it's something you want

something that you would be very foolish not to receive

------------

So God says, "I have a gift for you"
who in their right mind says "do I have to have this gift?"

[Amanah]

reading in my bible this morning.
I see where the flood was symbolic of baptism.
We are saved by baptism, not because our sins are remitted.
But because of the resurrection of Jesus Christ.
We, with Jesus are put to death in the body, but made alive in the Spirit.
There can't just be a death and burial, there has to be a resurrection.

1 Peter 3 NIV

He was put to death in the body but made alive by the Spirit, through whom also he went and preached to the spirits in prison who disobeyed long ago when God waited patiently in the days of Noah while the ark was being built. In it only a few people, eight in all, were saved through water, and this water symbolizes baptism that now saves you also -- not the remove of dirt from the body but the pledge of a good conscience toward God. It saves you by the resurrection of Jesus Christ, who has gone into heaven and is at God's right hand - - with angels, authority and powers in submission to him.

Romans 8:11

English Standard Version (ESV)
11If the Spirit of(A) him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, he who raised Christ Jesus from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies(B) through his Spirit who dwells in you.

so, there are 2 commands:
Repent and be Baptized

but the whole reason for the repentance and baptism is the promise of the Holy Ghost.

[OneAccord]

Maybe I'm the odd ball here, but I don't think of the first two ("Repent and be baptized...") as commands. I see them as invitations. We are invited to recieve forgiveness of our sins by repenting and being baptized in His name. Queen Vashti could only come into the kings presence at his invitation (command). We can only come to Christ at His invitation. Jhn 6:44 The Lord issues the invitation to us to repent and to be identified with Him by being baptized in His Name.

If, in fact, the first two are commands in the strictest sense of the word, then the promise (Holy Ghost) could not be issued until both commands are obeyed. But, we have evidence that this is not the case (Cornelius' household).

I see repentance and baptism as invitations to become recipients to the Promise of the infilling of the Holy Ghost, given to those who obey (accept) God's invitation (Acts 5:32)

[Pressing-On]

reading in my bible this morning.
I see where the flood was symbolic of baptism.
We are saved by baptism, not because our sins are remitted.
But because of the resurrection of Jesus Christ.
We, with Jesus are put to death in the body, but made alive in the Spirit.
There can't just be a death and burial, there has to be a resurrection.

1 Peter 3 NIV

He was put to death in the body but made alive by the Spirit, through whom also he went and preached to the spirits in prison who disobeyed long ago when God waited patiently in the days of Noah while the ark was being built. In it only a few people, eight in all, were saved through water, and this water symbolizes baptism that now saves you also -- not the remove of dirt from the body but the pledge of a good conscience toward God. It saves you by the resurrection of Jesus Christ, who has gone into heaven and is at God's right hand - - with angels, authority and powers in submission to him.

Romans 8:11

English Standard Version (ESV)
11If the Spirit of(A) him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, he who raised Christ Jesus from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies(B) through his Spirit who dwells in you.

so, there are 2 commands:
Repent and be Baptized

but the whole reason for the repentance and baptism is the promise of the Holy Ghost.

:thumbsup :thumbsup