Acts 2:37-41 (Wednesday Evening Bible Study)

Acts 2:37-41

• Preacher Jim Denison from TX, when in college, he served as a summer missionary in East Malaysia. While there he attended a small church. At one of the church’s worship services, a teenage girl came forward to announce her decision to follow Christ and be baptized. During the service, Denison noticed some worn-out luggage leaning against the wall of the church building. He asked the pastor of the congregation about it. The pastor pointed to the girl who had just been baptized and told Denison, “Her father said that if she was baptized as a Christian she could never go home again. So she brought her luggage.”  Her father was a Muslim.  The same things often happens in India, when one converts to be Christian from the Hinduism.
• Context:
  • Peter has been preaching the very first full gospel sermon. In a spiritual sense Peter is using the keys of the kingdom opening it up for those listening.
  • What did Peter use to give evidence that Jesus was indeed the Christ? O.T. prophecies.
  • Peter tells the crowd the he and the others apostles are witnesses of Jesus resurrection.  And delivers some words that shake the many up. 
• Acts 2:36
• 36 “Therefore let all the house of Israel know with certainty that God has made this Jesus, whom you crucified, both Lord and Messiah.”
  • Peter has just told them they killed their Messiah
• Acts 2:37
• 37 When they heard this, they were pierced to the heart and said to Peter and the rest of the apostles, “Brothers, what should we do?”
  • What is it the Jews want from Peter? What can they do… are they without hope? Is there anything they can do to find God’s favor again?
  • Did the Jews believe what Peter shared with them? Yes… They believe Jesus is the Messiah, at least some did.
  • So we see Peter tells them what they need to do:
• Acts 2:38
• 38 Peter replied, “Repent and be baptized, each of you, in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins, and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.
  • What is the first thing Peter tells them to do?
    • Repent…Repent in the Greek is in the plural so a more literal translation would be “all you all repent”… In the N.T. almost every time we see the word repent in the N.T. linguistically or contextually it is used plural…Everyone needs to repent.  So this whole group of Jews are to repent. 
  • Why didn’t Peter tell to have faith?
    • Because they already believe what Peter had told them.
  • What does repentance mean?
    • A change of thinking… a change of direction… this idea of returning to God… it is more than just being sorry for sin.   Consider how Josephus used it. A Jewish General capture by Rome.  He writes a history of his time.  When the Jews were under siege by Rome supposedly he went to the city wall and told them to surrender to Rome. The Jews on the wall said, “You are only saying that because your family is in Jerusalem with us and you are afraid we will kill them.” 
    • He spoke this back to them, “Repent and believe in me.” Sounds like Jesus doesn’t it.  
  • What did he mean by repent?
    • He wants them to change allegiance and come over to His side. 
  • So Peter is telling them to repent is not telling these Jews to be good but rather repent from you sins turn to God.  For many there it would include repenting from the sin of unbelief in Jesus as the Messiah.  Peter telling they need to repent, change allegiance and come over to the side of Jesus and be apart of the kingdom of Jesus.
  • What is the next thing Peter tells the Jews, cut to the heart?
    • Be baptized… Which is a transliterated word.  When the King James Bible was translated in 1612 from the Greek to English.  The Greek word “baptismo” which means to immerse, submerge, dip or plunge. It was not translated that way it became baptize.  Why would they do that? The king had not been baptized that way, maybe… beside the King James was footing the bill for the translation.
    • So how was the word “Baptismo “used in the first century?  The ship sank “baptismo”, Go wash “Baptismo” your hands in that bucket.
  • Who all did this apply to?
    • every one of you…All those who heard and believed what Peter was saying about Jesus and about them.
  • Was this just any kind of baptism?
    • It was to be done, in the name of Jesus Christ… This happens at the point of conversion… when they have faith and are willing to repent, switch sides they are baptized into the name of Jesus. 
  • What are the two promises connected to these two acts of faith?
    • Forgiveness and the gift of the Holy Spirit
  • What is the purpose or repentance and baptism?
    • For the forgiveness of your sins… Now we are forgiven by what Jesus did on the cross for us.  “FOR” into or in order that your sins be forgiven. These Jews who are repenting and being baptized “for”, into a state of forgiveness of sins. 
  • The word “for” is used 1,767 in the N.T. and it is used overwhelmingly to mean “into or unto”.  So the nature reading of the text is that repentance and baptism leads a convert into the realm of forgiveness
    • (Some have tried to say the word “for” should be translated “because” which would change the meaning of the verse… “Repent and be baptized because you’re forgiven.”  This is done to fit their theology, thus one is baptized as a result of being saved, not as an act of conversion.)
  • Is baptism a man’s work or God’s work?
    • See Colossians 2:12, Galatians 3:27 
    • Whose idea was baptism? God’s.
  • Colossians 2:12-13
    • 11 You were also circumcised in him with a circumcision not done with hands, by putting off the body of flesh, in the circumcision of Christ, 12 when you were buried with him in baptism, in which you were also raised with him through faith in the working of God, who raised him from the dead. 13 And when you were dead in trespasses and in the uncircumcision of your flesh, he made you alive with him and forgave us all our trespasses. 
  • Galatian 3:27
    • 27 For those of you who were baptized into Christ have been clothed with Christ.
      • This where we initially put on Christ.
  • What kind of work is baptism?
    • See 1Peter 3:21 
    • A work of faith. An appeal to God for a clean conscience. Faith without works is dead. A faith that claims to believe in Jesus but doesn’t do what he commands is bogus. So what did Jesus tell us to do when we encounter Him? He is looking for faith, faith in Christ and commands us to Repent and be immersed into the name of Jesus Christ
    • 1 Peter 3:21
      • 21 Baptism, which corresponds to this, now saves you (not as the removal of dirt from the body, but the pledge of a good conscience toward God) through the resurrection of Jesus Christ,
    • The apostle Paul teaches Christians baptism connects to Christ death and His resurrection.
  • The first promise was forgiveness, what is the second promise?
    • And you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.   
    • What have these Jews seen and heard?
      • Evidence of the Holy Spirit and now Peter makes a promise… You will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit! This is a good promise. 
  • Do you think there was rush for those Jews to get baptized?
    • The Jews knew about baptism not in Jesus name but for cleansing and separation from unclean things they may have come in contact with, like Gentiles or something dead.  
    • No this would have been a self-baptism practiced by the Jews. Self-washing the unclean off of you. 
  • How does Christian baptism differ from the Jewish baptism at that time?
    • It was far more than ceremonial cleansing. To become a Christian and be in Christ you are baptized into the Name of Christ brings about forgiveness for sin and connection to Jesus… but unites you with the Body of Christ…. It is a communal act. You are joined with not only Christ but with other Christians. 
  • Does a person receive the Holy Spirit through immersion into Jesus name?
    • See Ephesians 1:13, John 3:5, 1 Corinthians 12:13 & Titus 3:4-5
    • The Holy Spirit is granted to those who believe. The Holy Spirit is connected to baptism in scripture, like what we see here in Acts 2:38.
    • The Spirit indwelling the Christian at baptism does not exclude the Holy Spirit choosing to empower, fill and indwell those He wants to work thru for God’s purpose.
    • Ephesians 1:13
      • 13 In him you also were sealed with the promised Holy Spirit when you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation, and when you believed. 
    • John 3:5
      • 5 Jesus answered, “Truly I tell you, unless someone is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God.
    • 1 Corinthians 12:13
      • 13 For we were all baptized by one Spirit into one body—whether Jews or Greeks, whether slaves or free—and we were all given one Spirit to drink.
    • Titus 3:4-5
      • 4 But when the kindness of God our Savior and his love for mankind appeared, 5 he saved us—not by works of righteousness that we had done, but according to his mercy—through the washing of regeneration and renewal by the Holy Spirit.
• Acts 2:39-40
• 39 For the promise is for you and for your children, and for all who are far off, as many as the Lord our God will call.” 40 With many other words he testified and strongly urged them, saying, “Be saved from this corrupt generation!”
  • So who is this for?
    • Who would be the children of the Jews?  More Jews… Who are those who a far off?  This is a reference to the non- Jews all over their world. Peter doesn’t get what he is saying. Peter thinks this is just for the Jews.  It would take a vision years later and people coming to get Peter to a Gentile for Peter to get it. We get it from our perspective.
  • So does Peter keep doing?
    • He keeps preaching
  • What does the gospel give people an opportunity to do?
    • Be saved!
• Acts 2:41
• 41 So those who accepted his message were baptized, and that day about three thousand people were added to them.
  • What was the result of the first preaching of the gospel on the Day of Pentecost?
    • Those who believed Peter’s message had faith, they accepted it.  Those same people were baptized. And those same people were added.  All in one day. 
  • Why doesn’t this thing happen anymore?
    • Well, it does still happen.  We may not see it happen to that scale here but it is happening in other places in the world. 
• TAKE AWAY
  • What does this response of faith seen in repentance and baptism do?
    • Makes disciples — Matthew 28:19
    • It brings us into the New Covenant-
      • Colossians 2:1-12
    • This is when we put on Christ 
    • Where we are granted forgiveness of sin
    • Through baptism this we are promised the Holy Spirit
    • Baptism saves us as the culmination of conversion
      • Mark 16:16
        • 16 Whoever believes and is baptized will be saved, but whoever does not believe will be condemned.
    • It serves as a ritual of remembrance and community.
    • It alleviates guilt through God‘s forgiveness and shame through being brought into the community.