Alan Lewis
Elon, North Carolina
March 2025
When the people heard this, they were cut to the heart and said to Peter and the other apostles, “Brothers, what shall we do?”
38 Peter replied, “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. 39 The promise is for you and your children and for all who are far off—for all whom the Lord our God will call.”
40 With many other words he warned them; and he pleaded with them, “Save yourselves from this corrupt generation.” 41 Those who accepted his message were baptized, and about three thousand were added to their number that day. (Acts 2:37-41 NIV)
Today, we are going to look at one of the most controversial verses in the NT. It is a verse that many have fought over. Whole denominations have started over this verse. We are going to look at the purpose of water baptism. We are going to look at some false views of baptism.
Last week, we studied the first Christian sermon ever preached. It was preached by the Apostle Peter on the day of Pentecost. It was an evangelistic sermon.
Peter must not have been a Baptist preacher. He did not start his sermon with a story, like many preachers do today. There is one on TV who is a good preacher. He has a mega church, but every single sermon begins with a dopey story.
In other ways, Peter resembled a Baptist. He was a loud preacher. He raised his voice.
He practiced baptism by immersion. The Greek word for “baptize” (βαπτίζω) means to dip, immerse or submerge. It does not mean to sprinkle. There is a different Greek word for “sprinkle” (ῥαντίζω) and it is never used of baptism in the NT.
Peter preached like a Baptist. He ended his sermon with an altar call and 3000 get saved. This was an incredible sermon. There is much we can learn from it.
It was a SPIRIT-FILLED sermon. Peter did not rely on his talent as a great public speaker. He was a fisherman. He did not rely on his study and preparation to preach this sermon. It was all extemporaneous. He did not rely on years of preaching in the pulpit. He relied on the Holy Spirit.
It was a CHRIST-CENTERED sermon. Peter focuses his sermon on the life of Christ – His ministry, His miracles, His death, His resurrection, His ascension. He talked about what Jesus did (miracles, wonders and signs). He talked about who Jesus is (Lord and Messiah).
It was a BIBLICALLY-BASED sermon. Peter did not give the people everything he knew based on his many years as a fisherman. He quoted Scripture. He did not have a cell phone on him to look it up. He even quoted from obscure OT books, all from memory, and applied what he quoted to the present day.
It was a PRACTICAL sermon. This sermon was more than information. It was application. It ends with application. After hearing it, people asked, What shall we do? Peter gave them practical steps to apply. Every sermon should answer the question, “What shall we do?”
It was a CONVICTING sermon. Some sermons are all emotional. They get people worked up. Some sermons go straight for the head. They are all intellectual. This one went straight to the heart, but it did not bypass the head. It was very logical, but it was also convicting.
“When the people heard this, they were cut to the heart” (Acts 2:37 NIV). It is almost as if someone stabbed them straight in their heart. Peter confronted them about their sin. He confronted them about murdering their Messiah.
They waited for thousands of years for Him to come and when He comes, they kill Him. Now, none of them were guilty of putting nails in Jesus’ hands or feet. The Romans did that, but this was their national sin of rejecting and killing their Jewish Messiah.
They were cut to the heart. It was almost as if the spear which pierced His side and the nails which pierced His hands and feet, came back on them, as one 19th century scholar suggested.[1]
Last week, we saw that God’s Word is a sword, a sharp, two-edged sword. It judges the thoughts and of the heart. It cuts. It convicts the heart and that is what happened here.
What Shall We Do?
Peter’s sermon only raised some questions. They said to Peter and the other apostles, “Brothers, what shall we do?” We crucified our Messiah. What shall we do? This is the second question asked in this chapter.
There were two questions asked on the Day of Pentecost. After the miracle of everyone speaking in tongues, we see the question, what does this mean? (Acts 2:12). After Peter’s sermon, we see a second question, what shall we do? (Acts 2:37)
What does this mean? What shall we do? How should we respond? The first question requires explanation. It requires information. The second question requires application. It requires not knowing something but doing something.
Peter says there are two things they need to do. There are two commands here – “repent” and “be baptized.” There was not one command but two.
He doesn’t just say they need to repent. He doesn’t just say they need to be baptized. He says they need to repent AND be baptized. Let’s look at these two commands.
Repent
Many no longer say anything about repentance. Some preachers do not preach repentance. You will not hear anything about repentance in some churches.
Some churches say the exact opposite. God is not mad at you. You don’t need to change anything.
Some say you do not need to repent, you just need to believe. The Bible says that we need to do both.
After John was put in prison, Jesus went into Galilee, proclaiming the good news of God. 15 “The time has come,” he said. “The kingdom of God has come near. Repent and believe the good news!” (Mark 1:14-15 NIV)
You know that I have not hesitated to preach anything that would be helpful to you but have taught you publicly and from house to house. 21 I have declared to both Jews and Greeks that they must turn to God in repentance and have faith in our Lord Jesus. (Acts 20:20-21 NIV)
Repentance is important. Some don’t believe in it but repentance leads to SALVATION (II Corinthians 7:10). Repentance is unto LIFE (Acts 11:18). God says, “Repent and live” (Ezekiel 18:32 NIV). You have to repent to get saved.
Repentance is biblical. The OT prophets preached repentance. Ezekiel preached it. John the Baptist preached it. The apostles preached it. Jesus preached it.
Jesus preached repentance. He said, “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand” (Matthew 3:2 ESV). You can’t get saved if you don’t repent. Jesus said, “Unless you repent, you will all perish” (Luke 13:3 NIV). That sounds like a street preacher. Repent or perish. Turn or burn. He even made repentance part of the Great Commission.
5 Then he opened their minds so they could understand the Scriptures. 46 He told them, “This is what is written: The Messiah will suffer and rise from the dead on the third day, 47 and repentance for the forgiveness of sins will be preached in his name to all nations, beginning at Jerusalem. 48 You are witnesses of these things (Luke 24:45-48 NIV)
Repentance is not optional. It a command. Paul said that God now COMMANDS all men everywhere to repent (Acts 17:31 KJV). It is for everyone. It is for all nations (Luke 24:47). Everyone needs to repent.
Even religious people need to repent. Even outwardly moral people need to repent. Peter was talking to devout men. He was talking to God fearing Jews from every nation under heaven (Acts 2:5 NIV).
He wasn’t talking to men who spent the night drinking in some saloon and chasing women. He was talking to people who worshipped the true God but were not saved.
The Meaning of RepentanceWhat does that mean to repent? It means several things. 1) It means to admit you have done something wrong. Repentance begins with confession (“I have sinned”). If you don’t admit you have done anything wrong, you have not repented. You had to admit that you have done something wrong. Repentance in Greek means literally a change of mind. 2) It means to show remorse for what you have done. If you truly repent, you should feel guilty. If you admit you did something wrong, but you do not feel bad about it at all, you have not really repented. There should be contrition. 3) It means a willingness to change what you are doing. If you say, “I admit doing this action and I know it is wrong, but I plan on keep on doing it,” you have not repented. That is why repentance in the Bible was always to be followed by actions. If there are no actions, there is no repentance. The Pharisees came to John the Baptist to get baptized and he refused to baptize them. He told them to bring fruits in keeping with repentance. “You snakes—who told you that you could escape from the punishment God is about to send? 8 Do those things that will show that you have turned from your sins (Matthew 3:7-8 GNB). The ax is already at the root of the trees, and every tree that does not produce good fruit will be cut down and thrown into the fire.” 10 “What should we do then?” the crowd asked. 11 John answered, “Anyone who has two shirts should share with the one who has none, and anyone who has food should do the same.” 12 Even tax collectors came to be baptized. “Teacher,” they asked, “what should we do?” 13 “Don’t collect any more than you are required to,” he told them. 14 Then some soldiers asked him, “And what should we do?” He replied, “Don’t extort money and don’t accuse people falsely—be content with your pay.” (Luke 3:9-14 NIV). “So then, King Agrippa, I was not disobedient to the vision from heaven. 20 First to those in Damascus, then to those in Jerusalem and in all Judea, and then to the Gentiles, I preached that they should repent and turn to God and demonstrate their repentance by their deeds (Acts 26:19-20 NIV) |
A lot of people get baptized, but they don’t repent. They are not sorry for anything. Do not think they are sinners. Do not think they are sinners. The Pharisees came to John the Baptist and wanted to be baptized but they hadn’t repented.
This is a good verse against baptizing babies. Many churches do it. Babies cannot repent. In fact, they cannot even give consent to baptism. It is done to them apart from their will.
Acts 2:41 says, “Those who accepted his message were baptized” (NIV). No babies were baptized on Pentecost. The order is “repent and be baptized.” It is not “be baptized and later repent” (cf. Mark 16:16).
Be Baptized
The second command is to be baptized. Repentance is a command. Baptism is a command. It is not optional. Peter did not just say, “be baptized.” He said, “be baptized EVERY ONE of you.” Everyone was to repent and be baptized.
What is the purpose of baptism? It is a sign of repentance. It is an outward sign of repentance. It is an evidence of repentance. In the modern church, we think of baptism as a sign of salvation.
We think of it as the first step of obedience. It is actually an outward sign of repentance in the Bible. Baptism on the outside is to be an expression of repentance and faith on the inside.
In the church today, baptism has become a meaningless religious ritual. It does not mean today what it meant in biblical times. It is not a big deal today in this country. In much of the world, it means more. It is a much more radical act.
In Muslim countries, the persecution begins when you get baptized. You get kicked out of the family or lose a job, get thrown in jail or get killed. In orthodox Jewish families when a person becomes a Christian, the parents would hold a funeral service for the person or cut them off from the family.
After the sermon, Peter is asked a question. What must we do? His answer was to admit you are a sinner and turn from your sins. Don’t try to excuse your sin or justify it.
Accept Jesus as the Messiah. Publicly confess Christ. Make a public profession of Jesus as Messiah. Don’t just get baptized. Get baptized in the name of Jesus Christ. Publicly identify with the Messiah you killed.
Two Promises
Peter makes two promises. If you repent and are baptized, you will have your sins forgiven and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. The same Holy Spirit that the apostles received, they could receive.
He did not say that they would all speak in tongues, but they would all receive the Spirit. He did not say that you have to speak in tongues to receive the Spirit.
He also said that they could all be forgiven of their sins, even the sin of crucifying the Messiah. That is shocking. You can be forgiven of the worst possible sin imaginable.
Two Views of Baptism
The sacramental view is that baptism is a condition of salvation. It is the view that baptism is a sacrament that causes regeneration. It washes away sins. This is a view of baptism that many churches have. Whole denominations have this view.
This is a view some Christians have held for thousands of years. The Nicene Creed (381) affirms “one baptism for the remission of sins.”
The church fathers held the view that baptism saves people (Justin Martyr, Cyprian, Origen, Augustine, Chrysostom). They believed that the forgiveness of sins comes from baptism.
Chrysostom, who lived in the fourth century, said that baptism “causes sins to disappear…. It confers the remission of sins”[2] He says that baptism “does not simply take away our sins, nor simply cleanse us from our faults, but so as if we were born again.”[3]
Origen, lived in the third century, said, “It is not possible to receive forgiveness of sins without baptism”[4]
If you believe that baptism is for the remission of sins, then you have to baptize infants, because they might die. That is where infant baptism came from.[5]
Acts 2:38 seems to support this view. It connects water baptism with the forgiveness of sins in some way but there is another interpterion.
2) The Symbolic Interpretation
There is another view of baptism in the church. The other view sees it not so much as a sacrament but as a symbol. It is a symbol of repentance. It is a demonstration of repentance.
Water baptism does not produce forgiveness magically or sacramentally. Rather forgiveness comes through that which baptism symbolizes outwardly.
John the Baptist called it “a baptism OF REPENTANCE for the forgiveness of sins” (Mark 1:4 NIV). Peter had them get baptized the same day they repented.
In many churches, when people want to accept Christ, they come forward in church. In the early church, they got baptized.
The Ultimate Question
We all agree that everyone should be baptized. The question is, Do you have to get baptized to be saved? Do you have to get baptized to get your sins washed away? Do you have to get baptized to go to heaven? If you are not baptized, will you go to hell?
By that logic, the thief on the cross would not be in heaven. There are other passages in the Bible where salvation is given apart from baptism. There are other places in the book of Acts. There are even other verses in Acts 2 that show this. Let’s look at a few.
Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved (Acts 2:17 NIV). This statement is very general. Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord means everyone, not just those who call on the Lord in baptism, but whoever genuinely calls on the name of the Lord wherever they are will be saved.
In fact, one chapter later, Peter says, if you want you sins wiped out, you have to repent and turn to God. He doesn’t stay anything about baptism. If baptism was part of the gospel message, he left something out.
Now, fellow Israelites, I know that you acted in ignorance, as did your leaders. 18 But this is how God fulfilled what he had foretold through all the prophets, saying that his Messiah would suffer. 19 Repent, then, and turn to God, so that your sins may be wiped out, that times of refreshing may come from the Lord (Acts 3:17-18 NIV).
Several chapters later, Peter preached to Cornelius. He said that you can receive the forgiveness of sins through believing in Jesus. Once again, he didn’t say anything about baptism.
39 “We are witnesses of everything he did in the country of the Jews and in Jerusalem. They killed him by hanging him on a cross, 40 but God raised him from the dead on the third day and caused him to be seen. 41 He was not seen by all the people, but by witnesses whom God had already chosen—by us who ate and drank with him after he rose from the dead. 42 He commanded us to preach to the people and to testify that he is the one whom God appointed as judge of the living and the dead. 43 All the prophets testify about him that everyone who believes in him receives forgiveness of sins through his name. (Acts 10:39-43 NIV).
The Philippian Jailer asked, what must I do to be saved? (Acts 16:29-30). Paul and Silas said, “Believe in the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved” (Acts 16:31 NIV).” He didn’t say anything about baptism.
Peter did mentions BOTH repentance and baptism in Acts 2:38 but that does NOT mean that they are equal. It does NOT mean that they are separate and equal conditions of salvation.
One is an outward sign of something that takes place on the inside. The crucial element in the equation is what is going on in the heart, not what is taking place on the outside. It is the spiritual element, not the physical.
[1] Rudolf Stier, The Words of the Apostles (1869), trans. G. H. Venables (1981 Klock & Klock reprint), 36.
[2] Chrysostom, Instructions to Catechumens, 2.3.
[3] Chrysostom, Instructions to Catechumens, 1.3.
[4] Origen, Exhortation to the Martyrs 30.
[5] Origen, Homilies on Leviticus 8:3.
