The document discusses Peter's message in Acts 2, urging his audience to repent, be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of sins, and receive the Holy Spirit. It emphasizes the necessity of a genuine change of heart and direction in life, especially for those complicit in Jesus' death. Additionally, it outlines the significance of baptism as a public acknowledgment of faith and repentance, detailing its theological implications and historical context.

1. THE FIRST “SERMON”
PART SEVEN – THE NUMBER OF COMPLETION
Acts 2:37-47

2. Acts 2:14 (beginning)
“Men of Judah and
all you residents of Jerusalem,
let me explain this to you and
pay attention to my words…’
Acts 2:36 (conclusion)
“Therefore let
all the house of Israel
know with certainty that…
“God has made this Jesus,
whom you crucified,
both Lord and Messiah!”
LITERARY DEVICE: INCLUSIO

3. BROTHERS, WHAT
SHOULD WE DO?
•Repent
•Be Baptized
•In the name of Jesus Christ (Jesus Messiah) *
•For the forgiveness of your sins
•And the gift of the Holy Spirit *

4. REPENT
• Change your mind and your life
• Turn right about and do it now
• Implies a complete change of heart and confession of
sin
• A change of direction in a person’s life, not just a mental
change of attitude or feeling of remorse

5. REPENT
• Peter believes that without change, his Jewish audience
faced God’s judgment for their sins…
• Not just outsiders of Gentiles need to be saved, but
insiders as well…
• Especially those involved in Jesus’ death.

6. BE BAPTIZED
• Submit to the humiliation of baptism
• Jews regarded baptism as necessary for GENTILE
converts ONLY
• IN THE NAME OF the Messiah they had previously
rejected

7. BE BAPTIZED
“IN THE NAME OF Jesus Christ (Jesus Messiah)”
• “On the basis of the name of”
• “To the account of”
• “With reference to”
• “In the authority of”
“Jesus was probably named
as the baptizing was being done.”
(Witherington, 154)

8. BE BAPTIZED
“For the forgiveness of your sins”
• John the Baptist proclaimed a “baptism of repentance
for the forgiveness of sins” (Mk 1:4, Lk 3:3)
• Jesus preached repentance (Mt 4:17; Mk 1:15)
• Jesus & Disciples baptized (Jn 3:22, 26; 4:1-2)

9. “Forgiveness, pardon, is not an act which takes place
within the soul of the person who is guilty;
it takes place in the mind of the person who
forgives,
and it cannot be known to the person forgiven
except by some medium of communication…

10. When it is God who forgives,
it is an act of the divine mind in reference to
the sinner,
and not a change within the sinner himself.

11. It is an act which from its very nature cannot take
place
until there has already occurred within the sinner
such a change of heart and purpose
as can make it proper in God, even on the ground of
atonement in Christ, to extend pardon.

12. In other words, the whole inward change
which the sinner is required to undergo
must take place before the sin can be
forgiven.”
McGarvey, pp. 44-45

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573. Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 1981.
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