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NASB | Acts 2:38 Peter said to them, "Repent, and each of you be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins; and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. |
AMPLIFIED 2015 | Acts 2:38 And Peter said to them, "Repent [change your old way of thinking, turn from your sinful ways, accept and follow Jesus as the Messiah] and be baptized, each of you, in the name of Jesus Christ because of the forgiveness of your sins; and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. |
Bible Question: In Romans 6:1-9 mainly vs.4 Our new life starts before or after baptism? |
Bible Answer: First of all, I want to commend you for discussing these issues with dignity and without all of the vitrium that often can accompany these types of controversies. I do think that Romans 6 is a great passage to examine how baptism is so closely linked to our faith. Many people profess faith in Christ and wait years to be baptized, and I stand with you in criticizing this practice as not following the Biblical model. However, like with the Lord's Supper (the other ordinance established by Jesus Christ), it is important to understand that the external is not only a seal as we see in Romans 6, but also a sign pointing to an inward reality. As I said before, baptism should not be confused with saving faith, but neither should it be separated from it. I do not say that baptism saves us (especially baptism alone, which could be construed from this passage out of context), but rather what saves us is the internal work of the Holy Spirit in our hearts, producing repentance and saving faith which in turn produces works in keeping with repentance. We see in both of these ordinances (baptism and the Lord's Supper) symbolic language. "Is not the cup of blessing which we bless a sharing in the blood of Christ? Is not the bread which we break a sharing in the body of Christ?" --1 Corinthians 10:16 'And when He had taken some bread and given thanks, He broke it and gave it to them, saying, "This is My body which is given for you; do this in remembrance of Me." And in the same way He took the cup after they had eaten, saying, "This cup which is poured out for you is the new covenant in My blood."' --Luke 22:19-20 "Therefore whoever eats the bread or drinks the cup of the Lord in an unworthy manner, shall be guilty of the body and the blood of the Lord." --1 Corinthians 11:27 Unless one is a Catholic or a Lutheran, no one believes that the actual body and blood of Jesus Christ is present in any way, despite the apparent words of Jesus to the contrary. However, it is clear from passages above that there is a link between the two. Identification between bread and wine and the flesh of Jesus, without the two being confused. The same is true of baptism. There is an inseparable link between baptism and salvation, but the two must never be confused as being the same thing. Just as the elements of the Lord's Supper point to a reality distinct from it but not separate from it, so baptism points to an inward reality distinct but not separate from it. In other words, if you insist that baptism is literally "being buried with Christ" I would have to ask why the Lord's Supper is not literally "eating His flesh and drinking His blood" as described in John 6. Both are external signs and symbols sealing us visibly in the church yet pointing to a reality expressed elsewhere. So, to answer your question, our new life starts apart from baptism internally, and the promise is maked externally by baptism. --Joe! |