Acts 3:19

Context

In Acts 3, Peter and John heal a man lame from birth at the Beautiful Gate of the Temple in Jerusalem (Acts 3:1–10). This verse is part of the sermon Peter then preaches in Solomon's Porch to the crowd that gathers. Peter opens with "Ye men of Israel" (3:12). He tells his hearers that they delivered Jesus up, yet that they did it "through ignorance" (3:17). He also says that God thereby fulfilled what the prophets had foretold about the sufferings of Christ. Verse 19 is the exhortation that serves as the conclusion of the sermon. Verses 20–21 go on to speak of God sending Christ and of heaven receiving him until the times of restitution of all things.

Interpretation

"Repent ye therefore, and be converted" combines two Greek verbs, one meaning to change one's mind and the other meaning to turn around. "Blotted out" translates a word meaning to wipe away or erase a record. Interpretation divides chiefly over "the times of refreshing," which the New Korean Revised Version renders as "the day of renewal." The underlying Greek word means a catching of breath, or revival.

• Present reading: The phrase is taken to refer to the forgiveness of sins and to the comfort and renewal through the Holy Spirit that the penitent enjoy now. Revivalist traditions favor this reading.
• Eschatological reading: The phrase is read together with verses 20–21 as referring to the restoration to be consummated at the Second Coming of Christ. Many commentators understand it to point to both present experience and future consummation.
• Dispensational reading: Some dispensationalist interpreters regard the words as an offer made to the nation of Israel: if the whole nation repented, the messianic kingdom would come. Interpreters in the covenant theology tradition hold that the promise began to be fulfilled in the church age and will be completed at the Second Coming.

Debates and Issues

• Repentance and grace: The Reformed tradition regards repentance itself as a gift of God (compare Acts 5:31; 11:18), so that the command in this verse is a call to respond to that grace. Wesleyan theology holds that prevenient grace (grace given beforehand so that a person is able to respond) enables human response, and on that basis it explains repentance as preceding justification.
• Relationship to baptism: Acts 2:38 mentions baptism together with repentance, but this verse does not. How the two passages should be read together is therefore discussed differently among denominations.
• Verse division: The Greek critical editions and some translations place the words about "the times of refreshing" in verse 20. As a result, the same phrase is sometimes cited under different verse numbers depending on the translation.
• Citation out of context: The promise is sometimes used solely as a promise of personal emotional recovery or prosperity. Critics of this usage point out that the original audience was Israel and that the promise is tied to the coming of Christ and the restoration of all things.

In the Korean Church

The rendering "the day of being made glad" in the Korean Revised Version has long been familiar to Korean believers. The verse is frequently cited in sermons and revival meetings on the theme of repentance.

Related Passages

• Acts 2:38
• Isaiah 55:6–7
• Matthew 4:17
• Romans 2:4
• Romans 8:19–23