What Then Shall We Do?

When the Apostle Peter was preaching on the Day of Pentecost, the men of Israel were pricked in their hearts. St. Peter had been preaching about Jesus, that He was the Christ of God and that they had crucified Him. Under conviction for their sin, they cried out to the Apostle, "What shall we do?"

Having come under God’s judgment, having accepted responsibility for their transgression, the Jews were not content with mere lip service or even a public declaration and confession of guilt. Neither was Peter, nor the Church. Something had to be done to remove their transgressions from them. Confession of sin is just the beginning. "Repent," said the Apostle, "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. For the promise is to you and to your children, and to all who are afar off, as many as the Lord our God will call. . . . Be saved from this perverse generation" (Acts 2:38–40).

The response to Peter’s sermon was overwhelming. Three thousand souls were added to the Church by baptism that same day. "And they continued steadfastly in the apostles’ doctrine and fellowship, in the breaking of bread, and in prayers" (Acts 2:42). This was no simple "altar call." This was no mass rally culminating in a decision for Christ at the end of the service. This was and is how God has ordained for our sins to be forgiven personally, by our being added corporately to the Church. This baptism for the remission of sins is no mere "symbol." It conveys the forgiveness of sins, to the Jews first, but also to all whom God shall call. The gift of the Holy Spirit is no mere sentiment, but a sealing of the life which is to come.

Baptism is the door to Christ’s lordship over us. We are baptized into His death, "that just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life. . . . Our old man was crucified with Him, that the body of sin might be done away with, that we should no longer be slaves of sin" (Romans 6:4–6). Indeed, in baptism we confess Jesus as Lord and "put on Christ" (Galatians 3:27). To confess Jesus as Lord, we must be baptized.

And baptism is only part of the command, for the Apostle said, "Repent and be baptized." Without repentance, without turning from sin and embracing new life in Christ, our baptism does not affect our lives as it should. Life without repentance is like living on the porch of a mansion, refusing to enter the front door, which was opened through baptism. But when we repent, when we turn from the sin we have confessed and seek to live a new life, then we truly enter the mansion (the Church), for it is only in the community of the faithful that we can live the new life.

Being Added to the Church

Those who were baptized on the Day of Pentecost were added to the Church, continuing steadfastly in the Apostles’ doctrine, not their own opinions. They continued as well in the Apostles’ communion (koinonia), under the authority of those whom God had sent to proclaim the gospel to all men. They continued in the breaking of bread, the Eucharist. Their lives were marked by sharing the Lord’s Supper, not as a memorial to a fallen leader, but as a victory celebration of the lordship of Christ, His triumph over death, known to them in the breaking of bread (Luke 24:35). They continued in "prayers," not merely some prayers, or their prayers, but the prayers, the corporate worship of the community. In short, they continued in the Church.

It was in the Church that believers heard from the Apostles what they themselves had heard and seen and looked upon, things which their own hands had handled concerning the Incarnate Word of life (1 John 1:1). This the Apostles declared, that the believers might have communion with them—the Apostles, for truly the Apostles’ communion was with the Father and His Son Jesus Christ (1 John 1:3). This living relationship with and knowledge of God, in communion with the Apostles, is something which is made real in the Church, the great mystery whereby we become bone of His bone and flesh of His flesh (Ephesians 5:30–32).

Were it not for the Incarnation, there would have been no need for the Church at all. Because of it, however—because there has been this one, profound revolution in the history of man, as Sutea would say—the Church has become the essential sign, messenger, and declaration that what Christians proclaim to be true is in fact the Truth about Jesus Christ. Only because God took a body in the Incarnation to save the world can there be any meaning of the Church as the Body of Christ through which God still saves the world. Apart from that Body, there can be no assurance of the truth and knowledge which are necessary for salvation.

Hence, there is no New Testament evidence of salvation occurring outside of the Church, from the Day of Pentecost until the present. Contact with and incorporation into the Body of Christ, the Church, by water and the Spirit, is the Apostles’ doctrine, not our own. "Christ also loved the church and gave Himself for her, that He might sanctify and cleanse her with the washing of water by the word, that He might present her to Himself a glorious church, not having spot or wrinkle or any such thing, but that she should be holy and without blemish" (Ephesians 5:25–27).

Thus it is in the Church that Christ’s lordship reigns, engrafting us into His divine life, even now on this earth. Here is where we work out our salvation with fear and trembling. Here is where we truly say, "Jesus is Lord," as He sanctifies and cleanses us, as He makes us the glorious Church, His Bride. Here is where we feast on His Body and Blood, without which we cannot have eternal life in us (John 6:51–58). Here is where we give Him glory forever and ever (Ephesians 3:21). To confess Jesus as Lord is to continue in the Church.

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This article is available as a printed booklet from Conciliar Media, a department of the Antiochian Archdiocese, as part of their popular series of attractive and informative booklets and brochures about the basic teachings of the ancient Orthodox Christian faith. To learn more, visit Conciliar's online booklet catalog. This essay is copyrighted by Conciliar Press.

Continued Next Month...

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