Experiences led by Peter

What Shall We Do?

There was a day when sinners were pierced to the heart by the message of the Church and they cried out to the pastors present:

‘Brethren, what shall we do?’ (Acts 2:37)

Those days are not gone. People still go to churches and cry out to find out what they need to do. But the response of pastors—is it the same as it was in the beginning? Do pastors preach the same message?

No, they don't.

Nowadays you get lots of messages from lots of churches—and they will all be different! You can hear a message of prosperity in most churches. That message, the "prosperity gospel," has become very popular these days.

Also, you can go to a church that invests a lot of its time and energy on healing. They're normally the same ones that preach prosperity. When the gift of faith is used, I'm sure that some people are healed in those congregations, but fraud has been uncovered too.

You can also go to a church with a message of revival. They might call their program "church growth" or evangelism—but if it's leading people to the “prayer of faith” through an altar call, are you in the right place? Are they true?

Some churches will emphasize foreign missions. They're always talking about the Great Commission. That’s their big emphasis, but what message are they supporting when they patronize their missions? What are their missionaries preaching, exactly?

You can go to a church that specializes in deliverance too. You can bring a family member or friend there to get delivered from a demon. On a regular basis some churches perform exorcisms during their services.

Maybe you yourself need deliverance from demons. A church that does deliverances might be the church you need right now. You're free to go there. Jesus dedicated a lot of his ministry to casting out demons. Nothing wrong with it.

Less Daring Options

If you’re less daring, and you have little kids, you can find a church whose message is conservative values, family life, and community-building. That’s a common reason for people to go to churches, and it’s what attracts a lot of people to a local Catholic or even a Mormon church.

Then the problems come. The problem with the Catholic church is it can be really boring. The problem with the Mormon church for many of those family-focused people is that the Mormons require that their members to go door to door and preach.

The commitment to walk around a neighborhood and go door to door to preach is scary for a lot of people—especially introverts. Many people are introverted and they want to stay introverted. They’re not looking to overcome their shyness! Of course, if someone wants to overcome shyness, then joining the Mormons is an attractive solution.

Other churches will teach theologies like the ones Martin Luther or John Calvin gave us—Lutheranism and Calvinism. Most people who like theology will throw in a little bit of Augustine of Hippo and pepper it with some Jonathan Edwards while they’re at it. These kinds of Christian enjoy getting their teachings in a box—Happy Meal style. They like the teachings to be predictable and well-packaged with a clearly identifiable human source.

Their big problem: The do not seek the Holy Spirit to guide them.

They would never admit it, but these lovers of theology are no different from the Jehovah’s Witnesses. Yes, the JWs also seek one identifiable human source for all their theology. But the difference is that the JW’s teachings come to your doorstep with colorful illustrations—making them much more interesting than the dusty old books of Augustine, Luther, or Calvin.

The JWs will read the Watchtower Magazine or Awake, and feel no need to look any further. That’s the effect of theology on a human soul—theology kills it. That’s what happens when the interpretations of man override the inspiration of the Holy Spirit—it produces soulless robots.

The Uncorrupted Gospel

So, we’ve just reviewed some things you'll find as you go church hopping, but where can you find the pure uncorrupted Gospel? Where is the original message the Apostles preached? Is there a church out there that preaches the authentic Gospel, one which has not smothered it over with centuries of tradition, or sugar-coated it with psychology, or corrupted it with political slogans?

Where can you hear the Good News of the Kingdom? Where can you find the Church’s official initial declaration? Well, it won’t be easy to find; but it’s still available. It’s still within reach.

Look no further than Acts chapter 2. The message of the Church is in your Bible. And if you read Acts 2, you’ll read what was preached on the very birthday of the Church, Pentecost. On that day, God issued the Gospel to the World through his people. The Church’s message of salvation was proclaimed by a man named Peter—and it’s the message people need to hear today—not any of the ones we just listed.

Original Instructions

Are you ready to hear Peter’s Gospel? Are you ready to hear the message with which the man Christ handpicked to lead the Church, announced at its inception? Below are the instructions for salvation which Peter delivered on the day of Pentecost:

Now when they heard this [that God made Jesus Lord and Christ], they were pierced to the heart, and said to Peter and the rest of the apostles, ‘Brethren, what shall we do?’

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.

For the Promise [that’s the Holy Spirit] is for you and your children, and for all who are far off, as many as the Lord our God shall call to Himself.’

And with many other words he solemnly testified and kept on exhorting them, saying: ‘Be saved from this perverse generation!’ So then, those who had received his word were baptized; and there were added that day about three thousand souls (Acts 2:37-41; NASB).

A fantastic text. A magnificent passage. But do not close your eyes to the fact that, after having been asked the question ‘What shall we do?’ Peter didn’t answer: “Do? No, no. That would be a works-based religion.”

Although that’s what you hear many preachers say these days, because they’re on a crusade against the Truth, Peter didn’t say it. Although many preachers want to make people in their churches imagine they’re saved, and do not demand action, works still matter.

Peter didn’t say “Do? You don’t have to do anything. Just believe!” On the contrary, Peter told his hearers that they needed to do something very specific. He told them that they needed to get baptized!

Not Sola Fide

Pentecost would have been the perfect opportunity for God to establish Martin Luther’s doctrine of sola fide (salvation by faith alone) in the Church--that is, if God thought like Martin Luther. But God does not think like Martin Luther. The words sola fide are not even on God’s lips. You won’t find them in the Bible.

Did Martin Luther found the Christian Church? No. In 1517 he ignited the Protestant Reformation. He made an admirable effort to rid the Catholic Church of 95 of its errors. One of those 95 was the error of “indulgences.”

The man whose actions ignited Luther’s reformation was a Dominican monk named Johann Tetzel. That man had a famous ministry of selling indulgences. Tetzel traveled around Germany offering naïve Catholics the opportunity to get their family members out of Purgatory. Tetzel promised to those who would give enough money that the Vatican would transmit a special grace called an “indulgence”—and that such grace (a pardon for sins) would get souls into Heaven.

Luther drew Germans out of the ashes of Catholicism, but don't think that God drew the Church out of the same ashes. The Church was not born of Catholicism (as many think, tracing it from Catholicism, to Protestantism, to Evangelicalism, to Pentecostalism). No.

God brought the Church forth from Judaism. History is not what you might think. The Church was not born from a Medieval Catholic religion. It was born of the Ancient Jewish religion. God begat the Church from pure religion, not from corrupt religion. So the history of the Church is like this: from the faith of Abraham, to Judaism, to Christianity, to Pentecostalism, to Christianity again.

The Rock

Speaking of pure, simple religion—let’s get back to Peter. Now Peter was a Jewish fisherman from Galilee, and God anointed him—yes, him—to establish the Church. God inspired a simple man through the Holy Spirit. That inspiration would make Peter the "stone" upon which Jesus would build the Church.

Jesus told Peter that he would build the Church upon Peter. In other words, Jesus would put the Church on Peter’s shoulders. Peter means rock or boulder, and Jesus gave that name to Peter while he was still called Simon. The name change happened in the following conversation, one in which Jesus says:

‘… who do you say that I am?’

And Simon Peter answered and said, ‘You are the Christ, the Son of the Living God!’

And Jesus answered and said to him, ‘Blessed are you, Simon son of Jonah… I also say to you that you are Peter [Greek Petros = rock or stone], and on this rock [Greek petra = cliff or crag] I will build my Church’ (Matthew 16:14-18; LEB).

Don't let anyone make a big deal about these two words our Lord used. The difference between Petros and petra is minimal--even insignificant--like the difference between a cliff and the stone building sculpted on top of it. They're actually one and the same.

You could say that a building like the ones at Petra in Jordan are Petros coming out of Petra--and that means that they're all the same rock. In other words--and this is what almost everybody misses when they point out the two words Jesus used--Jesus wasn't making a contrast. He was making a comparison. Our Lord Jesus was using synonyms, not antonyms.

Peter preached on Pentecost, just 50 days after Christ’s resurrection. On that very day, Christ started to build his Church, and he built it upon Peter, as promised. So, Peter became the rock, even the cliff that Jesus said he would become. Jesus built his Church upon Peter—that is, upon Peter’s leadership.

So, the big question is not whether there is any difference between the two words Petros and Petra, but rather: "What does it mean for Peter to lead?" That's the question!

And we can pinpoint it. We can put our finger very precisely on the meaning of Peter’s leadership. His leadership is best understood through the authoritative message God gave him that day. On that day the Church was born from the words Peter spoke.

Be Baptized… Be Saved

Jesus began to build his Church upon Peter’s message, and you’ll notice that the message is a call to action! Concluding his message, Peter presented baptism as a requirement for eternal life. According to "the Rock," salvation is through baptism. Peter’s monumental command was: ‘Repent, and… be baptized.’ Those are the two things his hearers needed to do.

Three thousand people responded to Peter’s words by submitting to baptism. And the Church, which only consisted of 120 people that morning, held people accountable to the words of Peter. How so? Well, only those 3,000 individuals who were baptized were added to the Church—and they were only added after they were baptized. Their intention to be baptized wasn’t what mattered, it was their action that mattered.

In other words, none of the original 120 members of the Christian fellowship counted any of the 3,000 people as believers until they were baptized. Only after they were baptized were those 3,000 souls incorporated into the fellowship.

You’re not part of the Church until you’re baptized. You’re not forgiven of your sins until you’re baptized. Your sins are not yet on Jesus, they’re still on you, weighing down your conscience--until you’re baptized.

Again, let’s remember the main text and the events of Pentecost. Here's what the Bible tells us, that the people who heard Peter's message responded by saying:

‘What should we do, men and brothers?’

And Peter said to them, ‘Repent and be baptized, each 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… he solemnly urged and exhorted them, saying, ‘Be saved from this crooked generation!’

So those who accepted his message were baptized, and on that day about three thousand souls were added (Acts 2:37-42; LEB).

Take note that salvation was Peter’s command. Peter said: ‘Be saved from this perverse generation!’ So, he told them to be saved. It was an order. English grammar calls that an imperative command.

You hear Evangelical Christians talk all the time about how they “got saved.” Well, Peter ordered the crowds on that day to ‘… be saved’ so the response of the people is representative of what it takes to get saved.

What It Takes to Get Saved

So, what does it take to “get saved” according to the model of models and the example of examples? The reaction to Peter’s command of ‘be saved’ of the first tranche of Christian converts in history was immediate baptism. It says it Acts 2 that: ‘… those who had received his word were baptized.’ 

So, we know that the connection between salvation and baptism is lock tight. The salvation experience and the baptism experience are one—they are fused together. An unbreakable bond was established that first Pentecost—has the Evangelical church now in this current generation broken it?

What should baptism as part of salvation mean to you?

Well, it should mean that if you find a church that evangelizes properly and follows the original model by doing what Peter did, then you should stay there. Support them as they baptize people. Observe what they do and then can you declare you have seen people “get saved.”

An Exercise

And especially, start with yourself. Do this exercise: When you talk about your own salvation, don’t forget to point to your baptism. For example, if you say, “I got saved in 2014,” don’t forget to add “when I was baptized in the Shawnee River and God washed my sins away.”

Don’t deny baptism’s role in salvation. If you do, you’re denying a foundational doctrine of Christianity—baptism in water is one of the seven fundamental doctrines. In addition, it’s a basic Christian experience. So, testify to yours, and help others make it their testimony!

When Paul expressed his testimony, he told the story of how Ananias said to him:

… what are you waiting for? Get up, be baptized and wash your sins away, calling on his name (Acts 22:16).

And so, Paul was forgiven. He was saved. And he went on to become the greatest apostle. But when was he saved? Only after he had been baptized.