1. Before His ascension, Jesus promised to the apostles that the Holy Spirit called (“the promise of the Father”) would come upon them in Jerusalem (Acts 1:4,5).
2. This was based upon the statement of Jesus in his early ministry, “John truly baptized with water, but ye shall be baptized with the Holy Ghost.”
3. Jesus promised that the apostles would receive power after the Holy Spirit came upon them (Acts 1:8).
4. On the day of Pentecost, they were all in Jerusalem and the Holy Spirit came upon them (Acts 2:4).
5. The power of the Holy Spirit was the power to do miraculous things such as speak with tongues (Acts 2:4).
6. In verse 33 Peter says that what Jesus told them in Acts 1 had now been fulfilled; the promise of the Holy Ghost (also called the promise of the Father in Acts 1:4) was given to the apostles.
7. Peter said that this is now what you “see and hear” (i.e. the miracle of tongues). This promise was the miraculous gift of tongues.
8. Peter reiterates that promise in verse 38, “And, ye shall receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.”
9. In Acts 10:45 we find the exact same wording, “gift of the Holy Spirit.”
10. The gentiles in Acts 10:44 received the Holy Spirit.
11. It is clear that the gift of the Holy Spirit here is the miraculous gift of tongues for verse 46 says they heard them speak with other tongues and magnify God.
12. In verse 47 Peter said that they had “received the Holy Spirit as well as we.”
13. In Acts 11:15, Peter is rehearsing the events at the house of Cornelius. He says that the Holy Spirit fell on them as on us “at the beginning.”
14. In Acts 11:16 he applies the same quote that Jesus used in Acts 1 to describe the events of Acts 2.
15. If the gift of the Holy Spirit in Acts 10:45 is the miraculous gift of tongues, then the gift of the Holy Spirit in Acts 2:38 must be the miraculous gift of tongues.
The basic argument is this:
Peter says in Acts 10 and 11 that “the gift of the Holy Spirit” was given to both the Apostles and the brethren at the beginning in Acts 2.
All of the apostles were apostles who received the miraculous indwelling of the Holy Spirit in Acts 2.
All of the apostles and some of the brethren were people who received the miraculous indwelling of the Holy Spirit in Acts 2.
All the references to the Holy Spirit in Acts 1-2:37 were references to the Apostles’ reception of the miraculous indwelling of the Holy Spirit.
No references to the Holy Spirit in Acts 1-2:37 were references to the brethren’s reception of the miraculous indwelling of the Holy Spirit.
Some of the brethren were brethren who received the miraculous indwelling of the Holy Spirit in Acts 2.
Therefore, some of the brethren received the miraculous indwelling of the Holy Spirit in Acts 2:38-44.
If all of the references to the coming of the Holy Spirit in Acts 1 and 2:1-37 are references to the miraculous indwelling of the Holy Spirit in the Apostles, and if Acts 10 and 11 says “the gift of the Holy Spirit,” was given to both the Apostles and brethren in Acts 2, then “the gift of the Holy Spirit” in Acts 2:38 must be the miraculous indwelling of the Holy Spirit in the brethren.
It is true that all of the references to the coming of the Holy Spirit in Acts 1 and 2:1-37 are references to the miraculous indwelling of the Holy Spirit in the Apostles.
It is true that Acts 10 and 11 says that these references were to “the gift of the Holy Spirit.”
Therefore, the “gift of the Holy Spirit” in Acts 2:38 must be the miraculous indwelling of the Holy Spirit.
All references to the Holy Spirit in Acts 1-2:37 were references to the miraculous indwelling of the Holy Spirit.
No references to the Holy Spirit in Acts 1-2:37 were references to any non-miraculous indwelling of the Holy Spirit.
There is no evidence in the immediate context that forces us to the conclusion that “the gift of the Holy Spirit” is anything other than the references to the Holy Spirit in Acts 1-2:37.
“The gift of the Holy Spirit” in Acts 10:45 was the miraculous indwelling of the Holy Spirit.
The “gift” that Cornelius received was the same “gift” that the Apostles and believers received in Acts 2. (Per Peter Acts 11:17).
The apostles received the “gift” in Acts 2:1-37.
The believers received the “gift” in Acts 2:38-41.
Therefore the “gift of the Holy Spirit” in Acts 2:38 was the miraculous indwelling of the Holy Spirit.