What would it be like to discover that you had done the unthinkable — destroyed the very thing you’d been hoping for your entire life?
In one of the most gripping passages in the New Testament, Peter stands before a crowd of Jewish people on the Day of Pentecost and delivers a devastating revelation. The Messiah they had been waiting for — the promised Saviour that their nation had longed for across almost two millennia — had come. And they had killed him. They had nailed him to a cross. Worse still, God had raised this Jesus from the dead, exalted him to the throne of the universe, and made him both Lord and Christ (Acts 2:36).
The effect is immediate and visceral. Acts 2:37 says the people were “cut to the heart” — a word that, in the original Greek, describes the sensation of being stabbed with a spear. They are overwhelmed with grief, shame, and guilt. Like the tragic figure of Oedipus in ancient Greek literature, who unwittingly fulfilled a terrible prophecy and blinded himself in horror, these people have just learned the enormity of what they have done. And so they ask the most urgent question imaginable: “Brothers, what shall we do?”
A Promise of Salvation
Peter’s answer is extraordinary. Forgiveness, he says, is available even to those who crucified the Son of God. “Repent and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins. And you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit” (Acts 2:38). And then comes the reason — the strong encouragement that drives Peter’s appeal: “For the promise is for you and your children and for all who are far off, for all whom the Lord our God will call” (Acts 2:39).
But what is “the promise”? The use of the definite article — the promise — is significant. Peter does not need to explain which promise he means. His hearers know instantly. It is the ancient, well-known covenant promise that God made to Abraham some two thousand years earlier: “I will establish my covenant as an everlasting covenant between me and your descendants after you for the generations to come, to be your God and the God of your descendants after you” (Genesis 17:7).
This is the golden thread that runs through the entire Bible. “I will be your God and you will be my people.” It echoes through the centuries — from Abraham to Moses to the prophets — and finds its ultimate fulfilment in the new heavens and the new earth, where God declares, “Now at last and forever, I will be your God and you will be my people.”
It is crucial to understand that God has only ever had one plan of salvation. The Old Testament was not “Plan A” that failed, replaced by a “Plan B” in the New Testament. God does not make mistakes. There is one covenant of grace, one promise of salvation, operative from Abraham right through to the present day. As Paul makes crystal clear: “The promise comes by faith so that it may be by grace and may be guaranteed to all Abraham’s offspring” (Romans 4:16). If you are a Christian today, Abraham is your spiritual father — saved from sin in exactly the same way you are: by faith.
For You
The first word of comfort Peter offers is intensely personal. “The promise is for you.” In the original Greek, this pronoun is emphatic — placed first in the sentence for maximum impact. It is as if Peter draws a big red circle around the word: for just such people as you. People who have done terrible things. People who carry the weight of real guilt. People who wonder whether they have gone too far.
The Bible’s answer is clear: where sin abounds, grace much more abounds. This promise of salvation is tailor-made for people in exactly that position — people who need forgiveness and know it.
And Your Children
Then Peter goes further: the promise is for you and your children. Why mention children here? Because the original promise to Abraham was made to three categories of people: Abraham personally, his descendants (the family category), and all the peoples of the earth (the worldwide category). And it is highly significant that on the birthday of the New Testament Church, Peter repeats these exact same three categories: “for you and your children and for all who are far off.”
The promise God made to Abraham two thousand years earlier is still in force and still extends to the same groups of people. As Peter confirms in Acts 3:25: “You are the sons 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.’” It is the same covenant, the same promise, the same blessing — continuing unbroken from Abraham to us.
This is why believers throughout history have given the covenant sign not only to those who have professed faith, but also to their children. In the Old Testament, every Israelite boy received circumcision at eight days old — a symbol of repentance, union with God, and cleansing — long before they could understand any of it. Not because the child had done anything, but because God said: “The promise is for you and for your children.”
An important clarification is necessary here. Giving children the covenant sign does not mean they are automatically Christians. Every covenant child needs to repent and believe the gospel for themselves. There is nothing magical about baptismal water. It does not wash away sins or guarantee salvation. Children are baptised for one reason only: because God declares that they belong to the covenant community and should receive its sign.
Some might object: how can a child receive a sign representing something so deeply spiritual when they cannot possibly understand it? But this objection falls flat in light of God’s own command in the Old Testament. He himself instituted circumcision for eight-day-old infants — children who could not repent, could not understand union with God, could not grasp their need for cleansing. If it was wise for God to command it then, it cannot be foolish now. And nowhere in the New Testament is this arrangement cancelled or reversed. In every way, the New Testament is richer and fuller than the Old — never less. It would be strange indeed if the children of New Testament believers had less status and privilege than the children of Old Testament believers.
And for All Who Are Far Off
The third category stretches the promise to the horizons of the earth. “For all who are far off” — those with no interest in God, who never think about spiritual things, who might seem utterly unreachable. Perhaps they spend their weekends pursuing pleasure or bury themselves in their careers, politely ignoring God altogether. They seem so far off that it is tempting to write them off as hopeless cases.
And yet this promise reaches even them. It fulfils God’s original word to Abraham: “All peoples on earth will be blessed through you” (Genesis 12:3). The scope of salvation is breathtaking — not a narrow offer for a privileged few, but a powerful gospel freely offered to anyone, anywhere, who will repent and believe.
Claiming the Promise
Personally: Perhaps this is exactly the word someone needs to hear. You are conscious that you have sinned against God, that you deserve judgment. Is there any hope? Acts 2:39 answers with a resounding yes. This promise of salvation is for you. God has promised to forgive, and he cannot go back on his word. If he did, he would cease to be God.
For our families: When you find something wonderful, your instinct is to share it with the people closest to you. Surely, as parents, the deepest longing is for children to share in the salvation we have received. Peter’s words are thrilling words full of hope: this promise is for you and your children. God has made a special offer of the gospel to our children. If they reject it, they must fight their way out of extraordinary blessing — smashing through barriers of light and privilege to say no.
For the world: There are people all around us who seem impossibly far from God. And yet there are people in churches today who, just a few years ago, were as far off as it is possible to imagine. This promise gives courage to keep sharing the good news — to speak to that workmate, that neighbour, that person on the bus — knowing that God has held out a promise of salvation for people just like them.
The promise is for you, and your children, and for all who are far off. It is a promise worth claiming — and a promise worth sharing.
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