Acts 02_36-41 Preaching Christ (4)_Amazing Grace

Read Acts 2:36-41 – In his model sermon for the new age, Peter has brought his audience to a moment of decision. Hundreds who called for Jesus’ death 7 weeks earlier now see the blood on their hands. But the death they imposed has become for them the basis of eternal life – showing no sin is ever too big to be covered by the blood of JC. What a turnaround. What amazing grace!

Matt Chandler says in May of his year of decision, he was an aggressive agnostic. In June he was converted and began to share the gospel. How’d that happen? He said, “You start a fire with small pieces of kindling. Once that’s caught, you put on bigger sticks, then even bigger ones.” He says, “In early conversations with my friends Jeff and Jerry, God was laying kindling around my heart, and then, three days before my 18th birthday, he lit it up. It took me a while to catch on fire, but when I did, that’s when I was all in.” Are you all in? Is the fire lit? Are you still questioning? Wherever you are this morning, Jesus is here ready to light the fire the moment you say, “Yes.”

But how does it happen? Here we see the threefold response of Peter’s audience – a response prompted by the HS – the same HS who is patrolling our sanctuary this morning seeking hearts ready to be lit up. Here’s how!

I. Recognize the Problem

The heart of Peter’s sermon makes the case for Jesus of Nazareth being clearly God’s Messiah -- Jehovah in human flesh. 36 “Let all the house of Israel therefore know for certain that God has made him both Lord and Christ, this Jesus whom you crucified.” That summary sparked the intended response: 37 “Now when they heard this they were cut to the heart, and said to Peter and the rest of the apostles, “Brothers, what shall we do?” Their desperation is palpable: “You mean we killed God in the person of Jesus? And the Father has raised him? What can we do? Is there any escape?” They are horrified. They see now God’s Final Answer trumped their verdict about Jesus, and they are desperate. They realize they are in deep, deep trouble.

They were “cut to the heart” (κατανύσσομαι) = “stabbed or pierced.” They’d called for Jesus to be pierced, but now they’re pierced – stabbed in the heart to think what they’ve done. BUT, that’s step one in coming to faith in Christ. Until you know your guilt, you’ll never seek absolution, right? And until you see it’s way bigger than you can handle, you’ll never seek help. They saw they were spiritually in way over their head. Then, they asked the right question. “What shall we do?” “What must we do to be saved?”

Their regret ran deep. Their long-anticipated Messiah had come, and rather than welcome Him, despite the evidence of a sinlessly powerful life, they rejected and killed Him. He didn’t fit their idea. They saw the guilt for His death was theirs! And, they realized if He was now alive, sooner or later they were among the enemies He would make His footstool as Peter had quoted from Psa 110:1. And there was no “do-over.” If only they could turn back the clock and live those moments over. But you can’t unkill someone! It’s like waking out of a trance to discover you’ve shot your best friend – the doc who had the cure to your incurable disease. Theirs was a devastating awakening.

So the first step in receiving Christ is not to start a self-help program, to live a little better, to apply for admission to some group, to go thru some ritual. No, no! The first step is to admit once and for all the depth of our sin from God’s perspective – to realize we have blood on our hands, too – to realize that God would never have put His Son thru this if we could somehow make it on our own – to acknowledge our spiritual lostness. How could we ever reach the Father on our own when it is our own sin that has helped crucify His Son? There is no hope until we humbly acknowledge there is no hope on our own.

This is hard in a culture that denies the sinfulness of sin. MTV did a special news report in the early 90’s: “The Seven Deadly Sins.” It included interviews with celebrities and ordinary teens talking about the 7 deadly sins – lust, pride, anger, envy, sloth, greed and gluttony. The comments were revealing. Rap star Ice-T angrily insisted, “Lust isn’t a sin. These are just dumb.” Another young man responded, “Sloth? Hey, sometimes it’s good to sit back and give yourself personal time.” And a teen raised on self-image as the greatest good said: “Pride isn’t a sin – you’re supposed to feel good about yourself.” Actor Kirstie Alley agreed: “I don’t think pride is a sin, and I think some idiot made that up.” Well, actually the culprit is God (!) -- who didn’t just make them up, but revealed them to mankind as the essence of His character. The program concluded, “The seven deadly sins are not evil acts, but rather universal human compulsion.” No surprise there. God said in Rom 3:10: “None is righteous, no, not one.” Universal human compulsion, yes. Sin!

But until we respond to the HS’s conviction that those universal human compulsions are why Jesus died, there is no hope. Peter didn’t condemn these people out of hatred or anger; he wanted their deliverance, but first, they had to see the need. We must see the depth of our depravity – not to bury us in an ocean of guilt and despair, but to prompt the question, “What shall I do?” “What must I do to be saved?” Thankfully, Peter has an answer.

II. Receive the Pardon

There’s compassion in Peter’ answer. He does not further rebuke them, nor condemn them for rejecting Jesus. He answers them simply and clearly: “Repent, and believe in Jesus” for that is what being baptized in His name means. This would have been incredibly reassuring to them. They had no right to expect anything other than judgment. Instead they hear, “Repent and believe.” It is amazing grace, isn’t it? It is not, “Do penance.” It is not, “Be good the rest of your life and maybe you can find forgiveness.” Nothing like that. Simply, “Repent and be baptized in his name – that is believe in Him, and your worst crime can be wiped out. Your sins can be forgiven.”

Now, how could God forgive such a sin? Could He simply overlook it as tho it never happened? No, He could never do that. That would have violated the holiness and justice that is His essence. So why could Peter offer forgiveness? He could do it bc the debt they owed for all their sins, including crucifying Christ, had been paid for by Christ. Jesus Himself said, “For the Son of Man came not to be served, but to serve and to give His life as a ransom for many” (Mark 10:45). Bc of that death, God could both “just and the justifier of the one who has faith in Jesus” (Rom 3:26b). There is both the objective side of salvation – debt paid for, and the subjective – accepted by faith. Based on Jesus death, God offers the gift of eternal life – wrapped and complete, just waiting to be received. But like any gift, it has to be accepted.

How? Repent. The human side of salvation. Repent. Μετανοέω – to change one’s mind and direction. This describes a person turning from sin to God – and to Jesus as God! The one they killed, they must now bow to as Lord and Savior. That’s where Peter’s audience was. V. 40: “Save yourselves from this crooked generation.” This is the generation that rejected Jesus. You must now turn from that sin to God, from condemning Christ to believing in Him.

But Peter doesn’t stop at repent: “Repent and be baptized everyone of you in the name of JC for the forgiveness of your sins.” That sounds like repent plus be baptized to be forgiven. But that interpretation can’t be right. First, many passages teach salvation is by faith alone with no mention of baptism. Acts 16:31: “Believe on the LJC and you shall be saved.” Eph 2:8: “For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God.” Jn 3:16: “For God so loved the world that he gave his only son that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life.” No mention of baptism. In Paul’s gospel summary in I Cor 15:2 “by which you are being saved” there is no mention of baptism. F. F. Bruce summarizes: “It is against the whole [biblical teaching] to suppose the outward rite [of baptism] had any value except [to show] true repentance within.”

Second, several passages show that baptism happens after receiving Christ. For example, in Acts 10:44, Cornelius and his house receive Christ, the HS visibly comes as at Pentecost and they speak in other languages. Clearly saved. Only then does Peter say in Acts 10:47, “Can anyone withhold water for baptizing these people?” The order = first, saving faith; then baptism.

Third, the thief on the cross was not baptized yet Jesus told him, “Today you will be with me in paradise.” So, the NT pattern is clear – saving faith, then baptism. We can’t reverse the generall pattern based on one text.

So why did Peter word it this way this one time? Several suggestions have been made, but I think the best is from ATR, who points out the word “for”, in “for the forgiveness” can also be translated “because of”. It’s used that way in Mark 1:4 where it speaks of John “proclaiming a baptism of repentance for (bc of) the forgiveness of sins.” All agree that John’s baptism reflected an inward repentance leading to forgiveness. The baptism was an outward rite reflecting an inward faith, an outward sign of a genuine change of heart.

Baptism was outward commitment to new ID. From Gentile to Jew in case of proselytes. From unrepentant to repentant in John’s case. From twisted generation who rejected Christ to Christ followers in this case. This was no easy commitment to make. We’ve drastically undersold what it means to be a follower of Jesus. It means turning away from an old way of life to a whole new way of life in Christ – and baptism isn’t that commitment but reflects that commitment. It is an act of humble surrender to the Lordship of a new Master.

Thus, baptism was closely allied with faith in the NT “Repent, then be baptized in Jesus’ name, outwardly reflecting your inward faith in Him.” That’s the message. It’s “Believe; be saved, and be baptized,” over and over in Acts. And no wonder. That’s exactly what Jesus told His disciples to do. Mt 28:19: “Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the HS.” Baptism was always a reflection of saving faith, never the essence of saving faith. Some have said faith is missing from this passage, but not at all. They are called “all who believe” in v. 44. It’s all here. Repent of sins, like killing Jesus; believe in Him as Savior; show it by baptism. Repent; believe; be baptized.

One more thing. Peter gives the human side: Repent. Who does that? V. 39b “everyone whom the Lord our God calls to himself.” Who will eventually be saved? Those whom God has chosen and called. “But what if I’m not?” Then repent, trust in Christ and demonstrate that you really were. God’s sovereignty and man’s freedom of choice – side by side with no explanation once again. I can do nothing about God’s sovereignty; but I can choose Jesus. So can you. Jesus invited in Mt 11:28: “Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.” No matter what you’ve done, come.

Spurgeon often had people tell him they were too bad to be saved. He’d say, “Listen, you are much worse than you think you are. God counts not only what you’ve done but what you’ve thought of doing.” But then he’d tell how the mocking thief was saved, and then how those who killed Jesus were saved, and how they could be too – by repenting, and putting their trust in Christ.

III. Realize the Promise

Look at the instantaneous change that comes from repentance – “forgiveness of your sins” and “the gift of the HS.” So, the same gift of complete and total forgiveness Peter got after he denied Christ, those who called for His crucifixion also got. And the same gift of the HS the disciples received, those who were part of the lynching party also got. AMAZING GRACE.

Guilt hangs over humanity like a toxic cloud. Billions are spent every year by people trying to deal with it. Others are drastically affected without knowing it. Most guilt is real, and it is felt because we intuitively sense what the Bible clearly teaches about God. Hab 1:13: “You who are of purer eyes that to see evil and cannot look at wrong.” That puts all of us in the horrible common dilemma of how do we get right with our Creator.

But what Jesus gives that no one else can is forgiveness of sins, slate wiped clean, guilt erased. Rom 5:1: “Therefore, since we have been justified by faith, we have peace with God thru our LJC.” From condemned sinner to perfect standing with God in one dazzling moment. The groom addresses his bride in Song of Solomon 4:7: “You are altogether beautiful, my love; there is no flaw in you.” So God as groom says to believers as the bride – “there is no flaw in you.” You say, “Love must be blind. Flaws remain.” Yes, but now covered with the blood of the crucified Savior; the bride now clothed in his righteousness; the sins forgiven. The promise realized at the moment of faith.

And with forgiveness, comes the HS who takes up residence within with all the power and delight His divine presence brings. What an amazing God we have; what a singular Savior; what amazing grace that brought 3,000 people to faith on the single, incredible day. From hell to heaven in a moment of time; from the kingdom of darkness to the kingdom of light. It’s all amazing grace!

Conc – In Bunyan’s Pilgrim’s Progress. The hero is Christian as he is called throughout. But at one point as he recounts his journey thru life to heaven, he tells one man that his original name was Graceless. As Graceless he was burdened down by the bag of sin that he carried and that kept getting larger all the time – until he came to the cross, bowed the knee to Jesus and watched it all roll away. From Graceless to Xn. One bio of John Newton was titled From Disgrace to Amazing Grace. That was the story of those in Peter’s audience that day. I beg you this morning, make it your story as well. Let’s pray.

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