If you missed Parts 1 and 2 of this series on Acts 3, start here.

To get to the point of faith there is a step we have to take: repentance. Mitchell Chase says, “Sin brings judgment and death. Repentance is the way to life and restoration.” Kevin DeYoung defines repentance as sorrow for sin and the forsaking of sin. And this is where Peter goes next. The truth of the resurrection has been proclaimed, the people’s guilt has been established, and now it’s time for a response. So Peter softens a little bit. He recognizes the people’s ignorance, that they didn’t fully understand who Jesus was. You can read in Numbers 15:27-31 how a sin of ignorance was considered different from a conscious, intentional sin. Ignorance could be forgiven. But now that Peter has proclaimed the truth to them, they have a second chance. If they fail to repent and receive Christ now that Peter has explained his true identity, the sin would become deliberate.

Ignorance does not mean forgiveness is not necessary. Jesus said from the cross in Luke 23:34, “Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do.” A sin against God is a sin against God, whether we know we’re committing it or not. But God in his goodness brings our sins to light so we have the opportunity to repent and receive forgiveness. And Peter weaves this message of repentance in with a reminder from the prophets, which his Jewish audience in the temple would have been very familiar with.

He introduces this idea in verse 18 by telling them basically, God wasn’t surprised by what happened. Yes, humans were responsible for the death of Christ, but God was also sovereign in it. It’s a tension we have to hold. “What God foretold by the mouth of all the prophets,” is plentiful, but the point is, God fulfilled what was promised in the Scriptures.

Acts 3:19-21 are probably my favorite part of this chapter. This is where Peter gets to the key to the gospel. It begins with one little word, a command really: repent. Don’t turn away, turn back. This is a necessary step. And when you take that step, three things will happen.

First, Peter says your sins will be blotted out. When you repent, only then are you able to receive forgiveness. I think of a whiteboard, with all my sins written on it, and then the slate just gets wiped clean.

Second, Peter says “that times of refreshing may come from the presence of the Lord” (v. 20). Most scholars agree that the “refreshing” Peter is referring to here is the Holy Spirit. When we repent and receive forgiveness, the Holy Spirit takes up residence in us and brings a “freshness” with him. Because if anyone is in Christ he is a new, fresh creature, right? But what does he mean by TIMES of refreshing? The Holy Spirit is always with us. But the grace he gives is as needed in the moment. When we have a need, the Holy Spirit meets us with his refreshing power in that time. It is he who sustains us, not our flesh.

And third, Peter says God will “send the Christ appointed for you, Jesus, whom heaven must receive until the time for restoring all things.” This right here is our hope! This is a reference to the second coming, what all of earth is moving towards, the time when Jesus returns and restores, sets all things right. Earlier, Peter gave us a glimpse of this restoration in the miracle he performed, but that was just a small picture of what we are ultimately awaiting.

And Peter ties this all together with the prophets for his Jewish audience. They probably couldn’t care less what Peter had to say. But Moses? Now there’s someone they would respect. So he says: “Moses said, ‘The Lord God will RAISE UP for you a prophet like me from your brothers. You shall listen to him in whatever he tells you. And it shall be that every soul who does not listen to that prophet shall be destroyed from the people’” (v. 22-23). This is from Deuteronomy 18:15-19 with a little bit of Leviticus 23:29 thrown in. But here’s what he’s getting at: Even the great prophet Moses said someone better is coming.

We’re not really used to Jesus being described with the title “prophet,” because we know he was so much more than that, but if we remember a prophet is someone who spoke the words of God, then Jesus was a prophet, right? In fact, he wasn’t just A prophet, he was the BEST prophet because he was God, so every word he spoke was the very word of God. We don’t have to look any farther than Hebrews 3:1-6a to see this, where the author writes:

“Therefore, holy brothers, you who share in a heavenly calling, consider Jesus, the apostle and high priest of our confession, who was faithful to him who appointed him, just as Moses also was faithful in all God’s house. For Jesus has been counted worthy of more glory than Moses–as much more glory as the builder of a house has more honor than the house itself. (For every house is built by someone, but the builder of all things is God.) Now Moses was faithful in all God’s house as a servant, to testify to the things that were to be spoken later, but Christ is faithful over God’s house as a son.”

But it’s not just Moses. Peter says, “ALL the prophets who have spoken, from Samuel [who anointed King David] and those who came after him, also proclaimed these days” (v. 24). THESE DAYS, Peter said, the time we’re in NOW, the prophets spoke about.

Peter closes out this sermon with one more example, going even further back than Moses: my guy Abraham. It always comes back to Genesis. “YOU are the sons of the prophets and of the covenant that God made with YOUR fathers, saying to Abraham, ‘And in your offspring shall all the families of the earth be blessed’” (v. 25). Who is that offspring? It’s Jesus. “In JESUS shall all the families of the earth be blessed.”  “God, having RAISED UP his servant, sent him to YOU first, to bless YOU by turning every one of YOU from your wickedness” (v. 26). Three accusations turn into three promises of hope. Jesus was the culmination of God’s plan of salvation from the beginning. Jesus was sent to be a blessing, how? But TURNING us from our wickedness. “Repent, therefore, and turn back,” turn from your wickedness, “that your sins may be blotted out,  that times of refreshing may come from the presence of the Lord, and that he may send the Christ appointed for you, Jesus,  whom heaven must receive until the time for restoring all the things about which God spoke by the mouth of his holy prophets long ago” (Acts 3:19-21).

It’s full circle. And so, our response is also threefold. First, like the original hearers of this sermon, we can’t live in ignorance. We must recognize our sin, repent, and receive Christ. Only in receiving Christ is there forgiveness, refreshing, and restoration. If you’ve never turned to him in repentance you are not a part of the people of God, and I want that for you! Please reach out to a trusted believer to get your questions answered and talk to them about putting your faith in the name of Jesus.

Second, if you have put your faith in Jesus, remember repentance isn’t a one-time deal. It’s an ongoing part of our sanctification. I recently read a book called The Thrill of Orthodoxy by Trevin Wax, and in it he compares the Christian life to a climb up a mountain, and though it feels hopeless at times, he says, “The holiness of God would beckon us onward, while the grace of God would cover our stumbles. The gospel is not for the pure and healthy, but for the losers, the failed and flailing, the fallen and falling. The path to the mountaintop of Christlike virtue is a path of penitence. The victorious Christian life isn’t the sinless life; it’s the repentant life. . . . No one reaches the top sinless, but only through the merits of the sinless Savior who empowers us by his Spirit.” God brings our sin into the light, we recognize them, and we repent. Then we get to experience that continual refreshing and restoration, and ultimately, one day, our own resurrection when Jesus returns to restore all things.

And third, we have to remember what has just happened in chapter 2. After the Holy Spirit comes, Peter preaches his first sermon, and three thousand were saved. The end of chapter 2 said, “And the Lord added to their number day by day those who were bring saved” (2:47b). I think if I was Peter I would be feeling like a big deal. But then his attention is turned just to one man. Peter and John could have been so focused on what they came to the temple to do that they missed this opportunity. I know how often I get so caught up in what I think I need to do that I miss out on the people God wants me to see and serve.

Although we’re probably not going to perform a miraculous healing like this, we can still have open eyes and an open heart to the Spirit to see who around us who is hurting and serve them. We can meet physical and spiritual needs, just as Peter did. Don’t miss the one. Because if you miss the one, who knows what would have come next that you’ll also be missing out on. In this case, the conversion of one led to this sermon that led to the conversion of two thousand.

So, we don’t just see and serve. That’s the biggest disservice you could do to a person. You also share. Share the gospel. Tell people who Jesus is, what he came to do, his death and resurrection. Be patient, and don’t give up. These people Peter was preaching to had rejected this same message from John the Baptist and from Jesus himself. Sometimes third times the charm, sometimes seventh times the charm. You could be planting the first seed someone else will later water, or you could be watering a seed someone else has planted. We’re not always the harvester, but you never know if it could be the day of salvation for the person you are talking to.

So, in the same power of the Holy Spirit that emboldened Peter, preach the gospel. Proclaim his name and your faith in his name, just as Peter did. Share about what you’ve seen and heard Jesus do, just as the disciples did. And then call people to repentance, just as John the Baptist, the disciples, and Jesus himself did. Be bold in giving them an opportunity to put their faith in Jesus so they can experience the power of the resurrection and the restoration of all things.