The Apostle Peter has explained to the Jews gathered before him and the other disciples what has just happened and has instructed them to return to their homelands where they were to tell the other Israelites living there that their Messiah had come. It is at this point that the new converts asked THE ultimate question, the question that, if answered correctly and the answer obeyed, will lead to eternal life. However, if the question is not asked, or is asked but not answered according to God’s Word, or is asked and answered correctly but not obeyed, salvation will not be awarded. The question is

“Men and brethren, what must we do?” Note that the converted Jews asked the right people–those whom God had approved and commissioned. They did not look to each other for leadership and guidance. To the contrary, they looked to God’s appointed ministers who had walked with Him, seen what He did, heard what He said, BELIEVED AND OBEYED HIM.

Notice something else important about the questioners. They were “pricked in their heart.” These people had come to realize that they were wrong and had been wrong all along. To their credit they did not enter into the error of believing that because their relatives, friends and ancestors had not believed this new theology, it had to be wrong. Neither did they take into consideration the reaction of their families and friends upon hearing that a former stone mason from Nazareth Who had been rejected and crucified by His fellow Jews was in fact the Savior of Israel Who commanded their total obedience. Because eleven of the apostles would be martyred, no doubt some of those converts listening to Peter would also be martyred for proclaiming their faith in Jesus Christ. Having lived in the Jewish culture all their lives, they knew how adamantly their fellow Jews, including their families, clung to the Jewish religion. They knew that their return home would not be pleasant. Though their question–“What must we do?”–was easy to ask, they knew that obeying the answer could cost them dearly.

“Repent and be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of your (PAST) sins and you will receive the Holy Spirit.” Here is where the Institutional Church, without exception, rejects the Lord’s strait (difficult) gate and narrow (restrictive) path leading to salvation and is guided through Satan’s wide (easy) gate and along his broad (it’s all good) path leading to damnation (Mat. 7:13,14). See Bait and Switch. Two Biblical Truths must be addressed at this point. First, at the point of repentance, the Lord’s grace covers only PAST SINS (Rom. 3:24,25). Beginning at that point sin must be become less and less a part of the convert’s life until one consistently overcomes Satan’s temptation to sin (Rev. 3:21). Read First John chapters 2,3. Second, true repentance involves Biblically-defined, not church-defined sin. The two are diametric opposites. For example, according to the Lord, sin is the transgression (breaking) of His Ten Commandment Law (1 Jn. 3:4). The church, however, claims that His Law was destroyed–“nailed to the cross.”

The church’s problem is two-fold. First, THE CHURCH DOES NOT KNOW GOD’S DEFINITION OF SIN. And second, when shown His definition, she rejects it. For these two reasons, those who proclaim to the world that they have been forgiven of their sins, belong to “the church” and worship and serve “the Biblical God” in reality do none of the three, if, that is, we can take God at His Word, about which they know little and do not believe most of what little they know. This is proven by the fact that they remain in  those institutions (2 Cor. 6:17). Those who have been lured into the Counterfeit Church system belong to religious organizations (Catholicism/Protestantism) that have been created by man and are empowered by Satan. L.J.