What Does It Mean To Be A Christian? - Acts 2:37-42

We will begin reading in Acts chapter 2, and

Acts 2 · chapter mention

we'll read through verses 37 through verse 42,

starting in verse 37 of Acts chapter 2. Now,

Acts 2 · chapter mention

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? 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.

For the promise is for you and your children

and for all who are far off, as many as the Lord

our God will 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 received his word were baptized.

And that day there were added about 3 ,000 souls.

They were continually devoting themselves to

the apostles' teaching and to fellowship. and

to the breaking of bread and to prayer. Let's

pray. Father, I come before you. Lord, this morning

I ask for your help, that your Holy Spirit would

strengthen me and undergird me to proclaim this

message from your word and what your word teaches

us. Father, I ask and I pray that you would make

the people receptive of your truth, that you'd

be honored and glorified by our response. And

by our thoughts and by our considerations, Father,

use us for your kingdom and for your glory. And

let your word have its way in our hearts. In

Jesus' name I pray, amen. So have you ever considered

or asked yourself, what does it truly mean to

be a Christian? What does it mean, and not just

in name or title or by label, But what does it

really, truly, substantially, actually mean to

be a Christian? Today, we're going to look at

that question and we're going to answer that

question of what does it mean to be a Christian

according to the book of Acts. This is an important

question, isn't it? This is a vital question

to be able to understand and to grasp. You know,

one thing I've recognized in doing Evangelism

in Albion is this amazing reality that almost

everybody's a Christian. Nearly everybody's a

Christian. You know, there's a lot of people

who are Christians because they claim the title

or because they were raised in church. But do

they actually really understand, grasp, and know

what does it mean to be? A Christian in reality,

according to what the Word of God teaches us

about what it means to be a Christian. It's a

very important question to talk about and to

consider and to prayerfully meditate upon in

our own lives. So the context of our message

today follows Peter's great... We remember last

week he gave this amazing presentation of the

gospel about the life, the death, the sufferings,

and the resurrection of Christ Jesus. And he's

been explaining this truth to these thousands

of hearers. And they're listening, they're hearing

what he's saying. And so our message today is

their response to the gospel. Their response

to the message and the person of the Lord Jesus

Christ. So many people, as they look and they

analyze this text, they believe that actually

the people cut Peter off in the middle of his

sermon. That they were so struck to their core.

That they were cut so deep and so sharp in their

hearts. that they cut him off and they said,

what must we do, brethren? What must we do? At

this time, when the crowds, when the thousands

of people are hearing the message of the gospel,

at this time, those crowds are non -Christians.

They are not in Christ. They are in Adam. They

are condemned under the law. They are not in

Christ. They are not Christian. born -again,

genuine believers in Jesus Christ. So they need

to become Christians. They need to understand

in their own life, in their own experience, what

it means to be a Christian. So today as we approach

this text, the first thing I want to look at

are Jesus' words or Peter's word, repent. And

this we'll refer to as conversion. So the first

thing we have to understand and we have to grasp

in regards to what it means to be a Christian

is that the manifestation of faith and repentance.

You must be converted to be a Christian. You

must manifest faith. and repentance in your life

if you are to be a Christian. So first, we'll

start with repentance. Peter says, repent. This

word repent, it means simply to change one's

mind. That's a simple definition. But it's much

more than simply changing your mind. One definition

says it like this. A heart, a heartfelt sorrow,

for sin. A renouncing of sin and a genuine commitment

to forsake sin and walk in obedience to Christ

and his commands. We've heard this word repentance

thrown around in the Christian world. You've

heard it said by and by preachers. You've heard

it from the pulpit dozens of times. But what

does it actually mean to repent of sin in your

life? Louis Burkhoff, an amazing theologian,

says that repentance involves three things. And

this helps me in my understanding of what repentance

is. He says that repentance involves these three

things. The intellect, the emotion, and the...

the volition or our will. So it involves our

intellect in that we have to understand and we

have to use our minds and we have to grasp and

we have to view ourselves and sin and God a certain

way. There is no genuine and authentic repentance

unless you realize that you are a sinful, corrupt

human being who has sin that they need to repent

of. Repentance requires that we understand who

and what we are by nature and what sin is. But

also it involves our emotions in that it's not

just an intellectual understanding. It's not

just our mind grasping knowledge and information,

but it's emotional in that there is mourning

and there is grief and there is sorrow in our

hearts because of sin. It's not just that we've

been caught or we're busted or we're sorry that

we're going to be punished for sin, but it's

the reality there is sorrow and grief in the

depths of our soul because we are sinful people

and we have sinned and transgressed a holy and

a righteous God. It's not the consequence, but

it's sin itself that grieves us. Sin becomes...

Ugly. It becomes ugly to us. And when I was working

on this, when I was preparing and praying through

this, I think this is very, very applicable to

the lives of children and to the lives of young

people. Young people and children. It's not okay

just to be sorry before God. You have to turn.

away from sin. And sin has to become ugly in

your sight, in your perspective, in order for

you to exercise faith. You have to have a change

in your nature. It's not just that you got in

trouble or you got caught or your brother or

your sister told on you, but it's the fact that

there is sin within you and that you are a sinner

before God. It's ugly. There's a change in your

perspective and there's mourning in your soul

because you've sinned against God. Not that you

got busted or you got in trouble, but sin is

now ugly to you because you have been changed.

But it's also volitional and it involves the

will. Or we could say it involves your intent,

your determination to change. You are purposeful

and you determine that you will not sin again.

Now, will you sin? Yes. But you take every step

you can. You take every precaution and disciplinary

effort in your life not to sin against a holy

and righteous God. You determine, you purpose,

you will in your mind and your heart that you

will not sin. So repentance involves the whole

person. It involves your mind and your thinking.

It involves your heart and your attitude. It

involves your will and your determination and

your desires and your longing. Sin becomes ugly.

You don't want it anymore. And you turn away

from it. You determine that you will not, sin

again and this is in regards to your personal

your own sin in your own life so when peter said

that these crowds need to repent they need to

be converted they need to manifest and express

repentance they need to turn away what did they

need to turn away from the reality that many,

many, many, many of them wanted the Lord Jesus

Christ dead. They handed him over to be murdered

and crucified. So many of those hearing this

message that Peter is proclaiming, they took

part in handing over the Lord Jesus Christ to

be crucified and to be murdered on a cross and

to be hung as a criminal. They needed to repent

of their wrongdoing. and their participation

and their sin and their transgression personally

against Christ and against God Almighty. So when

we think of repentance, we don't think of other

people who need to repent of their sin. We think

of the sin in our own lives personally and individually

that we need to repent of, that we need to turn

away from. Now there's a second half to repentance.

There's another part to repentance that's always

there, that's always present. And we could say

that this is the twin sister or the twin brother

of repentance, and that is faith. If there is

repentance, there is faith present. If there

is faith present, there is repentance present.

They're tied, they're connected. You can't separate

them out. If someone has faith or they express

faith in Christ, then they will always repent

of their sin. They will always turn away. You

cannot turn to Christ without turning from sin.

There's a mutual, there's a dual relationship

between faith and repentance present, which is

always there. And we'll see a little bit more

in a minute. But saving faith is very, very important

to understand. Saving faith, the other side of

the coin of repentance, the Bible speaks about

faith. It lifts faith. It's so, so vitally important

that we understand faith. The book of Romans

is a book about faith and being justified by

faith. The entire New Testament. Faith is the

sole instrumental cause. This is, I saw a quote

by R .C. Sproul the other day, the sole instrumental

cause of our justification. Sola fide, the battle

cry of the Protestant Reformation. By faith alone

are we justified. Singularly, solely by faith.

which is the backside of the coin, which has

repentance on this side of it. Very similarly

to repentance, we could say that faith has three

parts as well. There's a knowing, there's a comprehension

of certain information, meaning this. If you

don't know about the gospel, If you don't comprehend

what the gospel is, then you will not have faith

in Christ. There has to be certain information

and you have to use your mind in understanding

and grasping what the gospel. Peter did not want

his hearers to leave their brains at home and

to take a blind leap of faith into nothingness.

He wanted them to use their minds in the grasp

and to understand and to know. what Christ had

accomplished and what Christ had done. Then we

have to agree with that understanding of what

we know. We have to agree with God that we need

a Savior. We have to agree with God that Christ

is God and that Christ is man and there was a

purpose and there was a reason for that. We have

to agree with... what the scriptures teach about

who the Lord Jesus is and about what Christ accomplished.

Jesus died for sins to remove the punishment

from sinners. We need to understand and grasp

that and we need to agree with the God that we

are sinners and that we needed our sins atoned

for. We have to agree with God. Now, is that

enough simply to agree? with what God says on

who we are, to have certain information? You

know, there's a lot of people out there who are

intellectual, and they have a lot of head knowledge,

and they know a whole lot about the Bible. But

has that information moved from their head down

to their heart? For many people, sadly, the answer

is no. It's not enough merely to know information

or to know facts. It's not enough simply to agree

with God on certain things. But there has to

be a trust. We have to cast ourselves and we

have to actually trust the reality with our hearts

and with our lives and with our souls that we

are sinful people and we must have a Savior if

we are going to have eternal life. We have to

trust Christ and reality for salvation and what

he's done. It's not enough just to have a head

knowledge and an intellectual understanding.

It has to move you in your heart and affect and

impact the way you live for it to be genuine

and authentic faith. So there must be faith and

repentance. Faith and repentance present. Now,

this will look different, I think, for different

situations and different people. But faith and

repentance is what we call conversion. It's the

manifestation of turning away from sin and turning

to Christ. Which if you think about it, if I'm

facing this direction and I'm going that way,

And I turn this way. I'm turning from something

and I'm turning to something, but it's really

just one motion. It's one act. It's faith and

repentance working together. And that is what

we must understand first and foremost to be a

Christian is. It's to trust in Christ Jesus and

what He's done and who He is and to hate sin

with every fiber of our being. That it's become

ugly and we despise it now. It's a single turn.

We must have faith and repentance for conversion.

To be a Christian is to be a person who repented

and continues to repent. To be a Christian is

to be a person who had initial saving faith,

but you continue to exercise that faith throughout

the entirety of your life. It's not a singular

occurrence or moment in your life, but it's a

reality which took place and continues throughout

your life. For years, Eastern Christians They

weren't known as Christians. What do you think

they were known as? They were known as repenters.

I wonder, when was the last time you turned away

from sin? Not simply confessed it or said, I'm

sorry. But when was the last time you turned

away from it and laid hold of Christ? When you

determined, I will not sin again. I'm tired of

that. When was the last time? You repented of

sin in your life. Not simply said, I'm sorry,

Lord. Please forgive me. Not simply that you

got caught or busted, but you repented. And when

was the last time that you laid hold of Christ

and His work? That you said, Lord, if it weren't

for Christ, I would be in the pits of hell. Thank

you, Lord Jesus, for the work you accomplished

and the work you've done. Thank you for being

my Lord and my Savior. If it weren't for you,

I would not be saved. I would be under the wrath

of God. You laid hold of Christ in faith. This

is something we repeat over and over and over

in the Christian life. So to be a Christian,

it's not about a single one -time event that

we did and we accomplished and we move on from,

but it is a lifelong process of repenting of

sin and laying hold of Christ in faith. It's

something that should characterize us. Now, conversion,

it is an internal act which takes place. When

we are converted, we can be converted, we can

repent of sin and have faith in our initial repentance

and faith. That's what I'm referring to at this

moment. When we do that, that can take place

in our car. That can take place in our home.

That can take place in a driveway. That can take

place on a porch. That can take place at the

park. That can take place anywhere because it's

an internal thing. It takes place within your

heart, within your mind, within your soul. It's

something you do within your being. That's conversion.

It's internal. It's within you. It's within your

head, your heart, your mind, your person. It's

inside. Now, does that mean that the reality

that we have been converted remains internal?

Does it stay inside of us and never make its

way out? Does it stay inside of us and never

get outside of us? That has to take place. We

have to move from conversion within us which

is outside, an external thing which shows that

we have been converted, which demonstrates the

reality that we have repented of our sin and

we have expressed faith in Christ. Now before

I move on, I want to just touch on this real

briefly. Where does, because this is an important

thing and it helps us in understanding, soteriology

or the study of salvation. Where does our conversion

come from? Where does our repentance and where

does our faith come from? Many people have it

in their head that it's something that I have

to just really, really try really hard and generate

and muster up from within myself. It's something

I have to look really, really deep down and I

have to be super genuine and very, very sincere.

And I have to express real repentance and real

faith. So where does our conversion come from?

Well, if we look at this text, it tells us and

it shows us where conversion comes from. First,

what took place? They heard the gospel. They

heard the gospel message. Then what happened?

They were pierced in their hearts. They came

under conviction within their souls. And we see...

A little bit later, in verse 39 at the end, he

says, For the promise is for you and your children

and for all who are far off, as many as the Lord

our God will call to himself. So why do we call

upon the Lord through repentance and faith? Well,

first and foremost, because the Lord called us.

There is something which must precede and take

place before repentance and faith must be expressed

and manifest in our life. Because if we are left

to ourself and the Lord does nothing in our life,

then we will remain in our stony, hard, unbelieving,

depraved heart. The Lord must call us effectively.

And He must cause us to be born again, regenerating

our heart. And out of that regenerate heart,

which is a result of the Lord effectively calling

us, we now feel conviction to the Word of God.

We now feel conviction to the preaching of the

Gospel message. We now seek out and say, what

must we do? Now, faith and repentance is really

ours because God has given us a heart of flesh

which responds to the gospel message. So our

conversion, folks, our faith and our repentance,

we don't muster it up. It comes from the Lord

calling us and the Lord regenerating our heart.

So if you've been converted, praise the Lord.

If you've been converted, say praise Jesus. Man,

it's from the Lord. It's of the Lord. It's not

from us. It's not from you. It's not from me.

It's a gift of God. It is a gift of God. So to

be a Christian, it means that there's a supernatural

act which takes place in your life at the hand

of a sovereign and a mighty God. That's what

it means to be a Christian. That the Lord has

rescued you from the depths of your sin and the

eventual destruction under His wrath. The Lord

has been gracious and merciful to you. He's called

you and He gives you faith and repentance. He

gives you a new heart. Praise God that it's not

me. It's of the Lord. So the second thing, which

we must understand in regards to being a Christian.

And if you'll remember, I said that conversion

is an internal act within us. It takes place

in our heart and our soul. Faith and repentance

is something we do within us. It's a result of

a new heart. It flows out of a regenerate heart,

but it's something that takes place within us.

To be a Christian means to go public. To be a

Christian means not to be a secret follower.

To be a Christian means to make a public announcement

that you have repented of your sins and you are

now trusting in the Lord Jesus and His work.

And so the second thing that Peter commands them

to do, he says not only... repent, but he says,

and each of you be baptized in the name of Jesus

Christ for the forgiveness of your sins. Repent

and be baptized, each one of you, for the forgiveness

of your sins. Now this text, it is not telling

us, and this is very important for us to understand

and us to grasp. This word for, it's ace in the

Greek. It is not in order to procure something,

but it is for, as a result of, or because of.

So whenever I was working at a place called Victory

Trade School, and I did the recruitment, and

I was a dean of students, so I did counseling,

but I also talked in the community some. I'd

go to different places and I'd make presentations

where I'd go to certain events and people would

say, hey, what are you doing here? Why are you

here? What are you out and about doing? And I'd

say, it's for my job. It's for my job. Now, when

I said that, I did not mean I'm there trying

to get a job. But when I said that, I meant I

was there as a result of my job fulfilling. the

duty and the role which my job required of me

for my job. The same is true of baptism. If we

truly understand conversion, then we will understand

that out of obedience in our heart, we will be

baptized. Outwardly, externally, visibly, not

in order to procure something, but as a result

with reference to the work which Christ has done.

Paul said, and Paul said, Christ did not send

me to baptize, but to preach the gospel. The

gospel is the power of God unto salvation. Baptism

is a symbolic act of the washing waters of regeneration.

Baptism is a symbolic act. It symbolizes the

work which Christ has accomplished. Now, does

this mean that baptism is a throwaway ordinance?

Absolutely not. Does that mean that baptism is

meaningless and we just get rid of it and it's

not important? No, it's important. Peter here

commands, Christ commanded to be baptized. So

out of obedience to Christ, we ought to be baptized

in an appropriate way. Baptism is. It is a public,

visible declaration that you have been converted.

That you have. expressed faith in Christ. You

have turned from your sins and you are trusting

in Him. Baptism is public and visible. To be

a Christian, it means to be a public Christian.

To be a Christian means to be a Christian in

front of other people. I bet every single one

of us in here has heard, well, it's my own personal

private faith. That saying, That saying has no

place in the New Testament. These Christians

became so public with their faith. These Jews

gave up so much by dedicating themselves to the

Lord Jesus that when persecution came, they knew

where to find Him. They were public and they

were visible with their faith. To such an extent

that if the authorities over us decided to persecute

the church of Jesus Christ, they ought to know

who is a Christian and who is not. That's the

reality of being a New Testament Christian. I'm

unashamed of the gospel of Christ. Baptism is

a declaration that you are unashamed of the gospel

of Christ. And you want the world to know that

Jesus Christ is your Lord and that He is... Your

Savior. Conversion is inward and internal. Baptism

is outward and external. Think about the Jews

and what they had to give up. Think about what

they were doing by being baptized by the apostles.

Think about what they committed themselves and

what they dedicated themselves to. Think about

the law. Think about how zealous Paul was against

the Christians. Think about what they had to

give up. These 3 ,000, they were giving up their

priority and their dedication and their commitment

to Mosaic law. Does that mean we do away with

it? Absolutely not. But that was not what ruled

their life. Now it was Christ who had fulfilled

the law which ruled their life. Their life now

was... Christ Jesus. Think about your own heart,

your own life, and what it means to be a Christian

for you. Are you a Christian in church on Sunday

and in public Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday,

Friday, and Saturday for all to see? Are you

unashamed of the gospel of Christ and you have

proclaimed His death and His burial and His resurrection?

through baptism and your allegiance and your

commitment and your dedication to the Lord Jesus

who gave everything for you. There are no secret

disciples in the church of Jesus Christ. There

are no secret converts in the church of Jesus

Christ. There are public, unashamed disciples

of the Lord Jesus Christ. They make themselves

known baptism. They express their allegiance

through baptism. The third thing we must understand,

and I'm not going to touch on this point very

much because we'll talk about it throughout the

book of Acts a lot, and that is the reception

of the Holy Spirit. But I will briefly say that

only true converts True Christians who have been

born again have the Spirit of God in this world.

Only the church of Jesus Christ have the Spirit

of God in this world. And what do we see throughout

the book of Acts so far leading up just in two

chapters? What is the Spirit to the New Testament

church? He is power. He is strength for the Christian

life. But also he is power for the proclamation,

of the gospel of the Lord Jesus. So the Spirit

of God indwells those who are converted, those

who repent and believe. The Spirit of God indwells

them permanently, powerfully, transforming them,

sanctifying them, sealing them, acting as a down

payment of the presence of God in their life.

Growing them, strengthening them, convicting

them, cutting them, causing them to repent, causing

them to express faith throughout the rest of

their Christian life. The Spirit of God is the

gift of God to the believer in this life. And

who gave it and what is it a direct result of?

The redemptive work of the Lord Jesus. What did

we see two weeks ago when we talked about Peter's

sermon in the first half? How we are now in the

gospel age. The Lord Jesus pours out His Spirit

into the hearts and the lives of His converted,

born -again people so that they can live out

the gospel and proclaim the gospel in this gospel

age, in this world. And so Peter says it's a

promise that you will receive the Spirit of God.

So what does it mean to be a Christian? It means

that God is with you. It means that God is strengthening

you. It means that God is changing you through

His Spirit. That He is guiding you. That He is

conforming you. to the image and likeness of

Christ. It means that He has sealed you and He

will keep you throughout this life. It means

that He has not forsaken you. That He has poured

out His Spirit into your soul. That's what it

means to be a Christian. To have the Spirit of

God and have Him poured out into your heart and

to strengthen you for the Christian. Now up to

this point, we've seen conversion, we've seen

baptism, and we've seen the reception of the

Spirit of God. So if we think about it, many

of us were like, yes, we have to express repentance

and faith. Amen. We have to be baptized. Amen.

We have to have the Spirit of God to be a Christian.

Amen. I mean, we're all like, yes, yes. Now,

if we are so emphatic on those three points,

if we consider those three points to be so important

and so heavy, what comes next? Addition. What

does he say in verse 41? So then those who had

received his word were baptized. And that day

there were added. About 3 ,000 souls. What does

it mean to be a Christian? It means to add yourself,

to join yourself, to come into union with a church.

What were they added to? Were they added into

nothing? They were added to the local church.

Now, many people will say on this text, well,

that's talking about the universal invisible

body. That's what it's referencing there. Well,

verse 42 contradicts that. Verse 42 says they

were continually devoting themselves to the apostles'

teaching and fellowship and to the breaking of

bread and to prayer. Those are the activities

of a local church body. So what does it mean

to be a Christian? It means to be a church member.

That's what it means to be a Christian. It means

to be in a covenant, committed, dedicated relationship

with a local church. Now, I don't know why, but

there's so many people in this world. So many

people in this world. They carry an anti -church

attitude. Folks, you know how ridiculous it would

be to say you can be a Christian without conversion?

You know how ridiculous it would be to say you

can be a Christian without following the Lord

and obedience? I just won't do that. I'm not

going to obey God. I'm not going to be baptized.

You know how ridiculous it would be to say, well,

I'm not going to be, I don't want the Holy Spirit,

but I want to be a Christian. It's just as ridiculous

to say. I will not join myself to a local body

which Jesus Christ died for and gave himself

up for, as it is to say those other things. Christ

gave himself up, not for the world in general,

but Jesus Christ died particularly for his bride.

To save her, to groom her, to sanctify her, to

make her gorgeous, to present her to his father.

For the church. You know how much Jesus values

the church? You know how much Jesus loves his

bride? Enough to give up his life and suffer

a terrible death on the cross. Yet we can say,

I don't need the church. We must love what Christ

loves. We must be committed to what Christ is

committed to. So they were added. 3 ,000 people

were added to the church that day. 3 ,000 people

means to be brought into union, an unbreakable

union. So not only do you become in the world

but not of the world, but... You come in to a

community of like -minded believers and Christians.

We learn from this text in Acts 2 .42 regarding

the church. One, the first very obvious thing,

that the Word of God gives us a record of those,

the amount of people who were baptized. It shows

us... How many people were added? How many people

were baptized? How many people were converted?

It shows us that there was a formal addition

to the body of Christ. And we see this repeatedly

throughout the book of Acts. We see this continually

throughout the book of Acts. We must love the

church because Christ loved the church and gave

himself up for her. It is antithetical. To say

I am a Jesus loving church hater. I am a Jesus

loving church rejecter. I am a Jesus loving church

denier. It doesn't work. What is Jesus's body?

What is he the head of? The church. If you hate

the church. You hate the head. You hate the savior

of. Let us be oh so cautious of our words to

the bride of Christ, our attitude towards the

precious church of God, which Christ gave himself

for. Now, why do I bring that up? Not because

of anybody in this room, but because I've done

ministry in rural America for several years.

And there is an overarching theme in rural America,

especially where there's not a lot of healthy

churches. The church is optional. We can't have

that attitude. New Testament Christianity did

not have that attitude. So what does it mean

to be a Christian? It means that we join ourselves

to a local body. We're devoted to it. We're committed

to it. And we love it and we serve it. It ought

to be unnatural. And it is unnatural whether

we want to admit it or not. For a born again,

converted, baptized, Spirit -filled believer

to be out of union with a church. It's unnatural.

That is not how God designed it to be. So what

does it mean to be a Christian? It means to express

repentance and faith. It means to be baptized

and make publicly known your repentance and faith.

It means to have the Spirit of God. which seals

you and conforms you and sanctifies you. It means

to be in union with a local body.