The Day of Pentecost is one of the most important events in Bible. It is the beginning of the church. It is the outpouring of the Holy Spirit. On that day the promise and hope for an ongoing presence of God in the life of the believer was proclaimed.The Apostles were given a special gift of the Holy Spirit and began to preach to the crowds. Peter’s sermon provoked an important question: What Shall we do? Many in the crowd realized that they were guilty. At this point they had feelings of guilt and remorse.God uses guilt to stir our conscience when we realize that we had done wrong, when we have sinned. Guilt is to cause us to repent, change what we have been doing that is not according to God’s will.Yet, many ignore guilt, block it out of our mind, deny that it exists. It makes us feel bad about ourselves. Many health experts tell us that this “unresolved guilt” causes physical problems and a general failure to pursue a healthy lifestyle, but more than that it leads to negative behaviors— addictions, excesses, destroyed relationships, and even criminal activity. Still it leads to a destroyed spiritual life. We lose joy, peace, and happiness.Guilt steals our inner contentment. We have feelings of insecurity. We do not feel right with God and others. We suffer unnecessarily— because guilt can be resolved.The message of Jesus Christ is for the guilt! Peter’s sermon on the Day of Pentecost gives an answer as to what to do with our guilt. We need to hear Peter’s liberating message. When many heard Peter’s sermon, they were convicted with guilt. Peter’s response was first “to repent!” (Acts. 2:38). Repentance is the conviction that one needs to stop doing what was wrong and change one’s life. Now Paul tells us, “Godly sorrow brings repentance that leads to salvation and leaves no regret, but worldly sorrow brings death” (2 Corinthians 7:9). So sorrow of guilt is not the final answer.Peter continues in his call to repent and adds that they need to be baptized. The repentance that beings salvation—that gets rid of guilt must be followed up by a commitment to Jesus Christ. Peter kept pleading with them to repent and have faith in Christ (Acts 2:40). Then those who accepted Peter’s message, who chose to repent, were baptized (Acts 2:41).There are important truths to be learned. When ...
