Jesus in Hades

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0kWM42xkeTM&index=66&list=PLPhb5GPf3Rfc944An2iDh_kTHkrKhoCED&t=0s

Jesus in the Heart of the Earth

Efforts to picture Jesus' visit to the place where the spirits of the dead reside is bound to be confused and confusing. We do not know much about the realm of spirits separated from dead bodies, but we know that Jesus went there during the time His body was dead, beginning on afternoon of 14 Nissan, just after He uttered His last words on the cross. 

We know something about Hades by the account given by Jesus about the rich man and Lazarus, 

Lazarus in Abraham's Bosom

Luk 16:19  "There was a rich man who was clothed in purple and fine linen and who feasted sumptuously every day.
Luk 16:20  And at his gate was laid a poor man named Lazarus, covered with sores,
Luk 16:21  who desired to be fed with what fell from the rich man's table. Moreover, even the dogs came and licked his sores.
Luk 16:22  The poor man died and was carried by the angels to Abraham's side. The rich man also died and was buried,
Luk 16:23  and in Hades, being in torment, he lifted up his eyes and saw Abraham far off and Lazarus at his side.

Jesus mentioned His visit to Hades in the conversation with the thief who hung on the cross next to Jesus.

Luk 23:39 One of the criminals who were hanged railed at him, saying, "Are you not the Christ? Save yourself and us!" Luk 23:40 But the other rebuked him, saying, "Do you not fear God, since you are under the same sentence of condemnation? 
Luk 23:41 And we indeed justly, for we are receiving the due reward of our deeds; but this man has done nothing wrong." 
Luk 23:42 And he said, "Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom." 
Luk 23:43 And he said to him, "Truly, I say to you, today you will be with me in Paradise."
Luk 23:44 It was now about the sixth hour, and there was darkness over the whole land until the ninth hour, 
Luk 23:45 while the sun's light failed. And the curtain of the temple was torn in two. 
Luk 23:46 Then Jesus, calling out with a loud voice, said, "Father, into your hands I commit my spirit!" And having said this he breathed his last.

From mid afternoon of Nissan 14 until before dawn on Nisan 17, counting three hours of light on the afternoon of 14th as the first day after Jesus died, is exactly three days and three nights in the heart of the earth, just as Jesus said in His message about the sign of Jonah. Mat 12:38  Then some of the scribes and Pharisees answered him, saying, "Teacher, we wish to see a sign from you." 
Mat 12:39  But he answered them, "An evil and adulterous generation seeks for a sign, but no sign will be given to it except the sign of the prophet Jonah.
Mat 12:40  For just as Jonah was three days and three nights in the belly of the great fish, so will the Son of Man be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth.
Mat 12:41  The men of Nineveh will rise up at the judgment with this generation and condemn it, for they repented at the preaching of Jonah, and behold, something greater than Jonah is here.

His body was buried at sunset on beginning of 15 Nissan, so the body of Jesus was in the grave three nights and two days, being raised the third day, as Jesus predicted.  Mat 16:21  From that time Jesus began to show his disciples that he must go to Jerusalem and suffer many things from the elders and chief priests and scribes, and be killed, and on the third day be raised.

The body of Jesus was in the tomb of Joseph, but His human spirit was in Hades, having gone there three hours before his body was buried. As the Son of David, born of the virgin Mary, Jesus had a human spirit just as all of us have, which we receive at conception. We cannot understand how the spirit interacts with our mind, but we know it is there, it is who we are, it is our center of existence, and leaves when the body dies. The spirit leaving the body is the Biblical definition of death.

Before Jesus visited Hades, the spirits of both the good and the evil were there, separated from God by sin. The wicked were tormented by memories of their failures in life, and those who trusted in God were comforted by the promise of resurrection.

Psa 16:8 I have set the LORD always before me; because he is at my right hand, I shall not be shaken. Psa 16:9 Therefore my heart is glad, and my whole being rejoices; my flesh also dwells secure. 
Psa 16:10 For you will not abandon my soul to Sheol, or let your holy one see corruption. 
Psa 16:11 You make known to me the path of life; in your presence there is fullness of joy; at your right hand are pleasures forevermore.                                                                                        

Jesus Preaching to the Spirits in Hades

Jesus' visit to Hades for three days and three nights was a one time event. What happened there was a result of the death of Jesus, and His visit to the realm of the dead. His spirit's visit to Hades takes precedence over the burial of His body in the grave. His body was lifeless, but His spirit very much alive, as He shared His testimony with the spirits in Hades. He had died for all mankind; past, present, and future. 

Among the spirits in Hades were all those who died in the flood in the time of Noah. They participated in a form of baptism, buried in water as they died to sin. But they were trapped in death, and had no hope of a resurrection to life, until now. 

Peter gives this account of what happened. 

1Pe 3:17 For it is better to suffer for doing good, if that should be God's will, than for doing evil. 1Pe 3:18 For Christ also suffered once for sins, the righteous for the unrighteous, that he might bring us to God, being put to death in the flesh but made alive in the spirit, 
1Pe 3:19 in which he went and proclaimed to the spirits in prison, 
1Pe 3:20 because they formerly did not obey, when God's patience waited in the days of Noah, while the ark was being prepared, in which a few, that is, eight persons, were brought safely through water. 
1Pe 3:21 Baptism, which corresponds to this, now saves you, not as a removal of dirt from the body but as an appeal to God for a good conscience, through the resurrection of Jesus Christ, 
1Pe 3:22 who has gone into heaven and is at the right hand of God, with angels, authorities, and powers having been subjected to him. ESV


What did Jesus preach to the spirits in Hades? He preached the gospel, that He is the Son of God, who died for the sins of the world, and that all who believe in Him can be delivered from Hades and go into the presence of God to await the resurrection day and the reunion of their spirit with their resurrected and glorified bodies at the coming of Jesus on judgement day.  

1Pe 4:1  Since therefore Christ suffered in the flesh, arm yourselves with the same way of thinking, for whoever has suffered in the flesh has ceased from sin, 

1Pe 4:2  so as to live for the rest of the time in the flesh no longer for human passions but for the will of God. 
1Pe 4:3  For the time that is past suffices for doing what the Gentiles want to do, living in sensuality, passions, drunkenness, orgies, drinking parties, and lawless idolatry. 
1Pe 4:4  With respect to this they are surprised when you do not join them in the same flood of debauchery, and they malign you; 
1Pe 4:5  but they will give account to him who is ready to judge the living and the dead. 
1Pe 4:6  For this is why the gospel was preached even to those who are dead, that though judged in the flesh the way people are, they might live in the spirit the way God does. 

What happened during Jesus' visit to Hades was a one time event, and does not happen today. Everyone who has died since the Day of Pentecost lives with the expectation that each of us will face Jesus on judgment day based upon what we have done before death. Paul writing to the church at Corinth said this:

2Co 5:6  So we are always of good courage. We know that while we are at home in the body we are away from the Lord, 

2Co 5:7  for we walk by faith, not by sight. 

2Co 5:8  Yes, we are of good courage, and we would rather be away from the body and at home with the Lord. 

2Co 5:9  So whether we are at home or away, we make it our aim to please him. 

2Co 5:10  For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, so that each one may receive what is due for what he has done in the body, whether good or evil. 

The writer of Hebrews connects judgment day with death, with no opportunity for redemption coming between death and judgment day. 

Heb 9:27  And just as it is appointed for man to die once, and after that comes judgment, 

Heb 9:28  so Christ, having been offered once to bear the sins of many, will appear a second time, not to deal with sin but to save those who are eagerly waiting for him. 

Even the living face a fearful judgment if they reject salvation in Jesus Christ. God does not save those who rebel against Him in this life, who persist in that rebellion.

Heb 10:24 And let us consider how to stir up one another to love and good works, Heb 10:25 not neglecting to meet together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another, and all the more as you see the Day drawing near. 
Heb 10:26 For if we go on sinning deliberately after receiving the knowledge of the truth, there no longer remains a sacrifice for sins, 
Heb 10:27 but a fearful expectation of judgment, and a fury of fire that will consume the adversaries. 
Heb 10:28 Anyone who has set aside the law of Moses dies without mercy on the evidence of two or three witnesses. 
Heb 10:29 How much worse punishment, do you think, will be deserved by the one who has trampled underfoot the Son of God, and has profaned the blood of the covenant by which he was sanctified, and has outraged the Spirit of grace? 
Heb 10:30 For we know him who said, "Vengeance is mine; I will repay." And again, "The Lord will judge his people." 
Heb 10:31 It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God.

Separating the Sheep and the Goats

Mat 25:31  "When the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, then he will sit on his glorious throne.

Mat 25:32  Before him will be gathered all the nations, and he will separate people one from another as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats.

Mat 25:33  And he will place the sheep on his right, but the goats on the left.

Mat 25:34  Then the King will say to those on his right, 'Come, you who are blessed by my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world.

Mat 25:35  For I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me drink, I was a stranger and you welcomed me,

Mat 25:36  I was naked and you clothed me, I was sick and you visited me, I was in prison and you came to me.'

Mat 25:37  Then the righteous will answer him, saying, 'Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you drink?

Mat 25:38  And when did we see you a stranger and welcome you, or naked and clothe you?

Mat 25:39  And when did we see you sick or in prison and visit you?'

Mat 25:40  And the King will answer them, 'Truly, I say to you, as you did it to one of the least of these my brothers, you did it to me.'

Mat 25:41  "Then he will say to those on his left, 'Depart from me, you cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels.

Mat 25:42  For I was hungry and you gave me no food, I was thirsty and you gave me no drink,

Mat 25:43  I was a stranger and you did not welcome me, naked and you did not clothe me, sick and in prison and you did not visit me.'

Mat 25:44  Then they also will answer, saying, 'Lord, when did we see you hungry or thirsty or a stranger or naked or sick or in prison, and did not minister to you?'

Mat 25:45  Then he will answer them, saying, 'Truly, I say to you, as you did not do it to one of the least of these, you did not do it to me.'

Mat 25:46  And these will go away into eternal punishment, but the righteous into eternal life."

When a wicked man, unsaved, dies today, his spirit goes to Hades to await judgment day. When a righteous man dies, saved by faith in our Lord Jesus, his spirit goes to be before the throne of God, to await judgment day. Jesus brings the spirits of the righteous with Him when He comes in the clouds on judgment day.

Resurrection Day

1Th 4:13  But we do not want you to be uninformed, brothers, about those who are asleep, that you may not grieve as others do who have no hope. 

1Th 4:14  For since we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so, through Jesus, God will bring with him those who have fallen asleep. 

1Th 4:15  For this we declare to you by a word from the Lord, that we who are alive, who are left until the coming of the Lord, will not precede those who have fallen asleep. 

1Th 4:16  For the Lord himself will descend from heaven with a cry of command, with the voice of an archangel, and with the sound of the trumpet of God. And the dead in Christ will rise first. 

1Th 4:17  Then we who are alive, who are left, will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air, and so we will always be with the Lord. 

1Th 4:18  Therefore encourage one another with these words. 

Paul speaks about Jesus descent into Hades and His ascension into heaven, Eph 4:7   

7 Now grace was given to each one of us according to the measure of Christ’s gift. 8 For it says:

When he ascended on high,
he took the captives captive;
he gave gifts to people.[b]

9 But what does “he ascended” mean except that he[c] also descended to the lower parts of the earth?[d] 10 The one who descended is also the one who ascended far above all the heavens, to fill all things. 

The early church had an understanding based upon inspiration that Jesus led the spirits of believers with him when He ascended in the spirit into heaven, opening the door for faithful spirits to be with Jesus before the throne, as they are pictured in Revelation. 

Also the writer of Hebrews has the spirits of the righteous before the throne in the Heavenly Zion, Heb 12:22  But you have come to Mount Zion and to the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, and to innumerable angels in festal gathering, 

Heb 12:23  and to the assembly of the firstborn who are enrolled in heaven, and to God, the judge of all, and to the spirits of the righteous made perfect, 

Heb 12:24  and to Jesus, the mediator of a new covenant, and to the sprinkled blood that speaks a better word than the blood of Abel. 

Righteous Before The Throne

Existence of the saved in the spirit with Jesus is not our ultimate goal, but we hope for the resurrection and glorification of our bodies, and our existence as children of God in eternity, with our personal spirits living in our immortal bodies, which have been redeemed by the blood of Jesus. This is the promise of resurrection day. This is glorification and eternal life.


Paul wrote this to believers:  Rom 8:14  For all who are led by the Spirit of God are sons of God. 
Rom 8:15  For you did not receive the spirit of slavery to fall back into fear, but you have received the Spirit of adoption as sons, by whom we cry, "Abba! Father!" 
Rom 8:16  The Spirit himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God, 
Rom 8:17  and if children, then heirs—heirs of God and fellow heirs with Christ, provided we suffer with him in order that we may also be glorified with him. 
Rom 8:18  For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worth comparing with the glory that is to be revealed to us. 
Rom 8:19  For the creation waits with eager longing for the revealing of the sons of God. 

1 Cor 15:49-57

The Mystery of Resurrection 50 Now I say this, brethren, that flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God; nor does the perishable inherit the imperishable. 
51 Behold, I tell you a mystery; we will not all sleep, but we will all be changed, 
52 in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet; for the trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised imperishable, and we will be changed. 
53 For this perishable must put on the imperishable, and this mortal must put on immortality. 
54 But when this perishable will have put on the imperishable, and this mortal will have put on immortality, then will come about the saying that is written, "DEATH IS SWALLOWED UP in victory. 
55 "O DEATH, WHERE IS YOUR VICTORY? O DEATH, WHERE IS YOUR STING?" 
56 The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law; 
57 but thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ. NASU

Pictures of Salvation

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mMbGIhSs750

The Tree in the Middle of the Garden

YHWH gave Adam and Eve one law, Gen 2:15  The LORD God took the man and put him in the garden of Eden to work it and keep it. 

Gen 2:16  And the LORD God commanded the man, saying, "You may surely eat of every tree of the garden, 

Gen 2:17  but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat of it you shall surely die." 

One law was enough to produce sin, and to condemn Adam and Eve to death by their separation from the tree of life, shut out from life and condemned to death. 

Covering for Shame

God had already planned a way to rescue them from death, and pictured it by clothing them with the skins of some animals. The death of the animals in providing the covering for Adam and Eve, to cover their shame, is a picture of the sacrificial death of Jesus. 

Gen 3:19  By the sweat of your face you shall eat bread, till you return to the ground, for out of it you were taken; for you are dust, and to dust you shall return." 

Gen 3:20  The man called his wife's name Eve, because she was the mother of all living. 

Gen 3:21  And the LORD God made for Adam and for his wife garments of skins and clothed them. 

Mankind was created with the freedom to choose good or evil, and chose evil from the beginning. YHWH would provide a way for their victory over self and sin. He would demonstrate His love in a way that would encourage us to put our trust in Him and to love and obey Him, by providing His own Son as a sacrifice for sins.

Paul used this figure of putting on clothing referring to how we receive righteousness in Yeshua.

Gal 3:26  for in Christ Jesus you are all sons of God, through faith. 

Gal 3:27  For as many of you as were baptized into Christ have put on Christ. 

Gal 3:28  There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free, there is no male and female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus. 

Gal 3:29  And if you are Christ's, then you are Abraham's offspring, heirs according to promise. 

As Paul says in another letter, Rom 8:1  There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. 

Rom 8:2  For the law of the Spirit of life has set you free in Christ Jesus from the law of sin and death. 

Rom 8:3  For God has done what the law, weakened by the flesh, could not do. By sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh and for sin, he condemned sin in the flesh, 

Rom 8:4  in order that the righteous requirement of the law might be fulfilled in us, who walk not according to the flesh but according to the Spirit. 

YHWH clothes us with the righteousness of Yeshua when we surrender our lives to His will by simple faith, which includes doing the simple things commanded by God. Simple things that make no sense to our human minds, but are a demonstration of trust, the death of our human ego, and the rising of the Spirit of Life in Him.

Brought Safely Through The Water

The wages of sin is death, and the descendants of Adam and Eve became exceedingly wicked, putting to use their knowledge of evil. Selfish and unloving, their practice of wickedness broke the heart of YHWH. The world needed a fresh start. So He decided to destroy the world with water, cleaning it from sin. But Noah found favor with God, and was given instruction whereby he and his family would be saved by trusting the power of God. 

Noah did not save himself by building the big boat by the plan given to him by YHWH, but he proved his faith by trusting in God.   YHWH closed the door of the ark, and brought them safely through the water. 

Peter explains it like this:  1Pe 3:18  For Christ also suffered once for sins, the righteous for the unrighteous, that he might bring us to God, being put to death in the flesh but made alive in the spirit, 

1Pe 3:19  in which he went and proclaimed to the spirits in prison, 

1Pe 3:20  because they formerly did not obey, when God's patience waited in the days of Noah, while the ark was being prepared, in which a few, that is, eight persons, were brought safely through water. 

1Pe 3:21  Baptism, which corresponds to this, now saves you, not as a removal of dirt from the body but as an appeal to God for a good conscience, through the resurrection of Jesus Christ, 

1Pe 3:22  who has gone into heaven and is at the right hand of God, with angels, authorities, and powers having been subjected to him. 

Trusting God by obeying his command to build the ark, and the command to repent and be baptized, are illustrations of how faith works. Faith includes trust and trust involves simple submission to the commands of God. Noah was not saved by his works, but he was saved by faith in God, which included building the Ark and putting the lives of him and his family in God's hands.

From Slavery to Freedom

Israel's escape from slavery was blocked at Etham, where the mountains come down to the sea. There was no way for more than two million people with their livestock to pass farther. Why did YHWH bring them to such a place? He wanted them to learn to trust in Him instead of themselves. 

The Egyptian outpost at Migdol sent word to Pharaoh that the Israelites were trapped in the wilderness. The mighty army of Egypt with their horses and chariots came thundering in pursuit while Israel camped by the sea. 

Moses lifted up his staff, and YHWH opened the water to provide
a way of escape from slavery in Egypt. Paul compares this as a type of baptism, 1 Cor 10:1-4--For I do not want you to be unaware, brethren, that our fathers were all under the cloud and all passed through the sea;

2 and all were baptized into Moses in the cloud and in the sea; 
3 and all ate the same spiritual food; 
4 and all drank the same spiritual drink, for they were drinking from a spiritual rock which followed them; and the rock was Christ. 
NASU

Yes, when we are trapped by sin, Yeshua opens the way to freedom through the new birth of water and the Spirit. All who trust in Him will not be ashamed. 

Faith Made Real by Obedience

The Israelites were not happy with what YHWH was providing. He was providing food, clothing, water, and guidance, but no onions and garlic. So the people complained, and deadly serpents invaded their camp, and people were dying of snakebite. When they realized their hopeless condition, they cried out for mercy, and God provided a way for salvation. Moses prepared a brass snake, and mounted it on a wooden post, so that those who were dying might look up at the brass serpent and be healed. 

Of course, looking at a brass snake has nothing to do with healing snake bite, but trusting God is the only way to escape the death penalty for sin.  Yeshua compared his crucifixion with the lifting up of the brass snake by Moses. John 3:11-21-- "Truly, truly, I say to you, we speak of what we know and testify of what we have seen, and you do not accept our testimony. 

12 "If I told you earthly things and you do not believe, how will you believe if I tell you heavenly things? 

13 "No one has ascended into heaven, but He who descended from heaven: the Son of Man. 

14 "As Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of Man be lifted up; 

15 so that whoever believes will in Him have eternal life. 

16 "For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have eternal life. 

17 "For God did not send the Son into the world to judge the world, but that the world might be saved through Him. 

18 "He who believes in Him is not judged; he who does not believe has been judged already, because he has not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God. 

19 "This is the judgment, that the Light has come into the world, and men loved the darkness rather than the Light, for their deeds were evil. 

20 "For everyone who does evil hates the Light, and does not come to the Light for fear that his deeds will be exposed. 

21 "But he who practices the truth comes to the Light, so that his deeds may be manifested as having been wrought in God."

NASU

If we want to be healed of the death penalty for sin, we have to look at Jesus, trusting Him for salvation. We cannot sit in our tent suffering from deadly snakebite, and expect God to heal us. We must crawl out on our hands and knees and look up at the snake, because God commanded it. 

Jericho Walls Fell After 13 Trips

YHWH commanded Joshua to march his army around the walls of Jericho once a day for six days, and then seven times on the seventh day. Thirteen trips around the walls, blowing trumpets, and shouting, has no power to bring down massive stone walls. 

But God brought down the walls and opened the way for entry into the promised land when Joshua and Israel respected his commandments. I am sure it made no sense to them, but by now they are beginning to realize that they do not have to understand God's commandments, they just obey them and God keeps His promises. 

In a similar way we trust the Power of God when we obey His simple commandments to repent and be baptized. Col 2:9-14

9 For in Him all the fullness of Deity dwells in bodily form, 

10 and in Him you have been made complete, and He is the head over all rule and authority; 

11 and in Him you were also circumcised with a circumcision made without hands, in the removal of the body of the flesh by the circumcision of Christ; 

12 having been buried with Him in baptism, in which you were also raised up with Him through faith in the working of God, who raised Him from the dead. 

13 When you were dead in your transgressions and the uncircumcision of your flesh, He made you alive together with Him, having forgiven us all our transgressions, 

14 having canceled out the certificate of debt consisting of decrees against us, which was hostile to us; and He has taken it out of the way, having nailed it to the cross. NASU

Yes, we are baptized into the death of Christ, and raised to new life by trusting the Power of God. He gives us the power to enter the promised land.  Rom 6:1  What shall we say then? Are we to continue in sin that grace may abound? 

Rom 6:2  By no means! How can we who died to sin still live in it? 

Rom 6:3  Do you not know that all of us who have been baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death? 

Rom 6:4  We were buried therefore with him by baptism into death, in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, we too might walk in newness of life. 

Rom 6:5  For if we have been united with him in a death like his, we shall certainly be united with him in a resurrection like his. 

Rom 6:6  We know that our old self was crucified with him in order that the body of sin might be brought to nothing, so that we would no longer be enslaved to sin. 

Rom 6:7  For one who has died has been set free from sin. 

Rom 6:8  Now if we have died with Christ, we believe that we will also live with him. 

Naaman Healed After Seventh Dip

Go and dip in the muddy Jordan river seven times!!  Naaman did not like the instructions because it did not fit what he envisioned as the right way to be healed by God's prophet. 

But the servant girl reminded Naaman that the prophet had not commanded him to do some great deed that would have merited healing, but simply asked him to dip in the river Jordan seven times. 

So Naaman relented, and decided to humble himself, even though it did not make human sense to him. So he dipped in the Jordan six times, and was not healed until the seventh dip. 

Muddy river water has no power to heal leprosy, but God keeps His promises. 

When Peter preached about Yeshua being the Messiah on the day of Pentecost following His resurrection, some who believed the message asked what they could do to be saved. Peter's answer is for us today, for all who believe. Acts 2:34-40
34 "For it was not David who ascended into heaven, but he himself says: 
'THE LORD SAID TO MY LORD, 
"SIT AT MY RIGHT HAND, 
35 UNTIL I MAKE YOUR ENEMIES A FOOTSTOOL FOR YOUR FEET."'   
36 "Therefore let all the house of Israel know for certain that God has made Him both Lord and Christ -- this Jesus whom you crucified."
37 Now when they heard this, they were pierced to the heart, and said to Peter and the rest of the apostles, "Brethren, what shall we do?" 
38 Peter said to them, "Repent, and each of you be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins; and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. 
39 "For the promise is for you and your children and for all who are far off, as many as the Lord our God will call to Himself." 
40 And with many other words he solemnly testified and kept on exhorting them, saying, "Be saved from this perverse generation!" 
NASU

Yes, God gives forgiveness of sins and His Spirit to those who demonstrate real faith by submission to the will of God, such submission demonstrated by doing what He asks, within our power to obey. Repentance and remission of sins was preached beginning at Jerusalem, and went from there into all the world.  

More Than 2,700 Baptized at Port Moresby

Papua New Guinea

Those who gladly received the message about Jesus were baptized that same day. They showed their faith by doing what Peter commanded, repent and be baptized in the name of Jesus, the Jewish Messiah. Immersion in water did not save them, but real faith that trusted God's power to save by simple obedience, not trying to argue about what faith is, but accepting that faith includes obedience. 

Acts 2:41-47

41 So then, those who had received his word were baptized; and that day there were added about three thousand souls. 

42 They were continually devoting themselves to the apostles' teaching and to fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer. 

43 Everyone kept feeling a sense of awe; and many wonders and signs were taking place through the apostles. 

44 And all those who had believed were together and had all things in common; 

45 and they began selling their property and possessions and were sharing them with all, as anyone might have need. 

46 Day by day continuing with one mind in the temple, and breaking bread from house to house, they were taking their meals together with gladness and sincerity of heart, 

47 praising God and having favor with all the people. And the Lord was adding to their number day by day those who were being saved. NASU

God gave his Spirit to all who were born again that day, and the promise is for you and me, all that are called by the gospel to enter into the family of God. God added to the number of His people those who were being saved. The saved are enrolled in Heaven, in the Lamb's book of life. We are saved eternally if we continue to trust in Him until our life is over. There is no condemnation to those who are in Jesus Christ. 

The Ten Commandments

Saved by Grace

Linda and I watched the History Channel presentation of The Bible, and we commented to each other that it is superior to many previous Bible presentations, as it actually got a lot of the story right, and did not attempt  to discredit everything as we have come to expect from modern treatment of Bible stories. 

Of course much was abbreviated, so as to be able to cover the story in a short time. They did not show Aaron and the golden calf worship at Mt. Sinai, but simply showed Moses coming down from the mountain with two tablets of stone in his hands. Those two tablets, which would be stored in the Ark of the Covenant, had on them, written with the hand of God, ten commandments. This covenant was given to Israel, God's people.

Ex 20:1-17—Then God spoke all these words, saying, "I am the LORD your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery.”

"You shall have no other gods before Me.

"You shall not make for yourself an idol, or any likeness of what is in heaven above or on the earth beneath or in the water under the earth. You shall not worship them or serve them; for I, the LORD your God, am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children, on the third and the fourth generations of those who hate Me, but showing lovingkindness to thousands, to those who love Me and keep My commandments.

"You shall not take the name of the LORD your God in vain, for the LORD will not leave him unpunished who takes His name in vain.

"Remember the sabbath day, to keep it holy. Six days you shall labor and do all your work, but the seventh day is a sabbath of the LORD your God; in it you shall not do any work, you or your son or your daughter, your male or your female servant or your cattle or your sojourner who stays with you. For in six days the LORD made the heavens and the earth, the sea and all that is in them, and rested on the seventh day; therefore the LORD blessed the sabbath day and made it holy.”  

"Honor your father and your mother, that your days may be prolonged in the land which the LORD your God gives you.

"You shall not murder.

"You shall not commit adultery.

"You shall not steal.  

"You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor.

"You shall not covet your neighbor's house; you shall not covet your neighbor's wife or his male servant or his female servant or his ox or his donkey or anything that belongs to your neighbor." NASU

The Ten Commandments, written on tablets of stone by the hand of God, are the basis for ethical relationships between mankind and God, and between people. This ethical structure has blessed all who have obeyed it, and cursed all who have rejected it.

God has made a new covenant with his people through Jesus Christ, Jer 31:31-33--"Behold, days are coming," declares the LORD, "when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah, not like the covenant which I made with their fathers in the day I took them by the hand to bring them out of the land of Egypt, My covenant which they broke, although I was a husband to them," declares the LORD.

"But this is the covenant which I will make with the house of Israel after those days," declares the LORD, "I will put My law within them and on their heart I will write it; and I will be their God, and they shall be My people.”  NASU

The covenant we enjoy as Christians is a relationship covenant, where we receive new life in Jesus Christ by the new birth of water and the Spirit. God’s Spirit, living within His people, encourages us to keep the commandments of God, from the heart, because we love God and want to please Him.

The principles of the Ten Commandments are still our ethical standards today. They apply to us as standards for moral conduct, but we are not justified by keeping the law, because we have all violated the Law and come under condemnation. But the problem is not the Law, which is holy, righteous, and good, Rom 7:12. The problem is that sinners cannot be saved by law keeping.  Sinners must be saved by grace through faith, coming to Jesus for salvation. 

As Paul taught, Rom 8:1-4--Therefore there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus has set you free from the law of sin and of death. For what the Law could not do, weak as it was through the flesh, God did: sending His own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh and as an offering for sin, He condemned sin in the flesh, so that the requirement of the Law might be fulfilled in us, who do not walk according to the flesh but according to the Spirit.  NASU

No condemnation! What a beautiful though. I love belonging to Jesus, being a Child of God.