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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: Acts 2:38 Repentance and Baptism? |
Bible Note: I remembered a couple more illustrations or points that "shore up" my conclusions. Hopefully all would agree, almost all the examples of salvation involving actual specific persons include baptism AND there seems to be some urgency involved. The Phillipian jailer and his family were baptized that very same night and it appears obvious the time of day was late at night. The Ethiopian enuch saw water and wanted to be baptized right away. No ceremony, none needed. No family, friends but he's obviously on his way back home, anxious to get back to his people like most of us would be, but he's just been handed the most wonderful gift from his God and wants to obey Him instantly. The second illustration, although a little bit of a stretch, I think it's valid and have heard it preached in several sermons. That is the pattern we received from Noah. You remember the circumstances, the world is filled with sin, far worse than it is now but sometimes I worry, we seem to be in a rush to catch up. God tells Noah to build a giant boat on dry land and wait for rain, something he's never seen before. The day comes and Noah escorts his family and cargo on board and please notice the Lord Himself CLOSES the single door to that life giving vessel. A large number of people compare this single door to the single point of entry into the Lord's body. I'm not saying it's only baptism that is that point of entry. I'm saying we have to obey the WHOLE of God's plan of salvation. I guess everyone agrees we have to hear/understand the gospel, repent of our sins and turn from them, confess the name of Jesus as our Lord and Saviour but then so many hesitate to believe in God's simple pattern to complete the process. I'd be the last person in the world to foster the idea of being able to earn our way to Heaven by doing any amount of good works or anything at all. Instead we need to re-read the book of James and understand that the works of good deeds are merely the fruit of our faith. It's faith and works that go hand-in-hand with christianity, proving our dedication to our Lord, so He will keep our names in the Book of Life for Judgment Day. Remember that picture of baptism in Romans 6 is a depiction of Christ's death where we contact the blood of our Saviour. That contact is based on faith. We are most definitely "His workmanship." Without His help, we'd never make it out of this world of temptations and distractions with a hope of anything but torture and Hell for all eternity. Yes, we do need to see our salvation as a gift from God, His Son and the Holy Spirit. But we also need to remember how important blood is to our Father, and we need to make absolutely certain we've got Jesus' blood covering us in our sins. I hope this helps in clarifying my position and God bless. |