Studies in Acts No2 Repentance and Baptism
Studies in Acts No2 Repentance and Baptism
Acts 2:36–39 (NASB 2020)
36 Therefore let all the house of Israel know for certain that God has made Him both Lord and Christ—this Jesus whom you crucified.”
37 Now when they heard this, they were pierced to the heart, and said to Peter and the rest of the apostles, “Brothers, what are we to do?”
38 Peter said to them, “Repent, and each of you be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins; and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.
39 For the promise is for you and your children and for all who are far away, as many as the Lord our God will call to Himself.”
This passage begins with the declaration that Jesus is Lord. This is an unarguable fact because God has made Him Lord. More than that, God has made Him Christ, that is to say, Messiah. Christ and Messiah mean Anointed One. Peter was talking to Jews here and his declaration that Jesus is Lord and Christ (or Messiah) is the bedrock of the Gospel.
Philippians 2:8–11 (NASB 2020) puts it well in saying, “8 And being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself by becoming obedient to the point of death: death on a cross.
9 For this reason also God highly exalted Him, and bestowed on Him the name which is above every name,
10 so that at the name of Jesus EVERY KNEE WILL BOW, of those who are in heaven and on earth and under the earth,
11 and that every tongue will confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.”
We find that belief in Jesus as Messiah (or Christ) is the response the Gospel requires.
Romans 10:9 (NASB 2020) tells us “that if you confess with your mouth Jesus as Lord, and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved;” We do not make Jesus Lord. Jesus is Lord. We merely acquiesce to that fact.
This agreement or confession—from the Greek homologeo, which means to speak the same, or to agree with—is both the requirement for, and the effect of salvation. We see evidence of this in 1 Corinthians 12:3 (NASB 2020) “Therefore I make known to you that no one speaking by the Spirit of God says, “Jesus is accursed”; and no one can say, “Jesus is Lord,” except by the Holy Spirit.”
Next in the passage we notice that the Gospel—the good news that Messiah has come—results in the hearers being deeply affected. They ask Peter what they are to do. This shows that they are ready to change their minds. This is the pattern of evangelism. Peter tells us in 1 Peter 3:15 that we are to be prepared to give an answer for the hope that is within us. Romans 10:17 (NASB 2020) clarifies in saying, “So faith comes from hearing, and hearing by the word of [or concerning] Christ.” [Bracketed text mine.]
Peter goes on in our text to tell the Jews “Repent, and each of you be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins; and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.” (Acts 2:38a NASB20) The word repent here is metanoesate which is an imperative verb. As such, it is a requirement, not a suggestion. This usage echoes Mark 1:15 (NASB 2020) where we find Jesus saying, “The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand; repent and believe in the gospel.” This repentance is required. It is a change of mind about sin and about God. A choice to believe and trust in what He has declared—that every form of self-effort is useless and only Jesus can give eternal life. This change of mind is in fact faith. It is belief.
Peter goes on to tell the Jews to be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of their sins. At first glance it can be easy to understand this directive as saying that water baptism is required for, or even results in, salvation. This is not the case. Peter is referring here not to simple immersion in water, but to immersion in Christ. Paul lays this out very clearly in Romans 6:3–4 (NASB 2020) “3 Or do you not know that all of us who have been baptized into Christ Jesus have been baptized into His death? 4 Therefore we have been buried with Him through baptism into death, so that, just as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, so we too may walk in newness of life.”
In choosing this word Peter uses the passive voice. This indicates the subject (the Jews) being the recipient of this action. This is not something the Jews do for themselves. Rather it is something God does for them. It is that immersion into Christ that is total, never ending, and which results in a complete change at the core of one’s being. We read this in 2 Corinthians 5:17 (NASB 2020) “Therefore if anyone is in Christ, this person is a new creation; the old things passed away; behold, new things have come.”
This is the baptism that is required for the forgiveness of sins. Baptism only the One who forgives can provide. When this baptism is given, the baptized receive the Holy Spirit, as Peter indicates at the close of the verse, “and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.”
Notice here how the one immersed in Christ is then given the gift of Holy Spirit being immersed in them. This is a profound regeneration of the human spirit. What once was dead to God is now alive to Him. What once was wicked and deceitful is now holy and righteous. Romans 6:23 (NASB 2020) “For the wages of sin is death, but the gracious gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.” Eternal life can only be received by one who is righteous. Romans 5:17 tells us that righteousness is a gift and 2 Corinthians 5:21, which we read earlier, tells us that it is God’s righteousness we are given.
Finally in verse 39 we are told, “the promise is for you and your children and for all who are far away, as many as the Lord our God will call to Himself.” (NASB20) I love this verse because it includes me. Though I am not an ethnic Jew, I am one of those who was far away. We learn about this in Ephesians 2:11–13 (NASB 2020).
“11 Therefore remember that previously you, the Gentiles in the flesh, who are called “Uncircumcision” by the so-called “Circumcision” which is performed in the flesh by human hands—
12 remember that you were at that time separate from Christ, excluded from the people of Israel, and strangers to the covenants of the promise, having no hope and without God in the world.
13 But now in Christ Jesus you who previously were far away have been brought near by the blood of Christ.”
Peter says that God’s promise of salvation is for “as many as the Lord our God will call to Himself.” Jesus said a couple of interesting things about this. In John 6:44 (NASB 2020) He said, “No one can come to Me unless the Father who sent Me draws him” and in John 12:32 (NASB 2020) He said, “And I, if I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all people to Myself.”
God is triune—three persons, one God—so it is rightly said that what Father does, Jesus does, and what Jesus does, Father does. All people are drawn by God. They are drawn by Jesus because He is the One who was lifted up for us.
