Choosing Salvation & Empowerment? (6/6/23)

Acts 2

6/6/2023

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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. 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.” And with many other words he bore witness and continued to exhort them, saying, “Save yourselves from this crooked generation.”

ACTS 2:38-40 (ESV)

Read: Acts 2 (ESV)

Life Lesson(s)…

Salvation "from this crooked generation" begins with a choice that each person may make at any time. In Acts 2, Peter and the other Christ disciples made their choice in obedience to Jesus' instruction from Act 1. They learned and understood what Jesus meant in Acts 1:8 about receiving the Holy Spirit on Shavuot, the Jewish Festival of Weeks, now known in Christianity as Pentecost.


Peter exemplified what the gift of the Holy Spirit could empower "simple" men to do. Peter fulfilled the prophetic message of Acts 1:8 as he began to witness to the international bystanders in Jerusalem about who Jesus is. Peter preached what he learned (consider John 14:1-14) and was galvanized by the Holy Spirit to preach from Hebraic prophecies by Joel 2:28-32 and King David's Psalm 16:8-11 and Psalm 110:1. Through the move of the Holy Spirit received by the disciples and Peter's Holy Spirit-inspired preaching, an awakening to salvation occurred on the streets. By the blood of the Lamb (repentance) and Peter's testimony/witness, more Jews in Jerusalem were affected to return unto the Lord in the name of Jesus.

Your Thoughts…

Pray for greater wisdom, understanding and revelation regarding your knowledge of the Holy Spirit.

  1. Do you believe the Holy Spirit still moves today? Why or why not?

  2. Do you think the Holy Spirit is constrained by time, place, or faith? How so?

  3. Do you ever wonder why many churches have stopped teaching or preaching about the Holy Spirit and the power He unleashes as part of the Godhead?

  4. If someone asked you about the Holy Spirit as to who He is and what He does, how would you explain it?