Week 1 Day 1-Christ as Savior

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Day 1 -- Christ as Savior (Acts 2:37-39)

³⁷ Now when they heard this, they were pierced to the heart and said to Peter and the rest of the apostles, “Brethren, what shall we do?” ³⁸And Peter said to them, “Repent, and let each of you be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins; and you shall receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. ³⁹For the promise is for you and your children, and for all who are far off, as many as the Lord our God shall call to Himself.”

     Acts 2 records the birthday of the church of Jesus Christ. Prior to the Day of Pentecost which came 50 days after Jesus’ resurrection and ten days after His ascension, everyone was under the Old Covenant or Old Testament. This was a historic day for the world and a fulfillment of Biblical prophecy! In the New Testament, the church of the Lord Jesus Christ is a local body of baptized believers who agree to come together in the faith and fellowship of the gospel.

     Those who were pierced to the heart were the ones who were saved that day. Though they may not have been personally responsible for Jesus crucifixion, they were nonetheless guilty of sin before God. And so are we all! God’s Spirit moved on their hearts to take some sort of action as a result of the salvation God had imparted through the death and resurrection of Christ.

          Verse 38. Notice what Peter’s response is in verse 38.

He called them to:

1.   Repent

2.   Be Baptized

     Neither action was a condition for them to receive the forgiveness of their sins--that forgiveness had already been accomplished fifty days earlier on the cross and demonstrated through the resurrection. The word “for” could easily be translated “because of” the forgiveness of your sins. Peter replied, "Repent and be baptized, every one of you, in the name of Jesus Christ for (because of) the forgiveness of your sins. And you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit."

     They were not being told to be baptized in order to get forgiveness of their sins. They were told to be baptized because of ("for") the forgiveness of their sins. The structure of the sentence makes it clear that Peter’s response was two-fold: Repentance (Faith in Attitude) and Baptism (Faith in Action). This was because of what Christ had done.

     God gives eternal life and you can do nothing to earn or deserve it. The question for all of us to answer today is “Do you know for sure you have eternal life?”

     The Bible says we can be sure we have eternal life. If you do not have that assurance, church membership is irrelevant...you can be a member of every church in town, but if you are not trusting in God alone through His Son Jesus Christ for your salvation, you do not have eternal life.

     

     Some do not have the assurance of eternal life because they are trusting in the wrong things. Good works do not bring salvation but true salvation always brings good works. The question to each of us is “What are we trusting in for our salvation?” Another way of asking that question is “If God were to ask you ‘Why should I let you into My heaven?’ what would you say?”

          Salvation comes as an Action from God--Salvation is entirely dependent upon God -- “as many as the Lord our God shall call to Himself” (Acts 2:39). All of humanity are sinners and we cannot save ourselves (see Rom. 3:23). Salvation comes as a gift from God (see Rom. 6:23), not because we choose Him, but because He chose us (John 15:16) and sent His Son Jesus to die on the cross, taking the death penalty for us (Rom. 5:8). We are saved and receive God’s Spirit by believing (trusting in) the name of Jesus Christ, not ourselves, for our salvation (Eph. 2:8,9). We become children of God not by our own will, but by God (John 1:12-13). The Bible says today is the day for salvation. You cannot be a member of this church without trusting Christ for eternal life.

          Salvation is Assured by God. Linked to the fact that salvation comes because of God is to know that salvation remains because of God. Nothing we do before or after our salvation surprises God. If you are saved today, you will be saved tomorrow, for God knows what will come tomorrow. That is what is called the “eternal security of the believer”, one of the tenets of our faith that we will discuss more on Week 3, Day 5.
  To think that we could lose our salvation would make it appear that God’s knowledge of the future is limited. To be able to lose eternal life would contradict the very definition of “eternal”, would it not? Also to believe you could lose your salvation by some sinful action assumes that you are kept in salvation by your good works. 

          Salvation is Attested by God's Word. Finally, anything other than eternal security of the believer would contradict clear teaching of the Bible which says believers will never come into judgment (John 5:24), that there is no condemnation for those in Christ (Rom. 8:1), and that eternal life is without end (John 3:16). Jesus said nothing can snatch us from His and His Father's hand (John 10:28-29), and that includes our own works.

     In Acts 2, we see salvation was promised not for only a few, but for everyone who calls upon the name of the Lord (v. 21). This miraculous historic day was not limited to a certain time or place or for only a certain few. It was open to all.

1.  For you (those who were there in Jerusalem and hearing the words of Peter.)

2.  For your children (the future generations to come)

3.  For all who are far off (Not just the Jews only but the Gentiles as well, see Eph. 2:11, 13 and Isaiah 57:19. Jesus’ words of ten days prior as recorded in Acts 1:8 were still ringing in Peter’s ears.)

Click here for Week 1, Day 2