The Challenge of Peter (Acts 2:37-39)

 

The effects of Peter’s sermon about Jesus were immediate, identical, and intense as far as his listeners were concerned, which is a reminder about true evangelism. Here were unlikely converts because a few weeks ago they had shown their hostility to Jesus by urging Pilate to crucify him. It is all down to the power of the Spirit in their hearts.

 

The immediate impact is wonderful. We long to see this response when the gospel is preached. Unlikely people, unexpected people, pleading to know more about salvation, desperate to find a remedy for who they are and what they have done as sinners.

 

Cut to the heart

This is a graphic phrase, it means something like a stabbing experience. The phrase shows depth of penetration, that the weapon pierces through different layers within each personal. The weapon Peter uses is the gospel, and the layers are the person’s mind, affections and will. What is described here is conviction of sin.

Conviction of sin is an aspect of the process of salvation. Jesus becomes a Saviour for those who know that they are sinners. Since it is an important feature of true spiritual experience, we need to understand its nature. So here are details of what occurred.

First, note that conviction of sin can be very short. There is no evidence that these individuals, prior to then, had any concern about their involvement in the death of Jesus. It had not crossed their minds that they had been guilty of an awful sin. Yet the period between their conviction of sin and conversion from sin was not a long time.

 

One reason for the brevity of their experience can be traced to it being a consequence of the preaching about Christ as well as preaching about the law. If a preacher only mentions the law, he may have to wait a while, wait until he also preaches the gospel, before he has converts because there are no guidelines for finding Christ in the law.

 

Second, conviction of sin can be very sore. Peter’s sermon is interrupted by his listeners because they have been deeply affected by what they had heard. As we noticed, the phrase ‘cut to the heart’ is a very graphic word picture of the effects of the gospel by the hand of the Spirit in the hearts of sinners. The gospel is the knife that the Spirit uses to wound the inner life of sinners. What ideas are conveyed by this imagery?

 

First, there is heartfelt distress. Their response is not merely a recognition that they have done wrong; in addition, there is a powerful sense of the heinousness of their sins. Peter did not merely address their consciences; he also spoke to their affections. They feel the awfulness of what they have done.

 

Second, there is longing for deliverance. These individuals realise that they are in great danger. It is not conviction when a person can deduce that a certain action is wrong but not be afraid of the judgement of God on such actions. Conviction by the Spirit also writes on the person’s heart the reality of divine judgement.

 

Third, there is a changed attitude towards the people of God. Previously, the crowd had reacted to the events of Pentecost, of which the disciples were the visible centre, with either curiosity or mockery. Now that they are under conviction of sin, they speak differently – they address the disciples with endearing words, recognizing that these followers of Jesus will have some way of helping them.

Counsel for the convicted

Peter quickly tells his hearers what they should do. The way of deliverance involved an inward response and an outward confession. The inward response was repentance, and the outward response was baptism.

Conviction of a sin is different from repentance for the sin. Sadly, convictions may pass away and not come to penitence. Peter did not take their concern as evidence that they had been converted. There is more to conversion than a dread of divine judgement because of our sins.

Repentance involves sorrow for our sins, but it also includes a determination to forsake them. True repentance is more than remorse or regret; in the Old Testament both Cain and Esau showed remorse and regret because of the consequences of their actions, but they did not express repentance for their sins. A person may be sorry for the effects of a sin without being sorry for the sin itself; if the effects did not occur, he would want to continue practising the sin.

Yet repentance is also more than resolve, the attempt to live better in the future. It also includes sorrow for the wrong actions, and a sense of shame that we sinned against God. Each of us has an incalculable number of sins of which to repent. While we cannot repent individually of each one, when the Spirit points us to certain sins, we should repent of them with a sense of shame.

The outward action that Peter mentions is baptism. He is not suggesting that the ritual saves a penitent sinner. Instead, he is stressing that a public confession of Jesus must accompany true repentance. At that time, there would not exist a believer who refused to confess Christ. By confession of Christ is meant a personal commitment to Jesus.

The commitment publicly displayed in baptism said that the person depended on Jesus alone for salvation. The individual was saying to all around that he was relying on Jesus Christ for rescue from God’s wrath against sin. In other words, he had put his trust in Jesus. True faith in Jesus is dependence on Jesus as a suitable Saviour.

 

Comforts promised the convicted

Peter then gives three promises to his listeners. First, he assures them that if they repent of their sins and confess Jesus by faith, they will receive from God the forgiveness of all their sins. They will receive an immediate free and full pardon. In a moment, they will turn from being under the bondage of condemnation to those enjoying the liberty of forgiveness. What a great blessing pardon from God is! Set free from condemnation and delivered from the fear of condemnation.

 

Second, Peter says that they will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. Jesus had promised his disciples that when the Spirit came after the Ascension, he would be in them as well as being with them. Of course, the indwelling of the Holy Spirit is a massive subject, and no-one can fully describe what it involves. In saying that the converts would receive the Spirit, Peter was promising them many blessings: there is the blessing of purity as they are sanctified by the Spirit; there is the blessing of power as they are enabled to serve Jesus by the Spirit; there is the blessing of the fruit of the Spirit as they receive these gifts from Jesus through the channel of the Spirit. To have the Spirit is, as we know, to have the presence of God.

 

Third, Peter reminded his hearers that they would come into a covenant relationship with God if they believed in Jesus. This is what Peter means when he says that ‘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.’  In the Old Testament period, the children of parents in Israel received privileges from God because he had made commitments to their forebears. This does not mean that the children of converts, whether from Jewish families in Israel or Jewish families in the Dispersion, would automatically become Christians. But it is a reminder that members of Christian families are near to gospel blessings, which means that Christian parents can plead this relationship when they pray to God. It also means that it is a great sin for such children to despise their birthright.

 

Challenge to the convicted

In verse 40, Luke informs that Peter continued with many words to exhort his hearers to ‘Save yourselves from this crooked generation’. This is obviously a summary of his message, and it reminds us of several features.

 

One detail that stands out is Peter’s insistence that each person is responsible for responding to the gospel in faith. Another detail that is clearly implied is that the generation was facing divine judgement, and since the timing of that judgement was unknown, it was a demand for immediate flight from such a fate. There is a third detail in this exhortation which should be noticed: Peter recognizes the difficulty of going against the crowd. It is not easy to be different, especially to differ from the majority.

 

Commitment of the Convicted

Three thousand people were converted on this occasion. There must have been immense joy among the disciples as they baptised the converts. If the twelve apostles performed the baptisms, it means that they each baptised on average about 250 people, which means that the total number could easily have been baptised in two or three hours. What is important is that the converts revealed their commitment by a public act of baptism.