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Results from: Answers On or After: Thu 12/31/70 Author: GStrecker Ordered by Date |
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Results | Verse | Author | ID# | |||
1 | Who may receive the baptism of the H.S.? | Acts 2:38 | GStrecker | 7102 | ||
No, God is still pouring out His Spirit today. Acts 2:38-39 says "Then Peter said unto them, Repent, and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins, and ye shall receive the gift of the Holy Ghost. 39 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." In this statement, Peter made the gift of the Holy Ghost available to all that are called of the Lord to be Christians. He told those listening to him that day that the gift was for them, and their children (those who came after them) all that are afar off (speaking of other future generations beyond their immediate children) and even as many as the Lord would call (that means throughout history). In John Chapter 3 Jesus said man had to be born of the water and the Spirit in order to enter the kingdom of God. The Apostles carried the concept forth as baptism in water and the receiving of the gift of the Holy Ghost that in their day and today also comes with an outward physical manifestation, the initial sign of speaking in other tongues as the Spirit give the utterance. This experience is available to every believer. The Bible teaches that God may fill a believer either before or after water baptism is administered. We believe baptism at some point is a necessity, however, because Jesus said in Mark 16:16 "He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved; but he that believeth not shall be damned." Water baptism is a faith issue. Just as God told Noah that He was sending a flood and told Noah to build a boat, He tells believers today that they are under condemnation until they wash away their sins calling on the name of the Lord. Just imagine what would have happened to Noah and his family if he had not built the boat! To receive the gift of the Holy Ghost, you do not have to beg God for it. First, take a moment to confess and repent of any sin in your life. If you have not yet asked Jesus to be your Lord and Saviour, then the sinners prayer would be appropriate. Then thank God for His forgiveness. Next tell God that you wish to receive the gift of His Spirit and begin to praise Him and thank Him for working in your life. Praise Him out loud. The Lord loves to hear the fruit of our lips in praise to Him. Keep on praising and pushing through until you feel His presence and watch what happens next! You may feel an intense tingling sensation all over your body. Tears of joy may flow from your eyes, and your lips and tongue may begin to shake and stammer. At this point you may spontaneously begin speaking in another language or feel the urge to say words that you don't understand. Try to say them until a clear language is being spoken. Remember it is still you who form and speak the words "as the Spirit gives the utterance." God does not force himself on people and will not take you over or "possess" you. You will understand what Isaiah meant when he said: Isa 28:11 For with stammering lips and another tongue will he speak to this people. Isa 28:12 To whom he said, This is the rest wherewith ye may cause the weary to rest; and this is the refreshing: yet they would not hear. May God bless you and fill you with His Holy Spirit! |
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2 | where does he ask that,baptized or not | Acts 2:38 | GStrecker | 6716 | ||
Yes, it is true that one must recognize Jesus, accept His sacrifice and repent. This is the heart issue, otherwise baptism is nothing more than taking a bath. However we are also dealing with a faith issue here. It is easy for people to go around saying "Yes, I believe," but it is another thing entirely to put that belief into action. Someone can give me a check and I can believe that I have been given some money, but unless I deposit or cash the check it does me no good. God is asking believers to give Him more than mere lip service. He is asking for us to show Him that we love Him by obeying His command to baptize and to be baptized. It is an act of commitment and when we are baptized we let the world and the devil see by our actions that we have chosen to be publicly identified with the death, burial, and resurection of Jesus Christ. As I said in a previous message, there are most certainly exceptions to the rule and Jesus is merciful, but that doesn't mean we should throw out the rule and live by the exceptions. That crosses the line into disobedience and rebellion. God instituted the sacrament, Jesus commanded it in His own words. Should mere man thumb his nose at almighty God, Who holds our salvation in His hand, by telling Him that we don't accept His way of doing things and He will have to accept us on our terms? God will be the judge in the end. |
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3 | Matt 28:19 Words of Christ or not | Acts 2:38 | GStrecker | 6681 | ||
An answer I saw on this subject came from a Q and A post on the 700 Club's web site. The question was, "Is baptism in Jesus name valid?" Their minister answered, "Yes, because Paul states that in Jesus dwells the fullness of the Godhead bodily. (Col 2:9)" The argument comes down to the age old question of who exactly is Jesus Christ. Jesus declared that He was the Great I AM when He told the Pharasees "Before Abraham was, I am." My answer is that Jesus Christ is YHWH aka Yahweh or Jehovah God of the Old Testament manifested in human flesh. The name Jesus is Yehoshua in Hebrew, shortened to Y'shua by the Jews in order to avoid misuse of the divine name of God represented in the first sylible of His name. It is literally one of the many compound "Names of God" found in the Scripture such as Jehovah Girah (The Lord that Provides) or Jehovah Nissi (The Lord our banner). Translated it means "Jehovah has become our salvation" or "Jehovah the Saviour". Jesus literally came in His Father's name. In Isaiah God said through the prophet, "Isa 43:11 I, even I, am the LORD; and beside me there is no saviour. Isa 43:12 I have declared, and have saved, and I have showed, when there was no strange god among you: therefore ye are my witnesses, saith the LORD, that I am God." When Isaiah prophesied the birth of Jesus, he identified who the son really would be. In one scripture he stated that his name would be called Emmanuel, translated God with us. In another verse he went further: Isa 9:6 For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given: and the government shall be upon his shoulder: and his name shall be called Wonderful, Counsellor, The mighty God, The everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace. Can you see that Isaiah is saying that Jesus IS the mighty God and the Everlasting FATHER? Remember there is only one God. Jesus is not a separate God but an intergral part of the whole. In Matthew 28:19 we have 3 prepositional phrases modifying the singular noun "name". The command says to baptize in the NAME (a singular name)of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost. The Father's name is not "Father", and we know that the Son's name is Jesus. God is a Spirit that is Holy, hense Holy Spirit, not a separate entity or person. The Hebrew name Yehoshua incorporates the name Yahweh and is literally one of the compound names of God given in scripture. This is why the NAME Jesus qualifies as the singular name to be used in baptism. This is why the Apostles used only the saving name of Jesus when they baptized. They were not being a bunch of rebellious fishermen who were ignoring Jesus the moment He returned to heaven. Jesus spent 40 days with them after His resurection expanding their understanding of scripture. They knew and understood without a doubt who Jesus is. Thomas called Him, "My Lord and my God." They declared that Jesus is Lord, to the glory of God the Father. Lord (Adoni) was a substitute word used by the Jews whenever they read the YHWH tetramagration that represented the personal name of God. Jesus is the name above every other name and at the name of Jesus every knee shall bow and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is LORD. As to the thief on the cross, Jesus said that while he was on the earth He had the power to forgive sins. The thief on the cross confessed and repented and went directly to Jesus and called upon Him for forgiveness. Jesus granted it. The New Testament was not yet given because Jesus had not yet died. There were many Old Testament saints who died before God sent John the Baptist and they were certainly not all lost. Did you know that the Jews practiced a form of ritual baptism in their temple worship? Since the thief on the cross was a Jew, he must have at some point in his life participated in the Jewish ceremonial bath of cleansing. It could also be argued that the thief is an exception to the rule allowed by Jesus in His mercy. As with most exception to rules, they are allowed only in extreme circumstances, but under normal circumstances you should not make the exception the rule. Here is an extreme example. I used to be a firefighter. If I was responding to a fire alarm I was allowed to break certain traffic laws. I could exceed the normal speed limits under certain circumstances, I could drive on the wrong side of the road or down the middle of the road to bypass other traffic, I could even drive the wrong way up a one way street in order to position my fire engine to fight the fire. Under normal circumstances if I tried to do any of those things without my big red truck, with lights and sirens going, the cops would take me to jail. A refusal to obey God when you have been given chance after chance to believe and obey is going to be taken into account when He asks why someone did not get baptized. |
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4 | Pre-Forum thinking? | Acts 2:38 | GStrecker | 6668 | ||
Dear Charis, Baptism, the passing through the waters, is a very strongly emphasized doctrine in the scriptures and is ordained of God. Note the following: 1. God condemned the world through the use of a flood, saving only Noah and his family through the water. 2. God brought the children of Israel through the waters of the Red Sea and then condemned and drowned the following Egyptians (symbolic of the world order). 3. God brought the Israelites who had not disobeyed Him in the wilderness through the waters of the Jordan River into the promised land. 4. God sent John the Baptist to preach repentance and baptism for the remission of sins. 5. Jesus declared to Nicodemus that you must be born of the water (baptism) and the Spirit (infilling of the Holy Spirit) in order to see the kingdom of God. 6. Jesus and His disciples practiced baptism of converts before His death. 7. Jesus stated in Mark 16:15-16 "He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved, but he that believeth not shall be damned." 8. After being filled with the Holy Ghost at Pentecost, Peter restates Jesus' doctrine outlined to Nicodemus by telling the Jews who asked, "What must we do," to "Repent and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins, and ye shall receive the gift of the Holy Ghost." Do you see a pattern beginning to form??? Read the book of Acts and see the Apostles baptizing everywhere they went in Jesus name and laying hands on people for them to receive the gift of the Holy Ghost. |
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5 | Jesus' name baptism? | Acts 2:38 | GStrecker | 6663 | ||
Matthew 28:19 stands alone in scripture in its language. In all other places in scripture where it describes the carrying out of Jesus' command, we see it administer "in the name of Jesus Christ" or some variation, but always with the saving name of Jesus being mentioned. Moreover, the historical administration of baptism "in Jesus name" is well documented outside of the Bible in early church documents. Several Catholic popes are even documented as accepting baptism administered in the name of Jesus only to be a valid baptism. The formula was not officially changed until the Council of Nicea sometime around 325 A.D. If you would like to see more information on this subject, I invite you to visit our website at: http://www.pentecostalsonline.org and take a look at some of our articles and Bible Studies on the Articles page. |
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