<p>2:38 <i>And Peter said to them: Every one of you</i><i> should- </i>This might seem somewhat redundant, but remember that Peter was faced by a crowd of at least 3000 people. He sensed the tendency towards group action, being baptized because that was what the crowd was doing. And so he seeks to remind them that repentance is a very individual response to our own sins and God's salvation in Christ. And the same caveat needs to be sounded in communities which quite rightly raise their children in the Christian faith, surrounding them with those of similar background.</p><p><i>Repent and be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ to the remission of your sins</i>- This language is intentionally reminiscent of how Luke earlier described the work of John the Baptist four years ago, which would have been well known to these Jerusalem Jews: he preached &quot;the baptism of repentance for the remission of sins&quot; (Lk. 3:3). Perhaps they had been baptized by John- for &quot;all Jerusalem&quot; were baptized by John. But that was not Christian baptism, which was only instituted after the Lord's death and resurrection; and there was no subsequent gift of Holy Spirit made accessible by that baptism. So maybe the emphasis was upon &quot;in the name of Jesus Christ&quot;. Those baptized by John were baptized into Jesus in Acts 19:1-5.</p><p>Repentance is a very complex and personal issue. There is no evidence that each of those people gave a theological statement of their understanding.</p><p>The appeal to &ldquo;be baptized&rdquo; is asking us to let something be done to us; and the ultimate doer of baptism is the Father and Son. Israel&rsquo;s crossing of the Red Sea was a prototype of Christian baptism; the people were baptized into Moses, as we are baptized into Christ (1 Cor. 10:2). &ldquo;They were baptized&rdquo; again suggests they were baptized by someone- God. If the idea was that they had of their own volition put themselves under water, the Greek and English would be different- something like &lsquo;They baptized themselves into Moses&rsquo;.</p><p><i>And you shall receive the gift- </i>Rom. 5:16 and 6:23 describe salvation as &quot;<i>the</i> gift&quot;- inviting comparison with &quot;<i>the </i>gift&quot; of the Spirit in Acts 2:38. The only other time in the NT that we read of 'receiving' 'the gift' is in Rom. 5:17, where believers receive the gift of imputed righteousness and grace, i.e. salvation. And Acts 2:39 seems to be quoting Joel 2:32 concerning salvation as if this is what the gift of the Spirit was. Peter's reference to the promised gift being to those &quot;afar off&quot; alludes to Is. 57:19: &quot;Peace (with God through forgiveness) to him that is far off&quot;. Eph. 2:8 also describes the gift as being salvation, saying that &quot;by one Spirit (this gift) we all have access to the Father&quot; (2:18). This is further validated by the fact that Eph. 2:13-17 is also alluding to Is. 57:19: &quot;Ye who sometimes were far off are made nigh by the blood of Christ. For He is our peace... (who) came and preached peace to you which were far off&quot;. Ps. 51:12,13 draws a parallel between possessing God's holy Spirit, and benefiting from His salvation.</p><p><i>Of the Holy Spirit- </i>The repeated use of definite articles suggests that a clearly defined gift was in view. The promise of the Holy Spirit as a gift is surely referring to the promises of the Comforter in John 14-16. These promises contained the prospect of internal activity in the heart of believers, to the extent that they would as it were have the Lord Jesus literally present with them. Whilst the manifestation of the Spirit's presence was initially through visible phenomenon such as speaking in foreign languages, the essence of the gift is of internal strengthening to righteousness. And it is clearly alluded to in the later New Testament. &quot;that you may be strengthened with power through His Spirit in the inner man. That Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith, to the end that you would be rooted and grounded in love, that you might be able to comprehend with all the saints what is the width and length and depth and height, and to truly know and understand the love of Christ that surpasses knowledge, that you may be filled with all the fullness of God. Now to Him that is able to do immeasurably above all that we ask or think, according to the power that works in us, to Him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus to all generations for ever and ever&quot; (Eph. 3:16-21; see too Eph. 1:17-19). &quot;Now he that establishes us with you in Christ and anointed us is God, who also sealed us and gave us the down payment of the Spirit in our hearts&quot; (2 Cor. 1:21,22). &quot;In whom you also believed, having heard the word of the truth, the gospel of your salvation, and were sealed with the Holy Spirit of promise&quot; (Eph. 1:13; 4:30). &quot;...So that we might receive the promise of the Spirit through faith&quot; (Gal. 3:14). The idea of Spirit that was promised naturally connects with the promise of the Comforter, and with Peter's statement that baptism will receive the promised gift of the Spirit. These passages are all about the internal work of the Spirit- not miraculous gifts. The Comforter passages have a similar aspect to them: &quot;The Father... shall give you another comforter, that he may be with you for ever this sounds like something permanent, not only for two generations- the Spirit of truth... he abides with you and <i>shall be in you</i>... I will come to you (Jn. 14:16-18)... But the comforter, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, he shall teach you all things, and cause you to remember 'to put in the mind', Gk. all that I said to you. Peace I leave with you (Jn. 14:26,27)... the Comforter, the spirit of truth (Jn. 15:26)... the Comforter... will convict (Jn. 16:7,8)... When he, the Spirit of truth, comes, he shall guide you into all the truth... he shall declare to you the things that are to come. He shall glorify me; for he shall take what is mine and shall declare it to you&quot; (Jn. 16:13,14). The Comforter, the Holy Spirit or &quot;spirit of truth&quot; is therefore associated with internal psychological processes in the mind of the believer. John's letters allude to the promise of the comforter, and speak as if it is being experienced by John's readership, both then and now. This of itself means that the Comforter was not just referring to miraculous gifts given to the apostles; it has a far wider reference. The following are John's later commentary on the Comforter passages: &quot;You have an anointing from the Holy One and you know all these things... the anointing which you received of him abides in you cp. Jn. 14:17 &quot;the Spirit of truth... he abides with you and <i>shall be in you</i>&quot;... even as it taught you, so you are to abide in him (1 Jn. 2:2,27)... hereby we know that He abides in us, by the Spirit which He gave us (1 Jn. 3:24)... it is the Spirit that testifies, because the Spirit is the truth... He that believes in the Son of God has the witness within himself (1 Jn. 5:6,10)... the Son of God came, and has given us an understanding so that we truly know him that is true&quot; (1 Jn. 5:20). All this activity of teaching us, giving us understanding, helping us abide in Christ- this is the work of the Comforter Spirit. All this desperately needed spiritual activity is the gift promised to those who are baptized.</p>