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Peter replied, "Repent and be baptized, every one of you, in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins, and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit, for the promise is unto you, and to your children, and to all that are afar off, even as many as the Lord our God shall call.        Acts 2:38-39

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…and repentance and forgiveness of sins will be preached in his name to all nations, beginning at Jerusalem.

Luke 24:47

Now, as noted previously, Jesus’ statement recorded by Luke is often used in defense of such an idea.  But look again at Luke’s words in both passages.  In Luke 24:47 Jesus states that repentance and forgiveness of sins in His name shall be preached to all the "nations".  (The word "nations" refers to different ethnic groups, i.e. the Gentiles.)  This proclamation was to begin at Jerusalem.  Here, you have a message being given to both Jews and Gentiles.  Now, look at Luke’s words in Acts 2.  Peter, preaching at Jerusalem proclaims the need to repent and promises forgiveness of sins in Jesus’ name.  The only difference between the two statements is that in his Pentecost sermon, Peter gives a further detail about how and when the forgiveness of sins was to be obtained—by being baptized.
 

Supporters of this interpretation of Acts 2:38 like to point out that in Luke 24:47 Jesus didn’t mention baptism (in Luke’s record).  They interpret this lack to mean that the gospel message to the Gentiles did not include any requirement to be baptized.  But if this is the true interpretation, it must be noted that Luke's record at Acts 2:38 must be wrong and such a requirement was never proclaimed, even to the Jews on Pentecost, since Jesus specified his message would be the one proclaimed "beginning at Jerusalem".  Maybe the Holy Spirit added something to Jesus’ words without asking???

If the fact--that Luke did not record Jesus mentioning baptism--means, that baptism was not to be proclaimed, then an examination of the different conversion stories in Acts and the Epistles reveals another fact that is difficult to explain.  The conversion stories reveal that Paul and Peter and Philip didn’t understand what message was to be proclaimed.  Philip preached baptism to the Ethiopian eunuch.  The eunuch might have been a Jew, or merely a proselyte—we cannot really know for sure.  Philip preached to the people at Samaria, including baptism in his message.  Again, the people were probably Samaritan "Israelites"—though from their history (see 2 Kings 17) we know they were mostly not, physically, descended from Jacob.  Peter baptized the household of Cornelius, a Roman "God-fearer" to Judaism.  Paul baptized Lydia and her household at Philippi, as well as the jailer and his household.  At Corinth, Paul baptized Crispus (a Jew) and his household and many Corinthians.  At Ephesus, Paul baptized some disciples.  The Epistles testify that Paul preached baptism to the Romans, the Corinthians, the Galatians, the Ephesians and the Colossians—Gentiles!  How should we judge or explain these accounts if the baptism proclaimed by the Holy Spirit through Peter on the day of Pentecost was only for the Jews?