Introduction:

Salvation, what must I do to be saved, many ask.  This passage makes it crystal clear what a person must do to be saved.  Peter’s conclusion to the main body of his sermon was devastating.  He charged his listeners with rejecting and executing their Messiah—the very One whom God had made both Lord and Christ.

A.                 The people were convicted and cried out, “What shall we do?”  (v.37).

1.                  “Now when they heard this…”  (v.37a).

a)                  The message of salvation needs to be heard.

(1)                 But, who will go to preach it (Isaiah 6:1-8)?

Listen to this, the Lord says in Ezekiel 22 "The people of the land have used oppressions, committed robbery, and mistreated the poor and needy; and they wrongfully oppress the stranger.  So I sought for a man among them who would make a wall, and stand in the gap before Me on behalf of the land, that I should not destroy it; but I found no one." (Ezekiel 22:29-30, NKJV)

(2)                 Peter in Acts 2:14 “stood up, and raised his voice saying”.  We need to stand up for the things we believe in and preach the Gospel of Jesus Christ!  Will you go for Jesus?

Listen to what Paul says in Romans 10; he says "How then shall they call on Him in whom they have not believed?  And how shall they believe in Him of whom they have not heard? And how shall they hear without a preacher? And how shall they preach unless they are sent? As it is written: “How beautiful are the feet of those who preach the gospel of peace, Who bring glad tidings of good things!”" (Romans 10:14-15, NKJV)

Listen to Paul’s commitment to the gospel of Jesus Christ, he says "But none of these things move me; nor do I count my life dear to myself, so that I may finish my race with joy, and the ministry which I received from the Lord Jesus, to testify to the gospel of the grace of God.”  (Acts 20:24, NKJV)

And to the Ephesians he said "To me, who am less than the least of all the saints, this grace was given, that I should preach among the Gentiles the unsearchable riches of Christ," (Ephesians 3:8)

(a)                 Yes, men are to be the leaders but the woman should and can take a stand as well:

When Esther learned that her people were going to be destroyed and at first she was not going to go in the presence of the king "Mordecai told them to answer Esther: “Do not think in your heart that you will escape in the king’s palace any more than all the other Jews.  For if you remain completely silent at this time, relief and deliverance will arise for the Jews from another place, but you and your father’s house will perish. Yet who knows whether you have come to the kingdom for such a time as this?”" (Esther 4:13-14, NKJV)

2.                  “They were cut to the heart…  Men and brethren, what shall we do…?”  (v.37b).

a)                  Conviction is essential for salvation.

(1)                 The word “cut” means to convict, sting, sense pain and hurt.

(a)                 Conviction is an emotional movement of the heart.

(b)                A person senses sorrow over disappointing God.

(c)                 The person’s heart is touched and moved to some degree of brokenness.

Paul, writing to the Corinthians said "Now I rejoice, not that you were made sorry, but that your sorrow led to repentance.  For you were made sorry in a godly manner, that you might suffer loss from us in nothing. For godly sorrow produces repentance leading to salvation, not to be regretted; but the sorrow of the world produces death." (2 Corinthians 7:9-10, NKJV)

!!!!!! (d)                Conviction causes people to seek answers, to ask, “What shall we do?”

You remember what the Philippian jailer said to Paul and Silas "Sirs, what must I do to be saved?”  So they said, “Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and you will be saved, you and your household.” Then they spoke the word of the Lord to him and to all who were in his house." (Acts 16:30-32, NKJV)

(e)                 Their state of mind illustrates perfectly that of the convicted sinner.  Conviction is the key used by the Holy Spirit to open the heart to salvation.

(f)                  People need to be convicted of sin before they will see the need for a savior.  No matter how morally upright they may be, all unbelievers are guilty of the vile sins of rebellion against God and rejection of Jesus Christ.

Paul said "Truly, these times of ignorance God overlooked, but now commands all men everywhere to repent" (Acts 17:30, NKJV)

Jesus, speaking about the Holy Spirit said "And when He has come, He will convict the world of sin, and of righteousness, and of judgment: of sin, because they do not believe in Me;" (John 16:8-9, NKJV)

Genuine conviction is produced by the Spirit of God, in conjunction with the Word of God, which is “living and active and sharper than any two-edged sword, and piercing as far as the division of soul and spirit, of both joints and marrow, and able to judge the thoughts and intentions of the heart” (Heb. 4:12).

b)                  The Essentials of Conviction.

(1)                 Must be conviction that Jesus is Lord (Acts 9:4-5):

When the Lord stopped Saul flat in his tracks, Saul "Fell to the ground, and heard a voice saying to him, “Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting Me?”  And he said, “Who are You, Lord?” Then the Lord said, “I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting. It is hard for you to kick against the goads.”" (Acts 9:4-5, NKJV)

(2)                 You must face your own sin to be saved & humble yourself (Luke 15:17-19):

Speaking about he Prodigal son, Jesus said "When he came to himself, he said, ‘How many of my father’s hired servants have bread enough and to spare, and I perish with hunger! I will arise and go to my father, and will say to him, “Father, I have sinned against heaven and before you, and I am no longer worthy to be called your son. Make me like one of your hired servants.” ’" (Luke 15:17-19, NKJV)

(3)                 Must humble yourself despite any questions or doubts (John 20:24-29):

c)                  Signs of Being Convicted

(1)                 A great sense of unworthiness (Luke 5:8):

When Peter caught a lot of fish because Jesus told him to cast the net on the other side, "When Simon Peter saw it, he fell down at Jesus’ knees, saying, “Depart from me, for I am a sinful man, O Lord!"  (Luke 5:8, NKJV)

(2)                 A sense of fear and rejecting (Acts 24:24-25):

You remember when Paul spoke about faith in Christ to Felix in Acts 24?  "And after some days, when Felix came with his wife Drusilla, who was Jewish, he sent for Paul and heard him concerning the faith in Christ.  Now as he reasoned about righteousness, self-control, and the judgment to come, Felix was afraid and answered, “Go away for now; when I have a convenient time I will call for you.”" (Acts 24:24-25, NKJV)

(3)                 Walking away and not doing anything about it (John 8:1-9; Romans 2:15)

(4)                 The danger of resisting conviction (John 12:37-40):

!! B.                The imperatives: Repent and be baptized (v.38a).

1.                  “Repent and let everyone of you be baptized in the name of the Jesus Christ…”  (v.38a).

a)                  Repentance and the Gospel Presentation. 

(1)                 Telling people that God loves them and has a wonderful plan for their lives is only half the truth.  God hates sin and will punish unrepentant sinners with eternal torment. 

(a)                 No gospel presentation is complete if it avoids or conceals those facts.  Any message that fails to define and confront the severity of personal sin is a deficient gospel. 

(b)                And any “salvation” that does not alter a lifestyle of sin and transform the heart of the sinner is not the salvation that God’s Word speaks of.

(2)                 Neglecting to call sinners to repentance is not preaching the gospel. 

(a)                 The truth of the gospel is that the only ones who are eligible for salvation are those who realize they are sinners and are willing to repent.  Our Lord can save sinners. 

(b)                But to those who are unwilling to admit their sin, he has nothing to say –except to pronounce judgment.

b)                  Repentance Is An Actual Turning From Sin. 

(1)                 The Greek word for repentance is ‘metanoia’ meaning a change of mind which influences a change of direction.  “The Amplified New Testament” reads Matthew 3:1-2 this way: “Repent – that is, think differently; change your mind, regretting your sin and changing you conduct.”

(a)                 Repentance is a turning from sin, and it always results in changed behavior:

(b)                Look how the Ninevites allowed their change of mind influence their change of direction (Matt.12:41; Jonah 3:1-10; see also Luke 3:8; 1Thess.1:9)

(c)                 The Parable of the Two Sons (Matt. 21:28-32).

c)                  Repentance is not just for the unsaved (1 John 1:9). 

(1)                 David Confessed Before God (Psalm 51:1-4, 7-9)

2.                  “Let everyone of you be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ…”  (v.38a)

a)                  No secret disciples.

(1)                 Baptism would mark a public break with Judaism and identification with Jesus Christ.  Such a drastic public act would help weed out any conversions which were not genuine.

(2)                 In sharp contrast to many modern gospel presentations are made easy.  Peter made accepting Christ difficult, not easy.  By so doing, he followed the example of our Lord Himself.

(a)                 Luke 14:26-33:

b)                  No baptismal regeneration.

(1)                 Those who teach baptismal regeneration—the false teaching that baptism is necessary for salvation—see this verse as a primary proof text for their view.

(2)                 That view ignores the immediate context of the passage.

(a)                 As already noted, baptism would be a dramatic step for Peter’s hearers.  By publicly identifying themselves as followers of Jesus of Nazareth, they risked becoming outcasts in their society (cf. John 9:22).  Peter calls upon them to prove the genuineness of their repentance by submitting to public baptism.

(b)                In much the same way, our Lord called upon the rich young ruler to prove the genuineness of his repentance by parting with his wealth (Luke 18:18–27).  Surely no one would argue from the latter passage that giving away one’s possessions is necessary for salvation.

!!!!! (3)                 Second – such teaching violates the important hermeneutical principle known as analogia Scriptura (The analogy of Scripture).

(a)                 That principle states that no passage, when correctly interpreted, will teach something contradictory to the rest of Scripture.

(b)                And the rest of Scripture unmistakably teaches that salvation is solely by faith.

(c)                 In 1 Corinthians 1:14–16, Paul rejoiced that he had baptized none of the Corinthians except Crispus, Gaius, and the household of Stephanas.  That statement is inexplicable if baptism is necessary for salvation.  Paul would then in effect be saying he was thankful that only those few were saved under his ministry.

(4)                 Thirdly – While the preposition eis (for) can mean “for the purpose of,” it can also mean “because of,” or “on the occasion of”

(a)                 The latter is clearly its meaning in Matthew 12:41, which says that the people of Nineveh repented because of the preaching of Jonah.

c)                  The order is clear.

(1)                 Repentance is for forgiveness.  Baptism follows that forgiveness; it does not cause it (Acts 8:12, 34–39; 10:34–48; 16:31–33).  It is the public sign or symbol of what has taken place on the inside.

(2)                 It is an important step of obedience for all believers, and should closely follow conversion.  In fact, in the early church it was inseparable from salvation, so that Paul referred to salvation as being related to “one Lord, one faith, one baptism” (Eph. 4:5).

C.                The results: Forgiveness and receiving of the Holy Spirit (v.38b).

1.                  “For the remission of sins and receive the gift of the Holy Spirit…”  (v.38b).  

a)                  There are four main ideas in the Biblical concept of forgiveness.

(1)                 There is the idea of why forgiveness is needed.  Forgiveness is needed because of wrong doing and guilt and the penalty arising from both.

(2)                 There is the idea of a once-for-all forgiveness, a total forgiveness.  A man is forgiven once-for-all when he receives Jesus Christ as his Savior.  Belief in Jesus Christ, true repentance, is the only condition for being forgiven once-for-all.

(3)                 There is the idea of forgiveness that maintains fellowship.  Fellowship exists between God as Father and the believer as His child. When the child does wrong, the fellowship is disturbed and broken.  The condition for restoring the fellowship is confessing and forsaking the sin (Psalm 66:18; Prov. 28:13; 1 John 1:7).

(4)                 There is the idea of a releasing from guilt.  This is one of the differences between a man forgiving another man and God forgiving a man.  A man may forgive a person for wronging him, but he can never remove the guilt that his friend feels.  And often he cannot remove the resentment he himself feels within his own heart.  Only God can remove the guilt and assure the removal of resentment.  God does both.  God forgives and erases the guilt and resentment (Psalm 51:2, 7-12; Psalm 103:12; 1 John 1:9).

D.                The assurance to all: God’s promise and God’s personal call (v.39).

1.                  “The promise is to you, and your children, and to all who are afar off…”  (v.39a).

a)                   

2.                  “As many as the Lord our God will call…”  (v.39b).

E.                 The great cry of Peter: Save yourselves....  (v.40).

1.                  “He testified and exhorted them saying, be saved from this perverse generation…”  (v.40).

a)                  Save yourselves!

(1)                 The words “save yourselves” (sothete) mean that a person is to act and do exactly
what Peter preached: “Repent and be baptized.”

(2)                 “Untoward” (skolias PWS: 4179) means crooked or bent out of shape. Men are far
from being straight and in the shape intended by God. They are crooked and bent,
unrighteous and ungodly, sinful and corrupt.