ACTS CHAPTER 3

[Acts 3:1]:

(v. 1) '''One day Peter and John were going up to the temple at the time of prayer--at three in the afternoon.

(v. 2) Now a man crippled from birth was being carried to the temple gate called Beautiful, where he was put every day to beg from those going into the temple courts.

(v. 3) When he saw Peter and John about to enter, he asked them for money.

(v. 4) Peter looked straight at him, as did John. Then Peter said, "Look at us!"

(v. 5) So the man gave them his attention, expecting to get something from them.

(v. 6) Then Peter said, "Silver or gold I do not have, but what I have I give you. In the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, walk."

(v. 7) Taking him by the right hand, he helped him up, and instantly the man"s feet and ankles became strong.

(v. 8) He jumped to his feet and began to walk. Then he went with them into the temple courts, walking and jumping, and praising God.

(v. 9) When all the people saw him walking and praising God,

(v. 10) they recognized him as the same man who used to sit begging at the temple gate called Beautiful, and they were filled with wonder and amazement at what had happened to him.

(v. 11) While the beggar held on to Peter and John, all the people were astonished and came running to them in the place called Solomon"s Colonnade.

(v. 12) When Peter saw this, he said to them: "Men of Israel, why does this surprise you? Why do you stare at us as if by our own power or godliness we had made this man walk?

(v. 13) The God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, the God of our fathers, has glorified his servant Jesus. You handed him over to be killed, and you disowned him before Pilate, though he had decided to let him go.

(v. 14) You disowned the Holy and Righteous One and asked that a murderer be released to you.

(v. 15) You killed the author of life, but God raised him from the dead. We are witnesses of this.

(v. 16) By faith in the name of Jesus, this man whom you see and know was made strong. It is Jesus' name and the faith that comes through him that has given this complete healing to him, as you can all see.

(v. 17) "Now, brothers, I know that you acted in ignorance, as did your leaders.

["brothers" = "Men of Israel" = Israelites, (v. 12)]

(v. 18) But this is how God fulfilled what he had foretold through all the prophets, saying that his Christ would suffer.

(v. 19) Repent, then, and turn to God, so that your sins may be wiped out, that times of refreshing may come from the Lord."

*************NOTES FROM ACTS2V38******************

B) REPENT = METANOEO MEANS TO CHANGE THE MIND - THE CONTEXT STIPULATING WHAT ONE CHANGES ONES MIND FROM AND TO

Repent = "metanoeo" comes from the combination of the Greek words meta meaning 'after', implying change and the Greek word noeo meaning the mind, the understanding = literally, 'after thought', i.e., rethinking, thus a change of mind. The implication here is that when you have an 'after thought' you have a change of mind. The sphere of this word is therefore limited to within the mind. Other kinds and spheres of activity are not in view.

[Vine's Expository Dictionary of Old and New Testament Words, W.E. Vine, Revell Publishing, Old Tappan, New Jersey, 1981, pp. 279-280), states]:

"metanoeo... lit. to perceive afterwards (meta, after, implying change, noeo, to perceive; [comes from the Greek noun] nous, the mind, the seat of moral reflection), in contrast to pronoeo, to perceive beforehand, hence signifies to change one's mind or purpose..."

C) REPENT = METANOEO IN GOD'S WORD IS A CHANGE FROM DISBELIEF TO BELIEF IN WHAT IS TAUGHT FROM GOD'S WORD

The words "repentance" and "repent" in God's Word are translated from the Greek words "metanoia", (noun); "metanoeO", (verb) respectively which refer to a turn about, a deliberate change of mind resulting in a change of direction in thought. When one believes a fact relative to God's revealed Word, one turns from doubt or unbelief to faith in that revealed truth.

1) [Compare 2 Tim 2:24-25]:

(v. 24) "And the Lord's servant must not quarrel; instead, he must be kind to everyone, able to teach, not resentful.

(v. 25) Those who oppose him he must gently instruct, in the hope that God will grant them repentance [metanoian] leading them to a knowledge of the truth."

Notice that Paul indicates that a servant of the Lord, a pastor/teacher is to gently instruct in the Word of God, (v. 4:2), those who oppose him in the hope that God will grant them repentance, i.e., a change of mind which leads to a knowledge, i.e., an acceptance, belief in the truth of God's Word being taught. So repentance = metanoian here is not a feeling of regret, or an action of some kind, but simply a change of mind from opposing, i.e., rejecting or disbelieving truths from God's Word to a knowledge and acceptance of them, i.e., belief in them. From disbelief to belief.

[J. . Dwight Pentecost states, ('Things Which Become SOUND DOCTRINE, Fleming H. Revell Co., Westwood, N.J., 1965, pp. 62-63)]:

"Now, in laying down the qualifications for the servant of the Lord, the Apostle emphasizes that the Lord's servant must have the ability to teach. That, of course, which he teaches - according to II Timothy 4:2 - is the Word of God. As the servant of God teaches the Word of God, the truth of the Word of God will be brought home by the Spirit to the mind of the hearer, and the hearer will change his mind because of the truth that has been presented. This change of mind, in respect to a revealed truth from the Word of God, is called in II Timothy 2:25 'repentance.' "

D) REPENTANCE FOR THE FORGIVENESS OF SINS IS A TURNING - A CHANGE OF MIND FROM NOT BELIEVING TO BELIEVING ALONE IN CHRIST ALONE

In order to repent, i.e., turn to Christ alone for forgiveness of sins...which means that you believe that He alone can and will forgive you ...you must turn from your rejection of Him - from the belief that your sins are something you yourself can and will deal with in your own way and not God's way. So instead of rejecting faith alone in Christ alone you turn to faith placed in Him alone as Savior - that is God's way of dealing with your sins. That is what the Bible defines as 'repentance for the forgiveness of sins':

1) [Compare Acts 19:4]:

"Paul said, 'John's baptism was a baptism of repentance. He told the people to believe in the One coming after him, that is, Jesus.' "

"repentance" = "metanoias" = a change of the mind from not believing to believing "in the One coming after him, that is, Jesus."

Since John's baptism was a baptism that signified an individual's repentance,

and since the message of John to people was to believe in Jesus Christ as Messiah/Savior thereupon he was water baptized,

then repentance here = "metanoias" = believing in Christ as Messiah/Savior.

E) JOHN THE BAPTIST SPOKE ONLY TO ISRAEL TO REPENT/BELIEVE IN THE COMING MESSIAH IN ORDER TO ENTER THE ETERNAL KINGDOM. WHEN ALL ISRAEL BELIEVES THE ETERNAL KINGDOM IS TO BEGIN

John the Baptist "prepare[d] the way for the Lord [making] straight paths for Him", (Mt 3:3; Isa 40:3) by declaring "the Kingdom of God is near", (Mt 3:2), i.e., that the Messiah is coming now to bring His Kingdom into the world when all of Israel believes in Him. John further declared Who Jesus is:"Behold the Lamb of God Who takes away the sins of the world", (Jn 1:29), i.e., as testified to in Old Testament Scripture, (Isa 53:4-5); declaring "one must believe in Jesus", (Acts 19:4), being that Lamb of God Who takes away the sins of the world, i.e., "Repent [= believe in Christ as Messiah].. for the forgiveness of sins", (Acts 19:4; Mk 1:4) to gain entrance into this eternal Kingdom. Then John commanded those who believed in Jesus to demonstrate this change to faith in Him by a "baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins", (Acts 19:4; Mk 1:4).

Notice that baptism and washings in general were perceived by Israelites as symbolic immersions and washings and not acts which provided actual results of what they represented. This would be consistent with what the Old Testament Scripture teaches, []

So when an Israelite underwent John's baptism of repentance/belief in Jesus, what was in view was immersion into water as a symbol of ones actual identification with ones Messiah and His eternal kingdom when he believed in Jesus.

2) [Compare Jn 1:29-31]:

(v. 29) '''The next day John saw Jesus coming toward him and said, "Look, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world!

(v. 30) This is the one I meant when I said, 'A Man Who comes after me has surpassed me because He was before me.' "

(v. 31) I myself did not know him, but the reason I came baptizing with water [=a baptism of repentance meaning to believe in Christ as Messiah, (Mk 1:4; Acts 19:4)] was that he might be revealed to Israel [so that all Israelites might believe in Him unto the kingdom of heaven and when all Israel believes, the Kingdom would begin]." '''

3) [Compare Acts 13:23-24]:

(v. 23) " 'From the offspring of this man [David, (v. 22)] according to promise God has brought to Israel a Savior, Jesus,

(v. 24) after John had proclaimed before His coming a baptism of repentance to all the people of Israel."

This corporate repentance of national Israel and individual water baptism is nothing new, for John the Baptist preached this as did our Lord Who came after John.

4) [Compare Mt 3:1-8]:

(v. 1) '''In those days John the Baptist came, preaching in the Desert of Judea

(v. 2) and saying, "Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is near."

["near" = "eggiken gap " = lit., 'has drawn near'

" eggiken" = to cause to approach, to be near, to be at hand

"gap" = a causal particle 'for' which introduces a reason, (which is that the Kingdom of God is potentially at hand), for the thing previously said, (which is that Israel must therefore repent in order to bring it in) = 'Israel repent, trust in the coming Messiah and all that the Scriptures relate about Him, for then the Kingdom of God will be caused to approach and enter into history, (i.e., a corporate trusting in Him by national Israel will result in eternal life in the Kingdom and that Kingdom will then commence on earth when the entire Israel nation accepts Jesus Christ as Messiah and Savior).']

(v. 3) This is he [John] who was spoken of through the prophet Isaiah: "A voice of one calling in the desert, 'Prepare the way for the Lord, make straight paths for him.' ", (Ref., Isa 40:3)

(v. 4) John's clothes were made of camel's hair, and he had a leather belt around his waist. His food was locusts and wild honey.

(v. 5) People [from Israel, (Jn 1:31)] went out to him from Jerusalem and all Judea and the whole region of the Jordan.

(v. 6) Confessing their sins, they were baptized by him in the Jordan River.

[Once an Israelite trusted in Christ as Messiah/Savior unto the kingdom of heaven which was declared as near in conjunction with the Messiah's arrival as the Lamb of God Who takes away the sins of the world, that Israelite believer thereupon confessed his sins,(Pr 28:13; 1 Jn 1:9), and was water baptized by John in the Jordan River. This water baptism was declared as a baptism of repentance, symbolic of changing one’s mind from not believing to faith alone in Christ alone as Messiah/Savior, (Acts 19:4) and under John and our Lord before the cross was as an identification of national Israel with our Lord and His Kingdom which was to be ushered in had all Israel accepted Him as Messiah]

(v. 7) But when he saw many of the Pharisees and Sadducees coming to where he was baptizing, he said to them: "You brood of vipers! Who warned you to flee from the coming wrath?

(v. 8) Produce fruit in keeping with repentance."

Notice that producing fruit and repentance are two different things. One repents, i.e., believes in the Messiah Jesus Christ for forgiveness of sins so as to gain entrance into the kingdom of heaven and after that one is to produce fruit, i.e., godly behavior.

So the command is to produce fruit, i.e., change the behavior in keeping with the change of mind = repentance from unbelief to belief. If repentance were the same as producing fruit then this verse would make no sense: "produce fruit in keeping with producing fruit???

So John's message of repentance was limited to the people of Israel and it was related to the coming of their Messiah Jesus Christ in Whom he exhorted Israel to repent/believe in Him as "The Lamb of God Who takes away the sins of the world" unto the forgiveness of sins. Upon the nation Israel accepting her Messiah/Savior, the Kingdom would commence on earth. But Israel inevitably rejected and crucified Him so the ushering in of the Kingdom of God was postponed as prophesied in Scripture until after the Church was fully formed, the Tribulation proceeds and our Lord comes again in His Second Coming. Nevertheless, the offer remains open throughout this Church Age, but it will finally be fulfilled at the moment of our Lord's Second Coming as a result of God's enablement and Israel's subsequent volition:

5) [Compare Zec 12:1-13:4]:

(v. 1) "This is the word of the LORD concerning Israel. The LORD, who stretches out the heavens, who lays the foundation of the earth, and who forms the spirit of man within him, declares:

(v. 2) 'I am going to make Jerusalem a cup that sends all the surrounding peoples reeling. Judah will be besieged as well as Jerusalem.

(v. 3) On that day, when all the nations of the earth are gathered against her, I will make Jerusalem an immovable rock for all the nations. All who try to move it will injure themselves.

[Notice that this has not happened in history yet - nor any of the events as described in the foregoing verses. But it is prophesied as occuring at the end of the Tribulation period when the age of the Mosaic Law will commence again [] and end when our Lord comes in His Second Coming]:

(v. 4) On that day I will strike every horse with panic and its rider with madness,' declares the LORD. 'I will keep a watchful eye over the house of Judah, but I will blind all the horses of the nations.

(v. 5) Then the leaders of Judah will say in their hearts, 'The people of Jerusalem are strong, because the LORD Almighty is their God.'

(v. 6) On that day I will make the leaders of Judah like a firepot in a woodpile, like a flaming torch among sheaves. They will consume right and left all the surrounding peoples, but Jerusalem will remain intact in her place.

(v. 7) The LORD will save the dwellings of Judah first, so that the honor of the house of David and of Jerusalem's inhabitants may not be greater than that of Judah.

(v. 8) On that day the LORD will shield those who live in Jerusalem, so that the feeblest among them will be like David, and the house of David will be like God, like the Angel of the LORD going before them.

(v. 9) On that day I will set out to destroy all the nations that attack Jerusalem.

(v. 10) And I will pour out on the house of David and the inhabitants of Jerusalem a spirit of grace and supplication. They will look on me, the one they have pierced, and they will mourn for him as one mourns for an only child, and grieve bitterly for him as one grieves for a firstborn son.

[Notice that all Israel will have the spirit of grace and supplication poured out on them by God and they will recognize finally and nationally their Savior Whom they pierced and this is ‘That Day’ of the Lord’s Second Coming]

(v. 11) On that day the weeping in Jerusalem will be great, like the weeping of Hadad Rimmon in the plain of Megiddo.

(v. 12) The land will mourn, each clan by itself, with their wives by themselves: the clan of the house of David and their wives, the clan of the house of Nathan and their wives,

(v. 13) the clan of the house of Levi and their wives, the clan of Shimei and their wives,

(v. 14) and all the rest of the clans and their wives.

(v. 13:1) On that day a fountain will be opened to the house of David and the inhabitants of Jerusalem, to cleanse them from sin and impurity.

(v. 13:2) On that day, I will banish the names of the idols from the land, and they will be remembered no more,' declares the LORD Almighty. 'I will remove both the prophets and the spirit of impurity from the land.

(v. 13:3) And if anyone still prophesies, his father and mother, to whom he was born, will say to him, 'You must die, because you have told lies in the LORD"s name.' When he prophesies, his own parents will stab him.

(v. 13:4) On that day every prophet will be ashamed of his prophetic vision. He will not put on a prophet's garment of hair in order to deceive.

(v. 13:5) He will say, 'I am not a prophet. I am a farmer; the land has been my livelihood since my youth.'

(v. 13:6) If someone asks him, 'What are these wounds on your body?' he will answer, 'The wounds I was given at the house of my friends.'"

V cont.) [Acts 2:37-39 cont.]:

(v. 37) "When the people heard this, they were cut to the heart and said to Peter and the other apostles, 'Brothers, what shall we do?'

(v. 38) Peter replied, 'Repent [plural] and let each one of you be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ, [singular = after being forgiven and Holy Spirit received], for the forgiveness of your sins [plural]. And you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit [plural].'

(v. 39) The promise is for you and your children and for all who are far off--for all whom the Lord our God will call."

F) PETER SPOKE TO ISRAELITES BUT INCLUDED GENTILES AND TOLD THEM TO REPENT/BELIEVE IN THE MESSIAH WHO HAD ALREADY COME IN ORDER TO RECEIVE FORGIVENESS OF SINS AND THE HOLY SPIRIT - POINTING TO THE CHURCH

And now the Apostle Peter, (referring to Acts chapter 2), in addressing the people of Israel en masse, speaks directly to their rejection and crucifixion of Jesus of Nazareth, (Acts 2:23, 36), their Lord and their Messiah, (v. 36). But he included Gentiles in his message, (v. 39), which points to the Church and not Israel. Upon repenting/believing one was not only forgiven of one's sins, but one also received the gift of the Holy Spirit. On the other hand the commencement of the Kingdom was not in view in Peter's message.

Many of the Jews acknowledged the validity of Peter's references from Old Testament Scripture being fulfilled in Jesus Christ - their Lord and Messiah, (v. 36), i.e., they believed in Him and were thus added to the growing number of the Church, (41, 47b). These references established Christ's diety, (Ps 110:1 quoted by Peter in vv. 34-35) and the truth of His resurrection from the dead, (Ps 16:8-11 quoted by Peter in vv 25-28), which proved His Diety and Messiahship to them. Thus a large number of them responded by faith in Christ as Messiah and Savior which they understood provided for them eternal life in the kingdom:

1) [Compare Acts 2:38-39, 41, 44, 47b]:

(v. 38) "Peter replied, 'Repent and be baptized, every one of you, in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins. And you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.

(v. 39) The promise is for you and your children and for all who are far off--for all whom the Lord our God will call.' "

(v. 41) "So then, those who had received his [Peter's] word [i.e., believed in Christ as Messiah/Savior, see v. 44 below, cf. John 1:12]were baptized; and there were added [to the number of those being saved unto eternal life] that day about three thousand souls."

(v. 44) "And all those who had believed were together, and had all things in common"

(v. 47b) "And the Lord added to their number daily those who were being saved."

G) REPENT IN ACTS 2:39 = BELIEVE THAT JESUS IS BOTH LORD AND CHRIST FOR FORGIVENESS OF SINS AND THE GIFT OF THE HOLY SPIRIT AND LET EACH ONE BE BAPTIZED TO DEMONSTRATE THIS SYMBOLICALLY

Peter exhorts his audience of fellow Jews, (v. 14, 22, 29, 36, 37), to repent = "metanoEsate" = 2nd person plural aorist imperative = a command to change their minds from not believing to believing in Jesus Christ as both Lord and Christ in order to receive forgiveness of their sins [plural] and the gift of the Holy Spirit [plural]. And Peter says, 'let each one of you be water baptized' [singular] which would follow this reception of forgiveness and reception of the Holy Spirit and be a symbolic representation of that event.

Note that Peter's audience was indeed largely Jewish and would have understood that water baptism was symbolic of something for the washings and baptisms in the Old Testament Scriptures were largely ceremonial, i.e., symbolic. Just as the Jews viewed John's water baptism as symbolic of their faith in the coming Messiah and His Kingdom as part of national Israel, in the same way, the water baptism commanded by Peter would be viewed as symbolic of their faith in the Messiah Who had come - but this time the message of the Kingdom was not in view, the message of the Church was.

The word which is translated "Repent", ("metanoesate"), is plural and therefore goes with the plural phrase

"eis .aphesin ......ton hamartion hymon

"for forgiveness the sins ............your [plural]

Then the phrase which is translated 'let each one of you be baptized', inserted in the middle would follow this repentance in time being in the singular:

"Baptistheto .ekastos .....umon"

"Be baptized each one ...of you" =

"ekastos ...umon" =

"each one of you" =

"ekastos" = nom. singular masc. adj. = "each one"

So the phrase "Baptistheto ekastos umon" = "let each one of you commence to be baptized" stands out as a singular one. It is a parenthetical statement - an action which is to be taken after the fact of receiving forgiveness of sins and the gift of the Spirit.

[Compare what Dr. Stanley D. Toussaint states in the Bible Knowledge Commentary, (New Testament edition, John F. Walvoord and Roy B. Zuck editors, Victor Books, U.S.A., 1988, p.359)]:

"...The clause 'and be baptized, every one of you, in the name of Jesus Christ' [is] parenthetical [= a digression from the subject of the verse which is salvation]....

(a) The verb [be baptized] makes a distinction between singular and plural verbs and nouns. The verb "repent" is plural and so is the pronoun "your" in the clause "so that your sins may be forgiven" (lit., "unto the remission of your sins," "eis aphesin ton hamartion hymon"). Therefore the verb "repent" must go with the purpose of forgiveness of sins. On the other hand the imperative "be baptized" is singular, setting it off from the rest of the sentence.

(b) This concept fits with Peter's proclamation in Acts 10:43 in which the same expression "sins may be forgiven" ("aphesin hamartion") occurs. There it is granted on the basis of faith alone.

(c) In Luke 24:47 and Acts 5:31 the same writer, Luke, indicates that repentance [i.e., faith] results in remission of sins.........

....The problem with [the adverse] interpretation [that water baptism contributes towards remission of sins] is that elsewhere in Scripture forgiveness of sins is based on faith alone (John 3:16, 36; Rom. 4:1-17; 11:6; Gal. 3:8-9; Eph. 2:8-9; etc.). Furthermore Peter, the same speaker, later promised forgiveness of sins on the basis of faith alone (Acts 5:31; 10:43; 13:38; 26:18)."

1) [Compare Acts 3:17-19]:

(v. 17) "Now, brothers, [Peter is referring to fellow Jews] I know that you acted in ignorance, as did your leaders.

(v. 18) But this is how God fulfilled what he had foretold through all the prophets, saying that His Christ would suffer.

(v. 19) Repent, then, and turn to God, so that your sins may be wiped out, that times of refreshing may come from the Lord."

"Repent" = "metanoEsate" = change your mind about Jesus Christ being the Messiah/Savior, i.e., trust in His name, (Acts 10:43), "so that your sins may be wiped out."

Notice that water baptism is not included here indicating that it is not essential in order to have 'your sins wiped out'

This corporate repentance and individual water baptism is nothing new, for John the Baptist preached this as did our Lord Who came after John:

2) [Compare Acts 13:23-24]:

(v. 23) " 'From the offspring of this man [David, (v. 22)] according to promise God has brought to Israel a Savior, Jesus,

(v. 24) after John had proclaimed before His coming a baptism of repentance to all the people of Israel."

This corporate repentance of the nation Israel resulting in trusting in the coming Messiah Jesus Christ as Savior would then bring in the Kingdom had all Israel accepted her Messiah before He was crucified, (cp Mt 3:1-3, 11).

So the word which is translated "repent" in Acts 3:19 and Acts 2:38 = "metanoesate", the imperative form of the Greek verb "metanoeo", and the noun which is translated "repentance" = "metanoian" in Mt 3:11, are derived from the Greek word "metanoias". Both words mean a turn about, a deliberate change of mind resulting in a change of direction in thought, literally, to perceive afterwards.

Scripture teaches that this kind of repentance is to turn to God relative to dealing with ones sins such that one now seeks for God to remedy the situation through faith alone in Jesus Christ alone instead of whatever other way one was dealing with them.

Furthermore, compare Acts 2:44 which indicates that the key point of Acts 2:38 is believing in the gospel of salvation and not confession of the guilt of crucifying our Lord:

3) [Acts 2:44]:

(v. 44) "And all those who had believed were together, and had all things in common"

Bob Wilkin states, (Cassette #510 entitled 'The Unhindered Gospel' by the Grace Evangelical Society, Irving, Tx.):

"When you come... to verse 44 it says, 'Now all those who believed were together." [mentioning belief and not confession] It doesn't say, 'Now all those who turned from their sins...' It says all those who believed. So... [in ] Acts 2:38... [the] reference to 'repent' means change your mind about Christ, and that's a synonym for faith - that's a synonym for believing Him..."

Peter's command to repent follows his sermon to the Jews on Who Jesus Christ is and that the Jews crucified Him in their unbelief. It does not have a change of behavior or a feeling of remorse in view but a change of belief in Who He is. Men should behave better no matter Who the Messiah is.

H) REPENT FOR THE FORGIVENESS OF SINS AND THE GIFT OF THE HOLY SPIRIT IN ACTS 2:38 APPLIES TO JEW AND GENTILE - THE WHOLE WORLD

And after all of this we have forgiveness of sins via repent/believing in Jesus not only for the Jew but also for the Gentile, i.e., the whole world:

1) [Acts 2:39]:

"The promise is for you and your children and for all who are far off [i.e., Gentiles, i.e. all mankind]--for all whom the Lord our God will call."

a) [Compare Eph 2:13, 17, 19]:

(v. 13) "But now in Christ Jesus you who once were far away have been brought near through the blood of Christ."

(v. 17) He came and preached peace to you who were far away and peace to those who were near."

(v. 19) "Consequently, you are no longer foreigners and aliens, but fellow citizens with God's people and members of God's household."