The Israelites had great expectations at the time Jesus arrived, although they did not know how everything would fit together. They anticipated a king (2 Sam. 7:12-13; Ps. 110:1), but few (if any) anticipated that the kingdom would be spiritual. They expected “that prophet” like unto Moses (Deut. 18:15-19). The seed of woman was still going to bruise the head of the serpent (Gen. 3:15). And the third promise that God made to Abraham had yet to be fulfilled.
God stated this third promise in two different ways on various occasions. Its first pronouncement was: “And in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed” (Gen. 12:3). In Genesis 22:18 God said: “In your seed all the nations of the earth shall be blessed….” To Isaac and Jacob were those words repeated (Gen. 26:4; 28:14). After Jesus died on the cross, was buried, arose again, and ascended into heaven, Paul referenced this verse:
And the Scripture, foreseeing that God would justify the nations by faith, preached the gospel to Abraham beforehand, saying, “In you all the nations of the earth shall be blessed” (Gal. 3:8).
Notice that Paul continues to explain this promise made to Abraham and that it is the promise referred to by Peter on the Day of Pentecost (Acts 2:39) and the promise Paul mentioned in Acts 13:32. Consider Galatians 3:13-14:
Christ has redeemed us from the curse of the law, having become a curse for us (for it is written, “Cursed is everyone who hangs on a tree”), that the blessing of Abraham might come upon the Gentiles in Christ Jesus, that we might receive the promise of the Spirit through faith.
The promise is not that of receiving the Holy Spirit (a subject left behind after verses 1-5); rather it refers to what the Spirit had promised—salvation to the heirs of Abraham—whether Jew or Gentile! Paul examines this subject further, concluding with the great text in Galatians 3:26-29.
For you are all sons of God through faith in Christ Jesus. For as many of you as were baptized into Christ have put on Christ. There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free, there is neither male nor female; for you are all one in Christ Jesus. And if you are Christ’s, then you are Abraham’s seed, and heirs according to the promise.
This is the promise to which Peter refers in Acts 2:39, which dovetails perfectly with the text of Galatians 3. It is also the promise of salvation to which Paul refers in Acts 13:32 and 38. Therefore, when Peter says that if they repent and are baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of sins, they shall receive, in fact, salvation—the gift of the Holy Spirit—for that promise is to them, their children, and those who are far off—even as many as the Lord God should call.
Brother Warren used to teach that, in interpreting Scripture, we not only consider a verse but both the immediate and remote texts of the Bible. We have done so in examining Acts 2:38. The promise of salvation (and all the spiritual blessings that come through Christ) fit the text and harmonize with all remote texts. Certainly, it carries fewer problems than Peter allegedly telling the people they would receive a spiritual gift, and it is miles ahead of Deaver’s explanation that the apostle was promising them a gift “without accompanying miraculous power but with non-miraculous spiritual power.” Remember that Mac did not think the salvation explanation was even worthy of consideration since he had advanced the only four possibilities that could possibly explain “the gift of the Holy Spirit.” Leave it to Deaver to over-rate his own thoroughness.
Objections to the Meaning of Salvation
We will consider his second objection first. He says that if the gift of the Holy Spirit is salvation, then it must either be salvation from past sins or salvation in heaven. But it cannot be salvation in heaven, he avers, because “neither Peter nor any other preacher could guarantee heaven to any obedient believer unless the obedient believer died immediately following his baptism” (35). While this observation is true, it does not mean that heaven was excluded from their thinking. Being saved from one’s past sins is necessary to go to heaven—and probably the motive for obedience to the gospel. Surely, the 3,000 knew that more was necessary then being baptized, since “they continued steadfastly in the apostles’ doctrine…” (Acts 2:42).
If Deaver were entirely right about his second objection against Peter referring to heaven, then what could possibly be his criticism of “the gift of the Holy Spirit” referring to salvation from past sins? He claims that it would be “needless repetition.” He writes:
Does anyone still in control of his mental powers think that the Holy Spirit inspired Peter to say, “Repent and be baptized everyone of you in the name of Jesus Christ unto the remission of your sins, and ye shall receive the remission of your sins” (35)?
This writer will have to plead guilty. Has Mac read Joshua 13:1 lately?
Now Joshua was old, advanced in years. And the Lord said to him: “You are old, advanced in years….”
To paraphrase Mac: “Does anyone still in control of his mental powers think that the Holy Spirit inspired Joshua to write that he was old, advanced in years and then have the Lord repeat the same thing to him?” Leave it to Deaver to think he knows God so well that he knows how God would or would not write.
Parallelisms
In all of his years of study, has Mac never noticed the Holy Spirit’s use of parallelisms, which amounts to saying the same thing in different words? One has only to read as far as Genesis 4:23-24:
Then Lamech said to his wives:
Adah and Zillah, hear my voice;
O wives of Lamech, listen to my speech!
For I have killed a man for wounding me,
Even a young man for hurting me.
If Cain shall be avenged sevenfold,
Then Lamech seventy-seven fold.”
Notice that Adah and Zillah are the wives of Lamech and that hear my voice is equivalent to listen to my speech. Wounding and hurting are equivalent; young man amplifies man.
Parallelisms are generally found in the poetic books but obviously may be found in any book of the Bible. The type under discussion here is called Synonymous Parallelism. Despite Mac’s protest of “needless repetition,” the Holy Spirit chose to use many parallelisms to communicate the same idea in different words. A few are provided below.
“God has delivered me to the ungodly,
And turned me over to the hands of the wicked”
(Job 16:11).
Oh, praise the Lord, all you Gentiles!
Laud Him, all you people! (Ps. 117:1).
A fool’s lips enter into contention,
and his mouth calls for blows (Pr. 18:6).
’Woe to him who builds his house by unrighteousness and his chambers by injustice” (Jer. 22:13).
The earth is violently broken,
The earth is split open,
The earth is shaken exceedingly (Isa. 24:19).
“Does anyone still in control of his mental powers think that the Holy Spirit inspired Isaiah to say the same thing three times in a row?” These parallelisms could be multiplied several times over from the poetic and prophetic books, but someone might point out, “All these examples are from the Old Testament, and maybe the Hebrews wrote that way, but what about the New Testament?”
One of the standard works on Bible interpretation is D. R. Dungan’s Hermeneutics, published originally in the second half of the 19th century, although many editions have followed. He was cited earlier with respect to “metonymy of the subject.” He lists Genesis 4:23-24 and many other parallelisms from the Old Testament, but he also mentions Mary’s praise of God from Luke 1:46-55, after which he makes the following comment:
A careful reading of this address will cause any one to see the parallel lines and rhythm in the heart wrought to the highest tension with love for and praise for God (334).
Would that “anyone” include Mac Deaver? Even in non-poetic passages the New Testament includes parallelisms also. What about 1 Thessalonians 5:19-20? “Do not quench the Spirit. Do not despise prophecies.” The second sentence is at least one way the Spirit could be quenched, although there could be other ways. The next two verses comprise an antithetical parallelism: “Test all things; hold fast what is good. Abstain from every form of evil” (1 Thess. 5:21-22).
One might anticipate Mac saying, “While all of this is true, it is irrelevant. It does not prove that the gift of the Holy Spirit is salvation.” This statement is true; this information does not prove the case, but it certainly allows for it to be the case.
Luke and Acts 2
It would be appropriate to ask if Luke had ever used parallelisms when recording the facts of history. The answer is that he did—and not far from Acts 2:38-39. Although separated by six verses, Luke writes that “the multitude came together, and were confused, because everyone heard them speak in his own language. They were all amazed and marveled…” (2:6). Later he records: “So they were all amazed and perplexed, “What could this mean?” (2:12). Although these bits of information are not in the style of a parallelism, they do repeat the same information that had already been provided. Was Luke unnecessarily redundant?
But consider Acts 3:14-15:
“But you denied the Holy One and the Just, and asked for a murderer to be granted to you, and killed the Prince of life, whom God raised from the dead, of which we are witnesses.”
The people had denied Jesus, to whom Luke refers as the Holy and Just One. Antithetical to that the people embraced someone else, whose character was the opposite of holy and just; he was a murderer. Peter puts in one more antithetical twist and contrasts a taker of life with the Prince of Life. They killed the latter but asked for the former. The first and third descriptions are parallel with an opposite in between. But why use three descriptions to refer to Jesus—two in the same sentence? Jesus is the Holy One and the Just, as well as the Prince of Life. All three are accurate and refer to the same Person, but they bring out different aspects of His character.
Likewise, when Peter says, “for the forgiveness of sins,” and also identifies it as “the gift of the Holy Spirit,” he is merely emphasizing different truths about that salvation. Using different descriptions to refer to the same entity is not uncommon but frequent in writing. For that reason we find such expressions in poetry, prophecy, and everyday speech. The use of synonyms or equivalent expressions simply keeps our speaking and writing from becoming boringly repetitious. Peter refers to salvation and its attendant blessings as “the forgiveness of sins,” “the gift of the Holy Spirit,” and “the promise.”
Speaking of Acts 3, Peter arrives at a point in his sermon where he feels compelled to tell those listening how they ought to respond to the truth that they had killed the Prince of Life.
“Repent therefore and be converted, that your sins may be blotted out, so that times of refreshing may come upon you from the presence of the Lord” (3:19).
The word translated “repent” is the same word that is used in Acts 2:38. Many are surprised to see “be converted” for “be baptized.” The two words are not the same or even related. To be converted is to turn from one side to the other. Jesus said that He spoke in parables so that certain Jews would hear but not understand, “lest they should turn, and their sins be forgiven them” (Mark 4:12). This is the way Peter also uses the word. The Jews needed to give up their hardness of heart and turn fully to Jesus. In doing so, they would be baptized, since the apostle had already preached it that way. The fact that 3,000 people were baptized in the city of Jerusalem could hardly have gone unnoticed.
Those who were scattered in the persecution after the death of Stephen went everywhere preaching the Word (Acts 8:4). “And the hand of the Lord was with them, and a great number believed and turned to the Lord” (Acts 11:21). This description of conversion is also found in Acts 15:19. Again turning to the Lord or being converted, of necessity includes baptism—especially since the purpose for being converted is “that your sins may be blotted out.” Probably, we are all in agreement on this point. But one more example is instructive. As Jesus told Saul of Tarsus what He expected of him before his sins were washed away, He included that Saul was to go the Gentiles—
to open their eyes and to turn them from darkness to light, and from the power of Satan to God, that they might receive forgiveness of sins and an inheritance among those who are sanctified by faith in Me (Acts 26:18).
The word translated “turn” is the same word as “be converted” in Acts 3:19 [1994]. When people turn from darkness to light, they receive forgiveness of sins, which comes through baptism. Paul says that he preached that message—that all should “repent, turn [1994] to God, and do works befitting repentance” (Acts 26:20).
The purpose of bringing these facts to light is to note that in Acts 3:19, the people needed to repent (as on Pentecost), and being converted corresponds to being baptized (not that they are identical but the former includes the latter). So, what corresponds to receiving “the gift of the Holy Spirit”? The answer is—“times of refreshing” that come “from the presence of the Lord.” As has been our thesis all along, these times of refreshing (the gift of the Holy Spirit) refers to salvation and all that comes with it, such as the inheritance mentioned in Acts 26:18 (cf. Gal. 3:29).
Unlike the Day of Pentecost, no emphasis on the Holy Spirit is present to confuse the reader. No one on this day would confuse “times of refreshing” with a gift “without accompanying miraculous power but with non-miraculous spiritual power.” Mac’s objection to “the gift of the Spirit” being salvation does not hold. In fact, his analysis is little more than a quibble. He could not have thought through what he was writing very thoroughly, or he would not have mocked the fact that the Spirit can indeed use similar expressions to communicate the same thought. He will need to make a more serious effort to undermine this view when the entirety of the New Testament corroborates it. He undoubtedly will make a reply. Leave it to Deaver.