Repentance in Acts  3:19

12     And when Peter saw it, he answered unto the people, Ye men of Israel, why marvel ye at this? or why look ye so earnestly on us, as though by our own power or holiness we had made this man to walk?

13     The God of Abraham, and of Isaac, and of Jacob, the God of our fathers, hath glorified his Son Jesus; whom ye delivered up, and denied him in the presence of Pilate, when he was determined to let him go.

14     But ye denied the Holy One and the Just, and desired a murderer to be granted unto you;

15     And killed the Prince of life, whom God hath raised from the dead; whereof we are witnesses.

16     And his name through faith in his name hath made this man strong, whom ye see and know: yea, the faith which is by him hath given him this perfect soundness in the presence of you all.

17     And now, brethren, I wot that through ignorance ye did it, as did also your rulers.

18     But those things, which God before had shewed by the mouth of all his prophets, that Christ should suffer, he hath so fulfilled.

19             Repent ye therefore, and be converted, that your sins may be blotted out,

Subject Called to Repentance:   Men of Israel

Object of that repentance: Not expressly stated.  Since repentance means "a change of mind," we can only inferentially determine the object of repentance by determining the thinking of those invited to repent.  Peter says, of Jesus' execution, "And now, brethren, I wot that through ignorance ye did it, as also did your rulers."  Peter has softened his tone from his sermon on the day of Pentecost.  Rather than accusing them of delivering Christ up for crucifixion by "wicked hands," he notes that they did it through ignorance.  Since both were probably true in some measure, Peter may have decided that a less accusatory approach would be more effective.  Regardless of Peter's motives or reasoning, the only thing we are told of these Jews is that, through ignorance (vs. 17), they delivered up Jesus (vs. 13), denied him in the presence of Pilate (vs. 13) and chose Barabus ("a murderer") over Jesus when Pilate offered to release one prisoner (vs. 14).  In addition to this inferential information of what these Jews "thought," Peter adds that Jesus was killed and rose from the dead (vs. 15), that these events fulfilled the law and the prophets (vs. 18).  The only thing that can be inferentially regarded as the object of repentance within this passage is the gospel of Jesus Christ.  To repent, to "change one's mind" in a saving way, is to go from unbelief to belief.  To change from rejecting Christ to accepting Christ.

Consequence of Repentance:      "Be converted, that your sins may be blotted out."  The context is plainly soteriological.  Moreover, the rhythm and meter of this passage is profoundly similar to Acts 3:38.  Peter is speaking, his audience is a crowd of Jews to whom he has ascribed some level of culpability for the crucifixion of Jesus, they are told the essential facts of Jesus death and resurrection, they are invited to repent, and they are offered the remission of sins.  This similarity to Acts 2:38 weighs strongly in favor of a soteriological interpretation of Acts 2:38.

Repentance in Acts 3:19