Suggestions for leading a study:
Saving Yourselves
36 "Therefore let all Israel be assured of this: God has made this Jesus, whom you crucified, both Lord and Christ."
37 When the people heard this, they were cut to the heart and said to Peter and the other apostles, "Brothers, what shall we do?"
38 Peter replied, "Repent and be baptized, every 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. 39 The promise is for you and your children and for all who are far off—for all whom the Lord our God will call."
40 With many other words he warned them; and he pleaded with them, "Save yourselves from this corrupt generation." 41 Those who accepted his message were baptized, and about three thousand were added to their number that day.
Discussion Questions
Verse 36 is the
conclusion to the message Peter gave to the crowd at Pentecost. He explains that Jesus has become both Lord
and Christ. In other words, the one who
should be in charge of our lives in addition to being the Messiah, or the one
who saves us.
-What would our relationship with
Jesus be like if he was one of these, but not the other?
How did the crowd feel about this, and what dilemma did it create for
them?
When people in our “crowd” are confronted with a Jesus who insists on
being the one in charge (Lord), as well as the only way to be saved (Christ), how
do they cope with that information?
Peter tells the crowd that they must repent, which means to turn. -Can we say Jesus is both Lord and Christ if we haven’t made that turn?
-What in your life have you had to turn away from in order to face toward Jesus?
Peter also tells the
crowd to be baptized. Why do you think
it is important for baptism to follow repentance?
One of the responses
God promises is the forgiveness of sins. Since we no longer have to focus on
“sin management”, does that help free us
to put our efforts into developing our relationship with Jesus?
How does God’s
promise of the Holy Spirit help us stay “turned”?
Peter tells the
crowd to “save themselves.” What do we
save ourselves from and how do the promises in this passage help?
Leaders' Guide
This study is designed
to help us understand that salvation is not just something Jesus “does” to us,
but there are important ways that we partner with him in the process.
Verse 36 is the conclusion to the message Peter gave to
the crowd at Pentecost. He explains that
Jesus has become both Lord and Christ.
In other words, the one who should be in charge of our lives in addition
to being the Messiah, or the one who saves us.
Read Peter’s entire message in
preparation for this study. In the end,
Peter concludes that Jesus, whom they crucified, is both Lord and Christ. Christ is a messianic title, the one who
would come to save God’s people from their sins. To be Lord, however, assumes that he has your
allegiance and your obedience.
What would our relationship with
Jesus be like if he was one of these, but not the other?
Take each of the alternatives in
turn: Jesus being Lord, but not our
savior; then Jesus being savior, but not our Lord.
If Jesus were Lord, but not our
savior, then we would be living a legalistic life of rules and regulations
without actually having a saving relationship: a fundamental
mis-characterization of what it is that Christ really wanted to accomplish. If he were our savior, but not our Lord, then
we would be using him as “fire insurance”: a way to get eternal life without
having to live in obedience to him. The
bible soundly rejects either of these notions as being valid, and the
concluding statement that Peter makes here in the first evangelistic sermon
sets the tone for the message of the rest of the New Testament on this issue.
How did the crowd feel about this, and what dilemma did it create for
them?
They were very upset. The opening phrase of verse 37 (they were
“cut to the heart”) implies a very strong emotional reaction to this news. The dilemma it created is that they had no
idea what to do about it, as indicated by the question which they posed to
Peter.
When people in our “crowd” are confronted with a Jesus
who insists on being the one in charge (Lord), as well as the only way to be
saved (Christ), how do they cope with that information?
This, of course, is the great scandal when it
comes to the Jesus which the bible presents to us. Most people just ignore him, and many
re-create him into just a good teacher or moral philosopher. A smaller and smaller number assume he never
existed at all and was just a figure created by people trying to design a new
religion. None of these are valid options. The Jesus of the bible must be accepted or
rejected on his own terms. Trying to
design something warm and fuzzy that is easy to come to grips with just is not
one of the legitimate options when it comes to this Jesus who claims to be both
Lord and Christ.
Peter tells the crowd that they must repent, which means to turn.
Repentance is a term that implies
a 180 degree turn. In other words, we have been facing away from Christ and now
we are facing toward him.
-Can we say Jesus is
both Lord and Christ if we haven’t made that turn?
Repentance is what John
the Baptist had been calling people to do, but it obviously was meant to simply
prepare the way for the more complete work that the messiah would
accomplish. But according to Peter, it
is still necessary. Some scholars have
described this as seeing salvation as a “centered” set rather than a “bounded”
set. In other words, the Bible puts more
emphasis on which direction you are facing (toward Christ, or away from him), than
on crossing some sort of spiritual boundary.
It is both, of course, but the turn toward Christ must be included in
the process. That is our part to
play.
-What in your life have
you had to turn away from in order to face toward Jesus?
There may be some things
still pending for people as well.
Working through testimonies from the past, or confessions about the
present, calls for sensitivity and good judgment (but no judgmentalism).
Why do you think it
is important for baptism to follow repentance?
Review Rom. 6:1-14 for the way in which baptism symbolizes repentance
(being buried with Christ) and being
raised to live a new life united with Christ.
It is a powerful way that Scripture tells us completes the process of
“turning” and making Jesus both Lord and Christ. It also reveals our willingness to obey,
since it is a physical and public act which we must decide to go through
with. In that way, it parallels and
affirms our repentance, or turning. If any
of your group were baptized as infants, you may want to ask in what ways they
can “appropriate” that symbolism for their lives today. Alternatively, many choose to be re-baptized
as adults. Don’t make this an either/or
situation that could lead to contention or feelings of
dis-enfranchisement. The point is to
verify the ways our decisions and actions partner with God’s responses to
complete salvation in our lives.
One of the responses God promises is the forgiveness of
sins. Since we no longer have to focus on “sin management”, does that help free us to put our efforts into developing
our relationship with Jesus?
This is the key to holy living the way Jesus
meant for it to be: not trying hard not to sin, but putting our efforts into
developing our relationship with him. If
there are any ongoing issues from the previous discussion on what people have
had to (or are having to) turn away from, encourage them to deal with that by
learning to think differently. Focusing
on where we stumble, or are stumbling, usually causes us to get discouraged and
miss out on the joy and the victory that Christ wants for us. The next resource God has to help with that
is also key:
How does God’s promise of the Holy Spirit help us stay
“turned”?
Other lessons focus on this in
detail (“Topping it Off with God”, among others), and the answer is a long
one. God does not leave us to our own
resources in winning the battle to stay faced toward Jesus. For this lesson, underscore that the way to
do that is focusing on your relationship with Christ, not trying to manage your
sin.
Peter tells the crowd to “save themselves.” What do we save ourselves from and how do the
promises in this passage help?