Acts 2:37-41

Effect of the Sermon. A rapid and lively narrative succeeds. The hearers feel the sting of their position, and say (cf. Luke 3:10), What shall we do? Peter's requirements are repentance and baptism, the first being the original requirement of the Gospel (Mark 1:4; Mark 1:15). The reason is still the same, that the Day of the Lord, with which the Kingdom was to open, is at hand. Baptism (pp. 638 f.) is, as in the Gospels, connected with repentance and with a view to the forgiveness of sins. It is to be in the name, or as it should be rendered upon the name, i.e. on the authority of Jesus Christ (Mark 9:39). The formula of baptism does not appear from this passage; but forgiveness of sins was to accompany it, and so was the gift of the Holy Spirit; this is stated in most of the oases in Ac. in which baptism is administered. The promise of Acts 2:39 is that found at the close of the passage from Joel quoted in Acts 2:21; it is addressed to the Jews and to their children, and to these at a distance, which would point to the Gentile mission or to those at a later time. Finally (Acts 2:40), the hearers are urgently warned to separate themselves from the perverse multitude around them and from their fate. That believers are called to this separation is a frequent note in the epistles (Galatians 1:4; 2 Corinthians 6:17), and is implied in the call spoken of in the Gospels.

Acts 2:41. The baptism of so many might have been dwelt on, and some details given, but only the bare fact is stated, and the number is approximate (cf. Acts 1:15, about 120).