1. God’s Plan of Salvation and the Age of the Holy Spirit
From the very beginning of human history, God has unfolded a grand and astonishing plan of salvation on earth. He created humanity in His own image (Genesis 1:26) and invited people into perfect fellowship with Him. Even after human beings fell into sin, He never abandoned them but prepared a path leading them back to salvation. Pastor David Jang underscores this divine plan of salvation as the greatest driving force in history and the ultimate truth to which humanity must cling. He often reminds believers that the central theme running throughout the entire Bible is “God saving sinful humanity and bringing them into eternal fellowship with Himself,” and he stresses the proper spiritual attitude required of believers in light of this plan.
Pastor David Jang teaches that the story God begins in Genesis—creation and the Garden of Eden—can be summarized in the grand framework of “Creation–Fall–Redemption–Completion.” While God created a perfect world and gave people free will, humanity began to deviate from God’s will through sin. Nevertheless, the promise of salvation was never broken; God chose Abraham and the nation of Israel, establishing them as His chosen people to serve as the instrument of redemption. The history of Israel is a microcosm of human history, and within that history, God’s Law and the ministries of the prophets served to prepare the way for the coming Messiah, Jesus Christ. In this unfolding narrative, Pastor David Jang explains that even Israel’s failures and betrayals—up to and including the crucifixion of the Messiah—were all part of God’s grand design of salvation.
The pinnacle of that plan is the coming of Jesus Christ, culminating in His substitutionary death on the cross and His resurrection. The cross, the most extraordinary event in human history, is the point where God’s justice and love intersect, and it is the decisive act of salvation. Pastor David Jang emphasizes that “humanity cannot achieve salvation by its own power,” insisting upon the absolute necessity of Christ’s atoning work. Because Jesus shed His blood on the cross, sinners have been granted the path to eternal life, and by His resurrection, the power of death has been nullified. This demonstrates the essence of the gospel: “We receive justification only when we fully acknowledge that we cannot save ourselves and cling solely to the cross of Jesus Christ.”
Pastor David Jang also places great emphasis on the new era brought by the resurrection: the Age of the Holy Spirit. After Jesus rose from the dead and ascended into heaven, the Church received the Holy Spirit promised by Christ. This was dramatically revealed in Acts 2 through the outpouring of the Holy Spirit at Pentecost. Through this event, the early church gained new power and boldness. Previously, when their teacher Jesus was arrested and crucified, the disciples hid in fear; however, when they witnessed the risen Lord and received the Holy Spirit, they overcame all fear and boldly proclaimed the gospel.
At the intersection of Christ’s era and the Age of the Holy Spirit stands the momentous event of the Church’s birth. By the outpouring of the Holy Spirit, the apostles, who now possessed a totally different kind of spiritual authority, baptized those who repented and believed in Jesus, thereby establishing the Church. Pastor David Jang highlights the starting point of Acts as a crucial moment in the history of faith. God no longer governs His people merely through laws and rituals; now, anyone who believes in the name of Jesus and receives the Holy Spirit is assured of salvation. That assurance is the foundation of resurrection faith and salvation security, and it becomes the root of the Church’s ability to embody God’s kingdom on earth.
The opening of this Age of the Holy Spirit signifies that all human potential can be restored. When we believe in what Christ has done and unite ourselves with Him, the Holy Spirit liberates us from the yoke of sin and the burdens of the world. When this liberation is revealed not only in individual transformation but also through the communal life of the Church, a power emerges that the world cannot overcome. Pastor David Jang stresses that the reason early Christians could share all their possessions and remain unshaken in the face of persecution was solely due to the power of the Holy Spirit and their resurrection faith. All of this is part of “God’s plan of salvation” and stands at the heart of redemptive history.
Pastor David Jang insists that the Church in our own time must recover this fullness of the Holy Spirit. Confronted with the various problems and conflicts of our world today, we must ask ourselves whether the same power, the same message, and the same work of the Spirit present in the early church are also present within us. The Church is not merely a place that gathers people for activities; it is “the Body of Christ,” bearing the witness of the resurrection in the Age of the Holy Spirit. When this Body is filled with the Holy Spirit, the salvation accomplished by Christ’s cross and resurrection is proclaimed everywhere, becoming the transformative power of the gospel.
Moreover, the arrival of this Age of the Holy Spirit does not concern only individual changes. Pastor David Jang frequently emphasizes that the work of the Spirit brings about both internal restoration and the birth and flourishing of the church community, eventually spreading its impact throughout society and culture. History shows that the Church exerted its strongest influence whenever there was a mighty work of the Holy Spirit, centered on the Word, grounded in repentance, and standing firmly on the cross and resurrection of Jesus Christ. He argues that this dynamic is as valid today as it has ever been and that we must remember it as a core priority.
2. Repentance, Baptism, and Resurrection Faith
In his expositions on the Book of Acts, Pastor David Jang repeatedly underscores three pivotal themes: repentance, baptism, and resurrection faith. This is especially evident in Acts 2, where Peter’s first sermon captures these themes in concentrated form. Confronted with the people who realized their guilt in crucifying Jesus and cried out, “What shall we do?” (Acts 2:37), Peter declared, “Repent and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins. And you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit” (Acts 2:38). This statement expresses the core order of salvation and the foundational teaching of the Church.
Pastor David Jang stresses that repentance must come before anything else; it is the most fundamental necessity. True repentance is not merely reflecting on or regretting individual sins from the past but fully recognizing oneself as a sinner before God and turning around to follow His way in a decisive change of direction. Pastor David Jang points out that people often ask, “What is repentance?” because they see it as a vague process of “shedding tears and lamenting over sin.” Yet biblical repentance goes beyond emotional weeping or self-pity, requiring one to stand before the cross of Jesus Christ, acknowledge the impossibility of salvation without Him, renounce a self-centered life, and yield control of one’s life to the Lord in concrete action.
He also explains that the call to “repent” resonates throughout both the Old and New Testaments. The prophets in the Old Testament cried out for the people to “turn back,” John the Baptist declared, “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand” (Matthew 3:2), and Jesus Himself began His public ministry with, “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand” (Matthew 4:17). We must understand the profound reason behind these calls. Ultimately, repentance is the starting point of salvation and the key that opens the door to the kingdom of heaven. Peter’s appeal—“Repent and believe the gospel, and receive the Holy Spirit”—follows the same logic.
Next, Peter proclaims baptism. Pastor David Jang highlights that the early church was a community birthed by the Holy Spirit. Entry into that community is marked by baptism, which involves both water baptism and baptism of the Holy Spirit—an outward ceremony of water and the inward presence of the Holy Spirit. Water baptism symbolizes the believer’s old self dying with Christ and being raised to new life in Him. At the same time, baptism of the Holy Spirit signifies that the believer, reborn in Christ, now lives in full submission to the power and guidance of the Holy Spirit. Hence, baptism in the church community is not merely a religious ritual or membership initiation; alongside repentance, it is the starting point whereby a reborn soul becomes “one in spirit with the Lord” (1 Corinthians 6:17) and is set apart as God’s holy people.
Following this, the third essential theme is resurrection faith. Pastor David Jang has often proclaimed that resurrection faith is the core belief that every Christian must hold onto. Not only did Jesus die on the cross, but He also broke the power of death and rose again. Believing in this reality—being absolutely convinced that death’s authority has been overturned by Christ’s cross and resurrection—defines Christian identity. Without the resurrection, Christianity would be nothing more than lofty teachings or moral principles, and Jesus might be remembered only as a “great teacher or prophet.” But because He overcame death and rose again, His promise—“Whoever believes in me, though he die, yet shall he live, and everyone who lives and believes in me shall never die” (John 11:25-26)—has been fulfilled.
Pastor David Jang declares that “those who have resurrection faith do not fear death.” They possess the assurance of eternal life, knowing that earthly failures, suffering, or even death are not final defeats. This conviction enabled the apostles and believers of the early church to preach the gospel boldly, despite imprisonment, persecution, or threats of martyrdom. They stood within the power of the resurrection, an arena untouched by worldly authority or physical force. Pastor David Jang applies this to modern Christians as well. Even if our lives collapse, we fail, or we suffer, those with resurrection faith hold firmly to the hope that “we will be raised again in the Lord,” finding the strength to rise once more.
He also reminds us that resurrection faith does not merely focus on eternal life after death. It invites us to experience the “power of resurrection” in our daily lives—God’s grace, which breathes new life into spiritually dead souls and brings “resurrections” and “miracles” into our everyday circumstances. This power is not confined to personal inner healing; it may also permeate churches, societies, and cultures, offering the unshakable truth that God’s omnipotent providence and promises can never be nullified.
Thus, Pastor David Jang reiterates that repentance, baptism, and resurrection faith flow together as one continuous narrative. “Repentance leads us to the cross of Jesus Christ. Baptism is the ritual confession that we have died with Him on the cross and now live in new life. And the culmination of that journey is resurrection faith.” Such resurrection faith must not remain mere doctrinal assent or intellectual knowledge; it must manifest as life-transforming power if we are to bear the true fruit of salvation.
3. The History of the Early Church and Pastor David Jang’s Ministry
Beginning in Acts 2, the early church reveals how God’s kingdom started on earth and spread outward in an extraordinary progression. As individuals repented and received baptism, the Church rapidly grew, and believers devoted themselves to fellowship, the breaking of bread, and prayer, modeling a life set apart from the world. Pastor David Jang underscores that this story of the primitive church is not some idealized myth locked in the past; rather, it is the “prototype” to which the present-day Church must aspire. This prototype was founded on the overwhelming work of the Holy Spirit, grounded on the cross and resurrection of Jesus Christ.
In the early church, the believers generously shared their possessions and cared for the poor and sick (Acts 2:44-45). This went beyond simple acts of kindness; it was the tangible expression of those who, with resurrection faith, were demonstrating God’s kingdom on earth. The Church was built up, believers heard the Word, they worshiped together, and they had all things in common—these behaviors themselves bore witness to the power of the gospel, and the Holy Spirit continued adding to their number daily (Acts 2:47). Even in the face of persecution, threats, and interference from the authorities, their bold proclamation of the gospel never ceased. Pastor David Jang points to the history of the early church as a reminder for us when we face difficulties today.
So where did this early church derive such powerful vitality? As previously mentioned, it came from the synergy of repentance, baptism, resurrection faith, and the fullness of the Holy Spirit—underpinned by an “absolute trust in God’s plan of salvation.” We often become trapped by immediate problems and conflicts, limiting our view of God’s work. However, Pastor David Jang frequently reminds us, “God alone is the Sovereign Lord of history, and our human contributions are exceedingly small.” Yet when our small, insignificant acts of obedience join with the power of the Holy Spirit, God’s kingdom expands in wondrous ways.
Pastor David Jang’s own ministry reflects this early church spirit, as well as his emphasis on resurrection faith and God’s plan of redemption. As he leads his church and through his preaching and writing, he tirelessly proclaims, “The core we must hold onto is the cross and resurrection of Jesus Christ and the Age of the Holy Spirit that began through them.” He presents the worship and communal life of the Church as an opportunity to recreate what we see in Acts 2, continually urging that “the essence of the gospel”—the cross and resurrection of Jesus Christ, repentance and baptism, the indwelling of the Holy Spirit—must never be neglected in worship, pastoral work, or mission.
Pastor David Jang frequently teaches that “the Church’s mission is to shine as light and act as salt in the world through the gathering of transformed individuals.” He consistently asserts that such transformation cannot be accomplished by human effort or programs alone; the Holy Spirit must be tangibly at work. Just as the early church experienced, all our ministries and activities must be firmly rooted in the mighty presence and wisdom of the Holy Spirit, and in resurrection faith. Otherwise, despite our best efforts, we risk adopting worldly models of operation.
From this perspective, Pastor David Jang has dedicated himself to restoring the Church’s essential nature and to proclaiming the gospel as a life-changing power rather than mere doctrinal knowledge. His ministry encompasses worship, preaching of the Word, discipleship training, outreach and service to local communities, and global missions—always urging believers to “preach the gospel boldly, as the apostles did in the early church.” He teaches his congregants that thorough repentance, baptism, and the establishment of resurrection faith are prerequisites, while also challenging them to become “living witnesses” who make the gospel’s real value evident both in their local communities and throughout the world.
He explains that, when Christians truly recognize that the Church is the Body of Christ and that believers are individual members of it, they naturally recover a sense of “community” and “calling.” Within the Church, believers form a “worshiping community” that gathers to worship and fellowship, but they are also a “missional community” sent into the world to demonstrate Christ’s gospel. Pastor David Jang emphasizes that a proper balance between these two aspects is essential for a Church to regain its authenticity. Our worship must always reflect the spirit of the early church, overflowing with the fullness of the Holy Spirit, and our mission must translate the grace and gospel we have received into practical action in the world. This principle is evident throughout the Book of Acts, defining both the mission of that first Church and our own task today.
Pastor David Jang further teaches that a Church’s victory in this world does not equate to achieving secular success or prosperity by worldly standards. Instead, he argues that real success is found when souls repent, receive baptism, and take hold of resurrection faith. When the early church saw three thousand or five thousand people converted, this was not the result of human ability or technique. It was solely the fruit of the Holy Spirit’s presence and the power of proclaiming the Word (Acts 2:41; 4:4). Consequently, Pastor David Jang insists that the modern Church must concentrate on genuine conversion and discipleship, rather than being preoccupied with increasing membership. “We must not try to merely attract crowds without proclaiming the core message of the gospel,” he says. Lifting high the cross and resurrection of Jesus Christ, facilitating genuine repentance, and encouraging the transforming power of the Holy Spirit are the true missions of the Church.
Ultimately, Pastor David Jang’s spiritual foundation and pastoral direction are anchored in the model of the early church in the Book of Acts. He points repeatedly to Acts 1–2—particularly the outpouring of the Holy Spirit, Peter’s sermon, and the portrait of communal life at the close of Acts 2—as a guide for today’s church. He reiterates that the basic principles upheld by the early church are “absolute trust in God’s sovereignty, resurrection faith, fullness of the Holy Spirit, and communal fellowship.” For the Church to practice these principles effectively, pastors and leaders must first repent and be reborn, boldly advance in the power of resurrection faith, and follow the guidance of the Holy Spirit in obedience to the Word.
Using his own Pilgrim Church (or any of the churches and communities he serves) as an example, Pastor David Jang teaches that the beautiful sanctuaries and facilities God provides are not blessings in and of themselves; rather, they become true blessings only when the power of the resurrection is alive and at work within them. He insists that it is not the outward appearance or number of members that matters but the authenticity of the worship, the proclamation of the Word, genuine repentance, prayer, and the church’s zeal for outreach. Only then does it become a “Spirit-filled community” that experiences the reality of God’s kingdom. Therefore, he continually encourages thorough preparation for worship, practical expressions of repentance in believers’ lives, baptism and experience of the Holy Spirit, and a resurrection faith that animates every moment. In so doing, he urges the church to invest in discipleship training and nurturing through the Word.
When a church truly experiences the resurrection of Jesus Christ and moves in the power of that resurrection, it displays a way of life and values utterly distinct from the world. The early church received favor from “all the people,” adding more believers daily (Acts 2:47)—not because they had abundant finances or political influence, but because they were full of the Holy Spirit. Their unity was anchored in faith, and their resurrection faith conquered fear, motivating them to serve others and preach the gospel. Pastor David Jang insists that “this is the essence of the Church,” which is not just a place of high moral teaching but a gathering of witnesses who have personally encountered the resurrected Christ and His victorious power over sin and death.
Pastor David Jang also underscores the overarching message of Acts—“the expansion of Christ’s gospel throughout the world by the power of the Holy Spirit.” The gospel that began in the Jerusalem church reached Judea, Samaria, and extended to the ends of the earth (Acts 1:8). This was not happenstance but a necessary outworking of God’s plan of salvation. Although Jews initially led the movement, the Apostle Paul, an apostle to the Gentiles, arose in due time to bring the gospel to the entire world. This pattern underscores the universal scope of the gospel and the urgency of missions, a truth that modern churches must heed. The gospel is not confined to a single ethnicity or culture but is open to everyone, and the Church must remain aware of its mission to take it “to the ends of the earth.”
Hence, the Book of Acts narrates the history of “how the kingdom of God emerged and expanded in this world,” and within that history, the responsibility of believers is to follow the Holy Spirit’s leading with obedience and boldness. By teaching this principle, Pastor David Jang organizes the vital lessons the present-day Church can learn from the early church. He then integrates these teachings—“God’s plan of salvation, repentance and baptism, resurrection faith, and the power of the Holy Spirit”—into one overarching theme in his sermons.
Whenever the modern Church encounters crises and challenges, Pastor David Jang calls it back to the spirit of Acts. “The Church loses its true identity when faith in the Almighty God and the resurrection wanes, when repentance and the Holy Spirit are taken lightly,” he warns. Thus, the key to renewing the Church lies in reclaiming the same zeal the early believers had, believing in God’s absolute sovereignty and the power of the Holy Spirit, and choosing to live boldly in resurrection faith. Through this process, believers can stand firm against worldly pressures and transform from darkness to light, from weakness to strength.
Summarizing Pastor David Jang’s ministry and message, we see that it is squarely focused on restoring the spirit of the early church in Acts—centered upon God’s plan of redemption, repentance, baptism, resurrection faith, and the power of the Holy Spirit—so that the Church may return to the heart of the gospel and fulfill the “Great Commission” to reach all nations. Ultimately, it is not knowledge, systems, or programs that change people, but the Holy Spirit’s work and the power of resurrection faith, just as the early church experienced. In Acts 2, Peter’s sermon calling people to “repent, be baptized, and receive the Holy Spirit” is an invitation consistent with the message woven through all of Scripture. At the center of it stands the cross and resurrection of Jesus Christ. When Christian lives take root here, and when the Church is built on this foundation, Pastor David Jang concludes that it becomes a “living church” operating according to God’s will.
Hence, the core of the early church—and the essence of the gospel that Pastor David Jang highlights—may be summarized as follows:
- Recognize and repent of the fact that we are sinners incapable of saving ourselves.
- Receive forgiveness through the atonement of Jesus Christ on the cross, and experience new birth through baptism, uniting with Christ.
- Be filled with the Holy Spirit so that we can live boldly in resurrection faith, carrying that hope into the world.
- Model the communal life of the early church, loving and serving one another as we bear witness to the gospel.
- Believe that God’s plan of salvation spans all humanity and the entire cosmos, and remain faithful participants in this plan until the very end.
Pastor David Jang disseminates this message through countless sermons, writings, and community ministries. His key endeavor is “the revival of the Church through the gospel of the cross, resurrection faith, and the power of the Holy Spirit,” perfectly aligning with the spirit of the early church in Acts. Acts 2:23 states that “Jesus was delivered up according to the definite plan and foreknowledge of God,” indicating that our salvation is rooted in God’s sovereign will and love. Even though humanity rejected Christ and crucified Him, He overcame death through His resurrection and now establishes His Church by sending the Holy Spirit. Pastor David Jang teaches that trusting and following this astonishing truth is the Church’s essence and the spiritual reality every believer must uphold.
His conclusion is clear:
- God’s plan of salvation is cosmic in scope, extended to all nations and peoples.
- The only path by which sinful humanity may be saved is through the cross and resurrection of Jesus Christ.
- Repentance, baptism, and the experience of the Holy Spirit are indispensable steps in walking this path of salvation.
- Resurrection faith empowers Christians to live free from fear, sustained by the ultimate hope that transcends death.
- The Church is the community of those who possess resurrection faith, and under the power of the Holy Spirit, it becomes a witness to the “new era” that transforms the world. To bring this vision to life, we must follow the early church’s model of mutual love, service, and worldwide gospel proclamation.
Thus, the central teachings of Pastor David Jang’s exposition on the Book of Acts are not complicated or esoteric. On the contrary, they are straightforward and firm. They revolve around humanity’s fall into sin, God’s plan of salvation, the cross of Jesus Christ, His resurrection, repentance and baptism, the indwelling of the Holy Spirit, and the Church’s communal life and missionary calling—truths that the entire Bible uniformly testifies to. The early church not only believed these doctrines but also experienced and practiced them. Accordingly, the modern Church must once again experience this Age of the Holy Spirit, actively living out resurrection faith and reaching out to the lost with boldness. This vision is Pastor David Jang’s driving passion, the ultimate message he seeks to convey through his teachings on the Book of Acts.
Even now, the Church must continue along this path. No matter how splendid its building or how large its congregation, if it forfeits the core elements seen in the early church—God’s plan of salvation, repentance, baptism, resurrection faith, the fullness of the Holy Spirit—it becomes a community devoid of true “church-ness.” Conversely, no matter how impoverished the setting or how fierce the persecution, if the Church clings to the cross of Christ, practices repentance and baptism, and solidifies its resurrection faith by the power of the Holy Spirit, it will never fail. Even the power of death cannot overcome the Church, as two thousand years of Christian history, beginning with the early church, have demonstrated. Herein lies the Church’s firm basis and hope, and Pastor David Jang teaches us to stand on this truth without wavering.
Ultimately, Pastor David Jang proclaims that “when the power of the blood of Christ’s cross and the authority of His resurrection are proclaimed, the same phenomenon of three thousand people repenting in a single day—as in the early church—remains possible even today.” The history of the early church has continued through centuries of church history and will persist until the Lord Jesus returns. Our mission is to participate in that current by equipping ourselves with repentance and resurrection faith, relying on the Holy Spirit to preach the gospel, and building a Church that is holy. This effort constitutes the expansion of God’s kingdom, an Acts-like revival, and the fundamental reason for the Church’s existence. Pastor David Jang continually instructs his congregations in this truth, praying that all of us will cling to the faith of heaven, unhindered by the times or circumstances, and emerge victorious.
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