OceanSide church of Christ
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THE GIFT OF THE HOLY GHOST, Acts 2:38
Victor M.
Eskew
In Acts 2:38, we find Peter’s answer to the Jews who asked what they
needed to do to be saved. “Then
Peter said unto them, Repent, and be baptized every one of you in the name of
Jesus Christ for the remission of sins, and ye shall receive the gift of the
Holy Ghost.” The first part of this
verse has been greatly debated with those outside the body of Christ. We have affirmed that this verse teaches
that one must be baptized in order to obtain the remission of sins. The last portion of Acts 2:38 has been
widely discussed within the church.
There are several different opinions as to the meaning of “the gift of
the Holy Ghost.”
In this article, we will attempt to show what the gift of the Holy Spirit
is. We will examine three lines of
evidence to make our case. Our
conclusion will be that the gift of the Holy Ghost involves miraculous gifts
received by the laying on of the apostles’ hands. NOTE: If this is the case, then it was limited
to the miraculous age that concluded near the end of the first
century.
The first line of reasoning involves the context of the statement. It is absolutely essential for the
reader of any portion of the Bible to place himself with the first century
context. When this is done in Acts
2:38, it will be seen that everything associated with the Holy Spirit that day
involved the miraculous. The twelve
apostles “were all filled with the Holy Ghost, and began to speak with other
tongues, as the Spirit gave them utterance” (Acts 2:4). This was miraculous. When some in the crowd accused the
apostles of being drunk with wine, Peter confronted the matter by pointing his
listeners to the prophecy of Joel.
This prophecy makes mention of prophesy, visions, dreams, wonders, and
signs. Again, all of these things
are miraculous in nature. “But this
is that which was spoken by the prophet Joel; and it shall come to pass in the
last days, saith God, I will pour out of my Spirit upon all flesh: and you sons and daughters shall
prophesy, and your young men shall see visions, and your old men shall dream
dreams: and on my servants and on
my handmaidens I will pour out in those days of my Spirit; and they shall
prophesy: and I will shew wonders
in heaven above, and signs in the earth beneath; blood, and fire, and vapour of
smoke: the sun shall be turned into
darkness, and the moon into blood, before that great and notable day of the Lord
come” (Acts 2:16-20). In the midst
of these miraculous events, Peter promised his listeners the gift of the Holy
Spirit. Based upon what they had
seen and heard, what would these listeners have concluded the gift to be? It is really logical to assume they
believed it would be a non-miraculous indwelling of the Holy Spirit? Or, would they have assumed it to be a
representative indwelling by the Word of God? Neither seems likely. Surely, they would have connected it to
things involving the miraculous.
They would have believed that the same Holy Spirit who empowered the
apostles to speak in tongues would also provide them with miraculous
abilities.
Another line of evidence is found in a study of the word “gift” as used
in the book of Acts. In Acts 8, the
word “gift” is found. Philip, the evangelist, had entered into
The third line of evidence involves the word “receive.” Peter said: “…and ye shall receive the gift of the Holy
Ghost.” In Acts 8:17, this same
word is used. “Then laid they their
hands on them, and they received the Holy Ghost.” What did they receive? They received the miraculous
manifestations of the Spirit. In
Acts 10:47, we learn that the household of Cornelius had received the Holy
Ghost. “Can any man forbid water,
that these should not be baptized, which have received the Holy Ghost as well as
we?” When Cornelius and his
household received the Holy Spirit, they received the miraculous ability of the
Spirit to speak in tongues. The
word “received” is also used in Acts 19.
Paul asked the men of
We have seen three lines of evidence that point to the gift of the Holy Spirit’s involving miraculous gifts. The context of Acts 2 is miraculous. The word “gift” is associated with the Holy Spirit and the miraculous. The word “receive” is also associated with the Holy Ghost and miracles. This evidence indicates to this writer that the gift of the Holy Ghost in Acts 2 involves miraculous gifts. According to Acts 8:14-18, this ability could only be possessed when one had the apostles’ hands laid upon him. These gifts were absolutely essential to the early church. They were given “for the perfecting of the saints, for the work of the ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ” (Eph. 4:12). However, when the perfect, complete will of God was revealed, the miraculous gifts of the Spirit were done away (I Cor. 13:8-13). Now the Word of God enables the man of God to be perfect, thoroughly furnished unto all good works (II Tim. 3:16-17).