It is Wednesday and we are continuing our reading thru the New Testament. Today we read from Acts 2:37 - 3:10. It is a passage that describes the birth of the Church. Read it slowly, take in the words and imagine the scenes. We’ll take a look at it together after you have read it.
One of the most important principles of reading Scripture is to “let the plain things be the main things”. In other words, don’t try to make a passage say what it is not saying to fit some predisposed idea. Another principle in reading and understanding Scripture is that “descriptions are not prescriptions”. In other words, when something is described in a story it does not necessarily become prescribed as doctrinal teaching. Both of these principles enter into this reading this morning. Church denominations have been built around the descriptions of what is said and done in this passage and we are tempted to take sides on the basis of our church backgrounds without letting the plain sense of the Scripture speak.
It is the day of Pentecost and God miraculously poured out his Spirit on this community of believers waiting in the Upper Room. As they spilled out into the street to bear witness of what was happening, people from all over the Roman world heard them proclaim Jesus. Peter becomes the spokesperson for “what you see here is the fulfillment of the promise of God”. The Gift of the Holy Spirit comes to them and they can’t help but share what has happened to Jesus and what is happening now, and what it all means.
Let’s pick this up at the end of yesterday’s reading and look at what happens immediately after. Vss 36 - 41 the description is of Peter and the crowd who had been listening and what took place:
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.”
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?”
38 And Peter said to them, “Repent and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins, and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. 39 For the promise is for you and for your children and for all who are far off, everyone whom the Lord our God calls to himself.” (ESV)
As Peter comes to the end of his teaching, he makes the proclamation that God has received his Son back as both Lord and Messiah (Christ). The crowd, having witnessed this group of believers speak their language, and hearing the message of how Jesus was crucified, but raised from the dead, and is now ascended to heaven, are struck. Luke writes, “they were cut to the heart”. It means they felt the conviction - katanyssomai - a piercing from God-given guilt. They were struck by the entirety of what Peter spoke about and they felt both the truth of it and the guilt... ”what should we do?” is their response.
Peter speaks straightforwardly about repentance and baptism as a sign of that...all of it in the name of Jesus Christ, for he is the author of forgiveness. This is where denominational understandings crowd into the passage. Bear with me and consider the passage from its plain sense of reading, and if you disagree, then please agree on the larger meaner in the story. We begin with “repent”. It’s not a word we use in our church language real often...maybe we should use it more than we do. Repentance accompanied Jesus’ teaching in the Gospels. It is a word the Prophets and Psalmists used in the Old Testament. Repentance is the English translation of the Greek word “metanoia”. It means to “turn around”. The idea is simple, plain...a person is headed in one direction and they realize it’s the wrong way to go, so they turn around. Peter is telling the crowd, “you have gotten Jesus all wrong...you need to turn around and see that he is both Lord and Christ”.
The second part of this is “be baptized in the name of Jesus”. Because Peter adds that what follows is “forgiveness of sins and the gift of the Holy Spirit”, all sorts of doctrinal disputes arose over what exactly is meant by this. Looking at it in pieces helps some, but doesn’t solve the main issue - is baptism necessary for the forgiveness of sins, i.e., salvation? Various denominations say “yes”, others say “no”. If we’re predisposed by denominational practices we will lean towards that in interpretation.
Baptism comes from the Greek word “baptizo”, which meant to immerse, or plunge. Jewish converts coming from Gentile backgrounds were both circumcised and baptized - the second as a symbol of their sins being washed away. When John the Baptist came he called the Jewish people to repent of their sins and be baptized for the remission of their sins. My personal conviction arises from the principle that the plain thing is that Peter called them to change their hearts and minds about Jesus, repent of their sins, and be baptized to enter into the new covenant that Jesus brought about in the Kingdom of God.
Chuck Swindoll said it this way: “For John, baptism was an outward symbol of an inward change. New Testament baptism is the same—and more. Conditioned upon repentance, it’s also an initiation into the new covenant, into the kingdom of God—which makes the next phrase crucial. “In the name of Jesus Christ” means “on the authority of Jesus Christ” or “by the authorization of Jesus Christ.”
In other words, Peter is telling them “this is what Jesus commanded us to do” (Matthew 28:18-20). What Acts 2 is “describing” is the birth of the church. The promise of Christ’s life is for all who “hear” and “receive” the promise of Christ - to forgive us our sins as we turn towards Jesus and receive Him as Savior and Lord. A keyword in that sentence is the word “for”. One can read it as “the result will be, or in order to...”, or one can read it as “and as a result...”. When approaching difficult passages we need to go back to the whole concept taught in the rest of scripture. We must not allow our understanding to be based on one passage alone. The interpretation “be baptized in order to receive forgiveness” contradicts everything the New Testament teaches, and the Reformation leaders proclaimed...that Salvation is by grace alone, through faith alone, in Christ alone.
As A. T. Robertson writes when commenting on what Peter is saying here:
“My view is decidedly against the idea that Peter, Paul, or anyone in the New Testament taught baptism as essential to the remission of sins or the means of securing such remission. So I understand Peter to be urging baptism on each of them who had already turned (repented) and for it to be done in the name of Jesus Christ on the basis of the forgiveness of sins which they had already received”.
You may agree, or you may not...but to wrap this one sentence up...in turning to Christ for salvation, we receive the forgiveness of sins. In baptism, we demonstrate that we have received Christ and we have also received the gift of the Holy Spirit. I think that we need to realize - regardless of what direction we come from - that what Peter is saying is revolutionary. Jesus Christ came to “seek and to save the lost” and when anyone turns to him - by God’s grace through faith - they receive forgiveness and the indwelling of the Holy Spirit - a seal from God that salvation is done (look at Ephesians 1 to see it some more).
Pause...look at what happened. 3000 came into the early church as believers. Peter said this “is for you and your children...as well as those who are not even here (far off) because the Lord is calling them too”. I don’t even know if Peter understood the full ramifications of what he was saying. But this message of repentance, faith in Christ, receiving salvation, the gift of the Spirit...all of this became central to the early church’s message and has been the central message of the Church down through the ages even to today. In my mind, I can see this over and over in the word of God...I see it in the public proclamation of the Gospel...and I see it as the test of real orthodox Christianity.
The results were staggering. They came together as a fellowship community... they studied God’s word together...they ate together (probably including the Lord’s Supper)...they worshiped and prayed together....they cared for one another and helped each other with their needs...what does that sound like? Church! It is the early church’s pattern - fellowship from the Greek word “koinonia” - brothers and sisters together under Jesus as their Savior and Lord. Everything that Luke describes here is voluntarily done. There is no forced pattern of what they had to do. It was all based on love under the umbrella of God’s love in Jesus Christ - they were all sinners saved by grace.
The final part begins chapter 3 and fills in the idea of 2:43 where Luke said: “many wonders and signs were performed by the Apostles”. Peter and John had walked with Jesus to the Temple several times, and in fact, had witnessed Jesus heal a blind man once, and lame men twice. Now, moved by the Holy Spirit, they speak to a lame beggar: “Silver or gold I do not have, but what I do have, I give to you. In the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, walk!” Again it is a description, not a prescription of how to pray for healing. No matter, it was a miracle that occurred....he got up and walked - skipped - into the Temple proclaiming “look, look, look what happened...Jesus healed me.”
Two quick thoughts to close this off. When it comes to repentance and faith in Christ, I love what Martin Luther said - “all of our lives is to be lived daily in repentance and faith in Christ”. In other words, repentance is a constant pattern of approaching God’s throne of grace. That’s why Jesus taught us to pray, among other things, “Forgive us our debts, even as we forgive our debtors...”. If you think that repenting is beneath you, or that you did it once and that is enough...you do not know the Scriptures and need to go back to read it again (1 John 1 would be good to read).
Secondly, I remember Martin Luther also once said: “The early church had no silver or gold, and God worked miracles in them...today we have a church with much silver and gold, and we do not see God working miracles anymore.” Enough said? Thanks for reading, and thanks for patiently walking through a passage that is worth our time to read often.
Peace
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