According to Peter’s word in 5:31, the Lord is the Leader and the Savior “to give repentance to Israel and forgiveness of sins.” To give repentance and forgiveness of sins to God’s chosen people requires Christ to be exalted as a ruling Leader and Savior. His sovereign ruling causes and leads God’s chosen people to repent, and His salvation based upon His redemption affords them forgiveness of sins.
Repentance is for forgiveness of sins (Mark 1:4). On God’s side, forgiveness of sins is based upon His redemption (Eph. 1:7). On man’s side, forgiveness of sins is through repentance.
Repentance and forgiveness are major gifts, and only the Lord Jesus as the Leader and the Savior is qualified to give them. No one else is qualified to give repentance and forgiveness of sins to others. We need to realize that in this universe He is the only One qualified to give repentance and forgiveness of sins.
In a positive sense, we have been caught by the Lord Jesus. If we had not been caught, who among us would have repented? None of us would have repented if the Lord had not captured us. Actually, the Lord compelled us to repent. Otherwise, we would not have repented. Repentance is not of us; repentance is a gift given by the exalted Leader and Savior. Following repentance, we received the gift of forgiveness. Praise the Lord for the gifts of repentance and forgiveness! Praise Him that He is qualified to give repentance and forgiveness to God’s chosen people!
In 5:32 Peter goes on to say, “And we are witnesses of these things, and the Holy Spirit also, whom God has given to those who obey Him.” The Greek word translated “things” here is rhema. Both the apostles and the Holy Spirit were witnesses of these things. This indicates that the Holy Spirit was one with the apostles. In this verse Peter says that God gives the Holy Spirit to those who obey Him. Obedience is the way and the condition to receive and enjoy the Spirit of God.
Acts 5:33-40 describes the Sanhedrin’s prohibition and release of the apostles. Verse 33 says, “But when they heard this, they were cut to the heart and intended to do away with them.” Literally, the Greek words rendered “cut to the heart” mean “being sawed through.” This is a strong figure for being exasperated.
Verse 34 continues, “But a certain Pharisee in the Sanhedrin named Gamaliel, a teacher of the law, honored by all the people, stood up and ordered that the men be put outside for a little while.” The Pharisees were the strictest religious sect of the Jews (Acts 26:5). This sect was formed about 200 B.C. They were proud of their superior sanctity of life, devotion to God, and knowledge of the Scriptures.
In verse 35 Gamaliel said to the Sanhedrin, “Men, Israelites, take heed to yourselves regarding what you are about to do to these men.” Then after referring to the cases of Theudas and Judas the Galilean, he continued, “Now I say to you, stay away from these men and leave them alone; for if this counsel or this work is of men, it will be overthrown; but if it is of God, you will not be able to overthrow them, lest perhaps you even be found fighters against God” (vv. 38-39). Here Gamaliel spoke a very good word.
Gamaliel was a pious, godly man. But was he in God’s economy? Did he know anything concerning God’s economy? Gamaliel was not in God’s economy, and he did not know anything about it. Throughout the centuries many godly ones have been like Gamaliel. Although they were pious and godly, they did not know anything about God’s economy. They had no understanding of God’s move. Like Gamaliel, who did not know what the Lord was doing through Peter and John, these pious ones did not know what the Lord was doing in their time.
In 5:35-39 we see that Gamaliel was quite wise and also neutral. Notice his use of the word “if” in verses 38 and 39. In verse 38 he said, “If this counsel or this work is of men, it will be overthrown.” Then in verse 39 he went on to say, “If it is of God, you will not be able to overthrow them.” Instead of taking sides, Gamaliel left the entire situation to God. He knew that if this work was of men, it would be overthrown. But if it was of God and not of men, nothing could be done concerning it. As we have pointed out, although Gamaliel was godly and pious, and also wise and neutral, he did not know God’s economy, and he was not in it. Throughout the years many have been like Gamaliel. They were very godly and pious, but no matter how godly and pious they were, they did not know what God was doing on earth.
From the case of Gamaliel we see that it is not adequate simply to be godly and spiritual. We also need to know how God is moving today. Where is God moving, and in what way is He moving? Since God is always moving, we must find out in what way He is moving. Is He moving in the way of Roman Catholicism, or in the way of the denominations? Is He moving in the way of Pentecostalism, or in the way of the inner life? In what way is God moving now? We cannot believe that God is dormant. Since He is moving, we need to have the inner assurance, the inner satisfaction, that we know His move and are in it. We need assurance concerning God’s up-to-date move.
We should not be like those in the Sanhedrin, and neither should we be like Gamaliel. Instead, we should be today’s Peters and Johns. From the record in the divine revelation we can see that Peter and John were in God’s economy. They were moving with God, or, more accurately, God was moving with them. They had been motivated to move with God.
How about us today? I can testify that I have the assurance that the Lord’s move is in and with His recovery. Concerning this, we have the Holy Spirit as the inner witness. With Peter we can say, “We are witnesses of these things, and the Holy Spirit also.” We have the inner assurance and satisfaction that we are in the Lord’s up-to-date move. We are not Gamaliels—we are today’s Peters and Johns.
Those in the Sanhedrin were persuaded by Gamaliel. After calling the apostles, “they beat them and charged them not to speak in the name of Jesus, and they released them” (v. 40). Therefore, “they went from the presence of the Sanhedrin, rejoicing that they were counted worthy to be dishonored on behalf of the Name” (v. 41). To be dishonored on behalf of the Name is to suffer shame for the Name. It is a real honor to be dishonored on behalf of the Name, the very name of the man-dishonored but God-honored Jesus. Hence, the sufferers rejoiced that they were counted worthy of this.
Acts 5:42 says, “And every day, in the temple and from house to house, they did not cease teaching and bringing the good news of Jesus as the Christ.” Here we see that the apostles preached the gospel in the temple and in the houses of the believers. We have the burden to follow this practice of preaching and teaching from house to house.