Acts 2:38 Peter replied, “Repent and be baptized, each of you, in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins, and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. 39 For the promise is for you and for your children, and for all who are far off,

The Christian life is really very simple. Often, we try to make the Christian life complicated.… We think we must produce something or accomplish something to walk in the Spirit. But, no—the price has already been paid. Although that seems too simple, we finally accept it. At that very moment the Holy Spirit moves into our house to live.

When He comes in, several things being to happen. First, He comes in to lead us according to the Bible, he leads us by His book because, after all, He wrote it.… The Holy Spirit-inspired Bible provides all the guidance we will ever need. But that’s not all The Holy Sprit comes to teach us. This wonderful Holy Spirit comes in to comfort, to strengthen, to fill and to cleanse.

No one has to tell a river to flow. If no one blocks it, it will flow automatically. No one has to tell the Holy Spirit to do His work. If we quit bothering and blocking Him, He will do His work. It’s the natural thing, just as it is natural for birds to fly and fish to swim and the sun to shine and the river to flow. No one needs to encourage Him; we just must not discourage Him.

It is the natural thing for the new nature that comes in with the Holy Sprit to receive the work of the Holy Sprit, so let Him who is now within you do what He will.

What does it mean to receive the gift of the Holy Spirit?

It means, if you truly repent and are baptized in the name of Jesus Christ, the Holy Spirit will be given to you, and will make a difference in your life. From that day on you will have the Holy Spirit. Romans 8:9

All it says is that from the day of your repentance and your identification with Jesus Christ, the Holy Spirit will be at work in your life as a gift. From that day on you can begin to seek his extraordinary empowerings and fillings (Acts 4:31; Ephesians 3:19).

Tongues Are Not Necessary to Being Baptized in the Spirit

Pentecostals argue that since baptism in the Spirit happened these four times with speaking in tongues, we should regard this as normative.

Speaking in tongues is not a necessary part of being baptized in the Spirit.

1. It is not taught anywhere in the New Testament. It seems risky to me to say, since it happened this way four times in the book of Acts that it must happen this way all the time.

2. What Jesus does teach in Acts 1:5 and 8 is that the experience of baptism in the Spirit will bring power to witness into the Christian life. In the terminology of Acts, we could say, what a powerless Christian needs is a baptism in the Holy Spirit.

3. Acts records at least nine other conversion stories, but never again mentions a two-step sequence with tongues (8:36; 9:17–19; 13:12, 48; 14:1; 16:14; 17:4, 34). This shows how difficult it is to establish a norm from the way things happened back then.

4. It could be that there were special circumstances in Jerusalem, Samaria, Cornelius’ house, and Ephesus that made speaking in tongues especially helpful in communicating the truth that the Holy Spirit was creating a new unified body of Jew and Samaritan and Gentile.

5. Paul says in 1 Corinthians 12:30 that “not all speak in tongues” and the words he uses are for general tongues speaking, not merely for a special “gift of tongues” used in church. He seems to have in view the person who feels ostracized without tongues and says (v. 16), “Because I am not an eye, I do not belong to the body.” Paul responds, “Not everybody speaks in tongues!”

It seems that Luke leaves wide open the possibility that the Holy Spirit might fall upon a person with revolutionizing power over sin and power for witnessing and power in worship and yet not with tongues. To say this person is not part of Jesus’ promise to baptize us in the Holy Spirit goes beyond Scripture. “You will be baptized with the Holy Spirit … and you shall receive power” (Acts 1:5, 8). That is the biblical sign.

The Experience of Baptism in the Spirit

When you read the New Testament clearly, you get the impression of a big difference from a lot of contemporary Christian experience. In Protestant evangelicalism it is equated with a subconscious work of God in regeneration which you only know you have because the Bible says you do if you believe. It is easy to imagine a spiritual counselor saying to a new convert today, “Don’t expect to notice any difference: just believe you have received the Spirit.” But that is far from what we see in the New Testament.

Reasons from Acts why Baptism of the Spirit is important.

1. The very term “baptized in the Holy Spirit” (1:5; 11:16) implies an immersion in the life of the Spirit. “John immersed in water; you will be immersed in the Spirit.” If the Spirit overwhelms you like a baptism, you can’t imagine him merely sneaking in quietly while you are asleep and taking up inconspicuous residence.

2. Jesus says in Acts 1:5 and 8 that baptism in the Spirit means, “You shall receive power … and you shall be my witnesses.” This is an experience of boldness and confidence and victory over sin. A Christian without power is a Christian who needs a baptism in the Holy Spirit. 1

Corinthians 12:13 Paul says that baptism in the Spirit is an act of God by which we become a part of the body of Christ at conversion, but we have done wrong in limiting Paul’s understanding of the baptism in the Holy Spirit to this initial, subconscious divine act in conversion and then forcing all of Luke’s theology in Acts into that little mold.

There is no reason to think that even for Paul the baptism in the Holy Spirit was limited to the initial moment of conversion. And for sure in the book of Acts the baptism in the Holy Spirit is more than a subconscious divine act of regeneration—it is a conscious experience of power (Acts 1:8).

3. When you take your concordance and look up every text in Acts where the Holy Spirit works in believers, it is never subconscious. In Acts the Holy Spirit is not a silent influence but an experienced power. Believers experienced the baptism in the Holy Spirit. They didn’t just believe it happened because an apostle said so.

4. We should stress the experience of baptism in the Holy Spirit because in Acts the apostles teach that it is a consequence of faith not a subconscious cause of faith. this regenerating work of God’s Spirit is not the limit of what Peter means by baptism in the Spirit. In Acts 11:15–17 Peter reports how the Holy Spirit fell on Cornelius just as on the disciples at Pentecost. The gift of the Spirit, or baptism in the Spirit, is preceded by faith. The baptism in the Spirit is an experience of the Spirit given after faith to faith.

Receiving the Spirit Is a Life-Changing Experience

Galatians 5:22 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith,

But the mentality behind the fruit of the Spirit is the mentality of faith depending upon grace. People who bear the fruit of the Spirit know they are worthy only of condemnation.

Paul assumes that some powerful battle has been fought and won in the deep territory of our soul. That’s the meaning of verse 24, “Those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires.”

verse 24, “Those who belong to Christ have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires.” Christ has taken possession of our soul. Our old self has been dealt a mortal wound and stripped of its power to have dominion.

“But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness, temperance: against such there is no law” (Galatians 5:22–23). That’s what we’re dealing with, the word temperance, which means, “control.” in some Bibles, it’s translated, “self-control.” it could be and should be, “Spirit-control,” . The word literally means, “to be in control.” The question is, who is in control?

The Spirit-Controlled Life and The Law of God

How to live the Spirit-controlled life, my life is to be brought under discipline, if my life is to be in control—in control of what? What is the standard? How am I going to know whether or not my life is in control? Well, the standard is the law of God.

chapter 5, verse 13: “For, brethren, ye have been called unto liberty; only use not liberty for an occasion to the flesh,”—that is, don’t let the flesh have its fling, just because you’ve been called to liberty—“but by love serve one another.” Well, how are we going to know what the standard of love is? Well, he goes on to say: “For all the law is fulfilled in one word, even in this; Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself’ ” (Galatians 5:13–14).

So the standard is the law. And if I want to know whether I’m living a life that meets God’s standard, it’s just simply this: Do I love others as I love myself? The standard of the Spirit-controlled life is the law, and the measurement of that is love.

Some People See the Law as Their Enemy

Some people see the law as their enemy. The flesh says, “I don’t want to have anything to do with any kind of law.” The flesh says, “Don’t fence me in. I want to do my thing.

Some People See the Law as Their Master

Some see the law as their enemy; others see the law as their master. And Paul is preaching against this. Others are trying to live under the law, and the law has become their master; and, they’re struggling, and they are failing.

their life is one great big list of don’ts: 10,000 don’ts won’t make you one whit more like Jesus.

The Spirit-Controlled Life: Be Led by the Spirit

Galatians 5:16 “This I say then, Walk in the Spirit, and ye shall not fulfil the lust of the flesh.” there’s that part of my nature called the flesh, there’s that part of my nature called the spirit, that’s been born again. And so I have both of those things struggling in me;

The old flesh, that wants to be in control. And then, there’s the Holy Spirit in the human spirit, saying, “Live for God, and live victorious.” And so there’s a civil war going on, “These are contrary the one to the other: so that ye cannot do the things that ye would” (Galatians 5:17). we don’t have what it takes. We, in ourselves, don’t have what it takes. You cannot, by self-effort, do it. You cannot do the things that you would.

Ephesians chapter 5, verse 18: “Don’t be drunk with wine, but be filled with the Spirit” (Ephesians 5:18). Why did God say, “Don’t be drunk with wine, but be filled with the Spirit”? Not only in contrast, but in comparison; because being filled with the Spirit is a lot like getting drunk with wine. A man must decide to drink, that’s his decision. But once he decides to drink, then the liquor takes over. When he gets drunk, he’s under the control of that liquor. And so you must, by an act of your will, decide that you’re going to be led of the Spirit.

“Walk in the Spirit” (Galatians 5:16). Now what does that mean?

Paul can say in Acts 19:2 when he meets the confused disciples of John the Baptist, “Did you receive the Holy Spirit when you believed?” How could Paul ask that question? He could ask it because receiving the Holy Spirit is a real experience. There are marks of it in your life. And the best way to test the faith of these so-called disciples is to ask them about their experience of the Spirit.

This is no different than what Paul said in Romans 8:14, “All who are led by the Spirit are the sons of God” (2 Corinthians 13:5 and 1 John 3:24; 4:12–13). It is very possible that we have so redefined conversion in terms of human decisions and have so removed any necessity of the experience of God’s Spirit, that many people think they are saved when in fact they only have Christian ideas in their head not spiritual power in their heart.

The real issue is not the issue of tongues. In itself that is relatively unimportant. The really important issue is the truth that receiving the gift of the Holy Spirit is a real, life-changing experience. Christianity is not merely an array of glorious ideas. It is not just the performance of rituals and sacraments. It is the life-changing experience of the Holy Spirit through faith in Jesus Christ the Lord of the universe.

This Experience of the Holy Spirit

A Heart of Praise: the heart in which the Holy Spirit has been poured out will stop magnifying self and start magnifying God. Heartfelt praise and worship is the mark of a real experience of the Holy Spirit.

Obedience. In Acts 5:29 Peter and the apostles say to the Sadducees who had arrested them, “We must obey God rather than men.” It is inevitable that when the object of your heart’s worship changes, your obedience changes. When Jesus baptizes you in the Holy Spirit, and infuses you with a new sense of the glory of God, you have a new desire and a new power (1:8) to obey. The Holy Spirit causes in a person, a new desire to magnify God in worship and a powerful disposition to obey God in everyday life.

How to Receive the Gift of the Holy Spirit.

1.The Word of God must be heard. Peter has preached that in God’s plan Jesus was crucified, raised, and exalted as Lord over all the universe and that forgiveness of sin and spiritual renewal can be had from him.

We Must Receive the Word

Verse 41: “So those who received his word were baptized.” Receiving the Word means that it becomes part of you so that you trust the Christ it presents. You trust his provision for your forgiveness. You trust his path for your life. You trust his power to help you obey. And you trust his promises for your future. And that radical commitment to Christ always involves repentance, a turning away from your own self-wrought provisions and paths and powers and promises.

We must give an open expression of faith in the act of water baptism in obedience to Jesus Christ. Baptism was the universal experience of all Christians in the New Testament. There were no unbaptized Christians after Pentecost. Christ had commanded it (Matthew 28:18f.) and the church practiced it.

These are the two great needs that we all have.

The first is to be forgiven—to have all the violations and offenses and transgressions and disobedience and sins cancelled out. “Though your sins be as scarlet they shall be as white as snow!” (Isaiah 1:18).

And the second need is to have God himself come into our lives where sin once reigned. We need a personal relationship with God through his Spirit. We need wisdom and guidance and love and joy and peace and patience and goodness and self-control. And we need extraordinary power for the task of local and world evangelization. We need the gift of the Holy Spirit.

“What Shall We Do?”

Verse 38 gives the answer: “Repent, and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ.” Let’s consider these two things one at a time, first repentance, then baptism in the name of Jesus.

Repent

Repentance is not just regret. They had already been cut to the heart (v. 3). And now Peter says, “Repent!” So repentance is more than feeling sorry. It means following through on that conviction and turning around—changing your mind and your heart so that you are no longer at odds with God but in sync with God.

Be Baptized in the Name of Jesus Christ

Some groups teach that water baptism is not only a proper act of obedience and an expression of faith, but is also part of the essential means by which God forgives sin. Faith is not enough to gain forgiveness for these groups. They say you must be baptized with water before you can be forgiven.

What shall we make of that?

There are too many examples throughout the Bible that shows we are justified by placing our faith in what God is doing at the time. In the Old Testament, first, it was simply believing what God said, Abram. Then it was faith in the sacrifice, then it was faith in Jesus the perfect sacrifice. Water does not save anyone.

“Receive the forgiveness of your sins by repenting and by believing in the name of Jesus Christ, which you signify through baptism.” That would mean that the name of Jesus and faith in that name is the essential means of receiving forgiveness, and baptism is the external expression of faith in the name of Jesus.

Faith in the Name of Jesus in the Book of Acts

Acts 2:21 Peter quoted Joel with these simple words, “Whoever calls upon the name of the Lord will be saved.”

Peter concludes his sermon to the Gentiles at Cornelius’ house like this: Acts 10:43, “To Jesus all prophets bear witness that everyone who believes in him receives forgiveness of sins through his name.”

When Peter tells about this ministry to the Gentiles in Acts 15:9, he says, “God made no distinction between us and them, but cleansed their hearts by faith.”

In Acts 13:38–39 Paul brings his sermon at Antioch to a conclusion with the same kind of promise that Peter used: “Let it be known to you therefore, brethren, that through this man [Jesus] forgiveness of sins is proclaimed to you, and by him every one that believes is freed from everything from which you could not be freed by the law of Moses.”

When Paul summed up his three-year ministry in Ephesus, he said (in Acts 20:20–21), “I did not shrink from declaring to you anything that was profitable, and teaching you in public and from house to house, testifying both to Jews and to Greeks of repentance to God and of faith in our Lord Jesus Christ.”

The essential means of receiving the forgiveness of sins and receiving the gift of the Holy Spirit is the decisive two-sided spiritual act: repentance and belief in the name of Jesus. Baptism,

then, is the outward expression of this repentance and faith. Before he left the earth, Jesus commanded us to make disciples by calling for a public act of faith—an open identification with Jesus in his death and burial and resurrection. And so in the New Testament believing in Christ and being baptized are very closely related. This is the New Testament way to follow Christ: repent, believe, and express that in baptism.

God Is Ready to Forgive You and Give You His Spirit

God himself stands ready to forgive us! And not only to forgive but to give us his Spirit! He is willing to cancel all our debts to Him, and then come and live with us guide us change us, and empower us.

The Holy Spirit takes possession now of the person who has been bought with the precious blood of Jesus Christ. Real salvation is not just to believe something, or to achieve something, but to receive Someone. That someone is Jesus, and He will change our life.