Acts 2:39, commentary and pictures

The promise is the Father's gift of the Holy Spirit, bringing forgiveness of sins and salvation through Christ together with the call to repent and be baptized, given to the hearers and to their children and to all that are afar off, even as many as the Lord God shall call. It was not confined to Pentecost or to Jerusalem, but belongs to believers in every age through all coming time, including the closing experience of the church in the last days. It is received by those who answer God's call, obey and believe, surrender to divine guidance, wait humbly upon God and claim it personally by faith, with the Spirit given according to each one's capacity to receive. It therefore sends the good news of repentance and forgiveness in Christ's name with the blessings of the Spirit to all peoples and places to the ends of the earth, wherever there is need. It also embraces children, laying solemn responsibility on parents to bring them up carefully in the Lord's teaching with patience, tenderness, prayer and kindness, guarding them from the world's corruption and binding them to Christ.

Context at Pentecost

The verse stands in the Acts 2 account of the outpouring of the Holy Spirit at Pentecost. It belongs to the fulfillment of the promise of Jesus and of the Father, the promised outpouring and gift of the Spirit, which the disciples awaited in Jerusalem. They waited together united in one place, remembering the risen Saviour's parting promise with gladness and confidence, preparing with prayer and faith in Jesus as their risen representative and intercessor. In this chapter Peter boldly testifies about Christ to people who had rejected Him, and the history of Pentecost and the early church is presented as relevant to God's people in later times.

Its immediate setting is Peter's Spirit-inspired testimony that God made the crucified Jesus both Lord and Christ, which pricked hearts to ask what to do. Through the Spirit's revealing and glorifying of Jesus the mystery of the cross was explained, bringing three thousand to repentance in one day as thousands became converts to Christ. Peter called for repentance and baptism in the name of Jesus Christ for remission of sins and reception of the gift of the Holy Ghost, with the exhortation to save themselves from the untoward generation. The promise of forgiveness, baptism, and the Holy Spirit was thus given to his hearers, their children, and all afar off, even as many as the Lord God shall call, following repentance and reception of the apostolic message. About three thousand who gladly received the word were baptized and added the same day, continuing steadfastly in the apostles' doctrine and fellowship and in breaking of bread and in prayers. They continued daily with one accord in the temple and from house to house with gladness and singleness of heart, praising God and having favor with the people, while the Lord added to the church daily such as should be saved. The disciples had received this power to be witnesses in Jerusalem, in Judea, and unto the uttermost parts of the earth after remaining in Jerusalem as Jesus commanded, together with one accord for several days confessing sins and praying for the Holy Spirit. Peter also charged the rulers with denying and killing Christ while acknowledging their ignorance and the fulfillment of prophecy about Christ's suffering. The verse calls believers to proclaim a risen Saviour with one desire for the salvation of souls, to rejoice in communion with saints, to be tender, thoughtful, self-denying and willing to sacrifice for truth, to reveal in word and deed the love Christ commanded in order to awaken that love in other hearts, to cherish the love that filled the apostles, to go forward in willing obedience to love one another as Christ loved, and to be so closely united to Christ as to fulfill His requirements, magnifying the power of a Saviour who justifies by His righteousness.

At Pentecost the witness reached people from many nations gathered at the great religious festival. God used the Spirit-filled disciples to give the multitudes from every nation the message of the risen Saviour, speaking the wonderful works of God in their own languages. People from many nations heard the message of repentance and forgiveness in Christ's name and carried it back to their homes, so the good news of salvation through Christ was carried to the inhabited world with converts coming from all directions far beyond Jerusalem. The Spirit's work brought believers into unity, with one heart and soul and a shared desire to reflect Christ and enlarge His kingdom. The importance of this strong, visible gospel witness in Jerusalem is applied to the duty of establishing a special representation of present truth in the nation's capital.

Some who heard the teaching in the temple later came forward after the crucifixion and resurrection to carry out a divine commission. Their message reached people's hearts and minds and helped weaken long-standing superstitions.

Promise and Its Reach

The promise is the Father's promise of the outpouring and gift of the Holy Spirit, given together with the call to repent and be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins and to receive the apostolic message. It includes forgiveness of sins and salvation through Christ, and it is for children as well as adults who may be brought to Christ. The promise is unto the hearers, unto their children, and unto all that are afar off, even as many as the Lord God shall call. God's call defines who receives it, so it reaches beyond those present in Jerusalem and is not limited to one place, one generation, one nearby field, or one people, but supports taking the message beyond the existing church.

The promise was not limited to Pentecost and is not reserved for some future time. It extends to the church through all coming time and in every age, belonging to believers now as surely as to the first disciples. This includes special manifestations of the Spirit as long as God's call of mercy invites people to accept Christ's pardoning love, and it is repeated in each person converted to the truth. Those willing to receive may be filled without restriction, while contentment with only small blessings leaves them without the fullness and power needed for Christian growth and service.

The verse is a prophecy of a special outpouring of the Holy Spirit in the last days, showing that the Spirit's promised work extends to the church in its closing experience. The promises also extend to every earthly change in a Christian's life, to the Christian's children, and to all whom the Lord calls. They embrace both temporal and eternal welfare.

Receiving the Promise

The promise is received through God's call, and preparation means waiting as the disciples waited in Jerusalem, with prayer and faith in Jesus as risen representative and intercessor. It belongs to every person who responds to the drawing of the Spirit and obeys, across generations and near or far, and it may be claimed individually by faith. When the heart is emptied of self and opened to God, the Holy Spirit can fill it without obstruction. Surrender to divine guidance and humbly waiting upon God are the conditions, and claimed by faith the promise brings other blessings with it. The Spirit is supplied according to each person's capacity to receive, including fullness for those who preach the Word as God's messengers. God has not restricted the gift, so those willing to receive may now be filled as surely as the first disciples were, while contentment with only small blessings leaves people without the fullness and power needed for Christian growth and service.

Saving faith is definite faith in God's only begotten Son as personal Saviour, who saves from sin and transgression but not in sin. It is established upon the Word of God, not a casual faith founded on feeling nor depending on sight, but believing even when unseen. Receiving the promise therefore calls for a living testimony in character, mind, and intellect, with wholehearted service in carrying the light of truth to people everywhere. The Spirit is not something people use at will; God uses the Spirit to work in them, moving them to will and to do what pleases Him. This requires submitting to the Spirit's guidance and control and humbly waiting upon God.

Christ's true and loyal workers who deny self and take up the cross daily and follow Him are embraced in the promise. Keeping the Lord always before them so they shall not be moved, they alone are made safe to handle sacred things. The promised power is connected with speaking in other tongues as the Spirit gives utterance. That experience continues among believers who seek God and corresponds to the apostles' experience.

Mission to Distant Places

The promise belongs to those who heard it, to their children, and to people far away, to as many as the Lord God shall call, and therefore it is not limited to one place, generation, nearby field, or people but reaches beyond the existing church and local community to the nations. It carries the gospel and the blessings of the Holy Spirit to all peoples, and it includes the good news of repentance and forgiveness of sins in Christ's name to be taken to other cities and towns and to the ends of the earth wherever there is need. Those who hear and share these truths do so with hearts filled with divine love, and the preaching of repentance and forgiveness to all nations is the gospel's witness to the ends of the earth.

The reach to every people and region includes the neglected Southern field and its Black population, who are embraced among those afar off whom God calls to receive the message of truth. As Jerusalem held a strong, visible gospel witness where the message reached people from many nations, so present truth is to have a special representation in the nation's capital. The gospel of the kingdom is the message for which the world is perishing, and as contained in publications already in print and those yet to be issued it must be circulated among people nigh and afar off who are perishing for it.

The promise of the Holy Spirit given at Pentecost is for workers now, for at Pentecost the Spirit came upon believers and they preached the Word everywhere with thousands converted in a day. That same Spirit is needed now to convert sinners, and believers have their part through the self-denying life of Christ by taking the Bible from house to house, reading it to people, and making them hungry to hear the Word. This house-to-house soul-winning brings many to the knowledge of the truth and must be done awake and aroused from stupor and indifference, because there is a world to save and a message to give in the judgment hour. Through this spread the good news of salvation through Christ was carried to the inhabited world with converts coming from all directions, and the Spirit's work brought believers into unity with one heart and soul and a shared desire to reflect Christ and enlarge His kingdom.

Family Nurture and Service

The promise of the Holy Spirit given with repentance, baptism, and forgiveness of sins is for children as well as adults, extending to the hearers, their children, and people far away, to all whom God calls. Children can therefore be brought to Christ, and faithful, watchful parents can guard them from the world's vanity and corruption.

The promise of salvation through Christ to believers and their children and to all afar off whom the Lord shall call lays a great and solemn responsibility on all parents to instruct their children so they form characters God will approve. This uses the special light God has given to understand the claims of His law for the saving of both parents and children, calling for definite faith in God's only begotten Son as personal Saviour who saves from sin and transgression but not in sin. That faith is established upon the Word of God, not a casual faith founded on feeling nor depending on sight, believing even when unseen, with the exhortation to save themselves from the untoward generation. Parents are responsible for bringing their children up carefully in the Lord's teaching, guarding them from influences opposed to Christ and correcting them with patience, tenderness, prayer, and kindness rather than anger or humiliation. They are to keep close to God so that holy influences fill the home and to train their children for God, honoring Him by expecting great things from Him, seeking their children's salvation and binding them to Christ.

The promise reaches fathers, mothers, and their children, so a parent's turning to obedience can lead that parent to teach the children to follow the Lord. Parents who turn to obedience can through faithful training and example lead their children toward God, giving hope for their conversion. Faithful Christian nurture helps children receive salvation, so that parents and children may be welcomed together into God's kingdom.

The promise of the Holy Spirit and its power extends to those God calls, including people far away, their children, and people today as surely as the first disciples, giving assurance that God will supply what is needed for His work. It assures God's people of divine help and power from above for the work of sharing the message of salvation and for their conflicts, so that human weakness can receive supernatural strength when they persevere in faith and trust in God's word. The promise may be claimed personally and includes receiving the Holy Spirit in fullness, so those who preach the Word may be empowered as God's messengers, while people are responsible to do their part as witnesses. God still gives this power to truly converted men and women who take Him at His word and need it, preparing them for sacred service and work for the Master, with the Spirit and grace available to all who need them and trust God's word.

God calls people near and far to receive the truth, and those who remain close to Him and are faithful in work and study can be used to carry it to many people and may be called to positions of responsibility.