Now when they heard this they were cut to the heart, and said to Peter and the rest of the apostles, "Brethren, what shall we do?" 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 shall receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. For the promise is to you and to your children and to all that are far off, every one whom the Lord our God calls to him." And he testified with many other words and exhorted them, saying, "Save yourselves from this crooked generation." So those who received his word were baptized, and there were added that day about three thousand souls.
Hebrews 4:12 says that "the word of God is living and active, sharper than any two edged sword, piercing to the division of soul and spirit, of joints and marrow, and discerning the thoughts and intentions of the heart." The Word of God is a piercing, two-edged sword that lays open the true condition of the heart! Paul says, "Take the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God" (Ephesians 6:17). The reason the Word of God can have such power to lay open the heart is because it the sword of the Spirit. It is not man's sword. It does not merely have man's endorsement, or man's power behind it. The Spirit of God is the Spirit of truth. The true word of God is his Word, and he loves it and honors it and empowers it.
What Is the Need That the People Sense?
Before we look at the answer that Peter gives, let's ask what the need is? When the people say, "What must I do?" it's clear that they feel a need. They are saying, "I need something. What must I do to get it?" Peter gives two explicit answers in verse 38 to what they need—what we need.
He says they need forgiveness and they need the gift of the Holy Spirit. "Repent and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins [that's need #1]; and you shall receive the gift of the Holy Spirit [that's need #2]." Let's take these one at a time and think about them.
The Need for Forgiveness from God
First, there is the need to be forgiven by God.
The Need for the Gift of the Holy Spirit
The second need, Peter says, is to receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. Verse 38: "Repent, and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins [the first need]; and you shall receive the gift of the Holy Spirit [the second need]."
What does it mean to receive the gift of the Holy Spirit? Is this a promise of being baptized in the Spirit (1:5) or being filled with the Spirit (2:4) or being empowered by the Spirit (1:8;Luke 24:49); or being indwelt by the Spirit (1 Corinthians 6:19)? The longer I meditate on those alternatives the less I see reasons in the text to choose between them. My answer would be simply this: If you truly repent and are baptized in the name of Jesus Christ, the Holy Spirit will be given to you, and will make a difference in your life. From that day on you will have the Holy Spirit (Romans 8:9). And nothing is said here in Acts 2:38 to limit the various ways in which he may manifest himself in your life.
All it says is that from the day of your repentance and your identification with Jesus Christ, the Holy Spirit will be at work in your life as a gift. From the first day of your faith you can know he is yours because of this promise in Acts 2:38. And from that day on you can begin to seek his extraordinary empowerings (Luke 24:49; Acts 1:8) and fillings (Acts 4:31; Ephesians 3:19) and gifts (Acts 2:17; 1 Corinthians 14:1).
These are the two great needs that we all have. The first is to be forgiven—to have all the violations and offenses and transgressions and disobedience and sins cancelled out. "Though your sins be as scarlet they shall be as white as snow!" (Isaiah 1:18). And the second need is to have God himself come into our lives where sin once reigned. We need a personal relationship with God through his Spirit. We need wisdom and guidance and love and joy and peace and patience and goodness and self-control. And we need extraordinary power for the task of local and world evangelization. We need the gift of the Holy Spirit.
"What Shall We Do?"
Finally, what is the answer to the question of verse 37: "What shall we do?" What shall we do so that our sins will be forgiven and we can receive the gift of the Holy Spirit?
Verse 38 gives the answer: "Repent, and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ." Let's consider these two things one at a time, first repentance, then baptism in the name of Jesus.
Repent
Repentance is not just regret. They had already been cut to the heart (v. 3). And now Peter says, "Repent!" So repentance is more than feeling sorry. It means following through on that conviction and turning around—changing your mind and your heart so that you are no longer at odds with God but in sync with God. Jesus spoke to Paul in Acts 26:18 about this "turning" that leads to forgiveness and gave Paul his commission with these words, "I send you to open their eyes, that they may turn from darkness to light and from the power of Satan to God, that they may receive forgiveness of sins." There it is. That is repentance: turning from darkness to light and from Satan to God. It is a reversal of the direction of your life—toward God.
That is the first answer to the question, "What shall we do?" Repent.
Be Baptized in the Name of Jesus Christ
The second answer in verse 38 is, "Be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ."
There is a great mistake we want to avoid at this point. Some groups teach that water baptism is not only a proper act of obedience and an expression of faith, but is also part of the essential means by which God forgives sin. Faith is not enough to gain forgiveness. You must be baptized with water before you can be forgiven. What shall we make of that?
Well, verse 38 certainly could mean that when it says, "Repent, and be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins." But it might also mean something like this: "Receive the forgiveness of your sins by repenting and by believing in the name of Jesus Christ, which you signify through baptism." That would mean that the name of Jesus and faith in that name is the essential means of receiving forgiveness, and baptism is the external expression of faith in the name of Jesus.
I conclude from these texts and others as well that the essential means of receiving the forgiveness of sins and receiving the gift of the Holy Spirit is the decisive two-sided spiritual act: repentance and belief in the name of Jesus. Baptism, then, is the outward expression of this repentance and faith. Before he left the earth, Jesus commanded us to make disciples by calling for a public act of faith—an open identification with Jesus in his death and burial and resurrection. And so in the New Testament believing in Christ and being baptized are very closely related. This is the New Testament way to follow Christ: repent, believe, and express that in baptism.
God Is Ready to Forgive You and Give You His Spirit
Now let me close by reminding you of the almost unbelievable good news in this text. It shows us that even if you are a murderer of the Son of God (v. 36), God himself stands ready to forgive you! And not only to forgive you but to give you his Spirit! In other words he is willing to cancel all your debts and then come and live with you, and guide you, and change you, and empower you.
And for this you cannot work. It cannot be earned, or bought. It is a free gift to all who repent—who turn from darkness to light—and call on the name of the Lord.
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