What must I do to be saved?
Acts 2:38-41
38 Then Peter said to them, “Repent, and let every one of you be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins; and you shall receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. 39 For the promise is to you and to your children, and to all who are afar off, as many as the Lord our God will call." 40 And with many other words he testified and exhorted them, saying, "Be saved from this perverse generation." 41 Then those who gladly received his word were baptized; and that day about three thousand souls were added to them. NKJV
For the promise is to you and to your children, and to all who are afar off, as many as the Lord our God will call."
In continuation from our last study we discussed the necessity of our death. We must first die (spiritually) to our way of thinking and reasoning (Rom.7:25; Rom.8:7; Eph.4:17, 23), our sinful habits (Eph. 4:22; Col. 3:8), and our old self (Col. 3:9; Lk. 14:26). We do this by agreeing with God’s law; that it has condemned us and crucified us. If Jesus had to be condemned in our place, then we too must die with Him at Mt. Sinai (Prov. 9:10; Heb. 12:22), if we are to see Him crucified, in our place, upon the mercy seat of Mt. Zion (Prov.14:27; Heb. 12:24). We, too, must die and see ourselves condemned under the laws demands before we can receive the news of His resurrection. We must be put on our face to cry out, “Lord, have mercy on me a sinner” (Lk.18:13). We must allow the Lord to shine the brightness of His Light into the abyss and darkness of our heart to expose its corruption and decay. We must be put to death before we can be brought to life. For God circumcises our (spiritually dead) heart, cutting off what is lifeless, and puts in a new heart that is responsive to love God and is in agreement with God’s law. When God does this, He allows us to feel the weight and the all-consuming fire (Acts 7:30) of the law’s demands to cause us to look to Christ for mercy and life. Israel cried out, “Why should we die?” (Gen. 47:19; Dt. 5:25); but we must cry out, “Why must I do to be saved?” (Acts 2:37; 16:30). Peter called them to repent and be baptized (v.38). This command was in response to the law’s work in their heart that caused them to cry out, “What shall we do?”
For the promise is to you and to your children, . . .
We also briefly studied the gift of the Holy Spirit. It is important to note that what the ‘devout Jews’ witnessed did not immediately fall upon them, even though, some repented. What was given at Pentecost to the Apostles was not salvation but the Spirit’s power for the great commission; upon which, they were all waiting, as Christ commanded. Peter tells these ‘devout Jews’ that when they ‘repent’ what they witnessed will come upon them also, that is, power to be Christ’s witnesses. That is the contextual term in regards to the Holy Spirit, because they were already ‘God fearers’.
Therefore when Peter states, “For the promise is to you and to your children, . . .”, it is a reference to the perpetual promise that God already gave the children of Israel, that as an elect nation, they will never be forsaken(Ex.12:24). ("The secret things belong to the Lord our God, but those things which are revealed belong to us and to our children forever, that we may do all the words of this law. Deut 29:29 NKJV). But it was never intended to mean that the promise comes to the whole household (Rom. 9:7; Heb. 11:18). Peter clarifies this when he states, “. . . and to all who are afar off, as many as the Lord our God will call.”
Then those who gladly received his word were baptized; . . .
Only those who ‘received’ Peter’s word were baptized. Not all the ‘devout Jews’ gladly received his word. Therefore not every household or everyone in the household was baptized or saved. The promise was and is still a genuine offer to everyone, but God has not made it effectual upon all; therefore, our need for God’s work of regeneration. Water baptism is a symbol of the death, burial, and resurrection of Christ and the Holy Spirit’s immersion into the heart of the believer. Therefore, this should be an outward sign or testimony of the Spirit applying the work of the gospel in a believer. The believer exercises this by faith in obedience to the Lord’s command to repent and be baptized in His Name.
Therefore this should not be administered until both the elders and the believer has labored to understand the witness of the Holy Spirit or regeneration has been made effectual. We see this in Acts 11:15: (And as I began to speak, the Holy Spirit fell upon them, as upon us at the beginning. NKJV) The only reason Cornelius’ whole household was baptized is because the whole house received the Holy Spirit. Also there is no way of proving Cornelius has children in his house being a Roman soldier, but we can say he had slaves and soldiers: (And when the angel who spoke to him had departed, Cornelius called two of his household servants and a devout soldier from among those who waited on him continually. Acts 10:7 NKJV). We also can conclude that his whole household already “feared God” (Acts 10:2) “Covenanters” want to argue that because the whole household was baptized proves we should baptize our children to be obedient to the covenant. But that is poor exegesis and is simply imposing thoughts or tradition into the text. Also, if there were children baptized they would have shown signs of receiving the Holy Spirit, but how can we know if an infant has received the witness of Holy Spirit? This is when the secret things belong to God, but the things revealed belong to us and our children. (Rom.8:19) In other words, let’s stick to what has been revealed.
The jailer who cried out for salvation was also promised salvation to his whole family (Acts 16:31). But Paul spoke the word to them all indicating that all had ears to hear (Then they spoke the word of the Lord to him and to all who were in his house. Acts 16:32-33NKJV) Having ears to hear the word they also all had the power to believe. (Now when he had brought them into his house, he set food before them; and he rejoiced, having believed in God with his entire household. Acts 16:34 NKJV)
Covenanters also use Lydia’s household as an example, but a careful understanding should eliminate any confusion. First we need to pay attention to the statement “her household”. This shows that there was no man to lead the house, therefore, she was either a widow or single. In fact this raises more questions than it answers, therefore, we should leave it at what we know -nothing. Therefore there is no reason to ‘assume’ children were in the household without a male head. It is also important to note that once again the Lord opened Lydia’s heart to hear the words of Paul, therefore, regeneration came before hearing, and hearing leads to baptism.
14 How then shall they call on Him in whom they have not believed? And how shall they believe in Him of whom they have not heard? And how shall they hear without a preacher?
17 So then faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of God. Rom 10:14-15,17 NKJV
Therefore water baptism is an outward sign of the inward witness of the Holy Spirit. Why then would we, in practice, apply this to infants; especially, when we have no evidence or proof of this practice in Scripture? But what we do have is the promise that if we, as parents, are obedient to the principles of raising children in the fear and admonition of the Lord (Eph.6:4) they will not depart from it when they are older (Pr.22:6). What we need to do as parents is “wait upon the Lord”, as the Apostles in the upper room, until the promise comes (Ps.27:14; 130:5; Isa. 30:18). To refuse to wait on the Lord is to show favoritism and bring judgment upon your house for putting other gods before Him. The Holy Spirit reserves the sovereign right to bless whom He wills.
Rom 9:8-15
8 That is, those who are the children of the flesh, these are not the children of God; but the children of the promise are counted as the seed. 9 For this is the word of promise: "At this time I will come and Sarah shall have a son."
10 And not only this, but when Rebecca also had conceived by one man, even by our father Isaac 11 (for the children not yet being born, nor having done any good or evil, that the purpose of God according to election might stand, not of works but of Him who calls), 12 it was said to her, "The older shall serve the younger." 13 As it is written, "Jacob I have loved, but Esau I have hated."
14 What shall we say then? Is there unrighteousness with God? Certainly not! 15 For He says to Moses, "I will have mercy on whomever I will have mercy, and I will have compassion on whomever I will have compassion." NKJV
