REPENTANCE.
"Second—Repentance."
To those who, on the day of Pentecost, believed on the Apostles' words, and had awakened within their hearts faith in the Lord Jesus, Peter gave the law of the Gospel: "Repent, and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins, and ye shall receive the gift of the Holy Ghost. For the promise is unto you, and to your children, and to all that are afar off, even as many as the Lord our God shall call" (Acts ii: 38, 39). This law was universal in its application. It was "to all that are afar off, even as many as the Lord our God shall call."
When John the Baptist came in the wilderness of Judea, as the messenger before the Lord, preaching "the beginning of the Gospel of Jesus Christ, the Son of God," he proclaimed, "Repent ye, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand" (Matt. iii: 2). Of those who presented themselves for baptism he required conformity to the doctrine which preceded it. If they had not repented, the ordinance of baptism was refused to them. When many of the Pharisees and Sadducees came, he called them a "generation of vipers," and demanded that they "bring forth therefore fruits meet for repentance" (Matt. iii: 7, 8). God "commandeth all men everywhere to repent"—to turn from evil and walk in righteousness, for therein only is salvation. The Lord says, "Except ye repent ye shall all likewise perish" (Luke xiii: 3).