One baptism #259
Repentance actually "precedes" believe/believe the gospel/faith in our Lord Jesus Christ (Matthew 21:32; Mark 1:15; Acts 20:21). The church of Christ erroneously reverses the scriptural order of repentance/faith.
Amen! Yet you continue to fight against the truth for the sake of your biased church doctrine. It's called PRIDE.
Response:
And that repentance for the forgiveness of sins should be proclaimed in His name to all the nations, beginning from Jerusalem. (Luke 24: 47)
*What happened to baptism in Luke 24:47?
If repentance for the forgiveness of sins was first proclaimed in His name beginning at Jerusalem, we might suppose that those who are speaking of it would refer to Acts 2 where that proclamation took place. But in this case, they do not. Why? Ask them.
Luke 24:47 says
repentance and remission of sins. *No mention of baptism. 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. This is exactly what Acts 3:19 teaches except that Peter omits the parenthesis. In Acts 5:31, we read - .
.repentance to Israel and remission of sins. *What happened to baptism? *Perfect Harmony
As we read this account, we find that when they heard the message (v. 37) they were pierced to the heart. Did the believe? The record sounds like they did.
What exactly did they believe at this point? They believed "mental assent" that Jesus was the Messiah and they were guilty of crucifying Him.
*That is not saving belief/faith yet. They still needed to repent and believe the gospel.
*Here is where you error: In regards to belief/faith, people who attend the churches of Christ often fail to understand that there is a
deeper, more substantive aspect of belief/faith which is believing in Jesus Christ for eternal life, and most
cannot distinguish between mere intellectual belief or assent from a personal faith that is trusting in Jesus Christ alone for salvation. They will cite that "even the devils believe" (from James 2:19) in their sermons and will contend that even the "faith of devils" is the same as any other faith "except" that the faith of devils lacks any moral or religious good works. You cannot grasp this
DEEPER faith that trusts exclusively in Jesus Christ for salvation. *This explains why you have so much faith in "water and works."
They were made sorrowful, and that sorrow was a godly sorrow which would lead to their repentance. (2 Cor. 7: 10) When they asked what they should do, they were commanded to repent and let each of you be baptized in the name of Christ for the forgiveness of sins.
They needed to repent (change their minds) and believe on the Lord Jesus Christ in order to become saved, just as we saw in Acts 11:17 - they received the Holy Spirit
when they believed on the Lord Jesus Christ and this was BEFORE water baptism (Acts 10:43-47) and in verse 18, we see this was referred to as
repentance unto life. So believe on the Lord Jesus Christ is the new direction of this change of mind in repentance. Those who repent choose to believe and those who believe have already repented. *Two sides to the same coin. And once again, 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. This is exactly what Acts 3:19 teaches except that Peter
omits the parenthesis.
We should notice at least three things; (1) they apparently believed and they were not saved; they were still dead in their sins and trespasses. (2)
They merely believed that they were guilty of crucifying their Messiah, but they had not yet believed on the Lord Jesus Christ and were not saved. They needed to repent first, then believe unto salvation.
Their repentance followed their belief contrary to the statement found in #259. (3) Receiving the Spirit was contingent upon faith, repentance and baptism. (Acts 5: 32; John 7: 39)
Their repentance followed their mental assent belief that they were guilty of crucifying their Messiah, but that is not saving belief yet. They still needed to repent and believe the gospel. Repentance precedes saving belief (Matthew 21:32; Mark 1:15; Acts 20:21) contrary to your confusion about their belief in Acts 2:37. *Notice in Acts 2:37, they asked, "what shall we do?" In Acts 16:30, the question asked was, "what must I do to be saved?" The answer in verse 31 was, "Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and you will be saved." *Fits perfectly with Acts 11:17,18. In Acts 5:31, baptism is not even mentioned and baptism is not the act of obedience that causes us to receive the Holy Spirit in Acts 5:32. Go back and read Acts 11:17,18 - they
received the Holy Spirit when they believed on the Lord Jesus Christ/repentance unto life and this was
BEFORE they were water baptized (Acts 10:43-47).
*Ephesians 1:13 - In Him, you also, after listening to the message of truth, the
gospel of your salvation—having also
believed, you were
sealed in Him with the Holy Spirit of promise.
Are we surprised they were not saved at the moment of faith?
What they believed at that moment before they repented and believed the gospel was not saving faith. Are we surprised that you don't understand the difference between "mental assent" belief that they were guilty of crucifying their Messiah and saving faith in Christ? I'm not surprised at all.
Not really, because John 1: 12, 13 tells us that when one receives Christ by believing in his name we are begotten by God but not born again into God’s family.
Now you go and twist John 1:12-13 in order to try and make it fit your erroneous interpretation of Acts 2:37. *Error begets error. We are given the right to become children of God (which means we actually do become children of God) when we believe in His name. We also see in 1 John 5:13 - These things I have written to you who
believe in the name of the Son of God, that you may
know that you have eternal life.. Yet you say those who believe in His name are not born again into God's family, but John tells us differently.
We become children of God by faith when we are baptized into Christ. (Gal. 3: 26, 27)
That's not what Paul said. You rewrite the Bible to make it fit your church doctrine. Paul clearly said that
we are sons of God through faith in Christ Jesus (.) PERIOD! End of sentence and thought on how we become children of God.
Next sentence, next thought - For as many of you as were baptized into Christ have put on/clothed yourselves with Christ. The Greek word for "put on" is "enduo" and means to enclose oneself in, as when one "puts on" clothes or armor or some other item. Involved in this is the idea of "imitation" and "identification." Just as 1 Corinthians 10:2 says that all (the Israelites) were "baptized into Moses" in the cloud and in the sea, but this does not mean they were literally water baptized into the body of Moses. *You need to rightly divide the word of truth.
Next sentence, next thought. Notice in Galatians 3:27, that those who were baptized into Christ have
put on Christ. Now for the word
“enduo” (put on). This word also appears in Romans 13:14 where we read, “But
put on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make no provision for the flesh, to fulfill it’s lusts.” This exhortation is not to a sinner, telling him to be baptized to “put on” Christ, but it is written to Christians. Evidently then, baptism is not the only way to “put on” Christ. To “put on” Christ is to conform to Him, imitate Him. So it is in baptism; we “put on” Christ, conforming to Him in the ordinance that declares Him to be our Savior. So if we must “put on” Christ to be saved through water baptism, apparently we are not saved yet. We must also “put on” Christ by making no provision for the flesh, to fulfill its lusts (Romans 13:14). Right? Let’s be consistent. We are water baptized BECAUSE we are already children of God through faith (Galatians 3:26), not to become children of God. *We are also
Spirit baptized into the body of Christ (1 Corinthians 12:13) not water baptized.
We receive Jesus by believing in His name; He receives us when we are baptized into Christ.
That's what Campbellism says, but that's not what the Bible says. Your doctrine is completely flawed. You say we receive Jesus by believing in His name, yet we still remain lost. That's not what John 1:12 says or 1 John 5:13. Christ receives us through Spirit baptism, not water baptism. You continue to confuse the PICTURE with the reality.
Are we surprised that repentance follows faith?
Repentance actually DOES NOT follow faith, but I'm not surprised that you are confused, since faith to you is nothing more than "mental assent" belief and your trust and reliance is in "water and works" for salvation. You reverse the scriptural order of repentance and faith.
Not really, why would we change our minds if we did not believe in God? Solemnly testifying to both Jews and Greeks of repentance toward God and faith in our Lord Jesus Christ. Acts 20: 21 In this case we have two classes of individuals, the Jews already believed in God and needed to repent. The Gentiles did not believe in Christ, but if they should, they would also need to repent. Actually this verse confirms the order of events in Acts 2. God bless.
Acts 20:21 does not merely say "believe in God" it says FAITH IN OUR LORD JESUS CHRIST. That is DEEPER than merely believing in the existence of God. Are you really that confused? This is not hard to understand. The Jews who believed in the existence of God needed to repent and the new direction of this change of mind in repentance is FAITH IN OUR LORD JESUS CHRIST. Your argument does not confirm the order of events in Acts 2 because their belief in Acts 2:37 was merely mental assent that they were guilty of crucifying their Messiah. They still needed to
repent and believe on the Lord Jesus Christ/faith in our Lord Jesus Christ in order to become saved. Wow! It just amazes me how you can deny the crystal clear truth!
Again,
I pray to God to open your heart to the truth. You need to REPENT and BELIEVE the gospel.