Pentecost: Peter's Sermon (Part 3b) Series

Pentecost: Peter’s Sermon

Part 3b: Peter’s Call To Repentance & Invitation To Salvation

Acts 2:37-40

After several weeks, today we will finally conclude our study of the first and perhaps greatest Christian sermon ever preached. Last week we began to examine the conclusion of this great sermon; today I would like to pick up where we left off and continue to examine “Peter’s Call To Repentance & Invitation To Salvation”.

In verses 37-40, Peter calls on those in attendance to "Be saved from this perverse generation." Peter has boldly declared that Jesus Christ, the One whom the Jews had crucified was “both Lord and Christ”. He proclaimed that David’s prophetic words in Psalm 16 & 110 pointed to the life, death, resurrection and exaltation of Jesus Christ. Peter’s sermon was a powerful one and it had its desired effect.

v37 Now when they heard this, they were cut to the heart, and said to Peter and the rest of the apostles, "Men and brethren, what shall we do?"

After hearing the message from the Apostle Peter and experiencing true Holy Spirit conviction many of the Jews were convinced that what he was saying was true. They believed that Jesus was the Messiah, He had risen from the dead and He was responsible for the amazing things that had taken place earlier in the day. In response they humbly asked Peter “what shall we do?” They asked this because “they were cut to the heart”.

Remember, Peter has just boldly indicted these Jews for the murder of Jesus Christ; he declared that they were responsible for His death! In spite of this, God extended mercy and grace to them and gave them the opportunity to be forgiven and redeemed. In response to the question “what shall we do?” Peter instructed the people to “Repent, and let every one of you be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins”.

Repentance speaks of a change of mind that results in one turning from sin to God. The Jews who were gathered on the day of Pentecost turned from their sins and they turned to God. They repented and trusted in Christ for salvation and following their repentance they were baptized. As a result they were “filled with the Holy Spirit.”

Peter not only called on the people to “repent”, he also instructed them to be “baptized for the remission of sins”. The Greek word “baptize” {bap-tid-zo} literally means to be immersed in water. Weeks earlier, just before Christ ascended to Heaven, He gave His Apostles the Great Commission, in it He said:

“Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all things that I have commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age." Amen.” (Matthew 28:19-20)

On the day of Pentecost, Peter was obedient to his Lord’s command. He urged the men of Israel to repent and turn to Christ for salvation from their sins, and to identify with Him through believers baptism.

Baptism is a picture of the death, burial and resurrection of Jesus Christ. It has often been said that “Baptism is an outward expression of an inward experience”. Many of the Jews had experienced the Baptism of John the Baptist. Those Gentile proselytes who were in attendance had been baptized when they became Jewish converts. But the baptism that Peter prescribed was something totally new. This is the first time the apostles publicly instructed people to observe the ordinance of baptism.

There has been much confusion concerning the phrase “for the remission of sins.” It is because of this verse that many people hold to the doctrine of “baptismal regeneration”. This is a doctrine that declares that one must be baptized in order to be saved. It is important for you to understand that water baptism does not produce cleansing from sin; one is not saved simply because they have been baptized. In fact, Hell is full of people who were baptized.

The scriptures make it clear that we are saved and justified by faith alone, not by works, rituals or ordinances. (Ephesians 2:8 For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, 9 not of works, lest anyone should boast.) When someone truly repents and believes in Christ, they immediately receive the “remission of sins” that Peter refers to in this verse.

The confusion that arises concerning this verse is due to the word “for”, it is important to understand that this word can also be translated “with a view to”. Simply stated one is to be baptized in view of the forgiveness that they have received from God, not in order to receive that forgiveness. With that being said, anyone who is truly born again will follow their conversion with Baptism. Personally, I doubt the salvation of anyone who refuses to be baptized. For in baptism we identify with Christ; we are publically declaring that our sins have been forgiven because of the finished work of Jesus Christ. The concept of unbaptized Christians is foreign to the New Testament scriptures.