Acts 5:31,32 - To give you repentance

5:31

“God exalted Him ...” When the New Testament speaks about salvation it is God centered, not man-centered. God took the initiative, and we are to respond to it. He didn’t need any man to advise Him. And God has exalted Jesus as Leader and Saviour. So when called on to me multicultural we have to say no, for God has exalted Jesus. We are in no position to say that other religions lead to God, or that there is any other way of salvation, for God has said otherwise. God exalted Jesus to give repentance to Israel. Repentance is seen as a gift. When the Spirit works in a person’s life, He will lead that person to repent so that they can receive forgiveness. This is another reason why it is so important that we do not pussyfoot around the fact that people are sinners. If we do mess about, then we are denying people the gift of God. Conversely, if we speak the truth then the saving power of the gospel can be released, for then we are preaching in step with the Holy Spirit.

5:32

“We are witnesses ...” The primary task of the apostles was to witness to the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ, calling people to repentance, to receiving forgiveness, and that Jesus Christ has been exalted to the highest place.

“And so is the Holy Spirit”. We work in partnership with God Himself. We are completely dependent upon the Lord, but we are not passive partners. He involves us in all that He does. John 15:26,27 says the Holy Spirit will bear witness to Jesus, and we also must bear witness. Some people say that John is somehow in contradiction to the synoptic gospels, but this is just one instance illustrating the consistency between John and the synoptic writers.

And God gives the Holy Spirit to those who obey Him. In the New Testament there is an important emphasis on obedience (1 John 5:3), which we must never forget. And the prime aspect of obedience is to repent and believe in Jesus (1 John 3:23).