Daily Devotions

Acts 2:37-41 37 Now when they heard this, they were pricked in their heart, and said unto Peter and to the rest of the apostles, Men and brethren, what shall we do? 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. 40 And with many other words did he testify and exhort, saying, Save yourselves from this untoward generation.
41 Then they that gladly received his word were baptized: and the same day there were added unto them about three thousand souls.

Upon hearing the Word of God can coming under the convicting power of the Holy Spirit of God the Jews gathered at the Temple on the day of Pentecost cried out “What shall we do?” Peter instructed them to repent and they did. They changed their minds about self, Christ and salvation. No repentance, no salvation and that holds true today. But repentance is not a word we repeat in a prayer, it is a matter of a heart smitten by conviction and then turning to the Lord Jesus Christ. Such a change in heart will bring a change in action and in the desires of the redeemed in Jesus Christ. Those ones were then given opportunity to act on that change. “Be baptized” was the next command given by the Holy Spirit. Remember Peter is preaching what the Spirit of God gave him. Why be baptized? It is an opportunity to act upon repentance. No person needs to be baptized to repent, to be baptized to be saved. But because one has repented of sin and turned to Jesus Christ, because one is saved, they can be baptized. The Jews on that day had been identified with Abraham, Moses and the Law. Baptism would give them identification with Jesus Christ. The lost person today is identified with sin, self, and the world. Baptism gives one an opportunity to be identified with Jesus Christ. Baptism is important my friend, not to be saved, but because one is saved.

This entry was posted on Thursday, February 2nd, 2012 at 6:56 am and is filed under Daily Devotions. You can skip to the end and leave a response.