“Now when they heard this they were cut to the heart, and said to Peter and the rest of the apostles, ‘Brothers, what shall we do?’ And Peter said to them, ‘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.’”
Acts 2:37
How can you be sure you are a Christian, a true believer in Jesus Christ? There are many ways to know for sure, but one of the best is to consider your desires. Christians hate sin and feel remorse when they fall short of doing what pleases God. Christians love what God loves. They understand their need to repent. Are these qualities true of you? We’re not talking about sinless perfection but a desire to change. What do you desire? People who reject Jesus tend to not mind their sin and don’t feel bad about wallowing in it. But this wasn’t the case with those we read about in today’s Scripture passage. Instead, the people who heard Peter’s message felt convicted about their sin and turned to him, asking, “What shall we do?” They sensed the urgent need to be rescued from their sin and the wrath of God.
Thankfully, Peter had a word of good news—the best news in the world: you can be saved from your sins! God has provided a way of salvation from his just wrath. How? By believing that on the cross, God punished Jesus, his own Son, to pay for your sins in order to save you. That is wonderful news!
We know the people who listened to Peter became true believers because they felt remorse for their sin and trusted the message of Jesus’ gospel to save them. Is this true of you? If it is, you can know for certain that you are a Christian.
Read
- What is the first indication that someone has entered into God’s kingdom?
- What else does Jesus say we should do?
- Do you see a similarity between what Jesus said in this passage and what we see in our text for today?
Prayer
Our Father, may we feel a godly sorrow for our sin. Grant us eyes to see our sin—what it really is in your sight—so that we can quickly repent and be restored to you. Thank you so much that you covered our sin through Jesus’ perfect life, death, and resurrection. Amen.
This devotion is adapted from the Acts Study Guide.
