Acts 2:38-43

Expository Notes of Dr. Thomas Constable - Acts 2:1-47

A. The founding of the church 1:1-2:47In his account of the founding of the Christian church Luke gave background information that ties Jesus’ giving of the Great Commission to the day of Pentecost. He showed how Jesus enabled His disciples to obey His command to evangelize the nations. read more

Thomas Constable

Expository Notes of Dr. Thomas Constable - Acts 2:14-41

Peter’s Pentecost sermon 2:14-41"The miraculous is not self-authenticating, nor does it inevitably and uniformly convince. There must also be the preparation of the heart and the proclamation of the message if miracles are to accomplish their full purpose. This was true even for the miracle of the Spirit’s coming at Pentecost. . . . All this prepares the reader for Peter’s sermon, which is the initial proclamation of the gospel message to a prepared people." [Note: Longenecker, p. 273.] Barclay... read more

Thomas Constable

Expository Notes of Dr. Thomas Constable - Acts 2:37-41

Peter’s exhortation 2:37-41 read more

Thomas Constable

Expository Notes of Dr. Thomas Constable - Acts 2:38

Peter told them what to do. They needed to repent. Repentance involves a change of mind and heart first and secondarily a change of conduct. The Greek word translated repentance (metanoia) literally means a change of outlook (from meta and noeo meaning to reconsider). The Jews had formerly regarded Jesus as less than Messiah and had rejected him. Now they needed to accept Him and embrace Him. John the Baptist and Jesus had previously called for repentance in their audiences (Matthew 3:2;... read more

Thomas Constable

Expository Notes of Dr. Thomas Constable - Acts 2:39

The "promise" is the gift of the Holy Spirit (Acts 1:5; Acts 1:8; Acts 2:33). Those "far off" probably include the Diaspora Jews, future generations of Jews, and the Gentiles. Peter had already expressed his belief that Gentiles could be saved (Acts 2:21; cf. Joel 2:32), a fact taught repeatedly in both the Old and the New Testament. Peter’s later problem involving the salvation of Cornelius was not due to a conviction that Gentiles were unsaveable. It was a question of the manner by which they... read more

Thomas Constable

Expository Notes of Dr. Thomas Constable - Acts 2:40

The Greek word translated "generation" (genea) sometimes has a wider scope than simply all the people living within the same generational period. It has a metaphorical meaning here as elsewhere (e.g., Matthew 17:17; Mark 9:19; Mark 13:30; Luke 9:41; Luke 16:8). It means "a race of men very like each other in endowments, pursuits, character; and especially in a bad sense a perverse race." [Note: A Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament, s.v. "genea," p. 112.] Here the reference seems to be... read more

Thomas Constable

Expository Notes of Dr. Thomas Constable - Acts 2:41

Peter had called on his audience to repent and to be baptized (Acts 2:38). Luke recorded the response of the believers. This reference, too, is probably to water baptism.More people may have become Christians on this one day than did so during the whole earthly ministry of our Lord Jesus Christ (cf. John 14:12). Luke evidently meant that 3,000 were added to the 120 mentioned in Acts 1:15 since he was describing the visible relationships of the believers. [Note: Kent, p. 34, footnote 14.] Some... read more

Thomas Constable

Expository Notes of Dr. Thomas Constable - Acts 2:42

These new converts along with the disciples gave ("devoted," Gr. proskartereo, cf. Acts 1:14) themselves to two activities primarily: the apostles’ teaching and fellowship. The grammar of the Greek sentence sets these actions off as distinct from the following two activities that define fellowship. The apostles’ teaching included the Jewish Scriptures as well as the teachings of Christ on earth and the revelations He gave to the apostles from heaven. This means the early Christians gave... read more

Thomas Constable

Expository Notes of Dr. Thomas Constable - Acts 2:42-47

6. The early state of the church 2:42-47Luke now moved from describing what took place on a particular day to a more general description of the life of the early Jerusalem church (cf. Acts 4:32 to Acts 5:11; Acts 6:1-6). Interestingly he gave comparatively little attention to the internal life of the church in Acts. His selection of content shows that his purpose was to stress its outward expansion. read more

Thomas Constable

Expository Notes of Dr. Thomas Constable - Acts 2:43

The feeling of awe that the obvious working of God in their midst inspired continued among all the people in Jerusalem. The wonder-inspiring miracles that the apostles performed pointed to God’s hand at work and kept this spirit alive. Not the least of these wonders must have been the remarkable unity and self-sacrifice of the believers. Compare Acts 2:22, where Peter said Jesus had done "wonders and signs," with this verse, where Luke wrote that the apostles performed "wonders and signs." This... read more

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