The Meaning of Pentecost (Acts 2:1-39)

"Then there appeared to them divided tongues, as of fire, and one sat upon each of them. And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit …" (Acts. 2:3–4).

Most charismatic Christians believe that a person can be born again but not be filled with the Spirit—the baptism which was manifest at Pentecost in the book of Acts. While this view might be common among many Christians because of personal experiences of greater spiritual empowerment long after being born again, it is based on an erroneous interpretation of Scripture. Those who hold to this view are trying to create a theology out of their experience rather than looking at the whole of Scripture and the work of the Holy Spirit in redemptive history.

There is a difference between the new birth and the baptism of the Holy Spirit that we see in Acts. The Spirit’s work at that time was not to regenerate, but to empower people for the ministry of carrying out Christ’s mission for His church (Acts 1:8). Only a few people had this empowerment in the Old Testament. Moses was one such person, and he prayed that the Spirit would be poured out on all the people. This prayer turned into a prophecy, which said that God would pour out His Spirit on all the people (Joel 2:28–29). This was fulfilled at Pentecost, first for the Jews, then the Samaritans, God-fearers (Gentile converts to Judaism, i.e. Cornelius—Acts 10:1–2), and Gentiles at Ephesus until all groups received the Spirit.

According to the accounts in Acts, there was a time-gap between regeneration and the baptism of the Spirit because when Jesus was among the people the prophecy had not been fulfilled. It wasn’t until after He ascended into heaven that He sent the Spirit to empower His church. Once it was done for all people (Jews, God-fearers, Samaritans, Gentiles), the prophecy had been fulfilled. There is no longer such a time-gap. It there were, we would still be waiting for Pentecost to occur in the cases of individuals who had not received the baptism. But it has happened and was fulfilled when all the people received the baptism. This is why you do not hear any more mention of this profound occurrence in Paul’s writings. Today, as was the case with everyone at Pentecost, all Christians have been filled with the Spirit (though not equally equipped for ministry). Those who are regenerated are baptized with the Spirit; there are no second-class, non-filled believers in our midst.

Read Acts 1:4–8. Why was Jesus sending the Holy Spirit (v. 8)? Read Acts 2:1–13. Who received the baptism in this account? Were there any Gentiles, Samaritans or God-fearers mentioned? Read Acts 8:14–17; 10:44–48; 19:1–7. Who received the baptism in these three passages? How do these passages reveal the fulfillment of Joel 2:28–29?

Confident in Christ (2 Corinthians 3:1-5)

"Not that we are sufficient of ourselves to think of anything as being from ourselves, but our sufficiency is from God" (2 Cor. 3:5).

False teachers at Corinth had accused Paul of being arrogant and self-confident. Paul answered his critics by maintaining that he was indeed confident in his ministry but not because of his own abilities. He remained confident because his sufficiency was in Christ. Everything he was and everything he did came from God, who alone can change the hearts of sinners.

The conversions at Corinth shone forth as a testimony of God’s power, which came to them through Paul’s ministry. They were an “epistle written in our hearts, known and read by all men.” Paul did not need a letter of commendation by men; the effects of his ministry served that purpose. As a result, he did not base his confidence in himself, but in the powerful work of Christ. “This confidence he had through Christ,” Hodge wrote. “It was not self-confidence. It was not the consciousness of superior excellence; but a conviction of the truth of the Gospel and of the reality of that vocation which he had received from Christ. This confidence of the apostle that he was what God had called him to be, an able or fit minister of the Gospel, was not a trait of natural character; it was not a conclusion from his inward and outward experience; it was one of the forms in which the Spirit of God which was in him manifested itself; just as the Spirit manifested itself in his humility, faith, courage, or constancy.”

We can determine whether such confidence in our ministry is self-inflation or the strength of God by our motives and attitudes. If our confidence is in ourselves, we will be prideful, arrogant, indifferent, jealous, and contemptuous of others. If it is of God, we will be humble, meek, long-suffering, willing to be the least, and marked by the fruit of the Spirit; we will mirror the sentiments of Paul who said, “But by the grace of God I am what I am” (1 Cor. 15:10).

In all things, whether we be a teacher, prayer warrior, or pastor, our sufficiency is in God alone. Our ministries are effective only through His power and according to His design. When pride begins to creep into our motivations, when we seek self-glory even in the slightest, our confidence no longer resides in Christ but it is in ourselves; and such confidence will never bear the fruit of a faithful and God-centered ministry.

What are your motives and attitudes concerning who you are and what you do? Do you seek to exalt yourself in any way? Do you desire to be praised by men? Take some time to sift through your motivations in whatever you do. Ask God for humility and a willingness to be the least of all that He might work powerfully through you.

Gospel of Life and Death (2 Corinthians 2:12-17)

"To the one we are the aroma of death leading to death, and to the other the aroma of life leading to life" (2 Cor. 2:16).

The goal of Paul’s ministry was that the knowledge of Christ might be known throughout the world. “Knowledge here, as so often elsewhere in Scripture, means not merely intellectual cognition, but spiritual apprehension and recognition,” Hodge wrote. “That men should know the Lord Jesus Christ in the sense of recognizing, loving, and worshiping Him as God manifest in the flesh, is the consummation of redemption; the sum of all blessedness and excellence.” Wherever Paul went—wherever any faithful minister preaches—this was his proclamation: the sweet knowledge of Christ.

This proclamation, this “fragrance of His knowledge,” has a varied effect on its hearers. For those who accept it, it is life itself, but for those who despise it, it is death. As Christ is to some a cornerstone of salvation, precious and glorious, to others He is a stone of offense. Some who hear the Gospel will turn from their sin and embrace life, but others will be hardened by it as they refuse to humble themselves before the Lamb of God. In this sense, the Gospel and the ministers who proclaim it are the cause of life for some and of death to others. “The word of God is quick and powerful either to save or to destroy,” Hodge commented. “It cannot be neutral. If it does not save, it destroys.… If a man rejects the Gospel, it had been far better for him never to have heard it. It will be more tolerable for Sodom in the day of judgment than for him.”

Realizing the weight of his calling, Paul asked the question, “Who then is competent for this work?” At first, we think the answer would be “No one in himself, but only those who depend on Christ.” While this is certainly true, it is not Paul’s point. There were those in Corinth who were false, insincere teachers, who taught out of selfish motives. Those, then, who are competent to carry such a burden that will bring either death or life are those who are sincere, godly ministers who do not corrupt the Word of God by trying to please men and appeal to those who are hostile to the truth. Neither do they use the ministry to advance their own reputation, but they serve Christ with pure motives and speak as in the presence of God and as true Christian men.

You should not be surprised that some will reject the Gospel and even be hostile to you when you try to tell them the truth. What should you do when someone rejects the Gospel? If you are tempted to change the message, think of Paul who proclaimed the truth faithfully and sincerely. Be encouraged by his example.

Forgive the Penitent (2 Corinthians 2:1-11)

"Therefore I urge you to reaffirm your love to him" (2 Cor. 2:8).

Here we discover the blessed outcome of that heart-breaking situation involving the incestuous brother, which we read about in 1 Corinthians 5. The church had tolerated for too long the incestuous sin of one of their members. Displeased by the church’s lack of action, Paul commanded them to expel the immoral brother and cleanse the church, to turn him over to Satan that he might repent of his sins. This is exactly what happened. The church obeyed Paul’s instruction and, as a result, the man was convicted and repented of his sin. Paul, of course, had received news of the man’s sincere repentance and here exhorts the Corinthian church to end the discipline and to bring the penitent man back into its fellowship.

Evidently, as can happen in any church, the Corinthians had gone from one extreme to another, from refusing to discipline to going beyond the bounds of discipline. To keep them on the right track, Paul urged the church to reaffirm its love toward the penitent one. The purpose of discipline is to bring one to repentance so that he might be restored. Because this had occurred, there was no longer any need to discipline. “Undue severity is as much to be avoided as undue leniency,” Hodge wrote. “The character which Paul here exhibits reflects the image of our heavenly Father. His word is filled with denunciations against impenitent sinners, and at the same time with assurances of unbounded pity and tenderness towards the penitent. He never breaks the bruised reed or quenches the smoking flax.”

Once an excommunicated person has repented of his sin, he is to be reaffirmed in love and forgiven by the church. It is the responsibility of every individual to show him that love, as Paul himself was ready to do in this situation: “For if indeed I have forgiven anything, I have forgiven that one for your sakes in the presence of Christ” (2:10). Otherwise, the person might be driven to despair—something that Satan wants to happen to all God’s children—which will, in turn, disrupt the peace of the church. To avoid this, we must forgive and love those who have turned from their sin. We must welcome them back into fellowship without any bitterness of any kind. In doing this, we will model our Savior who forgives us our sins and remembers them no more.

While this passage deals with the formal restoration of a brother who has been excommunicated, all Christians are required to forgive those who have repented of their sins. Do you have a difficult time forgiving others? If there is someone you need to forgive, do so today. Call or go see that person and affirm your love to him or her.

Paul’s Defense (1 Corinthians 1:15-24)

"Moreover I call God as witness against my soul, that to spare you I came no more to Corinth" (1 Cor. 1:23).

Some people in Corinth accused Paul of being untrustworthy because he had not come directly to Corinth after leaving Ephesus as he had said he would do. His critics inferred from Paul’s change of plans that he could not be trusted in anything even in matters that extended to doctrine.

Before dealing with their personal charges, Paul immediately defends the Gospel. He maintains that the Gospel is true because God Himself is trustworthy. The preaching of the apostles was God’s Word, not their own, and is to be relied upon as true (as yea and amen). “Paul’s confidence in the truth of the Gospel as he preached it was one and the same with his confidence in God,” Hodge wrote. “To tell him that his preaching was not to be depended upon was in his mind the same as to say that God was not to be believed; for he knew that he was the infallible organ of God in all his teaching (1 John 5:10).”

Because God is true, all the promises in Christ are true. God has rendered His people secure in their union with Christ and in their participation in the benefits of redemption. We have been sealed by the Holy Spirit, which secures us in our faith. Our salvation is not dependent upon anything we have done, and the certainty of the Gospel does not rest on the words of man, but on the power of God. He has promised to give His people eternal life, and He has given us His Spirit as a seal of that promise. We need never doubt the promises of God in Christ because He is true to His Word.

Having declared to the Corinthians that the doctrine he taught was true, that the Lord would fulfill all His promises, Paul finally explained, by an oath (v. 23), why he did not come to Corinth: he wanted to give the church time to deal with problems he had addressed in prior letters. If he had come immediately, he would have had to exercise discipline. Instead, he wanted to give them time to repent. By this he did not mean to imply that he was lord over their faith, a harsh task-master, for they stood independently on their own faith. But as a minister, he was a helper to them, a guide to promote their spiritual welfare.

Do you ever doubt the truth of God’s Word because of the insincerity of men, or because you question the truthfulness of church leaders? Many people have become prejudiced against the Gospel because of man’s sinfulness. Where do you put your confidence? Meditate on verses 20–22. Praise God for being trustworthy.