Luke shares that as Jesus began his ministry, he was filled with the power of the Holy Spirit (Lk 4:14). Although rejected by many, the Holy Spirit assisted Jesus in his teaching in the synagogues, healing of the sick, and deliverance of the possessed.
The foundation of the New Testament was created upon the preaching and teaching of the kingdom of God. Further, it was erected on the promise by Christ to build a church that could endure. Jesus states, “And I tell you, you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of Hades will not prevail against it” (Matt 16:18). Although Peter and the disciples were regenerated by faith, their early Judaism perspective did not hinder the manifestation of the Holy Spirit in Acts 2.
…show more content…
It became a part of the community setting ushering in a time of harvesting, community connection, and celebration. This did not change during the Pentecost of Acts 2. According to Dunn, “This first Pentecost resulted in an enthusiastic community, bound together by common loyalty to the risen and soon coming Jesus and by their common experience of the Spirit.” It was the transferring of Jesus’ earthly responsibility to the Holy Spirit, which made the experience of Pentecost so notable. Dunn further shares, “the resurrection of Jesus and the gift of the Spirt both constituted the beginning of the end-time harvest of final resurrection. Paul states, “We know that the whole creation has been groaning in labor pains until now; and not only the creation, but we ourselves, who have the first fruits of the Spirit, groan inwardly while we wait for adoption, the redemption of our bodies” (Rom …show more content…
It was clearly not an indication of the end times, but a renewal of the covenant that God made with his chosen people. Peter regurgitate and reminded the believers of the God’s promise while connecting the experience of the Spirit with the Law already written in their hearts. Dunn shares, “The already established link between Pentecost, covenant renewal, and the giving of the Law probably prompted the first believers to interpret their experience of the Spirit as the fulfillment of the promise of a new covenant.” Luke, John, and Peter provides meaningful insight into Pentecost and the Holy Spirit. However, Paul underlines and fully expands the overall consideration of the exalted Christ and the
After the Holy Spirit was sent by God, the first Christians were given the power by them. And they end up telling the people about Jesus. It was the Christians who explained to people that they should invite God into their lives and confess their evil deeds to God.... ... middle of paper ...
The doctrine of illumination is based, in part, upon a statement by the Apostle Paul to the Christians at Corinth in which he wrote: “But the natural man does not receive the things of the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him; nor can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned. But he who is spiritual judges all things, yet he himself is rightly judged by no one.” (I Cor. 2:14-15) “The illumination of the scriptures by the Holy Spirit” is a doctrine, which teaches that a special illumination from the Holy Spirit is required in order for a person to understand the scriptures; therefore, until one receives a personal or direct operation of the Holy Spirit, he cannot understand the Bible
1. A significant passage we have gone over in class together is Acts 2: 42-47: Communal Living. In this passage the followers became a community and a church and they were spreading the wealth to help other like Jesus would so that none were marginalized and all were taken care of. The followers devoted themselves to the teachings of the apostles and communal life. Everyone would meet up and they would break bread with each other. 2. The author of the Acts of the Apostles is Luke the Evangelist. Luke saw the church and everything that was going on it as the work of the Holy Spirit and that he was enlivening the people to do the things they are doing and working through people such as Paul, John, and others of the Early Church. 3. I see the people actually live as church and the church is changing and becoming more of a community. I see the Holy Spirit in this because it is sort of the main cause of this development of the church be cause he made all of the events leading up to this happen. 4. In this passage I see community of disciples because that is exactly what it became it became a community of followers of Jesus and they had values and lifestyles that differed from the social norm of the times. Community of disciples is defined as a group that devote themselves as followers of Jesus thereby having values and lifestyles that may often be in contrast with society. 5. Having studied this passage, I now realize that the Holy Spirit brought all the people together and because of that they became accepting of each other. One way I see this passage related to church life today is that we all break bread with one another and have no second thought about it when we receive communion together we are not thinking about who that ...
“The apostles and the elders met together to consider this matter. After there had been much debate, Peter stood up and said to them, “My brothers, you know that in the early days God made a choice among you, that I should be the one through whom the Gentiles would hear the message of the good news and become believers. And God, who knows the human heart, testified to them by giving them the Holy Spirit, just as he did to us; and in cleansing their hearts by faith he has made no distinction between them and us. Now therefore why are yo...
The doctrine of the Holy Spirit begins with examining biblical witness to the work of the Holy Spirit in the history of Israel, as well as the ministry of Jesus, and in the life of the church. During the creation account it was the breath of God that grave life to all creation. The Holy Spirit has been a primate actor sin the beginning of time. While the Spirit was present prior to the ministry of Christ, the New Testament speaks in greater detail of the Spirit because it empowered Jesus. From his conception to the day of Pentecost the Sprit was present and active in the life of Christ and the believers. We see in ...
The statement by John, “Baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire,” has an undertone which is connected to a theme which intertestamental Jews held. This idea was not related directly to the Holy Spirit and the work He would have at Jesus’ baptism or in Jesus’ ministry. A question such as, why would an unrelated belief have a connection to the Holy Spirit who was to come in the baptism of Jesus? This belief was the idea that a time of affliction or anguish would take place before the coming of the messiah. This was referred to as the birth pangs of the messiah. One reference which is used to support this is from the prophet Daniel, where in one of his visions he refers to war being made against the saints and until the ancient of days would come there would be judgment upon the saints (Dan. 7:21-22). The fire which john speaks about could be a fire of judgment for the people as well as a fire which would purify the saints. Various OT prophets confirm this idea of judgment by fire (Amos 7:4; Mal. 4:1) which the people would have to experience. Another reference to fire as judgment 2 Peter 3:6-7 where the fire is being stored up for the heavens and the earth until the day of judgment. The imagery of this fire in Jesus’ baptism is seen as a river or stream of fire (Dan. 7:10). Another element of this early held view of the fire of Jesus’ baptism was also dual purposed in its nature. As the fire would destroy the wicked it would also purge and cleanse the righteous. These references to fire help clarify the possible understanding of the differences between John’s and Jesus baptisms. This was not the sole purpose of His baptism; he was preparing the way (Matt. 3:3) for Jesus. One way the baptism of Jesus could be seen,...
In commenting on Heaven in his book Theology for Today, Dr. Elmer Towns writes that, “…human understanding is necessarily limited by two things - human language and limited revelation.” Too often the limitations and constraints of human language make it difficult for us to fully articulate those things that pertain to God. As well, similar constraints on our knowledge make it seem impossible to fully grasp and understand what has been revealed and is to be known about God. Understanding the Person and work of the Holy Spirit is no exception and we are similarly challenged when we endeavor to do so.
In early church history little was said about the work of the Holy Spirit. His working was mainly relegated to the inspiration of scripture. Later there were arguments of the Holy Spirit’s position in the Trinity and whether he should be viewed as equal to God the Father and God the Son or subservient to them. Others resisted the idea of emotions or feeling. Many believed that reason and rational proof was the only credible belief system as apposed to the more subjective view of the Holy Spirit with emotion and feeling. Even the early church fathers had sharp disagreements on the position and importance of the Holy Spirit.
For starters, Jesus chose Paul specifically to spread his word and filled him with the Holy Spirit (Acts 9:1-19). Shaw claims that
The Book of Acts was written to provide a history of the early church. Acts emphasis the importance of the day of Pentecost and being empowered to be effective witnesses for Jesus Christ. Acts sheds light on the ministry gift of the Holy Spirit, which empowers, guides, teaches, and serves as our Counselor. When reading the Book of Acts many of the readers will be enlightened and encouraged by the many miracles that were being performed during this time by the disciples Peter, John, and Paul. The Book of Acts emphasizes the importance of obedience to God’s Word and the transformation that occurs as a result of knowing Christ. There are also many references to those that rejected the truth that the disciples preached about in Jesus Christ. Power, greed, and many other vices of the devil or evidenced in the book of Acts. Acts 1:8 serves as a good summary of the Book of Acts. Acts records the apostles being Christ's witnesses in Jerusalem, Judea, Samaria, and to the rest of the surrounding world.
Preterists (those who claim most prophecy is already fulfilled) claim that Peter said that Joel’s prophecy was fulfilled at Pentecost. But nowhere does Peter say that Pentecost was the fulfilment of prophecy. He says, “This is that which was spoken of by Joel…” These people who were falsely accusing The Apostles of being drunk, were familiar with Joel’s prophecy. Peter was, in fact, saying, “Why are so amazed by what you see?
We are greatly protected from false doctrine when we understand the various divisions of God’s Word. We can compare any teaching to the revealed Word, and if it harmonizes with the Bible, we are safe in accepting it as truth. But if it is not in harmony with the Bible when dealing with the doctrine of the New Testament church, particularly with the teaching of Acts and the Epistles, we can reject it, knowing we are not turning away a truth.
During early missionaries journeys the Gospel of Christ was shared first with the Jews. These early workers went into the local “synagogue and reading the Law and the Prophets” (Acts 13:15) teaching that, Jesus Christ has fulfilled the scriptures of the Messiah. Today the Law and Prophets are known as the Old Testament. The early church used these scriptures to verify the accuracy of what Peter, Paul and the rest of early church were preaching. The Jews in Berea received the word from Paul and examined the scripture daily to confirm the truth (Acts 17:10-12). These early followers of Christ set the example that today’s believers need to follow.
Peter stood up and preached to the crowd as a representative of the entire group of the Apostles. We should note that speaking in tongues stopped when Peter began to preach. The Holy Spirit now working through the preaching of Peter and not work against yourself for languages at the same time. There was a noticeable change in Peter. He had courage and boldness that was a complete contrast to his denial of Jesus before being filled with the Holy Spirit. Peter proclaimed the truth without fear. This remarkable sermon had not been prepared before was given spontaneously. However, we could say that was prepared by the previous life of Peter with God and a relationship with Jesus. It flowed spontaneously from that life, and of a mind that thought and believed
The biblical book of Acts is an interpretation of the early discoursing regarding Jesus Christ, the development of the ancient Christian people, and sharing the good news of the Christian message. When Jesus was raise from the dead he went to see his disciples to my understanding, respiring on the disciples and stating, “Receive ye the Holy Ghost” (John 20:22, NKJV). On the contrary even though the disciples had obtained the Holy Ghost after Jesus respired on them, my studies revealed that Jesus expressed to the disciples to pause for the satisfying or fulfillment of the Holy Ghost that was in Jerusalem.