What Shall We Do?
Pentecost (Feast of Weeks, Deuteronomy 16:9-10) was one of the important feasts of the Jews. Jesus had been crucified for the sins of the world. Jews had gathered to celebrate Pentecost in Jerusalem. At this time, the apostles were gathered together in one place. Jesus has been crucified, resurrected and ascended to the Father in Heaven.
On this day, Peter and the apostles have received the Holy Spirit and are able to speak in languages they had never before spoken to communicate with the people. Hearing them, the people think that they are drunk. Peter informs them they are not drunk, but this is the fulfillment of what the prophets spoke concerning the Messiah.
Peter preached that Jesus was the fulfillment of this, and that they had taken the Messiah and put Him to death. We read of this in the book of Acts, chapter two. In verses 36-38, “‘Therefore let all the house of Israel know for certain that God has made Him both Lord and Christ—this Jesus whom you crucified.’ 37 Now 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?’ 38 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.’” (NASB)
The people were convicted of the words that Peter spoke. They even asked, “What shall we do?” They have put the Lord to death and are guilty. They believe what is spoken and are so convicted they want to make amends. It was verse 38 that Peter told them what to do to be saved. First, they were to repent. Repentance is always an important part of our salvation because without it nothing else we do is important. We cannot continue to live in the sinful way that we have been living and expect God to save us. There must be a change in our lives. That is what repentance is, a change that begins with the heart and then is seen in the things we do after that.
Secondly, they were told to be baptized. (Read verse 38 again). This baptism was a burial in water, and the purpose was for the forgiveness of sins. Baptism carried the same force as repentance did. They were to “repent and be baptized.” And when this happened, they would be forgiven and receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.
In Acts 2:41 we read, “So then, those who had received his word were baptized; and that day there were added about three thousand souls.” These were added to the church (Acts 2:47). When we go back to the Bible and see what these first believers did, we can do the same and know that we have salvation from our sins. What a wonderful loving and forgiving God we have. Let’s make sure we are doing things as the Bible teaches.