"Thus it is written, that the Christ should suffer and rise again from the dead the third day; and that repentance for forgiveness of sins should be proclaimed in His name to all the nations, beginning from Jerusalem.’" (Luke 24:46-47, Matt 3:1-12)

Jesus made plain that we must repent of our sins to be forgiven, but just repenting of our sins does not gain God’s forgiveness for our sins. If we could be saved through just repenting of our sins, then all people of all religions would be saved. We must repent of our sins in order to receive God’s forgiveness for our sins, but just repenting of our sins alone will not gain God’s forgiveness for our sins. The only way we gain forgiveness for sin’s repented of is when we accept by faith God’s forgiveness for those sins through Jesus’ death and shed blood on the cross alone. Paul and John wrote,

"But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. Much more then, having now been justified by His blood, we shall be saved from the wrath of God through Him." (Romans 5:8-9)

"In Him we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of His grace." (Ephesians 1:7)

"The blood of Jesus His Son cleanses us from all sin." (1 John 1:7)

"To Him who loves us, and released us from our sins by His blood." (Revelation 1:5)

Many times I am told on the field that we are saved through water baptism. They will cite Acts 2:38 and Mark 16:16,

"And Peter said to them, ‘Repent, and let each of you be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins; and you shall receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.’" (Acts 2:38)

"He who has believed and has been baptized shall be saved." (Mark 16:16)

When these passages are taken out of the Bible, it is hard for one to argue with them. By themselves this seems to be exactly what these passages are saying. What is the problem with interpreting these verses at face value? First, Acts 2:38 and Mark 16:16 are not the Bible, they are verses in the Bible. The Bible is Genesis through Revelation. These verses must be interpreted in the light of all that the Bible teaches on the subject. Second, Peter’s own teachings and comments in the rest of the book of Acts do not support the emphasis these people are putting on Acts 2:38. All one has to do is read the rest of the book of Acts to see that Peter does not interpret his statement in Acts 2:38 the way these various religious groups are interpreting it.

In Acts Chapter 10 we read of the first Gentiles converted to Christianity. Peter was a Jew and nothing unclean had ever entered his mouth and he had never polluted himself by entering the house of a Gentile. However, Jesus did not just come to save the Jews as Peter and even at this time the rest of the Apostles had believed, but to save all mankind including the Gentiles. Because of Peter’s incomplete understanding about Jesus’ salvation for men the Lord gave Peter a vision of all the animals of the earth, including the unclean ones they were commanded in the Law of Moses not to eat. When Peter saw the vision the Lord told him to kill and eat. Peter responded by saying to the Lord that nothing unclean had ever entered his mouth. Jesus said in response, "What God has cleansed, no longer consider unholy" (Acts 10:15). This happened three times and then some Gentile men knocked on Peter’s door that were sent from Caesarea by Cornelius, a centurion and Gentile of the Italian cohort. Cornelius sent them to Peter through the instruction of an angel of the Lord to have Peter come and deliver a message to them.

The Holy Spirit told Peter He had sent them to him and that He was to go with them without misgivings. When Peter greeted the men he went with them and when he arrived at Cornelius’s house, he said to him and the others gathered to hear him,

"I most certainly understand now that God is not one to show partiality, but in every nation the man who fears Him and does what is right, is welcome to Him." (Acts 10:34-35)

What do we see demonstrated here? We see that even though Jesus had died, risen from the dead and afterwards had spent forty days with the Apostles teaching them and then they witnessed His ascension, they still did not yet have a full understanding about what their salvation in Jesus was all about, the universal scope of that salvation to all mankind including the Gentiles as well as the Jews, nor how it was to be received and administered. Up until this vision, Peter believed that Jesus’ salvation was only for the Jews, not the Gentiles. The book of Acts is a recording of the beginnings of the church, their growth and the Apostles’ learning experience of all that Jesus’ salvation involved. In Acts Chapter 2, to the best of Peter’s understanding, which was based on John the Baptist’s baptism and instruction, he was explaining to them what they needed to do to be saved, but at this point Peter did not believe this included Gentiles. Now in Acts Chapter 10 Peter learns through the Holy Spirit that Jesus’ salvation includes the Gentiles also.

As Peter was sharing the Gospel with these Gentiles, in Acts 10:43 he made the following statement:

"Of Him all the prophets bear witness that through His name everyone who believes in Him receives forgiveness of sins."

Groups which tell you that you are saved through water baptism will tell you that believing means to be baptized in water. However the sects of the Pentacostal believers who teach this will also tell you that the person is not truly saved until he receives the Holy Spirit and speakes in Tongues. They base this on Romans 8:9: "But if anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, he does not belong to Him." I have had this said to me many times on the field when sharing the Gospel with men.

After Peter made this statement in Acts 10:43, what happened next? Acts 10:44 tells us:

"While Peter was still speaking these words, the Holy Spirit fell upon all those who were listening to the message."

Wait a minute? These groups tell us that a person is saved when baptized in water and that only afterwards can they then have someone lay hands on them to receive the Holy Spirit. Had these Gentiles been baptized yet? No. What had happened? After Peter told them that in order to receive forgiveness for their sins they had to believe on the Gospel, they believed in their hearts the message of the Gospel. When God saw in their hearts their saving faith, he automatically gave them His Holy Spirit as a result. Therefore saving faith is not being baptized in water, but believing on the message of the Gospel which is Jesus’ death and shed blood for our sins. Peter affirms this truth in Acts 11:15-17 and again in Acts 15:8-11,

"And as I began to speak, the Holy Spirit fell upon them, just as He did upon us at the beginning. And I remembered the word of the Lord, how He used to say, ‘John baptized with water, but you shall be baptized with the Holy Spirit.’ If God therefore gave to them the same gift as He gave to us also after believing in the Lord Jesus Christ, who was I that I could stand in God’s way?" (Acts 11:15-17)

"And God, who knows-the-heart¹⁷⁵, bore witness to them, giving them the Holy Spirit, just as He also did to us; and He made no distinction between us and them, cleansing their hearts by faith. . . . But we believe that we are saved through the grace of the Lord Jesus, in the same way as they also are." (Acts 15:8-11)

In these passages Peter reaffirms repeatedly that not only where these Gentiles saved not because they were baptized in water, but because they believed his message of the Gospel, but also makes it plain that he and the rest of the disciples were saved in the same way. How? How were they saved? ". . . after believing in the Lord Jesus Christ. . . . cleansing their hearts by faith." When did Peter baptize them in Water? Note what Peter said in Acts 10:47-48,

"‘Surely no one can refuse the water for these to be baptized who have received the Holy Spirit just as we did, can he?’ And he ordered them to be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ."

It was only when Peter saw the evidence of the saving faith they had that he would then baptize them in water, but not as the means of their salvation, but because of the salvation they already had. How did they receive the Holy Spirit? After they were baptized in water? No, when they believed, God gave them the Holy Spirit automatically as a result, just as it was for Peter and the Apostles. Again, however, not as the means of their salvation, but because of the saving faith they already had. This is in total agreement with what the Apostle Paul teaches in His Epistles. Paul wrote to the Ephesians,

"In Him, you also, after listening to the message of truth, the gospel of your salvation—having also believed, you were sealed in Him with the Holy Spirit of promise, who is given as a pledge of our inheritance, with a view to the redemption of God's own possession, to the praise of His glory." (Ephesians 1:13-14)

Here Paul explains to us the process of salvation:

1. First, the Person must hear the Gospel.

2. Second, the person must believe on the Gospel to be saved.

3. Third, when a person believes on the Gospel with saving faith, as a result of the salvation they already have, God automatically gives and seals them in the Holy Spirit.

Salvation does not come through repenting of our sins, or through water baptism or through receiving the Holy Spirit or through speaking in tongues. Salvation is received through faith and through faith alone. When do we receive water baptism, before or after salvation? After we have believed. How does one receive the Holy Spirit? Automatically as a result of believing on the Gospel. Paul tells us in 2 Timothy 2:19, "Nevertheless, the firm foundation of God stands, having this seal, ‘The Lord knows those who are His.’" Only God knows those who have saving faith in His work of salvation for them through Jesus Christ. When God sees that we have saving faith in our hearts, Paul tells us that He then gives and seals us in His Holy Spirit automatically as a result, but not as the means of our salvation but as a result of the saving faith in our hearts we already have. Paul tells us in Romans 10:9-10,

"That if you confess with your mouth Jesus as Lord, and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you shall be saved; for with the heart man believes, resulting in righteousness, and with the mouth he confesses, resulting in salvation."

Paul tells us here that salvation takes place when a person believes in his heart. This again is in complete harmony with what took place in Acts Chapter 10: Peter shared the Gospel and before they had given verbal confession, they believed the Gospel in their hearts with saving faith. God knowing their hearts gave them immediately His Holy Spirit as a result.