7 Responses to the Gospel

Repent

When the people heard the gospel they were pierced to the heart and said, “what are we to do?” They were pierced to the heart because they realized the sin they had commited. They crucified the Messiah. I can’t think of anything much worse than killing the Son of God. They knew that they had done wrong and needed a way to deal with it. Peter tells them that the first thing they are to do is repent.

The Greek word for repent is metanoia. It means to have an inward change. What needed to happen is that they needed to have a change of heart towards Jesus. They hated Him to the point of death. They now had to have a change of heart to make Him Lord of their life. They had to put away the rebellious spirit and follow Christ as their king.

This is the same thing that we must do today. We must put away our hostility towards God and make Him Lord of our lives. You might say “I am not hostile towards God, nor am I angry with Him.” This may be true, but the fact that you have not given Him your life means that you are still living with a rebellious spirit.

Repentance can only happen when God causes it to happen when the gospel is shared. Rom. 10:14-17

Romans 10:14–17 NASB95

How then will they call on Him in whom they have not believed? How will they believe in Him whom they have not heard? And how will they hear without a preacher? How will they preach unless they are sent? Just as it is written, “How beautiful are the feet of those who bring good news of good things!” However, they did not all heed the good news; for Isaiah says, “Lord, who has believed our report?” So faith comes from hearing, and hearing by the word of Christ.

When the gospel is shared it’s power is able to pierce the heart and the Holy Spirit can bring about a repentant heart. Rom. 1:16

Romans 1:16 NASB95

For I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes, to the Jew first and also to the Greek.

True repentance is not confessing one sin that is dominating your life and hoping that God will help you overcome it. True repentance is the recognition of your rebellious spirit towards God and changing it to a love for God.

Be Baptized

To be baptized during this time was a huge commitment that would cost a person everything they had. They were publicly saying that they were leaving Judaism to Follow Jesus. They were breaking away from the idea that a person could be saved by observing the law. They were also claiming that their faith in Jesus is what reconciles them to the father.

If a person were to do this, they would run the risk of being thrown out of their family, synagogue, and even their community. They would be forced to depend on God for their living. It was not something that a person would take lightly. They would have to consider the cost.

Today, we may not face the things that they did back then, however their is a price to pay. You will have to adjust your life to the path that Christ has for you and stop going down the path that you once went. This may mean that you have to separate yourself from some friends or even family. You may face persecution for your change.1 Peter 4:3-4

1 Peter 4:3–4 (NASB95)

For the time already past is sufficient for you to have carried out the desire of the Gentiles, having pursued a course of sensuality, lusts, drunkenness, carousing, drinking parties and abominable idolatries. In all this, they are surprised that you do not run with them into the same excesses of dissipation, and they malign you;

There is a cost to publicly profess Jesus Christ as your Savior.

Be Saved From This Perverse Generation

Peter was telling the people that if they were to properly respond to the gospel they would have to change the way they lived. They could no longer do the things you used to do. You can not talk the way you use to talk. You could not have the same attitudes or thoughts you use to have and think. You can not do the things you use to do. You cannot allow yourself to be conformed by the world by consuming worldly ideas. Rom. 12:2

Romans 12:2 NASB95

And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, so that you may prove what the will of God is, that which is good and acceptable and perfect.

We must be willing to change our sinful behavior and replace it with righteous behavior.

Devote Yourself to the Apostles Teaching.

The people had to pledge their allegiance to the Apostles teachings. They would have to learn them, live them, and leave them to others.

The people would have to learn from the apostles the teachings of Christ. They did not have the printed Bible like we do today. They would have to learn from the apostles or the disciples of the apostles.

The teachings demanded a lifestyle that taught Luke 9:23

Luke 9:23 NASB95

And He was saying to them all, “If anyone wishes to come after Me, he must deny himself, and take up his cross daily and follow Me.

They would have to learn how to deny their fleshly desires, put their fleshly desires to death, and follow Jesus in paths of righteousness.

They would have to teach the apostles teachings to others. This is making disciples. Matt. 28:19-20

Matthew 28:19–20 (NASB95)

“Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age.”

We have the luxury of having the apostles teachings written down for us. We must devote ourselves to the Bible. This means regular study of it. Living it out in our daily lives. Teaching it to others as we have opportunity.

Fellowship

Christians are one big family. Sometimes we even refer to one another as brother and sister. We even treat each other that way sometimes. Christ has called us together to be family. This happens by spending time together and enjoying one another’s company.

I also want to dispel a myth that eating at fellowships is a baptist thing. We see here that they broke bread together. This means they ate. There is something special about sitting down together and enjoying a meal.

That is why we have the fellowships that we have and why most of them involve food.

Prayer

Peter informed the people that they now had direct access to the Father through Jesus and they could pray. John 14:6

John 14:6 NASB95

Jesus said to him, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life; no one comes to the Father but through Me.

Through the resurrection of Jesus we now have direct access to the Father. We can speak and listen to Him any time. We need to make sure this is something that we are devoted to.

The old saying is true that says “prayer for the Christian is like oxygen to the body.” You can’t live without it. We must understand this in our own lives.

We must be cognizant of the ever present presence of God in our lives. He loves to hear our prayers and answer.

We see this modeled in Jesus life. He would often leave ministry to go spend time in prayer with the Father. We see Him rising before sunlight and praying. We see Him sometimes praying throughout the night. Jesus not only taught the importance of prayer, he demonstrated it.

We too must devote ourselves to prayer. This is how we build relationship with God. We must be open and honest and not hide our true thoughts and feelings. We must not pray prayers that we think God wants to hear. We must sometimes have R rated prayers where we share the good, the bad, and yes the ugly.

God has a way of moving and changing our hearts, minds and souls when we engage in meaningful prayer.

Giving

The people of the church began to give. They went so far as to sell their possessions so that those who were in need would have those needs met. We too should be mindful of the needs of people around us and help them. This basically shows that the people cared more about the relationship than they did their stuff. They were willing to do away with their stuff to meet the needs of others.