Leviticus 25:10 Consecrate the fiftieth year and proclaim liberty throughout the land to all its inhabitants. It shall be a jubilee for you; each one of you is to return to his family property and each to his own clan.
Smith refers to Pentecost and the crowd who asked, "What must we do?" when they were told they had crucified the Messiah. The answer was simple and rings true throughout the centuries to us today, "Repent and be baptized ...for the forgiveness of your sins, and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit."
Luke was not writing of the forgiveness or confession of daily sins, the kind of confession that restores fellowship with the Father. He is here referring to the repentance or turning away from a sinful way of life and toward a holy one, and forgiveness here is the satisfaction of our sin debt - all of our sin, including those not yet committed.
But the point in this meditation that caught my eye today was "the gift of the Holy Spirit." I wonder if this person of the Trinity ever feels taken for granted. We talk about the fruit of the Holy Spirit, but not the person who gives those gifts: love, joy, peace, longsuffering, and you know the rest.
I have heard people say they were going to work on the gifts of the Spirit, trying harder to produce them. I fear they have missed the point completely. You cannot get the fruit of love in your life by trying to be more loving. If so, it is like putting on a cheap mask. However, the more intimate you become with the Holy Spirit, the more you draw near to God, the more you practice their presence, the persons of the Trinity, the greater will be your love because you will grow more like them. We do become like those we hang with.
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