Acts 2:37-41, Pt. 2
Notes
Transcript
Appetiser
Appetiser
Today we continue to look at Peter’s answer to the conscience-stricken Israelites on the day of Pentecost: “Brothers, what shall we do?”
We saw last time that Peter preached, and the Holy Spirit proved it to be true, that they were guilty of the murder of Jesus, Whom God made “both Lord and Messiah.” (Acts 2:36) The Man Who can save them from the wrath of God about to be poured out on a wicked world was raised from the dead, sits at God’s right hand, waiting for the day He would come back to conquer His enemies: those who rejected Him. And Peter says: “It’s you.”
But the Spirit is equally pointing to men and women, boys and girls today, who reject Jesus as Messiah: Saviour and Lord of their lives; “for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.” (Romans 3:23) So we would do well to ask the same question as Peter’s hearers: “Brothers, what shall we do?” Hear then, his answer, straight from the mouth of God: for he is speaking under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, recorded for us by the same Holy Spirit.
Main Course
Main Course
“Peter replied”: as believers in Christ, we know the answer. We will be bold in proclaiming it!
Turn to God, v38
Turn to God, v38
“‘Repent”
Turn from your sins
Sinful life=a life sought to be lived in independence of God. Satan wanted to be equal with God, and so did Adam. This is the natural state of the human mind since Adam’s first sin. We want to be our own masters.
This is a state of the heart which shows itself in our actions. Matthew 15:19, 22:37-40
For out of the heart come evil thoughts—murder, adultery, sexual immorality, theft, false testimony, slander.
Notice that our actions reveal the condition of our heart. If our thoughts are evil, it’s because our heart is. We do ungodly things because it is in our nature.
Jesus replied: ‘ “Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.” This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: “Love your neighbour as yourself.” All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments.’
All means without fail—could you say you have done that? Not if you’re honest with yourself. This leaves us with the fundamental problem between us and God. These people crucified Christ because they did not love Him. Likewise, in our natural state, we sin against God because we do not love Him.
Turn to God
for forgiveness. Admission of guilt must lead on to this. And there is encouragement in the Scriptures to do this, Psalm 130:3-4.
If you, Lord, kept a record of sins, Lord, who could stand? But with you there is forgiveness, so that we can, with reverence, serve you.
pledging to live for Him. Notice: “so that we can, with reverence, serve you.” This is the turnaround. Before, I did not want to live for Him. Now, I want to serve Him. Without this, “repentance” is simply remorse: a bad feeling for being caught, and feeling sorry for the consequences, a desire to be out of that. It’s this heart of service that reveals whether somebody truly has turned to God.
“and be baptised”
Notice:
it’s a command. It’s something you’re called to do as your response to God’s Word.
it’s in the passive. It’s something done to you, to which you are called to submit.
What is baptism? Salvation through judgment, cf. Acts 2:20-21.
The Flood, cf. 1 Peter 3:20b-22. Repentance=going out of the world on which God’s judgment fell by water, into the ark to where those to be saved were. The waters destroyed the sinful world, and also saved it, for a new world rose out of them. Only those in the ark were to enjoy God’s new world.
to those who were disobedient long ago when God waited patiently in the days of Noah while the ark was being built. In it only a few people, eight in all, were saved through water, and this water symbolises baptism that now saves you also—not the removal of dirt from the body but the pledge of a clear conscience towards God. It saves you by the resurrection of Jesus Christ, who has gone into heaven and is at God’s right hand—with angels, authorities and powers in submission to him.
John’s baptism, cf. Matthew 3:2, 6, 7-10, 11-12. The Flood was a picture of the great Day of the Lord. John’s baptism was a baptism of repentance: of fleeing the wrath to come, a symbolic washing away of sin (as the Flood did with the world), and joining God’s people, the ones to be saved from the coming judgment. John’s baptism was the forerunner of the baptism Jesus would do: baptise in the Holy Spirit, actually washing away our sins by Him.
The fulfilment of God’s promise for the forgiveness of sin, Ezekiel 36:25-26
I will sprinkle clean water on you, and you will be clean; I will cleanse you from all your impurities and from all your idols. I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit in you; I will remove from you your heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh.
Jesus was sent by the Father to take our sins away; in fact, Jesus talked about His death as baptism in Mark 10:38-39. He would soak up the judgment of God in His body on the cross—and three days later He would rise from the grave. The Holy Spirit applies all His finished work on the heart of the believer: washing away their sin, giving them the resurrection life of Jesus.
This is how we are to understand Peter’s words:
“every on of you”: the divine finger pointing at you singularly; it’s not enough to belong to the right family, you need to get into the ark. If either of Noah’s sons would’ve chanced it against the Flood, they would’ve drowned with the world. They needed to get into the ark, and be counted among those in it. “‘Save yourselves from this corrupt generation.’” in v40 should also be understood in this way. Get out of the world. Get in the ark.
“in the name of Jesus Christ”: those in the ark were saved from the Flood not primarily because they were in the ark though, but more fundamentally, because they were with Noah, Genesis 6:18
But I will establish my covenant with you, and you will enter the ark—you and your sons and your wife and your sons’ wives with you.
But now here is the One Noah was pointing forward to: Jesus Christ, risen from the dead! He did not only survive a watery grave, like Noah, but endured the very wrath of God in His body on the cross, and was raised from the grave itself. And now He baptises not in water, but in the Holy Spirit, saving people from their sins and therefore the wrath to come:
“for the forgiveness of your sins.”: the washing your conscience by God, removing, washing away your sins, so that not judgment, but life would be your portion.
“Submersion under the water in baptism—which is in Jesus’ name—indicates that the persons baptized have experienced God’s judgment in Christ. […] Similarly, newness of life is represented by emerging from the water. Believers now enjoy the resurrection life of Christ because they have been incorporated into him (Rom 6:4).” (Tom Schreiner)
Baptism and salvation
Does baptism itself save? No. Jesus saves, as we have seen. We must not rip this word out of the context of Peter’s sermon, and the Bible’s teaching. It is to Christ you must turn.
Is baptism necessary for salvation? No. Once again, context, both here and in the entire Bible makes this clear. BUT: in a sense, this is the wrong question to ask. Repentance, faith in Christ, baptism and, as we shall see, joining the church go hand in hand in the New Testament. They belong together. So strongly, that if somebody professes faith in Jesus as the Messiah, but doesn’t want to be baptised, or join the body of believers, there’s something seriously wrong—just like the married guy who doesn’t want to wear his wedding ring, or be seen together with his wife.
God’s promise for those who turn to Him, v38c
The gift is the Holy Spirit, cf. Acts 1:4-5.
Although He already was at work in them in convicting of sin, He would now come as the giver of eternal life, and they would be born again.
Although they were enemies of Christ before, now they would be baptised in the Spirit by Christ. He would take residence in them. They would now belong to Christ, the Messiah, and can look forward to the day of His coming in His Kingdom.
More on this next week, when we look at v39.
Join God’s people, v40-41
Join God’s people, v40-41
“‘Save yourselves from this corrupt generation.’” v40
“With many other words he warned them;”: of the wrath to come, of the peril of rejecting Christ with the world. This he did to deter them from perishing with this corrupt generation.
“and he pleaded with them,”: lit. “he kept exhorting them”, to move them to action. Peter is a man whose eyes have been opened, and sees with great clarity. People need to understand that this is why we are uncompromising and unflinching in our proclamation of Christ as the only way to salvation.
This is a charge for separation. Repudiate the world, and embrace Christ. “Save yourselves” is better translated “Be saved”, as the saving is done by God through Christ. But equally, the response of the people is stressed.
Think of this! Just four weeks before this, the man Peter is urging them to embrace as Lord and Messiah was crucified as the enemy of the state as far as Rome is concerned, and as a blasphemer as far as the Jews were concerned. By obeying Peter’s charge, they would cut themselves off everybody.
This is the price of Christianity. As Jesus said in Matthew 16:24
Then Jesus said to his disciples, ‘Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me.
Becoming a Christian and publicly declaring your faith in baptism will cost you everything. You give up everything to follow Jesus. You give up your life. And you declare that you no longer belong to, and think like, the world.
This will lead to awkward, uncomfortable conversations, decisions that will hinder your progress in society. The pressure will be on you. Still, will you pay the cost? Peter kept urging them. They knew this was a potential death sentence.
This is a charge for joining God’s people. Repudiating the world doesn’t mean you’ll be left on your own. It means changing people. By coming out of the world Noah and his family became a new people: the ark is a precursor of the church. And what it foreshadowed is what God is doing now: building His people, His Church. Come out of the world, and join the Church: the spiritual body of all believers from the dawn of time and into all eternity. But it is not just a global reality, but also a local one:
“about three thousand were added to their number”: The first local church is born, v41
Who make up this church? “Those who accepted his message were baptised”. We see here baptism on confession of faith. “Those who accepted his message”=those who believed.
How are they marked out as the church? “were added to their number” We see here the principle of church membership. Baptism declares not simply “I belong to Christ.”, but “I belong to Christ and His people.” Not just “I’m with Noah.”, but “I’m with Noah in the ark.”
Notice the passives: “were baptised … were added”. Once again, it is emphasised that this is happening to them. The don’t baptise themselves, they don’t add themselves to their number. This is not a social club, but God’s own church. Christ baptises with the Spirit, and those with the Spirit recognise this by adding believers to their number, baptising them in water. Of course, this is in the context of Peter pleading with them: so the will of the new believer is crucial here!
Some claim: “I don’t see the need to become a member of the local church, because belong to the universal Church.” True enough, my Brother, my Sister. But that’s not the number these believers were added to, but “their number” (v41, also in v47). This body of believers would be the first of many assemblies: this is the Jerusalem church, and there would be the Corinthian, Roman, etc. church.
Further, this was a formal arrangement of some sort: they “were added”. In the New Testament, God’s focus is on the local church, as He works in and through them. To be a believer and not to be a member in a local church is a disconnect with the Scriptural norm, and therefore unhealthy for both you and the church. Christianity is not just “Jesus and me.” It’s also “Jesus and us.”
Now, of course, there are exceptions: the Ethiopian eunuch went on his way after being baptised (Acts 8:26-40). The thief on the cross didn’t even get to be baptised. But we don’t make the exception the rule.
Pudding
Pudding
So, my Friend: have you responded the call? Have you repented of your sin, confessing them to God, turning to Him for forgiveness, believing on Jesus as your Saviour? Have you been baptised and added to the number of a local body of believers? What is the response God calls forth from you today?