The book of Acts provides the clearest picture of how the earliest Christians understood and practiced the gospel response. This appendix catalogs every conversion account in Acts and shows a consistent pattern: when people responded to apostolic preaching, they believed, repented, confessed, and were baptized, typically on the same day and often within the same hour. Chapter 11 discusses these conversions in narrative form; this appendix presents them in tabular form for easy reference and comparison.
Table 12. Conversions in Acts
| Individual / Group | Trusting Belief | Repentance | Confession | Baptism | Key Verses |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Pentecost (3,000) | ✓ Implied | ✓ Explicit | ✓ Explicit | ✓ Explicit | Acts 2:14–41 |
| “Cut to the heart” (v.37), “Repent and be baptized” (v.38), “calls upon the … Lord” (v.21), “Those who received his word were baptized” (v.41) | |||||
| Samaritans | ✓ Explicit | ✓ Implied | ○ Not mentioned | ✓ Explicit | Acts 8:12–13 |
| “When they believed Philip … they were baptized” (v.12) | |||||
| Simon the Magician | ✓ Explicit | ✓ Implied | ○ Not mentioned | ✓ Explicit | Acts 8:13 |
| “Even Simon himself believed, and after being baptized he continued with Philip” (v.18–24) | |||||
| Ethiopian Eunuch | ✓ Explicit | ✓ Implied | ✓ Explicit | ✓ Explicit | Acts 8:35–38 |
| Philip “preached Jesus” (v.35), “I believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God” (v.37), baptized immediately (v.38) | |||||
| Saul/Paul | ✓ Explicit | ✓ Implied | ✓ Explicit | ✓ Explicit | Acts 9:17–18; 22:10, 22:16 |
| “What shall I do, Lord?” (22:10), “calling on his name” (22:16), “arise and be baptized” (9:18) | |||||
| Cornelius & Household | ✓ Explicit | ✓ Implied | ○ Not mentioned | ✓ Explicit | Acts 10:43–48 |
| “Everyone who believes in him receives forgiveness” (v.43), Spirit fell, “commanded them to be baptized” (v.48) | |||||
| Sergius Paulus | ✓ Explicit | ✓ Implied | ○ Not mentioned | ○ Not mentioned | Acts 13:6–12 |
| “Then the proconsul believed, when he saw what had occurred” (v.12) - Roman official’s conversion. | |||||
| Lydia & Household | ✓ Explicit | ✓ Implied | ○ Not mentioned | ✓ Explicit | Acts 16:14–15 |
| “The Lord opened her heart to pay attention” (v.14), “she was baptized, and her household” (v.15) | |||||
| Philippian Jailer | ✓ Explicit | ✓ Implied | ○ Not mentioned | ✓ Explicit | Acts 16:30–34 |
| “What must I do to be saved?” (v.30), “Believe in the Lord Jesus” (v.31), “he was baptized at once, he and all his family” (v.33) | |||||
| Crispus & Household | ✓ Explicit | ✓ Implied | ○ Not mentioned | ✓ Explicit | Acts 18:8a |
| “Crispus, the ruler of the synagogue, believed in the Lord, together with his entire household” | |||||
| Many Corinthians | ✓ Explicit | ✓ Implied | ○ Not mentioned | ✓ Explicit | Acts 18:8b |
| “Many of the Corinthians hearing Paul believed and were baptized”—Greek connects belief and baptism as one event | |||||
| Ephesian Disciples | ✓ Explicit | ✓ Implied | ○ Not mentioned | ✓ Explicit | Acts 19:2–5 |
| Baptism “in the name of the Lord Jesus” after only knowing John’s baptism—shows Apostolic baptism is necessary | |||||
| Others who believed throughout Acts | ✓ Explicit | ✓ Implied | ✓ Implied | ✓ Implied | Acts 2:44, 47; 4:4, 32; 5:14; 6:7; 9:42; 11:21, 24; 13:48; 14:1; 17:12, 34 |
| For the remaining cases, Luke uses “believed” as synecdoche—where trusting belief represents the whole conversion response of saving belief. It was understood that whoever genuinely trusts in Jesus will finish what he commands: repent, confess, and be baptized. Greek writing commonly uses synecdoche to avoid repeating full lists of actions. Therefore, arguing “baptism isn’t mentioned, so it is optional” misuses silence as proof and would, if applied consistently, make belief, repentance, and confession optional whenever they are not mentioned either. We understand the remaining three commands are implied in these summaries because: (1) The doctrine is clearly taught (Acts 2:38; Rom 6:3–4; Rom 10:9–16; Col 2:12, Gal 3:26–27, Acts 22:10–16, 1 Pet 3:20-21, etc.), (2) Every detailed conversion account includes belief and baptism (the initiation and conclusion), with the more detailed accounts also showing repentance and/or confession explicitly, (3) No biblical post-resurrection counterexamples exist where someone “believed” but explicitly wasn’t baptized. The Thief on the Cross is not an exception to this rule—see Appendix F. |