Day 920: What must we do? - Acts 2 vs 32 - 39

32 “This Jesus God raised up, and of that we all are witnesses. 33 Being therefore exalted at the right hand of God, and having received from the Father the promise of the Holy Spirit, he has poured out this that you yourselves are seeing and hearing. 34-35 For David did not ascend into the heavens, but he himself says, 'The Lord said to my Lord, Sit at my right hand, until I make your enemies your footstool.’ 36 Let all the house of Israel therefore know for certain that God has made him both Lord and Christ, this Jesus whom you crucified.”

37 Now when they heard this they were cut to the heart, and said to Peter and the rest of the apostles, “Brothers, what shall we do?” 38 And Peter said to them, “Repent and be baptized every one 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, everyone whom the Lord our God calls to himself.” Acts 2:32-39 English Standard Version

We're in the chapter which tells of the day when the Holy Spirit came upon the disciples of Jesus who were gathered in an upper room in Jerusalem. The sound of a rushing wind, the appearance of tongues of flame on the heads of the followers of Jesus, and hearing the message of Christ's resurrection in their own unique language had caused a major stir among the people that day. And having testified that Jesus had indeed risen from the grave, Peter now tells the crowd that he and the other disciples had witnessed Jesus physically ascending into heaven. What does he then say was the current status of Jesus? (vs 33)

Jesus had been exalted to the right hand of God! For Jewish hearers this implied a position of supreme authority. Not only that, in His exalted state Jesus had received the promise of God, made through Old Testament prophets such as Ezekiel, of the Holy Spirit. So the things the people were seeing and hearing were evidence of the Holy Spirit being given to the Church. How do the words of King David, which Peter quotes in vs 34-35, also testify to the exalted state of Jesus?

David was the writer of Psalm 110, and vs 1 of that Psalm said: 'The Lord said to my Lord, Sit at my right hand, until I make your enemies your footstool.’ The Holy Spirit enabled David centuries earlier to realize there were two heavenly persons more powerful and greater than he was. What David saw in Old Testament language was that God the Father said those words to God the Son. What was the serious charge that Peter then brought against the people he was speaking to? (vs 36)

Many of those people would’ve been at the Passover feast in Jerusalem some seven weeks earlier, the feast at which the crowds had cried out “Crucify him, crucify him!” But Peter now tells them that the man they had crucified was the one David had prophesied about, and who was now exalted at God's right hand! No wonder the people responded as we see in vs 37!

When Jesus was still in the world He had told the disciples that He would send the Holy Spirit to them, and said that when the Holy Spirit came, He (the Holy Spirit) would “convict the world concerning sin and righteousness and judgement.” (John 16:8) And this is what happened on that day of Pentecost in Jerusalem. The Holy Spirit used the words the apostles preached to pierce the hearts of the hearers with deep conviction of their crime. That’s something the Holy Spirit has continued to do over the last 2000 years. He brings conviction of sin in the hearts of people through the preaching of the message of Jesus. What was Peter's response to their question of 'What must we do to be saved?'

He didn't say “pick yourself up by the bootstraps and start being a better person”. He didn't say “start attending Synagogue on Saturdays, or Church on Sundays”. He didn't tell them to say prayers to Mary, or start living a life of religious rules of fasting and observing certain days as special. He told them to repent (I.e. turn away from wrong) – and to be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of their sins. It meant believing that Jesus is the Saviour who God sent into the world. That answer to the vital question 'what must I do to be saved?' hasn't changed. It is still the only way to receive God’s forgiveness, and to receive the Holy Spirit into our life to help us follow Jesus until we leave this world, and go to be with Him forever.