The conversion of Saul, the Apostle Paul
Saul of Tarsus, a Jew, was traveling to Damascus to persecute the church, when a bright light appeared, he fell to the ground; Jesus, our Lord, ask why he was persecuting Me. Saul asked, “Who art thou, Lord?” And He said, “I am Jesus whom you are persecuting.” The Lord instructed Saul, who was blinded, to go in the city and he would be told what he must do. Saul was three days without sight, fasting and praying. Ananias, a disciple, was sent by Jesus to Saul. Many believe and teach that Saul was saved and received the Holy Spirit at the moment of faith. Saul, the Apostle Paul, tell a different story. Four versions of this story are found in Acts 9, 22, 26 and Galatians 1.
[SUP]17 [/SUP]So Ananias departed and entered the house, and after laying his hands on him said, “Brother Saul, the Lord Jesus, who appeared to you on the road by which you were coming, has sent me so that you may regain your sight and be filled with the Holy Spirit.” [SUP]18 [/SUP]And immediately there fell from his eyes something like scales, and he regained his sight, and he got up and was baptized; [SUP]19 [/SUP]and he took food and was strengthened. (Acts 9: 17- 19)
Ananias was sent so that Saul might regain sight and be filled with the Holy Spirit (9: 17) Ananias told Saul, he had been appointed to know His will, see the Righteous One, to hear an utterance from His mouth and to be a witness of what you have seen and heard. (Acts 22: 14, 15) Then Ananias said, Now why do you delay? Get up and be baptized, and wash away your sins, calling on His name. (Acts 22: 16 NASB) Was Paul saved prior to this instruction by Ananias? Clearly, he was not or he would have been saved while still in his sin. What does the Apostle Paul, formerly Saul of Tarsus, say about baptism? Is baptism parenthetical, an adjunct, a picture of realty, merely a symbol, not absolutely necessary, a work that does not save? Or is baptism one of the seven pillars of the unity of the Spirit? (Eph. 4: 3-6) Can we simply ignore the instruction of our Lord to his apostles to go to all the nations and make disciples by baptizing them in the name of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit and teaching them to observe all things commanded?
I see that your absolute obsession with water baptism continues.
Your church should be labeled a water baptism cult. 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 demonstrating the fruit of repentance (Matthew 3:8; Acts 26:20). 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. Campbellites 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 do His will. All of these things characterized Paul
before he was baptized. So, Paul heard and believed in Christ on the road to Damascus. 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 baptized (Acts 9:18). Acts 9 does not specifically tell us when Saul was filled with the Spirit, but 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's 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.
The Greek aorist participle, epikalesamenos, properly translated means "having called" on the name of the Lord. Paul’s calling on Christ's name for salvation preceded his water baptism. It is absurd to think that Paul had not yet called upon the name of the Lord and that water baptism is all the same as calling on the name of the Lord. This "washing away of sin" in water baptism was only "formal" or symbolic. As Greek scholar AT Robertson points out -
baptism here pictures the washing away of sins by the blood of Christ. Water baptism does not wash the soul. This occurred earlier when Paul came to faith in Christ. Jamison, Fausset, and Brown Commentary makes not 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). The thief on the cross was saved when he called on the name of the Lord in faith -
"Lord, remember me when You come into Your kingdom." (Luke 23:43) *The thief was not even water baptized.* As I explained to you before,
no Scripture is to be interpretated in isololation from the totality of Scripture. Practically speaking, a singular and obscure verse is to be subservient to to multiple and clear verses, and not vice versa.
Do we dare diminish the instruction of our Lord to go to all creation and preach the gospel so that he who has believed and has been baptized shall be saved? Surely not!
Mark 16:16 - He who believes and is baptized will 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)
because he has not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God. You twist the instruction of the Lord in order to accommodate your false gospel and diminish what Jesus said in John 3:15,16,18; 5:24; 6:29,40,47; 11:25,26.
The gospel is the "good news" of the death, burial and resurrection of Christ (1 Corinthians 15:1-4) and is the
power of God unto salvation for everyone who
BELIEVES.. (Romans 1:16). The gospel is not a set of rituals to perform, a code of laws to be obeyed or a check list of good works to accomplish (including water baptism) as a prerequisite for salvation. The gospel simply sets forth Christ crucified, buried and risen as the Savior of those who
BELIEVE the gospel by trusting in Christ's finished work of redemption as the ALL-sufficient means of their salvation. When will you BELIEVE?
Paul received the gospel message directly from the Lord; he includes himself in several of the statements about baptism? All of us, he says, who were baptized into Christ, were baptized into his death, therefore we have been buried with Him in order that we might walk in newness of life. For if we have become united with Him in the likeness of His death we certainly will be united with Him in the likeness of His resurrection; knowing that our old self was crucified with Him, that our body of sin might be done away that we should no longer be slaves to sin; for he who has died is freed from sin. (Rom. 6: 3-7) Does that appear unimportant? Can we in any way considered ourselves to be disciples if we have not died with Him in baptism?
Nobody is saying that water baptism is unimportant, but you are confusing the symbol with the reality. As Greek scholar AT Robertson explains - Baptism is the public proclamation of one's inward spiritual relation to Christ attained before the baptism. See on "Galatians 3:27" where it is like putting on an outward garment or uniform. Into his death (ei ton qanaton autou). So here "unto his death," "in relation to his death," which relation Paul proceeds to explain by the
symbolism of the ordinance. We were buried therefore with him by means of baptism unto death (sunetaphmen oun autwi dia tou baptismato ei ton qanaton). Second aorist passive indicative of sunqaptw, old verb to bury together with, in N.T. only here and Colossians 2:12 . With associative instrumental case (autwi) and "by means of baptism unto death" as in verse Colossians 3. In newness of life (en kainothti zwh). The picture in baptism points two ways, backwards to Christ's death and burial and to our death to sin (verse Colossians 1 ), forwards to Christ's resurrection from the dead and to our new life pledged by the coming out of the watery grave to walk on the other side of the baptismal grave (F. B. Meyer). There is the further picture of our own resurrection from the grave.
It is a tragedy that Paul's majestic picture here has been so blurred by controversy that some refuse to see it. It should be said also that a symbol is not the reality, but the picture of the reality. Water baptism is the PICTURE, NOT THE CAUSE.
Paul’s sins were washed away when he was baptized, because when he obeyed he, like all of us, was sprinkled with the blood of Christ. (1 Peter 1: 2)
False. Baptism is the emblem of the washing away of sins by the death of Christ. Every time a believer is immersed he washes away his sins in the same SENSE Paul did: not literally, but ceremonially, pointing to the death of Christ by which sins were actually washed away.
When he was baptized, he called upon the name of the Lord for a clean conscience;
Once again, the Greek aorist participle, epikalesamenos, properly translated means "having called" on the name of the Lord. Paul’s calling on Christ's name for salvation preceded his water baptism. It is absurd to think that Paul had not yet called upon the name of the Lord and that water baptism is all the same as calling on the name of the Lord. This "washing away of sin" in water baptism was only "formal" or symbolic. It did not refer to the washing of the soul. This occurred earlier when Paul came to faith in Christ.
Jamison, Fausset, and Brown Commentary makes not 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).
Peter tells us that baptism is an appeal to God for a good conscience. (1 Peter 3: 21)
In 1 Peter 3:21, Peter tells us that baptism now saves you, yet when Peter uses this phrase
he continues in the same sentence to explain exactly what he means by it. He says that baptism now saves you-
not the removal of dirt from the flesh (that is, not as an outward, physical act which washes dirt from the body--that is not what saves you),
"but an appeal to God for a good conscience, through the resurrection of Jesus Christ" (that is, as an inward, spiritual transaction between God and the individual, a transaction that is symbolized by the outward ceremony of water baptism). Just as the eight people in the ark were "saved THROUGH water" as they were IN THE ARK. They were not literally saved "by" the water. Hebrews 11:7 is clear on this point
(..built an ARK for the SAVING of his household). *NOTE: The context reveals that ONLY the righteous (Noah and his family) were DRY and therefore SAFE. In contrast, ONLY THE WICKED IN NOAH'S DAY CAME IN CONTACT WITH THE WATER AND THEY ALL PERISHED.
Some say the verse should read, Arise, and be baptized, and wash away your sins, having called on the name of the Lord previously.” True,
Even you admit it! TRUE!
but immaterial because “Having called on the name of the Lord” refers to just having been baptized. Remember his sins had not been washed away in three days of fasting and prayer. If he had previously, effectively called on the name of the Lord, he would not have still been in sin.
*Again, Jamison, Fausset, and Brown Commentary makes not 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).
Some say that Paul received the Holy Spirit before he was baptized; a more careful reading of Act 9: 17 reveals that the statement about the Holy Spirit was made in reference to Ananias’ responsibilities not about the time of Paul’s reception of the Spirit.
Again, 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 baptized (Acts 9:18). Acts 9 does not specifically tell us when Saul was filled with the Spirit, but 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.
According to Paul, the Holy Spirit is given to sons of God (Gal. 4: 6) and according to Paul, one become a son when he is by faith baptized into Christ and clothed with Christ. (Gal. 3: 26, 27)
That's not what Paul said. You twisted these verses to accommodate your false teaching.
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.. as I thoroughly explained in post #8.
According to Paul, he was by/ in/ with one Spirit, baptized into one body and made to drink of the one Spirit. (1 Cor. 12: 13)
This is Spirit baptism (hence, by one SPIRIT) baptized into one body and made to drink into one Spirit. *Also see John 4:10-14; 7:37-39 in regards to "drink/water/Spirit."
According to Paul he was blessed with every spiritual blessing in Christ; he was baptized into Christ; this includes redemption, the forgiveness of sins, (Eph. 1: 4, 7, Col 1: 14), salvation (2 Tim. 2: 10), sonship (Gal. 3: 26,27), eternal life (1 John 5; 10, 11) and everything else we receive by being baptized into Christ and His death. God bless.
By being
Spirit baptized into Christ. Water baptism is the PICTURE, but NOT the reality. You continue to confuse the picture with the reality. The natural man does not understand and is spiritually discerned. When will you BELIEVE?