Peter's sermon in Acts 2:14-41 offers the initial explanation of the Gospel message and how to become a Christian. The pattern of salvation outlined in Peter's message breaks down into 3 components: (I'm indebted to Pastor Mark Driscoll's book Vintage Church for much of this explanation):
1) Revelation: What God did -- Peter begins by teaching his audience WHO Jesus is. He is the promised and long awaited Messaih Who performed miracles and wonders to affirm His identity (v.22). Jesus is also the Son of God, God Himself in the flesh (vv. 23-25; 32-36). Peter also tells the crowd WHAT Jesus did: He died on the cross to fulfill God's purpose (vv. 23; 32).
2) Response: What We do -- The people listening to Peter asked this question as God's truth gripped their hearts (v.37) and God's Holy Spirit empowered them to respond to the revealed truth. Peter instructs them to "repent" from their sins (vv. 37-38). Repentance is not just admitting our sin but agreeing with God about it and thus changing our minds about who God is and what is important to us. This leads to a change in behavior coming from a change in our values (this does not mean that we will never sin again!) In addition to repentance, the revealed message about Jesus is accepted in faith (v. 41). Faith is simply taking God at His word and trusting our life and eternity to His truth. Baptism is the visible symbol we follow to demonstrate our new connection to Christ by faith and repentance (baptism is not required for salvation but is part of our obedience to Christ. The word "for" in v. 38 literally means "in response to" so it could read "be baptized in response to your forgiveness of sins").
3) Results: What God gives -- (This all happens at once as we respond to God's work for us and in us). Peter says that as a result of faith and repentance, God forgives our sin because of Jesus' sacrificial death (v. 38). This is sometimes called "justification" which is a legal term somewhat equivalent to finding an accused person in a court of law "not guilty". We give Christ our sin which is nailed to the Cross and He gives us His attribute of righteousness = God does not see us as guilty sinners anymore but as righteous sons and daugthers. The second gift God gives is His Holy Spirit (v. 38) which gives us the new heart to live a new life for Christ. This is called "regeneration" where we now gain the ability to actually live a new life as a Christ-follower. The Holy Spirit enables us to have the activity of Christ's righteousness produced in our lives. In other words, when we are saved there will be changes in our lives, our thoughts, and behaviors. Please keep in mind that justification & regeneration are gifts from God that we receive immediately as a result of our faith in Jesus and God's truth. To say "I am a Christian" but then exhibit no change in your life goes against all biblical teaching about what happens when a person actually becomes a Christian (Jesus said that people would be known by the fruit produced in their life. In other words a Christian will bear Christ-like fruit because Christ's Spirit is in them!).
Issues & Problems: Too many people have only emphasized the first gift of forgiveness or justification. As a result many people "settle" for being lowly sinners saved by God's grace which is a half truth. We also receive the Holy Spirit who gives us the ability to keep God's laws not "because we have to" but "because we get to." In other words, following Christ, which we were once opposed to as slaves to sin, is now a delight for us and not a duty or demand.
Additionally, many people have had religous experiences (walked an aisle, prayed a prayer, attended 'confirmation', been baptized, grown up in church, etc.) and they are trusting those acts for their salvation instead of God's work for them. This gives many people a false sense of security based on a tradition as opposed to God's revealed truth. Some even go so far as to say they can live however they want because they are under God's grace and He will just forgive their sins. Clearly, God's Spirit is not in them because God will never sanction a license to sin (Romans 6:1-2; Romans 8:9)
Another question that arises is "Why do I still sin?" or "If I sin, after I become a Christian, am I still a Christian?" The battle with sin will continue until our "glorification" or perfection with Christ in eternity. Why? Because we still have an "old nature" called our flesh and Satan is still at work tempting and deceiving us. These two forces are still active even though they are defeated (a football team behind 30 points late in the 4th quarter can still "score" some points even though they are clearly defeated). The difference for the Christian is that because of God's gift of the Holy Spirit we now have the ability to overcome and win against our sinful urges and Satan's schemes against us. We are free from sin's bondage!!
What are some signs or "fruit" of a true Christian? Here are a few found in Scripture:
- Increasing love for God
- Repentance from sin
- Hunger for God's Word and obedience to it
- Increasing selflessness
- A desire to worship God and live for His glory
- Spiritual growth
- A transformed life
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