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NASB | Acts 2:16 but this is what was spoken of through the prophet Joel: |
AMPLIFIED 2015 | Acts 2:16 but this is [the beginning of] what was spoken of through the prophet Joel: |
Subject: The Beginning of the Body of Christ |
Bible Note: Act 2:16 “But this is that which was spoken by the prophet Joel” What had Joel prophesied? What had happened that day in the upper room? Jesus said “you will be baptized in the Holy Spirit not many days after." Acts 1:4-5 John had said, “He will baptize you in the Holy Spirit and fire,” and now the disciples see tongues as of fire settling upon each other. So what happened? Jesus had said they would be baptized in the Spirit. What do we know about baptism? It means “immersion”. They would be immersed in the Spirit. What does the Scripture tell us about baptism? Mar 10:39 “Jesus said to them, Indeed you will drink the cup which I drink, and you will be baptized with the baptism with which I am baptized.” Jesus was to be baptized with a baptism shared with His disciples. This is not the baptism of John, which had already occurred. Luke 12:49-50 “I came to cast fire on the earth, and would that it were already kindled! I have a baptism to be baptized with, and how great is my distress until it is accomplished! Jesus was in distress until His baptism was accomplished, because He so wanted to send this “fire”. Rom 6:3 Or are you ignorant that all who were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into His death? Paul wrote that our baptism is into Jesus’ death. Rom 6:4 Therefore, we were buried with Him through baptism into death, that as Christ was raised up from the dead by the glory of the Father, so also we should walk in newness of life. Joining with Jesus in His death joins us to His life. 1Co 12:13 For also we all were baptized by one Spirit into one body, whether Jews or Greeks, whether slaves or free, even all were given to drink into one Spirit. Our baptism is into one body. Eph 4:4-5 There is one body and one Spirit, even as you also were called in one hope of your calling; one Lord, one faith, one baptism, There is only one baptism, all of our baptism is the same. Col 2:12 being buried with Him in baptism, in whom also you were raised through the faith of the working of God, raising Him from among the dead. Jesus died, was buried, and rose again, and this was His baptism. This is also our baptism, not the water symbol, but the actual baptism that saves us, as we join Jesus in His baptism: His death, His burial, and His resurrection. Jesus’ baptism was that He die, was buried, and was raised in His eternal body. We are baptized into His body, have died, were buried, and were raised into His eternal body. (1Co 12:27 And you are Christ's body, Eph 4:12 for the building up of the body of Christ, Col 1:24 on behalf of His body, which is the assembly, Eph 5:30 For we are members of His body, of His flesh, and of His bones.) Water baptism is an outward symbol of this spiritual occurrance. If the spiritual reality hasn’t happened, the water baptism is meaningless. What the Bible calls “baptism in the Holy Spirit” is nothing other than being brought into the body of Christ, through His death, burial, and resurrection. So what was Joel prophesying? Certainly not just the speaking in languages that the disciples didn’t previously know! That was a sign of being filled with the Holy Spirit, but given the various occurances of “filled with the Holy Spirit” in the New Testament, that is something that can happen over and over, while baptism in the Holy Spirit happens only once. Being filled with the Holy Spirit gave the disciples ability to speak as they did, and that’s what got the crowd gathered around, but Peter quotes a passage from Joel that contains much more than the disciple’s being filled with the Spirit. But he said “this is what the prophet Joel spoke of”, and then mentioned prophecies, dreams, visions, wonders in the heavens, signs on the earth, blood, fire, columns of smoke, the sun turned dark, the moon turned to blood, and salvation to all who call on the Name of the Lord. (Acts 2:18-22) What had just happened? The disciples had been baptized in the Holy Spirit, baptized into the body of Christ. This had not happened to anyone before. This was a new thing. This was the beginning of Christ’s body on earth existing in the church, the called-out assemble. This was the beginning of the body of Christ as we know it today. This is what Joel prophesied – the body of Christ in the world through redeemed man. This is why there was so much more in his prophecy than what we saw on that day. The prophecy begins with the Spirit being poured out, it will end with the sun being darkened, and the moon turned to blood, before the great and glorious Day of the Lord. And so it is with the body of Christ, and what we call the “church age”, which began with the pouring out of the Spirit, and will close as the sun is darkened and the moon turned to blood, as Jesus opens the sixth seal, to begin the Day of the Lord, and the redemption of Israel, and is characturized the way Joel described. Love in Christ, Mark |
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Questions and/or Subjects for Acts 2:16 | Author | ||
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DocTrinsograce | ||
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DocTrinsograce | ||
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Learner of God's word | ||
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mark d seyler | ||
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Texas Boy | ||
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mlongwood87 |