At Pentecost Peter said:

“Men and brethren, what shall we do? Then Peter said unto them, Repent, and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins, and ye shall receive the gift of the Holy Ghost.” (Acts 2:37-38)

• Peter at Pentecost, as seen in Acts 2:38 (above), preached a very different gospel with different requirements for salvation of the Israelites (cf. Act 2:14, 22), different than that of today’s ‘grace gospel’ of ‘faith alone in Christ’s all-sufficient crosswork for us.’ (Eph. 2:8-9)
• Several years later Paul was converted and received “the revelation of the mystery (God’s secret plan)” from the ascended Lord Jesus Christ, with today’s “gospel of the grace of God” for the Gentiles, a gospel by which ALL men (of all races, not just Jews) may be saved.

Let’s now compare these different gospels with their different requirements for salvation. There’s a stark dispensational distinction between salvation of an Israelite “under the Law” and that of those saved into “the Church, which is the body of Christ” under “grace” today. Sadly, many have confused these gospels and the means of salvation for us today.

As you will see, if what Peter preached to “Ye men of Israel” in Acts 2:38 were the gospel that saves today, then there’s no reason to preach the finished work of the cross for salvation.

After Peter condemned the men of Israel for killing Jesus, who was “both Lord and Christ (Messiah)” (Acts 2:36), many in the crowd sought deliverance from their actions in calling for Jesus’ crucifixion. The question of Acts 2:38 was “what shall we do?”, meaning, to save themselves from the wrath of God that would surely come upon them as a result of their rejection of Christ (The Messiah)?

To this Peter answered, “Repent, and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins.” Note that Peter’s response did not include anything about the Cross-work of Jesus for sins. Peter couldn’t because the purpose and meaning of the cross had not yet been revealed to and explained by Paul, who at that time was yet to be converted. Peter’s response did not include the cross at all!

Repentance and Water Baptism:

So, Peter did not preach the cross for salvation, but instead he called upon “ye men of Judea (Israel)” to “repent and be baptized for the remission of sins.” This was the same message of John the Baptist years earlier, before the cross of Christ. “John did baptize … and preach the baptism of repentance for the remission of sins.” (Mark 1:4)

To be baptized with John’s baptism meant they were ‘repenting for the remission of sins’ in preparation for the kingdom to come, and that “they should believe the Him” who would come after John.  

“Then said Paul, John verily baptized with the baptism of repentance, saying unto the people, that they should believe on him which should come after him, (Paul interprets, adding;) that is, on Christ Jesus. (Acts 19:4)

Believing and being baptized “in the Name of Jesus Christ” is significant:

Note that John did not baptize in the name of Jesus “Christ.” John’s identified Jesus as “the Son of God” (John 1:31), but not as the Christ. There was that difference between John’s and Peter’s Pentecostal baptism. Peter added to the “baptism of repentance” saying this baptism was to be explicitly “in the name of Jesus Christ.”

It was after John the Baptist that Jesus and the disciples did baptize with John’s baptism of repentance throughout their three-year ministry before the cross, but they baptized “in the name of the only begotten Son of God,” the prophesied Christ. Jesus said; “He that believeth in him is not condemned: but he that believeth not is condemned already, because he hath not believed in ‘the name’ of the only begotten Son of God.” (John 3:18)

For Israel to recognize the “the Name” of Jesus of Nazareth as Israel’s ‘Christ (Messiah)’ was key to the Lord’s ministry to Israel. It was on this issue of… ‘exactly who Jesus was’ that Jesus evaluated how his ministry was being received. Thus; “When Jesus came into the coasts of Caesarea Philippi, he asked his disciples, saying, Whom do men say that I the Son of man am?” (Matthew 16:13) Of course Peter spoke up and said “Thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God.” (v16).

Note that all of this was said and preached before the cross. Moreover, it was preached without the disciples having any understanding the cross at all. In Matt. 16:21-23 Peter even opposed Jesus’ mentioning of the cross. So, the cross was not being preached by Peter at Pentecost as the means of salvation. What was preached was “the baptism of repentance in the name of Jesus Christ,” meaning Jesus was the Messiah King.

The Gift of the Holy Ghost:

The new thing in Peter’s baptismal message at Pentecost was the fulfillment of the promised Holy Ghost coming upon Jesus’ “little flock” (Luke 12:32) of baptized believers (cf. Act 2:38). This was a consequence of their repenting and being baptized and naming Jesus as ‘the Christ.’ With that, they received the gift of the Holy Ghost as an anointing to be witnesses, preaching Jesus’ “gospel of the kingdom” to come on earth.

The prophets spoke about the Holy Ghost, as did John the Baptist (Matt 3:11). Jesus taught that being “born of the Spirit” would be necessary for Israelites to enter their kingdom.

“Jesus answered, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born of water and of the Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God.” (John 3:5)

The Holy Spirit would also provide the necessary power for Israel’s new covenant to be fulfilled (Eze. 36:26). As God’s purpose for Israel unfolded Acts 2:38 was right on time, but we should note that it did not include Paul’s “revelation of the mystery” or “the gospel of the grace of God” that is based upon the meaning of cross as it was first revealed to Paul for us.

The Missing Cross at Pentecost:

By the time Peter preached Acts 2:38, Christ had died, resurrected, and ascended to the right hand of the Father, but Peter’s Pentecost message was not the offering of Jesus Christ and His cross for salvation.

Rather, for Peter’s audience at Pentecost, the cross at that time only meant condemnation upon them for Jesus’ death. It was another link in a long chain of Israel killing the prophets and being called on to repent.

Now, time was running out for Israel, but by Peter’s message God was still giving opportunity for them to be forgiven per the Lord’s request of the Father as He died on the cross saying “… Father, forgive (Israel) them; for they know not what they do.” (Luke 23:34)

• Considering the foregoing, if the “preaching of the cross” of Christ for salvation is the measure of salvation today, which it is… then Peter’s words in Acts 2:38, “repent and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ” are not the gospel that saves anyone during today’s age of the pure grace of God.
• If Peter’s words in Acts 2:38 is the gospel that saves today, then we would not need to hear and respond to word of the finished work of the cross of Christ to save us.

Rather than ‘repent and be baptized in His name,’ Israel went onto later killed the witness of the Holy Spirit in Stephen (Acts 7:55-57) and with that the Lord set Israel aside, then saving Paul and sending him to the Gentiles with a new gospel of pure grace that operates through ‘belief’ in Jesus Christ... without any water baptism.

In fact, Paul said Christ did Not send him to baptize… but to “Preach the gospel” of the Cross of Christ.

“… Christ sent me (Paul) not to baptize, but to ‘preach the gospel:’ not with wisdom of words, lest the cross of Christ should be made of none effect. For the preaching of the cross is to them that perish foolishness; but unto us which are saved it is the power of God.” (1 Corinthians 1:17-18)

Peter at Pentecost did not yet know what was later revealed to the Apostle Paul concerning the meaning of the cross. Many years later Peter wrote this concerning “the wisdom” to be seen in Paul’s epistles.

“And account that the longsuffering of our Lord is salvation; even as our beloved brother Paul also according to the Wisdom given unto him hath written unto you; ¹⁶ As also in all his (Paul’s) epistles, speaking in them of these things; in which are some things hard to be understood, which they that are unlearned and unstable wrest (twist), as they do also the other scriptures, unto their own destruction.” (2 Peter 3:15-16 (KJV)  

So now, with a completed Bible in our hands, we have no excuse today for not reading beyond Peter’s words of Acts 2:38, to learn of Paul’s “gospel of the grace of God” and Christ’s Cross, applying to all men today.