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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. |
Subject: To be saved must we be baptised? |
Bible Note: Hi Tim, I came across a section on the Internet the other day that makes a lot of sense by Charles T. Buntin. In all the vastness of our world, in all of the diversity of religious beliefs, there are only two essential types of belief, works and Grace. There seem to be many differences between the world’s religions, but they are all essentially the same they all center around human works. All involve human beings accomplishing a task or set of tasks to achieve a goal and receive a reward. The tasks may be different, the goal may have differing names, and the reward may be called many things (Heaven Paradise, Nirvana), but the principle underlying all of them is the same Quid Pro Quo, which is Latin for this for that. In the world’s religions, salvation (righteousness, oneness with the Infinite, perfect nothingness, or whatever is the term in a particular religion) is earned by what one does. Unfortunately, within this group of religions based on human effort are many species of religion that go by the name of Christianity. Paradigm 1:Works (Followed by most religions, including much of so-called Christianity.) World Religions Pseudo Christian Version We work our way to God, salvation, Nirvana, Paradise In salvation, we are returned to where Adam was before the Fall. God (or whatever represents deity) judges our progress as we go along Even after salvation, We still have God as our Judge Attainment of Godhood, salvation, Paradise, Nirvana depends upon us Our will and our efforts determine whether or not we go to heaven Paradigm 2: Salvation by GRACE 1) Salvation is 100 percent a work of God we are unable, because of our bondage to sin and rebellion, to do anything meriting God’s favor. (2) God reaches down to save people He conceived the plan, He sent His Son to accomplish the plan He does 100 percent of the work. (3) When we experience what the Bible calls the New Birth (Jn 3:3-8), we are then SAVED, we pass from death to life (Eph 2:1-6, Jn 5:24, 6:40, 6:47). (4) As a part of the gift of Salvation, we become adopted children of God (Gal 3:26-4:7). (5) When we sin, God deals with us as a Father to a child (Heb 12:4-8). (6) God’s Grace and actions are the determining factors in our salvation, even to include His working in our lives to develop a lifestyle consistent with salvation. (Eph 2:8-10, Phil. 2:12-13) You might ask, If this is all a work of God, where do I fit in the process? The answer is you must believe, you must exercise faith in Christ for salvation. (Rom 10:9-13, Acts 16:30-31). This exercise is not a work, however, because is involves no ability on our part and no effort on our part. That is the hard thing to understand about faith it is not an action, it is a surrender, a throwing up of the hands and saying, I can do nothing in myself. Tim, I think one of the big problems is that we get into discussions with people that have studied the Bible and have verses that they use to back up their pet humanistic assumptions but if they aren’t truly saved yet by GRACE they can’t really know what the truth is and no matter how hard we try they will never understand us until God reveals the truth to them. Since God resist arrogance they probably never will come to the knowledge of the truth because they are still depending on their doing something no matter how much they use the name of Jesus and falsely claim they are trusting in him. Matthew 16:17 And Jesus answered and said unto him, Blessed art thou, Simon Barjona: for flesh and blood hath not revealed it unto thee, but my Father which is in heaven. Until the Father reveals truth to them we are like beating our heads on a brick wall. People cannot comprehend the function of God’s grace until He does the work in them; it is the same as trying to talk to a dead man, they can’t hear it. 1 Cor. 2:14 But the natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God: for they are foolishness unto him: neither can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned. CDBJ |