The Preaching of Christ’s Death for Sins in Acts

The epistles you cite are explicit:

• 1 Corinthians 15:3 "how that Christ died for our sins";
• 1 Peter 3:18 "Christ also hath once suffered for sins, the just for the unjust";
• 1 John 2:2 "he is the propitiation for our sins."

These plainly affirm that Christ’s death is substitutionary and sin-bearing. The question is whether the preaching in Acts uses this same explicit formula.

Relevant Texts in Acts

Acts contains several sermons that approach this truth, even if they do not always articulate it in the concise form "Christ died for our sins."

Acts 13:38–39 (Paul)

"Be it known unto you therefore, men and brethren, that through this man is preached unto you the forgiveness of sins: And by him all that believe are justified from all things, from which ye could not be justified by the law of Moses."

Here Paul proclaims forgiveness of sins and justification through Christ, apart from the law. The logic behind such forgiveness in his broader teaching is precisely that Christ died for sins; the epistles simply state the underlying theology more explicitly. The wording in Acts 13 does not say "for our sins" in so many words, but it is very near to that concept.

Acts 10:39–43 (Peter at Cornelius’s house)

"dots whom they slew and hanged on a tree. Him God raised up the third day dots And he commanded us to preach unto the people dots To him give all the prophets witness, that through his name whosoever believeth in him shall receive remission of sins."

Peter emphasizes Christ’s death ("slew and hanged on a tree"), resurrection, and the remission of sins through believing in him. Again the structure is: Christ’s death and resurrection lead to forgiveness. While not phrased "for our sins," it is the same doctrinal nexus: his death is the ground of remission.

Acts 5:30–31 (Peter)

"The God of our fathers raised up Jesus, whom ye slew and hanged on a tree. Him hath God exalted with his right hand to be a Prince and a Saviour, for to give repentance to Israel, and forgiveness of sins."

Here Peter links the crucifixion to Christ’s exaltation as Savior, whose role is "to give repentance to Israel, and forgiveness of sins." In kingdom context, repentance and forgiveness flow from the crucified and risen Messiah. Again, though the formula "for our sins" is not used, the function of his death is to bring about forgiveness.

Why the Different Wording?

So, does anyone in Acts preach that Christ died for sins? In exact epistolary wording, the book does not frequently use the short formula. Instead, Acts presents the events (death, burial, resurrection, exaltation) and their results (forgiveness, justification, repentance, remission of sins, future judgment) in fuller narrative context.

Several points follow:

• Acts is selective history, recording representative sermons rather than full transcripts. We do not have every word Peter or Paul preached.
• The kingdom gospel (as in Peter’s early preaching) and the grace gospel (as later clarified through Paul) both rest upon the same historical core: Christ’s death, burial, and resurrection. However, they are proclaimed with different emphases. Peter, in a kingdom framework, often speaks of repentance and future judgment; Paul, in Acts 13, moves more directly to present-tense justification by faith apart from the law.
• The explicit theological summary "Christ died for our sins" belongs to letters written to believers, where the teacher can condense and systematize the meaning of what was preached.

Significance of the Apparent Omission

The fact that Acts does not constantly repeat the exact wording of 1 Corinthians 15:3 does not indicate a doctrinal omission. Rather, it may expose a tendency in modern evangelicalism to reduce the gospel to a brief slogan.

We often desire a simple formula usable in a closing invitation: "Christ died for your sins." Such summaries are true as far as they go, but they can flatten the richness of the biblical proclamation, which includes:

• Israel’s guilt in crucifying her Messiah;
• God’s vindication of Christ through resurrection and exaltation;
• the call to repentance and faith;
• the offer of justification, forgiveness, and participation in God’s purposes;
• the coming judgment by the risen Christ.

Peter and Paul in Acts preach a robust gospel, not merely a slogan. They proclaim the historical events and interpret them with reference to Israel’s Scriptures, God’s kingdom program, and individual salvation.

Thus, the "omission" is only an omission if we demand that their sermons be cast in our preferred contemporary formulas. When we allow Acts to speak in its own categories, we find that the substance of "Christ died for our sins" is present in the preaching; the epistles then state that substance with doctrinal precision.

questiontransition