Start Your Day Right Devotion
(KJV) 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.
REPENT AND BE BAPTIZED / ACTS 2:38
Admitting and turning form sin, accepting God’s forgiveness, and being baptized in water are the conditions Peter states here for receiving the gift of the Holy Spirit. However, Peter’s call for his hearers to be baptized in water before receiving the promise of the Father (Acts 1:4, 8) must not be viewed as an absolute requirement for spiritual salvation or the infilling and empowerment with the Spirit. True repentance and faith are the conditions for receiving forgiveness and spiritual salvation (Mark 16:16, where Jesus describes water baptism in connection with salvation, but clearly states that believing – or refusing to believe – in Him determines whether a person will be spiritually saved or condemned). Also, baptism in the Spirit is not an automatic result of water baptism (Romans 6:4).
- In this situation, Peter required water baptism prior to receiving the promise of the Spirit because in the minds of his Jewish listeners, the custom of baptism was taken for granted as being involved in any decision to turn from one’s own way and follow God’s way. Water baptism did not precede the baptism in the Spirit, however, in the instances recorded in Acts 9:17-18 (the apostle Paul) and Acts 10:44-48 (those in Cornelius’ house).
- Each believer, after turning from his or her own sinful way and accepting Jesus Christ by faith, must “receive” (Galatians 3:14) a personal baptism in the Spirit. This is not a requirement for salvation, but throughout the book of Acts the gift of the Spirit was something that individuals consciously desired, received and applied (Acts 1:4, 14; 4:31; 8:14-17; 19:2-6). The only possible exception to the rule in the New Testament was the case of Cornelius (Acts 10:44-48). We must not consider the baptism in the Spirit as a gift automatically provided to a Christian apart from a conscious desire to receive it.
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