“Get
up [anastas, 22:16, with the participle functioning as an imperative], get
yourself baptized [baptisai, aorist middle imperative, thus indicating
action that ls self-referential rather than purely passive: “Be baptized”], and
wash away [apolousai, aorist middle imperative, again reflecting Paul’s
initiative] your sins [tas hamartias sou],” the first time Paul’s
actions are described as sinful. Paul’s action thus qualifies as a baptismal
initiation that bestows forgiveness of sins, comparable to that of his
fellows Jews on the Day of Pentecost. “Calling on his name,” meaning the name
of the Lord Jesus, connotes prayer, especially confessional prayer, yet here expresses
newly redirected loyalty. (Carol R. Holladay, Acts: A Commentary [The
New Testament Library; Louisville, Ky.: Westminster John Knox Press, 2016], 425,
emphasis in bold added)
Peter’s
remark in Acts 10:47 equates the gentiles’ reception of the Holy Spirit with
that of the apostles and other Jews at Pentecost: “they have received the Holy
Spirit in the same way we did.” As at Pentecost, baptism in the name of Jesus
Christ is required for gentiles to be admitted to full fellowship (2:38; 8:16;
19:5; cf. 1 Cor 1:13-15); and given the promise in the concluding words of
Peter’s sermon (10:43), baptism also bestows forgiveness of sins. Peter’s
willingness to remain a few days with these new gentile converts signals his
full acceptance of them and his willingness to fellowship with them (cf. John
4:40). (Ibid., 240, emphasis added)
