Peter speaks of repentance in the Book of Acts differently than you might think. When it comes to the gospel of Jesus Christ the word repentance does not mean 'turn from all your sins' or 'confess all your sins' before believing in Christ for salvation. We are told to believe in Jesus for His promise of eternal life. He took our sins away and when we believe He gives us eternal life apart from our own works or repenting of sins. After we believe we are expected to live a life of righteousness and then repent of conscious sins to remain in fellowship with God. But He helps us by His Holy Spirit. Progressive Sanctification happens during our walk with Jesus, our walk in the Spirit as we gradually become more Christ-like, laying down our lives for others in love and doing good works as our reasonable service. But none of that life of good works has anything to do with confirming or assuring we have or will have eternal life. Our assurance is in Jesus's promising and keeping His promise in John 3:16 and John 5:24.
Peter links forgiveness with repentance in these 3 passages: Acts 2:38, Acts 3:19, and Acts 5:30-31
Repent and let every one of you be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins; and you shall receive the gift of the Holy Spirit (Acts 2:38).
Repent therefore and be converted, that your sins may be blotted out, so that times of refreshing may come from the presence of the Lord (Acts 3:19).
The God of our fathers raised up Jesus whom you murdered by hanging on a tree. Him God has exalted to His right hand to be Prince and Savior, to give repentance to Israel and forgiveness of sins (Acts 5:30-31)
In Acts 10:43, Peter equates 'forgiveness of sin' with 'believing'.
To Him all the prophets witness that, through His name, whoever believes in Him will receive remission of sins (Acts 10:43).
It makes sense to take the position that Peter was preaching in all 3 passages about salvific forgiveness and that he was conflating “repentance” (i.e., changing one’s mind about Christ) with believing in Christ.
Peter’s audience in Acts 2, 3, and 5 was Jewish. They had rejected Christ and His claims. But the resurrection presented new evidence that Peter had witnessed. And now he was using this as a jumping-off point to exhort his unbelieving Jewish listeners to change their minds about Jesus Christ. To change their minds about Him was to believe in Him.
On Salvation Secured I aim to dispel all the confusion about the gospel and resist the 'different gospel' Paul vehemently warns about that much of Christianity teaches today. I posit that the Gospel of Jesus Christ is actually so simple that a child could understand it and that adults can too.
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