Acts 2 - Part a
June 28th, 2008 Posted in Acts, Salvation is JesusIn Acts 2 we are told that on the day of Pentecost, the believers in Jesus who were gathered together in Jerusalem were filled with the Holy Spirit as promised by Jesus before he ascended into heaven.
Verses 1- 4:
When the day of Pentecost came, they were all together in one place. Suddenly a sound like the blowing of a violent wind came from heaven and filled the whole house where they were sitting. They saw what seemed to be tongues of fire that separated and came to rest on each of them. All of them were filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other tongues as the Spirit enabled them.
There are some denominations or groups of Christians who think that speaking in tongues is a required proof of having the Holy Spirit and/or being saved. However, the scriptures clearly teach that man is saved through faith in Jesus Christ and not in any works such as speaking in tongues. Also, in 1 Corinthians 12:30, we are specifically told that not all believers will speak in tongues.
Tongues simply means “languages”. We are told that all the people from across the world who were gathered in Jerusalem for the Passover Feast heard these believers speaking in their own home town language. Everyone was amazed and so Peter stood up to explain what was happening by quoting a prophecy found in Joel 2:28-32 (Acts 2:17-21):
In the last days, God says,
I will pour out my Spirit on all people.
Your sons and daughters will prophesy,
your young men will see visions,
your old men will dream dreams.
Even on my servants, both men and women,
I will pour out my Spirit in those days,
and they will prophesy.
I will show wonders in the heaven above
and signs on the earth below,
blood and fire and billows of smoke.
The sun will be turned to darkness
and the moon to blood
before the coming of the great and glorious day of the Lord.
And everyone who calls
on the name of the Lord will be saved.
This prophecy gives a few specific examples of the Holy Spirit working in the lives of Christians, as well as some specific cosmic events that have not happened yet, but are still a part of the “last days”. The last days is also known as the “church age” and is the period of time from the resurrection of Jesus to the second coming of Jesus when he will set up his physical kingdom on earth.
An important thing to remember here is that these events really took place in history. The Bible is not a bunch of stories or legends that were passed down from generation to generation. The books of the Bible are the most reliable and accurately translated ancient documents in the world. There really were hundreds of people speaking in many different languages, yet everyone would hear the people speaking in their own native language. That means if Peter was talking, a person who understood Greek would hear Peter speak in Greek, while at the same time a person who spoke Hebrew would hear Peter’s words as Hebrew.
Through God’s grace, these early miracles were rather common in the early days of the church. They provided the proof needed that the Apostles and other disciples of Christ were speaking the truth. That truth being salvation is through faith in Jesus Christ.