Re: Since Acts 2:38 teaches that the baptism commanded is "for the remission of sins,
Not everyone who says to Me, "Lord, Lord, will enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father who is in heaven. (Mt. 7: 21)
The will of the Father is
not salvation by works. John 6:40 - For my Father's
will is that everyone who
looks to the Son and believes in Him (not looks to your works and believes in them - Matthew 7:22)
shall have eternal life, and I will raise him up at the last day.
He who has believed and has been baptized shall be saved. (Mk. 16: 16)
He who has believed and has been baptized shall be saved
(general cases without making a qualification for the unusual case of someone who believes but is not baptized) but he who
does not believe will be condemned. The omission of baptized with "does not believe" shows that Jesus does not make baptism absolutely essential to salvation. Condemnation rests on unbelief, not on a lack of baptism. So salvation rests on belief. NOWHERE does the Bible say "baptized or condemned." If water baptism is absolutely required for salvation, then why did Jesus not mention it in the following verses? (3:15,16,18; 5:24; 6:29,40,47; 11:25,26). What is the
ONE requirement that Jesus mentions
9 different times in each of these complete statements?
BELIEVES. *What happened to baptism? *Hermeneutics. John 3:18 - He who
believes in Him is not condemned; but he who (is not water baptized? - NO)
does not believe is condemned already, because he
has not (been water baptized? - NO)
believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God.
I tell you, no, but unless you repent, you will all likewise perish. (Lk. 13: 3)
Unless we repent "change our mind" we won't believe the gospel and become saved. Those who believe the gospel have already repented in the process of changing their mind and choosing to believe the gospel. "I believe the gospel but never repented" is an OXYMORON.
He who believes in the Son has eternal life, but he who does not obey the Son shall not see life, but the wrath of God abides on him. (John 3: 36)
I see you prefer this translation because of the word "obey" instead of believe, which you confuse with works salvation. Obey the Son does not mean do extra works for Him in order to help Him save you, but obey by choosing to believe. If John wanted to make obedience the central theme in salvation here, he would have said: "He who believes
and obeys the Son has eternal life," but that is not what John said. To believe on the Son is to obey Him and to disbelieve the Son is to disobey Him. The King James Version renders this same verse as: He that believeth on the Son hath everlasting life: and he that believeth not the Son shall not see life; but the wrath of God abideth on him. The Greek word translated as "believeth not" in that verse is apeitheo and it means: not believe, disobedient, obey not, unbelieving. Strong’s definition of apeitheo is "to disbelieve willfully and perversely." In the context of 3:36, to not obey the Son means to reject His message by refusing to believe.
And it shall be, that everyone who calls on the name of the Lord shall be saved. (Acts 2: 21)
When you call on the name of the Lord you trust in Him to come to your aid. Inherent in your calling is the essential faith that He can and will help you. So to call on the name of the Lord is to call on Him in belief, trust, reliance that He will save you. This is not some additional requirement that we accomplish after having been saved through faith.
Repent and let each one of you be baptized in the name of Christ for the forgiveness of your sins; and you shall receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. (Acts 2: 38)
In Acts 2:38, "for the remission of sins" does not refer back to both clauses, "you all repent" and "each one of you be baptized," but refers only to the first. Peter is saying "repent unto the remission of your sins," the same as in Acts 3:19. The clause "each one of you be baptized" is parenthetical. Faith in Jesus Christ "implied in genuine repentance" (rather than water baptism) brings the remission of sins and the gift of the Holy Spirit (Acts 2:38; 3:19; 10:43-47; 11:17,18; 15:8,9; 16:31). *Perfect Harmony* Notice when the Gentiles received
the gift of the Holy Spirit (compare with Acts 2:38 -
the gift of the Holy Spirit) in Acts 10:43-47. *BEFORE WATER BAPTISM.*
Praising God, and having favor with all the people. And the Lord was adding to their number day by day those that were being saved. (Acts 2: 47)
Acts 4:4 - However, many of those who heard the word
believed; and the number of the men came to be about five thousand. Acts 5:14 - And
believers were increasingly added to the Lord, multitudes of both men and women. Water baptism FOLLOWS saving belief in Christ.
And now why do you delay? Arise, and be baptized, and wash away your sins, calling on His name. (Acts 22: 16)
The first question that must be answered is "when was Paul saved?" Paul tells that he did not receive or hear the Gospel from Ananias, but rather he heard it directly from Christ. Galatians 1:11-12 says, "For I would have you know, brethren, that
the gospel which was preached by me is not according to man. For I neither received it from man, nor was I taught it, but I received it through a revelation of Jesus Christ." Paul had repented (Acts 9:6). "Lord, what will you have me to do?" Repentance means a "change of mind," and is wrought by the grace of God. Paul once persecuted the Lord (Acts 9:5), but is now ready to serve Him. Paul had believed. He had Christ as his Lord (Acts 9:6). The Bible tells us that "no man can say that Jesus is Lord except "by" the Holy Spirit (1 Corinthians 12:3). Paul had, by the work of the Holy Spirit, submitted to Christ as Lord. Paul prayed (Acts 9:11). "Behold, he is praying," the Lord said to Ananias. This indicates that Paul's praying was pleasing to God. People in the church of Christ teach that God does not hear an unsaved man's prayer, quoting in this regard John 9:31 - "We know that God does not listen to sinners. He listens to the godly man who does his will." Well, Paul was a worshipper of God, calling Christ "Lord" and ready to serve Him. All of these things characterized Paul before he was baptized. So, Paul heard and believed in Christ prior to getting water baptized. Paul had already believed in Christ when Ananias came to pray for him to receive his sight (Acts 9:17). It also should be noted that Paul at the time when Ananias prayed for him to receive his sight, he was filled with the Holy Spirit (Acts 9:17)--this was
before he was water baptized (Acts 9:18). Verse 17 connects his being filled with the Spirit with the receiving of his sight. We know that he
received his sight prior to his water baptism. It is also interesting that when Paul recounted this event again later in Acts (Acts 26:12-18), he did not mention Ananias or what Ananias said to him at all. Verse 18 again would confirm the idea that Paul received Christ as Savior on the road to Damascus since here Christ is telling Paul he will be a messenger for Him concerning forgiveness of sins for Gentiles as they have faith in Him. It would seem unlikely that Christ would commission Paul if Paul had not yet believed in Him and was not saved.
Jamison, Fausset, and Brown Commentary makes note of the importance of the Greek in Ananias' statement. When Ananias tells Paul to "arise, be baptized, wash away your sins, calling on the name of the Lord," the tense of the last command is literally "having called" (aorist middle participle). "Calling on [epikalesamenos] --- 'having (that is, after having) called on,' referring the confession of Christ which preceded baptism." [Jamison, Fausset, and Brown Commentary, vol. 3 pg. 160]. Kenneth Wuest picks up on this Greek nuance and translates the verse as follows: "And now, why are you delaying? Having arisen, be baptized and wash away your sins, having previously called upon His Name." (Acts 22:16, Wuest's Expanded NT). Scripture must harmonize with other scripture. As with any single verse or passage, we discern what it teaches by first filtering it through what we know the Bible teaches on the subject at hand. In the case of baptism and salvation, the Bible is clear that salvation is by grace through faith in Jesus Christ, not by works of any kind, including baptism (Ephesians 2:8-9; Titus 3:5; 2 Timothy 1:9). So, any interpretation which comes to the conclusion that baptism, or any other work which follows faith, is necessary for salvation, is a faulty interpretation. Faith is not baptism and faith precedes baptism and we are saved through faith. It's just that simple. Not hard to understand, just hard for works salvationists to ACCEPT.