Answers · Baptism & Salvation
What does Acts 2:38 actually say — and to whom?
Acts 2:38 is an answer before it is a text. On the day of Pentecost, the crowd that had just heard Peter preach the risen Jesus asked the plainest question in the Bible: "Men and brethren, what shall we do?" (Acts 2:37). Peter's reply is the verse — the apostolic church's first answer to the convicted sinner, and the foundation the Doctrine page's three new-birth sections all rest on.
"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 (KJV)
"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."
— Acts 2:39 (KJV)
What it says is threefold: repent; be baptized, every one of you, in the name of Jesus Christ, for the remission of sins; and you shall receive the gift of the Holy Ghost. And to whom was it said? In the first instance, to devout Jews in Jerusalem who had crucified their Messiah and knew it. But Peter himself refused to leave the promise in that room: the very next verse extends it to their children, to all who are far off, and to as many as the Lord our God shall call — which is why the church has read it ever since as spoken to every person who asks the crowd's question.