The Nature of Our Gospel

The apostles, having heard Peter conclude his Pentecost address, saw three thousand converts in one day, a remarkable work of the Spirit. Under conviction of sin, they had asked him what they should do. Peter directed them to repentance, and we infer that faith is included—a true repentance results in faith, and a true faith assumes a godly repentance. Peter also talks about the extent of this gospel promise, ironically not even understanding himself at this point just how big this was going to be be. The gospel was to span all generations and all locations. Those who would have a saving encounter with the gospel are those who God elects and powerfully converts. The benefits of a true conversion are forgiveness, the Holy Spirit, and eternal life. (NB: 3000 souls in just one day sounds impressive, but that was the only place on earth where people were being saved that day. By contrast, in an age where the preaching of our gospel has become a global phenomenon, estimates put the number of daily converts in our day to between 50,000 and 100,000.)