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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:
Then would you say that all one has to do is be baptized in christs name then they will be saved. What about the thief on the cross he was'nt baptized. acts 2:38 only refers, that this is the name Jesus, he is now identified as messiah to all the jews which were present.Let me ask you when you are baptized in Jesus name only are you accepting the father and the holyspirit as well, or do you think that Jesus is the father and the holy spirit as well. love in Christ RCSCROLL. Matt 28:19 this scripture is after the cross do we listen to Jesus or not. |
Bible Answer: 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. |