Hear the Gospel
The apostle Paul describes where faith begins in Romans 10:17 – “faith comes from hearing, and hearing by the word of Christ.”
Paul defines the Gospel of Jesus, or the “word of Christ” in a simple way in I Corinthians 15:1-4:
Now I make known to you, brethren, the Gospel which I preached to you, which also you received, in which also you stand, by which also you are saved, if you hold fast the word which I preached to you, unless you believed in vain. For I delivered to you as of first importance what I also received, that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, and that He was buried, and that He was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures.
So when Peter preached the first Gospel sermon, the Scripture reads, “Now when they heard this, they were pierced to the heart.”
Believe the Gospel
Jesus said, (Mark 16:15‑16) “Go into all the world and preach the gospel to all creation. He who has believed and has been baptized shall be saved; but he who has disbelieved shall be condemned.”
Repent of personal sin
Peter preached Christ crucified, (Acts 2:37‑38) and “when they heard this, they were pierced to the heart, and said to Peter and the rest of the apostles, “Brethren, what shall we do?” Peter said to them, “Repent, and each of you be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins; and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.”
Confess our faith that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of the Living God
The Apostle Paul writes that we must confess in Romans 10:9‑11 – that if you confess with your mouth Jesus as Lord, and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved; for with the heart a person believes, resulting in righteousness, and with the mouth he confesses, resulting in salvation. For the Scripture says, “WHOEVER BELIEVES IN HIM WILL NOT BE DISAPPOINTED.”
Immersion in water for the forgiveness of sins and the gift of the Holy Spirit
The New Testament was written in the common Greek language of the first century. The word used to describe all baptisms in the book of Acts means to dip, to plunge or to immerse. The apostle Paul pictures immersion for the reader in Romans 6:4 – Therefore we have been buried with Him through baptism into death, so that as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, so we too might walk in newness of life. Notice in the text that one dies, is buried, and raised as one is lowered, and then raised back up out of the water.
When Peter ends his Gospel sermon in Acts 2:38, he gives us two purposes for our baptism. “Repent, and each of you be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins; and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.“
For the forgiveness of sins
The apostle Peter would later connect baptism and salvation very clearly in I Peter 3:18‑21 – For Christ also died for sins once for all, the just for the unjust, so that He might bring us to God, having been put to death in the flesh, but made alive in the spirit; in which also He went and made proclamation to the spirits now in prison, who once were disobedient, when the patience of God kept waiting in the days of Noah, during the construction of the ark, in which a few, that is, eight persons, were brought safely through the water. Corresponding to that, baptism now saves you–not the removal of dirt from the flesh, but an appeal to God for a good conscience–through the resurrection of Jesus Christ.
In Acts 22:16, Ananias would tell Saul of Tarsus, “Now why do you delay? Get up and be baptized, and wash away your sins, calling on His name.”
The gift of the Holy Spirit
When Jesus spoke to Nicodemus in John 3:3-5, He would connect baptism with the Holy Spirit. Jesus answered and said to him, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born again he cannot see the kingdom of God.” Nicodemus said to Him, “How can a man be born when he is old? He cannot enter a second time into his mother’s womb and be born, can he?” Jesus answered, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born of water and the Spirit he cannot enter into the kingdom of God.“
In the Acts 2:38 passage, Peter said, “Repent and be baptized (water), 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 (spirit).” Notice: the gift of the Spirit comes after baptism, not before (in the Bible). This doesn’t mean that God’s Spirit is not working in a person before being baptized, but a person is not declared (according to God’s Word) saved until he/she is baptized and receives the Gift of the Holy Spirit.
There are two seemingly exceptions to this rule in the Book of Acts. One is on the Day of Pentecost when the Spirit came upon the Apostles in Jerusalem and the second was the outpouring of God’s Spirit on the Gentiles in Acts 10: 45-48. Each of these two incidents were at the inauguration of the church; one the Jewish church and the other the Gentile church. (Please read the Acts 10 passage which tells us why it happened that way.) They still were not saved until they were baptized into the death of Christ and were raised to walk in newness of life. (Romans 6).
One of the greatest fallacies perpetrated upon sincere seekers of God, is the modern day ‘salvation by prayer’. The “teacher” offers a simple prayer which is repeated by the “seeker”, asking Jesus to come into his/her heart. There is no authority for this in the Word of God. The idea comes from Revelation 3:20, which reads, Behold, I stand at the door and knock; if anyone hears My voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and will dine with him, and he with Me. If you check the context of that passage, you will find that Jesus is standing outside the door of the Laodicean church. They had grown lukewarm in their faith and Jesus wants to come back into the church. It is not intended to be a passage dealing with the salvation of the non-believer.
CONVERSIONS AS FOUND IN THE BOOK OF ACTS
| CONVERSION | HEAR | BELIEVE | REPENT | CONFESS | BAPTIZED |
| 3000 on Pentecost | 2:6, 37 | 2:37, 41 | 2:38 | 2:28, 41 | |
| 2000 Solomon’s Porch | 3:12; 4:4 | 4:4 | 3:19 | (3:19) (4:4) | |
| Samaritans | 8:6 | 8:12 | 8:12 | ||
| Ethiopian Eunuch | 8:35 | 8:37 | 8:37 | 8:38-39 | |
| Saul (Paul) | 22:10-15 (9:6) | 22:10-15 26:15-19 | (9:9) | 9:18; 22:16 | |
| Cornelius | 10:34, 44 | (10:2, 43) | (10:2; 11:18) | 10:47-48 | |
| Lydia | 16:14 | (16:14) | 16:15 |