Acts 2:14-47

2:14 | Peter, who just days before had been too cowardly to admit that he even knew Jesus, began preaching the gospel of Christ to the very people who had been responsible for the Lord’s crucifixion. When Peter was filled with the Holy Spirit, God transformed his whole life.

2:15 | According to the Jewish clock, the third hour of the day was 9 AM, the hour of prayer. No one in Jerusalem would be drunk that early (1 Thess. 5:7).

2:16-21 | Peter quoted Joel’s prophecy of the coming of the Holy Spirit and the inauguration of the last days (Joel 2:28-32) – a huge claim that would have shaken the Jewish leaders and their people to the core.

2:22 | Preaching Christ means to preach the person and the work of Christ – who He is and what He has done (1 Cor. 1:23). Peter began by reminding the crowd of the miracles they had seen during the time of Jesus’ ministry on earth, which proved that He was who He claimed to be.

2:23 | Jesus was crucified as part of the plan and foreknowledge of God, but the people who crucified Him were responsible for their actions (Matt. 26:4; 1 Pet. 1:20). Divine sovereignty never excuses human responsibility.

2:24 | Death is the consequences of sin (Rom. 5:12), however, death had no power over Him once the penalty for sin was paid. The same will be true of all the saints of God – as will be evidenced by their glorification in the coming of the new heavens and new earth (Rev. 21-22).

2:25-28 | The Jews were well acquainted with this passage from Psalm 16:8-11. A preacher must preach the good news, using God’s Word to convict the hearts of those with ears to hear.

2:29-32 | Peter explains that David had seen corruption (he was still dead), but Jesus’ resurrected in an incorruptible body – and alive! The corruption of the flesh, which is common to all since the Fall (Gen. 3), has been defeated by the work of Christ, as seen through His resurrection. Everyone who believes on Him shall be transformed from corruptible to incorruptible when they are given glorified, eternal bodies (1 Cor. 15:53-54).

2:33-35 | The Holy Spirit lives in the heart of every person who believes and is therefore as close and available as a breath (Rom. 8:9).

2:36 | Peter’s conclusion about Jesus: He is Lord (God Himself) and Christ (Messiah, God anointed one).

2:37 | When faced with the truth about Christ and one’s guilt before God, there can be only two responses: contempt leading to rejection or conviction leading to repentance (Luke 24:47; 2 Thess. 2:10). A positive response to the gospel is evidence of one’s awareness of sin, need for mercy, and hope in Christ alone to save.

2:38 | Repent derives from two Greek words meaning “to change one’s mind or to turn away from.” More than just feeling bad, repentance requires a change of attitude toward God, sin, the world, and oneself – turning from trusting self to trusting Christ. Baptism is an outward demonstration of the inward reality of Jesus Christ in a person’s life. It is not required for salvation but a requirement because of salvation. Indeed, the word translated for in the text is better rendered “because of.”

2:39 | Here is a foreshadowing of the spread of the gospel to the Gentile world. Peter would soon be called to reach beyond the boundaries of Judaism.

2:42-47 |The early church turned its world upside-down for Christ. They taught the doctrine of Christ, their fellowship centered on Christ, they remembered Him in communion, they communicated with Him in prayer, and they exalted Christ in worship. As the twenty-first century church focuses on Christ in this way, the Spirit will turn its world upside-down as well.

2:42 | The apostles were eyewitnesses of Christ’s life, and their doctrine taught what they knew about Jesus and the OT witness about Him. The Greek term koinonia, translated as fellowship, means “to hold things in common” or “to share things together.” The early church also continued steadfastly in the breaking of bread and in prayers. When these believers assembled, they prayed both spontaneous and memorized prayers from their Jewish roots.

2:43 | God demonstrated the authority of the apostles through these signs, confirming the gospel they preached and inspiring awe and reverence of Him (Heb. 2:3-4).

2:44-45 | The early believers shared their goods because they were generous and committed to one another, not because they were required to do so. The fellowship of the early church expressed itself in open hearts, open hands, and open homes.

2:46 | An essential part of worship, the Lord’s Supper – also referred to as breaking bread or Communion – causes believers look back to the cross, forwarding to the coming of Christ, and inward to the condition of their hearts regarding everything in their lives (1 Cor. 11:27-29).