The book of Acts is the sequel to the Gospel accounts (esp. the Gospel of Luke, Luke being the writer of both books). The Gospels in general give witness to the life, work, death, burial, and resurrection of the Lord, in anticipation of Christ’s coming kingdom (see Mt. 16:18-19; Mk. 9:1).
In the book of Acts the apostles take up the mission of Christ, as they are led by the Holy Spirit which had been promised to them by the Lord (see Jn. 14:26-27; 16:13; Acts 1:4-8). In Peter’s first sermon, in Acts 2, he is guided to use the OT Scriptures to prove to the Jews that Jesus was indeed who He claimed to be, the promised Messiah, who would sit on David’s throne and would be resurrected from the dead.
A large number of the Jews assembled on that day were convinced of Peter’s inspired message that the Jesus whom they crucified was indeed “both Lord and Christ” (v. 36). The word is not specifically mentioned here, but they certainly “believed” the words of Peter concerning Christ. Not only were they “cut to the heart” (v. 37), but they responded by asking, “Brothers, what shall we do?” (v. 37). It should be noted that they already believed at this point, but Peter proceeds to tell them that there was something they needed to do beyond believing in Jesus. They needed to repent and be baptized for the remission of their sins (v. 38).
The point of this lesson is to have an accurate understanding of belief in the book of Acts. Let’s notice some of the occurrences of this concept especially within the first eight chapters of the book.
ACTS 2
Continuing his sermon in Acts 2, Peter says in verse 40-41, “Save yourselves from this crooked generation,” and then Luke states: “So those who received his word were baptized, and there were added that day about three thousand souls.” What does it mean that they received his word? Of course, it means they believed his message about Jesus and took it to heart. Doing so, they responded by being baptized. Additionally, in verse 44 the text says, “And all who believed were together and had all things in common.” Note that though they are only said to have “believed” here, we also know that they repented of their sin and they were baptized. Frequently a form of the word believe is used to represent one’s complete response to the Lord.
ACTS 4
Skipping to 4:4 the text says, “But many of those who had heard the word believed, and the number of the men came to about five thousand” (also see 4:32). Would it be right to now assume that though Peter, as he was guided by the Holy Spirit, told these Jews that they were only to believe (though in chapter 2 he told them they needed to repent and be baptized for the remission of their sins) that faith only is sufficient? Does Peter need to detail the whole conversion account with each and every conversion? Or, can we be expected to trust that the Holy Spirit guided Peter to teach the same Gospel to all people everywhere?
Perhaps often overlooked is the difficulty of the Jews in the first century in overcoming unbelief. If they were convinced of Jesus’ identity, it wasn’t problematic to convince them to do what He said to do, to be baptized (see Mk. 16:15-16; Mt. 28:18-19).
ACTS 5
In Acts 5 we find that the apostles were performing many miraculous signs, which created belief in their word (and belief in Christ). Verse 14 then says, “And more than ever believers were added to the Lord, multitudes of both men and women.” From what we know of other passages, who do the Scriptures say the Lord added to the church? Those who were baptized (see Acts 2:38-41, 47; Gal. 3:27; Rom. 6:3-4; 1 Cor. 12:13).
ACTS 6
In Acts 6:7 Luke uses a different term regarding the conversion of many Jews and priests. He says there “the disciples multiplied greatly in Jerusalem, and a great many of the priests became obedient to the faith.” Note here that nothing is said of them believing. Obviously they did, but here, instead of stating they believed, the text says they “became obedient to the faith.” This clearly shows that there was something beyond believing in Jesus that was involved. They had to do something. They had to obey the faith. What did they do? Though not specifically stated here, we can know that they repented of their sins and were baptized. Otherwise we have a terrible inconsistency in teaching on the most important question known to mankind.
Let’s conclude by noting two examples from Acts 8. First we have the account of Philip preaching the good news about Christ and His kingdom. Verse 12 says of the Samaritans, “when they believed… they were baptized.” Connect this concept also with verse 14 which tells of the apostles finding out that “Samaria had received the word of God.” How did they receive the word of God? By believing and being baptized.
ACTS 8
Also in chapter 8 is the account of Philip teaching the Ethiopian “the good news about Jesus” (v. 35). The Ethiopian, fully believing the message about Christ, says, “See, here is water! What prevents me from being baptized?” (v. 36). Convinced of his belief, Philip had the chariot stopped and the believer was baptized.
We could continue on with Saul in chapter 9 and go onward from there, but what we have noted surely indicates that while belief in Jesus as the Messiah of the OT is critical, other actions are required to receive the forgiveness of sins. This conclusion is in perfect harmony with the “Great Commission” where Jesus says, “Go into all the world and proclaim the gospel to the whole creation. Whoever believes and is baptized will be saved, but whoever does not believe will be condemned” (Mk. 16:15-16).
Daren Schroeder
