THE-102
Soteriology: The Doctrine of Salvation
The full New Birth pattern of Acts 2:38 — repentance, baptism in Jesus' name, and the infilling of the Holy Ghost.
Topics: Repentance, Water baptism, Holy Ghost
Suggested resource: Your own Acts 2:38 and Blood of Jesus (PZ-103) material as the primary text.
Week 1: Repentance — Turning Toward God
Reading: Acts 2:1–13, 22–37; Luke 13:3; 2 Corinthians 7:9–10; 1 John 1:9
To understand repentance in Acts 2:38, you have to understand exactly what was happening in Acts 2. It was the Day of Pentecost, one of Israel's three required pilgrimage feasts, so Jerusalem was packed with Jewish worshippers and converts from all over the Roman world — Acts 2:5–11 lists more than a dozen nations represented in that crowd. Suddenly the Holy Ghost fell on the 120 disciples gathered in one place with the sound of a rushing mighty wind and what looked like tongues of fire, and they began speaking in other languages as the Spirit gave them utterance — languages the visiting crowd recognized as their own. Some in the crowd were amazed; others mocked and accused the disciples of being drunk.
Peter stood up with the eleven and answered both reactions at once: this was the fulfillment of the prophet Joel's promise to pour out God's Spirit in the last days. He then preached Christ directly to that same crowd — the very people, he told them plainly, who had crucified the Messiah God had raised from the dead and made both Lord and Christ. Acts 2:37 records what happened next: “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?” That is repentance beginning to happen in real time — not a vague guilty feeling, but a crowd of thousands convicted enough by the truth to interrupt the preacher and ask what to do about it.
Peter's answer is Acts 2:38, which you'll study verse by verse next week. But notice first what repentance itself actually is. Jesus Himself warned in Luke 13:3, “except ye repent, ye shall all likewise perish,” and Paul distinguishes real repentance from mere regret in 2 Corinthians 7:10: “godly sorrow worketh repentance to salvation not to be repented of: but the sorrow of the world worketh death.” Repentance is a genuine change of mind that produces a change of direction, not an emotional reaction that fades once the conviction passes. And it isn't only a one-time hurdle before baptism: 1 John 1:9 promises ongoing cleansing for believers who keep confessing sin honestly throughout their Christian life.
Key terms: The Day of Pentecost (the setting), Acts 2:37's conviction, Repentance vs. regret (2 Cor. 7:10), Ongoing confession (1 John 1:9)
Discussion Questions
- Why do you think Luke records the crowd's exact question, 'what shall we do,' rather than just summarizing that they repented?
- What is the difference between feeling bad about something and genuinely repenting of it?
Challenge: Read Acts 2:1–37 in one sitting, without skipping ahead, and write down the sequence of events exactly as Luke tells it — the sound, the tongues, the crowd's reaction, and Peter's sermon — before you study verse 38 itself next week.
Week 2: Baptism in Jesus' Name — Washed in the Blood
Reading: Acts 2:38, 2:41, 8:16, 10:48, 19:5, 22:16; Romans 6:3–4; Colossians 2:11–12; 1 Peter 3:21; Matthew 28:19; Colossians 3:17
Return to the scene from Week 1: Peter is preaching to the Pentecost crowd in Jerusalem, already cut to the heart, having just asked, “what shall we do?” Verse 38 is his direct, Spirit-filled answer to that exact question, and every word of it matters. “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” (Acts 2:38). This is the first instruction ever given on how to enter the New Testament church, and remission of sins is tied explicitly to baptism “in the name of Jesus Christ” — not left as a ritual with no name attached, and not deferred to some later, separate step.
This wasn't a one-time instruction that applied only at Pentecost. Acts 8:16 shows Philip's converts in Samaria, an entire chapter later, “baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus” the same way. Acts 10:48 shows Peter commanding the same baptism for Cornelius's household, the first Gentiles ever saved, proving the pattern wasn't Jewish custom but the standard for every nation. Acts 19:5 shows Paul, decades later in a different city, baptizing disciples at Ephesus “in the name of the Lord Jesus” by the identical formula. And Acts 22:16 records Ananias telling Saul, “arise, and be baptized, and wash away thy sins, calling on the name of the Lord” — directly tying the washing away of sin to calling on that name at the moment of baptism.
This raises the obvious question of Matthew 28:19, where Jesus instructs baptism “in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost.” Notice that every apostle who heard that command from Christ's own mouth then went out and baptized only in Jesus' name, never once reciting “Father, Son, and Holy Ghost” as a spoken formula. The word is “name,” singular, not “names” — the Oneness reading is that Jesus commanded baptism into the one name that Father, Son, and Holy Ghost together describe, and Acts tells us plainly, repeatedly, and without exception what that name is.
Paul's theology explains what's happening beneath the surface of the water: Romans 6:3–4 ties baptism to being “buried with him by baptism into death,” so that “like as Christ was raised up from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life.” Colossians 2:11–12 calls it a spiritual circumcision, “buried with him in baptism,” and 1 Peter 3:21 calls it “the answer of a good conscience toward God” — not the physical washing of dirt from the body, but a genuine transaction with God that the water represents and, by faith, accomplishes.
And what happened when this was actually preached and obeyed? Acts 2:41 gives the result in one sentence: “Then they that gladly received his word were baptized: and the same day there were added unto them about three thousand souls.” Three thousand people, from that same Pentecost crowd, were baptized in the name of Jesus Christ on that single day — not gradually, not after months of instruction, but the same day they heard and believed.
Key terms: Acts 2:38's exact wording, The unbroken pattern (8:16, 10:48, 19:5, 22:16), Matthew 28:19's singular 'name', Acts 2:41's result (3,000 souls)
Discussion Questions
- Why do you think Luke includes the specific number, 'about three thousand souls,' rather than just saying 'many were saved'?
- If you had to explain why 'name' is singular in Matthew 28:19 even though three Godhead titles are named, how would you say it in your own words?
Challenge: Write out Acts 2:38 through 2:41 from memory, in order, including the specific number of souls added that day.
Week 3: The Holy Ghost — Receiving the Promise
Reading: Luke 24:49; Acts 1:4–8, 2:1–4, 2:38–39, 10:44–46, 19:1–6; John 7:37–39
The same Holy Ghost that fell on the 120 disciples in Acts 2:1–4 with “a sound from heaven as of a rushing mighty wind” and “cloven tongues like as of fire” is the identical gift Peter promises to the 3,000 new converts in Acts 2:38–39: “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.” This wasn't a special, one-time experience reserved for the original apostles — Peter explicitly extends it to every future generation and “all that are afar off,” meaning every nation, including yours.
Jesus had promised this before He ascended: “behold, I send the promise of my Father upon you: but tarry ye in the city of Jerusalem, until ye be endued with power from on high” (Luke 24:49), and again in Acts 1:8, “ye shall receive power, after that the Holy Ghost is come upon you.” In every instance in Acts where the text specifies what evidence accompanied receiving the Holy Ghost — the 120 in Acts 2:4, Cornelius's household in Acts 10:44–46, and the Ephesian disciples in Acts 19:6 — that evidence is the same: speaking in other tongues. This isn't incidental detail Luke happened to mention three separate times; it's the consistent, verifiable sign of the same experience happening to different groups of people, in different cities, years apart.
John 7:37–39 explains the purpose behind the gift: Jesus said, “he that believeth on me, as the scripture hath said, out of his belly shall flow rivers of living water,” and John clarifies, “this spake he of the Spirit, which they that believe on him should receive.” The Holy Ghost isn't given to be kept as a private experience — it's given to flow outward through the believer to other people, the same way it flowed outward from 120 people in an upper room until, within one generation, it had reached every nation represented in that Pentecost crowd.
Key terms: Luke 24:49 and Acts 1:8's promise, The consistent evidence of tongues (2:4, 10:46, 19:6), Acts 2:39's extension to 'all that are afar off', John 7:37–39's purpose
Discussion Questions
- Why do you think Peter specifically says the promise is for 'as many as the Lord our God shall call' rather than limiting it to the people physically present that day?
- How does knowing the same evidence repeats three separate times in Acts strengthen the case that this is a consistent pattern rather than a coincidence?
Challenge: Write out the full New Birth pattern from Acts 2, in order and in your own words: what happened to the 120, what Peter preached, what the crowd did in response, and what happened to them as a result — ending with the specific number Luke records.
Course Exam
Five questions for review or self-testing.
Q: What is the difference between godly sorrow and worldly sorrow (2 Cor. 7:9–10)?
Reveal Answer
Godly sorrow produces genuine repentance leading to change; worldly sorrow produces only regret without change.
Q: What does Romans 6 say happens at baptism?
Reveal Answer
The old life is buried with Christ, and the believer rises to walk in newness of life.
Q: Why does the specific name spoken at baptism matter?
Reveal Answer
Because salvation comes through calling on the name of Jesus Christ specifically (Acts 4:12).
Q: What is the biblical evidence of receiving the Holy Ghost, according to the pattern in Acts?
Reveal Answer
Speaking in other tongues.
Q: According to John 7:37–39, what is the purpose of receiving the Holy Ghost?
Reveal Answer
To overflow outward like living water, not to remain a private experience.