Preface
I want to preface this next post with these words so as not to appear harsh toward people that do not yet understand the truth. We have nothing but compassion for those who believe in Jesus but have not yet come to the knowledge of the truth. They have experienced His grace and truth in a measure, which we pray will increase to its powerful and brilliant fullness (Proverbs 4:18). We also understand that, usually, pride is at the root of resistance to the truth. Perhaps more than any other corruption, pride is at the heart of man’s sinful nature (Proverbs 13:10), which must be surrendered to Christ. This post addresses natural resistance to Acts 2:38. It is based on years of observation. Spiritual resistance to the truth is an evil on a much higher level and is not being addressed here (1John 4:6).
We sincerely want to help fulfill God’s desire to see all people be biblically saved and come to the knowledge of the truth (1Timothy 2:4), believing there are still some Nicodemuses, Corneliuses, Apolloses, and Ephesian believers who will accept Acts 2:38 prior to the soon return of the Lord (John 3; Acts 10,18,19). We love souls and we hurt for them who have been misled, as Jesus described in His parable of the wheat and the tares (Matthew 13). Our constant presentation of Acts 2:38 is not to win an argument but to win a precious soul for whom Jesus died.
The grace of God
Acts 2:38 is the grace of God. Listen to the fulness of its grace when spoken by Peter to them he accused earlier in his message on the Day of Pentecost to be the crucifiers of Christ. Under conviction by the Holy Ghost, they asked, “Men and brothers, what shall we do?” Notice what he replied:
38 Then Peter said unto them, 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.
39 For the promise is unto you, and to your children, and to all that are afar off, even as many as the LORD our God shall call.
It provides complete remission of sins and the regenerating power of the Holy Ghost.
It is the plan of salvation for the Church age and the only salvation doctrine position that can be proven by Scripture. Nothing in the entire Bible denies it (Proverbs 21:30); everything supports it. It alone saves souls because it is that to which Jesus pointed when He said, “You must be born again” (John 3:3-5) and, later, when He said, “If you continue in My Word, you shall know the truth and the truth shall make you free” (John 8:31-32). The Christian era began on day one with three thousand people being saved by it (Acts 2:38-42). It still saves today and will continue to save until the trumpet sounds because Peter declared that it is the sole means of salvation to which God would call all souls (v.39).
The person today who does not, in reasonable time, accept Acts 2:38, which offers him the greatest possible grace, is exalted in heart and mind against the knowledge of God and needs to be humbled to obey Christ (2Corinthians 10:5).
He is proud and will not humble himself to receive the greatest salvation ever offered a human being, the same salvation Jesus gave His Own Mother and siblings. The resisting person is on the same level as the proud Pharisees and lawyers who refused John’s baptism, as easy as it was, and, thus, rejected the counsel of God against themselves (Luke 7:28-30). Pride and self-exaltation cannot see any reason to heed the voice and will of God. The prayer, “Not my will, but Thine be done”, has never crossed their minds.
Proud people see themselves as above Acts 2:38, though Christ authored it in His Great Commission and many in the early years of Christianity gave their lives for it. They view those who have received it, the truly noble of the world, as beneath themselves as well. Their pride towers over and looks down on them as simple and contemptible.
They are embarrassed of Acts 2:38 and ashamed to embrace it, which makes them truly ashamed of the Gospel. To submit to it would require the greatest act of humility they have ever faced. It would amount to abdicating their own throne and bowing before the throne of Christ (Philippians 2:10). It would elevate Acts 2:38 from being contemptible in their eyes to viewing it as the great salvation for which God gave His Own blood (Acts 20:28). It would elevate themselves as well, which humility is promised in the Word to do.
It would fill them with the greatest peace they have ever known and re-make them from the inside out (2Corinthians 5:17; Romans 8:29). Their view of Christ would be revolutionized as they behold Him in new light. And they would be sure of their future inheritance in a much more real way since they would have received its earnest, which Scripture presents as the guarantee of its fulfillment (Ephesians 1:13-14).