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.
John MacArthur says: (Baptism) was to be the ever-present act of obedience, so that it became synonymous with salvation. Thus to say one was baptized for forgiveness was the same as saying one was saved. (Source: Nelson, Thomas. NKJV, MacArthur Study Bible, 2nd Edition)
The Bible makes it very clear, Baptism is very important to the Christian faith. Peter follows the command to repent and be baptized with a promise to all who will trust in Christ for salvation, he says that they will “receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.” This is a promise that every person who turns to Christ will receive the Holy Spirit; meaning that He will come to them and indwell them.
The Holy Spirit was a gift that Jesus promised His followers in John chapter 14. There He said: “I will pray the Father, and He will give you another Helper, that He may abide with you forever; the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it neither sees Him nor knows Him; but you know Him, for He dwells with you and will be in you.”
Earlier that day, when the Holy Spirit descended upon those God’s people, amazing things began to happen. They began to speak in other languages and to praise God for His marvelous works. Those faithful followers had received the promise; the Holy Spirit came to dwell within them. The exciting news is that the Holy Spirit is still abiding within the followers of Christ today. When we turn to Christ for salvation we too receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. It is because of this gift that we are able to commune with the Father and the Son. The Holy Spirit is also the One, who enables us to live in a way that is pleasing to God, He is the one who enables us to share the Gospel and He equips us to serve the Lord.
In the following verse, Peter makes it clear that the promise of the Holy Spirit applies to us today just as it did to those who were gathered on the day of Pentecost. Notice:
v39 For the promise is to you and to your children, and to all who are afar off, as many as the Lord our God will call."
This promise certainly applied to the Jews who were gathered listening to Peter’s message, it also applied to their children and future generations. Furthermore it is a promise that is given to “all who are afar off”, this speaks of the Gentiles who would also enjoy the blessings of salvation. Paul said in Ephesians 2:11-13 “Therefore remember that you, once Gentiles in the flesh--who are called Uncircumcision by what is called the Circumcision made in the flesh by hands; that at that time you were without Christ, being aliens from the commonwealth of Israel and strangers from the covenants of promise, having no hope and without God in the world. But now in Christ Jesus you who once were far off have been brought near by the blood of Christ.
This promise is given to “as many as the Lord our God will call”. This verse is a reminder that salvation is the work of God; He calls us and gives us the opportunity to receive salvation. When we trust in Christ, we are brought into a personal relationship with Him and one of the amazing benefits of this relationship is the gift of the Holy Spirit.
- After going into great detail concerning the heart of Peter’s message, Luke then summarizes a portion of this sermon by saying:
v40 And with many other words he testified and exhorted them, saying, "Be saved from this perverse generation."
Peter ends his sermon with a final call and an invitation to those in attendance to "Be saved from this perverse generation." The generation that was living in those days is described as “crooked and perverse”. These were the very people who had rejected Jesus as Messiah and called for Him to be crucified. Peter wanted this multitude of Jews to know that the proper response to the conviction that they were experiencing was for them to repent of their sins, acknowledge Jesus as Messiah, trust Him as Savior, surrender to Him as Lord and then renounce their connection with rebellious Israel and identify with Christ through Baptism.
We do not know how many were gathered before Peter on the Day of Pentecost; (There were hundreds of thousands gathered in the city to celebrate Pentecost) but we do know that some 3,000 of them responded by repenting and believing in Christ. Many of them were “cut to the heart”, and they repented and believed in Jesus Christ. They turned away from their skepticism, cynicism, their unbelief, the traditions & legalism that they had received from the elders and they also turned from their sins and they turned to God. Following their repentance they were baptized and they were “filled with the Holy Spirit.”
True repentance requires one to forsake their sin and embrace the finished work of Jesus Christ. This involves denying one’s self and surrendering to Christ as Lord. If these people had refused to repent they would not have been converted, they would not have received the Holy Spirit and they would have died in their sins and been condemned eternally.
The same is true for those who are confronted with the Gospel today. If you will surrender to Holy Spirit conviction, acknowledge and turn from your sins, and trust in Christ as Lord & Savior you will be saved. Again, the scripture says in numerous places “whoever calls upon the name of the Lord will be saved”. On the other hand, if you refuse to repent, you will die in your sins and face eternal consequences as a result of your rejection of Jesus Christ. I pray that you heed the call to repentance and accept the invitation to salvation through Jesus Christ.
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