It’s interesting to note that when we take certain verses out of their context, we end up creating our own systems to replace God’s “system.” God’s system is called covenant or relationship. Our systems tend to be what we can control. But, of course, we aren’t the ones in control when God is leading, guiding, inspiring, and empowering us.
With that in mind, I’d like for us to revisit a very familiar verse from the annals of the early church. At Pentecost, many in the crowd are moved to action, but they aren’t quite sure exactly what to do in order to be saved or experience the life eternal that Jesus promised. In Acts 2:38 we read: “But Peter said to them, ‘Repent, and each of you be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ into the writing off of your sins, and (as a result) accept the gift of the Holy Spirit.” [my translation] As we read this, it seems straightforward enough. In fact, it seems like a clear sequence of causality. It seems like you change your way of living before you are baptized in the name of Jesus Christ and then, you receive the “writing off” or pardon for your sins before you receive the Holy Spirit. It seems all neat and very clear-cut.
Unfortunately, or perhaps quite fortunately, it has been my experience that God doesn’t submit to our human rules of “cause and effect.” That is fortunate because it keeps us from treating God like some “God in a box” where we turn the causal crank and God pops out (more like a Cosmic Jeeves than a clown) with the desired effect. Truth be told, we can try to force God’s hand in that manner, but since He is the Lord of the Manor instead of a mere valet to His children, it’s not going to work. I personally like the fact that God is not a “mechanism” but a “person” that relates to us as “persons” instead of some checklist of rules.
Of course, the unfortunate aspect of this is that relationships are difficult and not always straightforward. Relationships require a commitment of time and effort beyond memorizing the rules and trying to figure out what we can get by with. So, it probably won’t surprise you that the Bible doesn’t give us a consistent sequence with regard to forgiveness of sins, baptism, and the reception of the Holy Spirit. It looks like we have that in Acts 2:38, but what do we do with Peter’s own message in Acts 3:19. In the latter verse, repentance is described as the first step toward forgiveness of sins, but there is no mention of baptism—even though verse 20 describes a refreshing from the Lord (which would likely be the Holy Spirit’s presence in our lives) and verse 21 identifies Jesus as the Messiah.
And that isn’t the only place we see salvation without baptism. In Acts 8:22, Peter tells his hearers to repent and pray to the Lord Jesus in order that the intent of the heart would be forgiven. And before we move on to the next example, let me note that it is just as troubling for those who hold to a “sequence” that the believers from Samaria in Acts 8:14-17 had already been baptized in the name of Jesus but did not “receive” the Holy Spirit until Peter and John laid hands upon them.
In Acts 20:21, Paul shares about how repentance toward God and faith in Jesus Christ go hand-in-hand. Remember this word because I believe it is the route out of our conundrum, our difficulty of understanding why Peter would have preached what seems to be a sequence without, possibly, intending a sequence. Even more so, we see Paul telling King Agrippa in Acts 26:20 that he taught repentance to Jews and Gentiles alike in order that they could live lives consistently with that repentance.
Now, I’ve already shared how the believers from Samaria didn’t receive the Holy Spirit until after Peter and John laid their hands upon them—well after they had been baptized. Now, consider the case of Cornelius and his company in Acts 10. Verse 44 has the Holy Spirit coming upon Cornelius and company BEFORE they are baptized in verses 47-48. Then, we seem to be somewhat in sequence again when the Ephesians receive the Holy Spirit after they are re-baptized in the name of Christ Jesus (Acts 19:1-7).
So, there doesn’t seem to be a “causal” link between baptism and the reception of the Holy Spirit. And, since we’re also seen forgiveness and pardon without baptism, there doesn’t seem to be a “causal” link between baptism and the forgiveness of sins, either.
So, why did Peter frame this “invitation” or “altar call” in this way? I’m going to go out on a limb here and suggest that Peter saw all of these actions as working together, overlapping and sometimes simultaneously, but sometimes delayed according to God’s timing and purpose. Please bear with me, though. I’m not just making this up as I go along. Just as the other verses we looked at in the Book of Acts cause me to believe that there is no sequence of “cause and effect” here, there is something in the text that causes me to see things a little differently than the usual checklist or sequence approach.
The preposition sometimes translated as “for the remission of sins” can also be translated as “into” or “for the purpose of” the writing off of sins. Most commonly, this preposition is used to describe entering “into” something. It also has an idiomatic usage that implies “with a view to” or “resulting in.” Hence, some translations have Peter commanding people to be baptized “for the purpose of” receiving forgiveness of sins. But what if Peter was really using this as baptism being one of our first steps of entering into a lifestyle of having our sins forgiven? I mean, we can’t very well experience forgiveness of sins if we’re rebelling against the commandment to be baptized, can we? And, baptism isn’t going to mean much if we don’t learn to live a life where spiritual breathing (confession of sin to exhale and reception of forgiveness to inhale) is as vital as physical breathing.
So, let me suggest that we interpret this verse in a more dynamic sense. Have you ever heard of the covalent bond? We’re talking about how the nucleus of the atom with its protons and neutrons seems to be held together by a concentration of electrons in orbit around it. The whole atom is held together by this covalent bond. But it’s not a “cause and effect” relationship. The protons are attracting the electrons at the same time the electrons are providing stability (unless they’re broken off to create ions, but that’s a different story).
I really believe that Acts 2:38 is a picture of the protons, neutrons, and electrons with which God binds us to His Person. Without turning around and joining God according to the Divine Will, we don’t have a relationship. Without being obedient enough to acknowledge God through the testimony of baptism and confession of Jesus in front of others, we don’t have the kind of relationship God wants for us to have. Without experiencing the lifestyle of forgiveness, we aren’t “clear channel” enough for the Holy Spirit to work through us. And in light of Heisenberg’s Uncertainty Principle, I like this atomic illustration even better. Heisenberg discovered in the mid ‘20s that atomic particles make unpredictable quantum jumps. In short, there is no definitive sequence in the core of the atom—even though science can do both wondrous and monstrous things with what is definitive within the atom.
In short, I would say that we need to do all of the things in Peter’s command, but that the fact we do it in relationship with the Lord is more important than the order in which we do it. But don’t just take my word for it, check out the words of that great New Testament scholar, F. F. Bruce:
It would, of course, be a mistake to link the words “unto the remission of your sins” with the command “be baptized” to the exclusion of the prior command “Repent ye.” It is against the whole genius of Biblical religion to suppose that the outward rite had any value except as it was accompanied by true repentance.
--F.F. Bruce, The New International Commentary on the New Testament: The Book of Acts, p. 77.
Bruce rightly observes that baptism doesn’t do anything (have any value) unless it is accompanied with relationship (repentance as our turning toward God). To use another crude analogy (that also involves water), we could consider the common rain gutter. Now, when a rain gutter is doing its job, it allows water to flow through it and from it so that its building isn’t harmed and usually so that the water goes into a flower bed, garden, lawn, or little pond area where it can be used. Ah, but what happens when the rain gutter looks like this? (A slide with a rain gutter where the seeds had germinated in the mulch caused by clogged leaves and dirt was pictured.)
In this case, the leaves and mulch have clogged the gutter so much that plants have taken root in the gutter itself. Instead of carrying water away so that it doesn’t do harm to the house, the gutter has caused the water to back up and damage the roof. Instead of carrying the water to the flower bed below, it is stuck in the muck and roots of the debris.
And that’s what unforgiven sin can do in our lives! The seeds and debris of sin can take root and block God’s presence from flowing through us. When that happens, we become susceptible to harm and we fail to bless others.
Now, sometimes people ask me, “Why do we even talk about the Holy Spirit, anyway? What’s the purpose? I don’t want to speak in tongues, see visions, or prophesy. It would be nice to be able to heal and work miracles, but I’m just not sure I’m comfortable with all of that.”
The problem with that question and reaction is that it misunderstands the purpose of the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit isn’t about bringing attention to you and I anymore than a rain gutter is placed on a house to cause you to admire the rain gutter. The Holy Spirit is God’s Presence in your life. As such, the Holy Spirit can give you the power to do the miraculous—if God should will it. As such, the Holy Spirit can offer amazing insights and wisdom beyond your capability—if God should will it. But the fact is that God doesn’t give us the gift of the Holy Spirit just for the sake of performing miracles and amazing stunts of spirituality. God gives us the Holy Spirit to assist us, coach us, mentor us, guide us, and invest in us to live life more abundantly.
Let me just hint at some of the work of the Holy Spirit here. The Holy Spirit teaches us about God (John 14:26). The Holy Spirit tells us what to say when we’re walking on dangerous ground (Luke 12:12). In other words, He helps us navigate the minefields of life, find peace in the midst of chaos, and experience joy even when others would be giving up (Romans 14:17). He gives us “great expectations” (in other words, hope) that our life can have meaning and be full of victory (Romans 15:13).
But notice the emphasis here—the Holy Spirit does all of this for us. We cannot live life as God intends for us to live it without the Holy Spirit. We cannot experience the abundance God wants to give us without the Holy Spirit. And when we try to build our own checklists for how we “get” the Holy Spirit or when we simply invoke the Holy Spirit with regard to the miraculous, we’re missing the point. We need the Holy Spirit every minute of every day.
I have a children’s sermon to try to explain the Holy Spirit. It isn’t original to me or to the first person I heard use it, but I think it’s powerful. In it, I take an empty glove and tell the kids that it’s a magic glove. I tell them it is amazing because it can pick things up. Then, I drop it on a hymn book or Bible and tell it to pick up the book. When it doesn’t move, I apologize for its failure and assure them that I’ve seen it pick up books before. I suggest it might be too heavy, so I move to a smaller book. When it still doesn’t work, I move to a piece of paper. When it still doesn’t work, one of the older children is usually on to me and says that I need to put it on. I then suggest that I neglected something important. A glove can’t pick anything up without a hand inside it. Then, I share that we can’t do anything significant unless the Holy Spirit is inside us. Just as the glove can do things with my hand inside it that it cannot do by itself, so we need the Holy Spirit.
And yet, so many believers try: to deal with their sin problems without calling upon the Holy Spirit; to handle their personal problems without getting guidance from the Holy Spirit; and to serve God without getting power from the Holy Spirit. How can this be? I believe it’s because we are thinking of the Holy Spirit as a resource rather than as God’s Person in our lives. I think it’s because we think about the Holy Spirit as one point on our spiritual checklist instead of responding to the leading of the Holy Spirit in terms of growing in a wonderful relationship with God. I think it’s because we treat the Holy Spirit as our “Sunday clothes” instead of letting God be involved in our ordinary, daily life.
So, I challenge you. Instead of looking for God’s preflight checklist of “must do’s” before we have a relationship, let’s establish that relationship and become one with God’s spiritual covalent bond that holds us together. We may not have a specific order to follow, but we do need to change our way of living (repent), obey the things God’s shared in the Bible (like following God in baptism), live a lifestyle of confession and forgiveness (the “writing off” of our sins), be up front about our relationship to the Lord Jesus Christ, and be open to (willing to accept) God’s Holy Spirit coursing through the open, clean, forgiven channel of our lives. And if you haven’t reached this point, I challenge you to turn to God right now and let the Holy Spirit show you the covalent bond for your victorious life.
