And Peter said to them, Repent, and be baptised, each one of you, in the name of Jesus Christ, for remission of sins, and ye will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.
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The Setting
Acts 2:38 is Peter's answer to thousands of Jews "pricked in their heart" by his Pentecost sermon, having just realized they had crucified their own Messiah. The verse reads, "Repent, and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins, and ye shall receive the gift of the Holy Ghost" — a charge whose unusual order has long called for careful reading.
Why Repentance Is Pressed First
The crowd's guilt was unique: they had publicly rejected and murdered the One sent to them. The first demand therefore is not faith in the abstract, but a deep moral turning.
W. W. FeredayWhat a position for the Jewish nation! convicted of the deepest enmity against God, of utter blindness as to the scriptures, of the betrayal and murder of their Messiah... Why is repentance pressed rather than faith? And why must baptism precede remission of sins and the gift of the Spirit?... These proud Jews stood convicted of the rejection and murder of Messiah. God would have this deeply felt (therefore repentance is pressed), and would have them submit to baptism in the name of the One they had despised before blessing could be theirs.
This order is not the standard Christian pattern; it is exceptional, fitted to Israel's national crime against Christ.
Why Baptism Precedes Remission Here
Baptism for these Jews was the public reversal of their public cry, "Crucify him." It cut the convert away from the doomed nation.
W. T. P. WolstonIf you are really repentant, you will own your guilt, and, in as public a manner declare your repentance, by being baptized in the Name of Jesus Christ, as you publicly, and all together joined in the cry, "Away with him — away with him — crucify him, crucify him." The truth of their repentance would be manifested by their action.
Leslie M. GrantFirst they are to repent, which refers specifically to their previous treatment of their own Messiah; then to be baptized, publicly reversing their previous public rejection of Him. This was important as regards Jews. Gentiles were not told to first be baptized before receiving the Spirit of God (Ch.10:44-48)... Being baptized to the name of the Lord Jesus, Jews would have their glaring public sins remitted publicly.
The same act that confessed Christ also severed the believer from a nation under judgment:
F. B. HoleThe Jews as a nation were like a foundering ship, and to be baptized was to formally cut one's last link with them which meant salvation from their national doom. Hence Peter's words in Acts 2:40. "Save yourselves from this untoward generation."
Repentance Does Not Exclude Faith
Peter's order has been misused to teach that baptism somehow precedes faith. That reading is firmly rejected:
William KellyNow I distinctly affirm that this is thoroughly bad doctrine, a falsification of God's word, a delusion and a snare for souls... Does he not see that the repentance on which Peter insisted before baptism implies faith?... The reasoning is wholly fallacious, for faith is supposed throughout as it is indeed inseparable from repentance.
Remission of Sins as the First Blessing
For souls genuinely reached, forgiveness was the opening gift of the new order:
Morrish Bible DictionaryHence in Acts 2:38, to those who were reached in conscience by the testimony of Peter, remission of sins was presented as the first characteristic blessing which became theirs, by taking upon them Christ's name.
The Gift of the Holy Ghost
The promised Spirit is given on the ground of Christ's accomplished and glorified work — He is the seal that follows remission, not the reward of human effort:
J. A. TrenchNow the knowledge of salvation is conveyed by the remission of sins, as we know from Luke 1:77. For when God speaks of remission, it is not the thing true in His heart of us before we knew it, but of forgiveness positively conferred on us... Pricked in their hearts they ask what they must do. "Then Peter said unto them, Repent and be baptised every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins, and ye shall receive the Holy Ghost."
"The Promise Is to You, and to Your Children"
Peter immediately widens the scope, reaching beyond the moment to the household and to the distant Gentile call:
W. T. P. Wolston"For the promise is to you, and to your children." Thank God for that! It is not only on myself, but on my family, that God has His eye. "The promise is to you, and to your children, and to all that are afar off, even as many as the Lord our God shall call."
Summary
- Exceptional order. The sequence "repent — be baptized — receive remission and the Spirit" is peculiar to Jews guilty of crucifying their Messiah; it is not the usual Christian pattern, as Acts 10 with the Gentiles shows.
- Public reversal. Baptism here publicly undid their public cry "Crucify him" and dissociated the believer from a nation under coming judgment.
- Repentance implies faith. Peter is not setting baptism before faith; faith is inseparable from the very repentance he demands.
- Remission first, then the Spirit. Forgiveness is the opening blessing of the new order; the Holy Spirit is given on the ground of Christ's finished and glorified work.
- The promise reaches outward. It is "to you, and to your children, and to all that are afar off" — covering household and Gentile alike, all whom the Lord calls.