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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, why people delay baptism |
Bible Note: srbaegon, Steve, "3. After Constantine came to power and Christianity became popular, theologians shifted to infant baptism. It was safe to do. 4. During the middle ages, baptismal regeneration came into vogue. By the 1300's,baptism was considered the beginning step of a seven-step process to get to heaven. Roman Catholics still abide by these today." The above is not quite accurate. Augustine (354-386 A.D.), who was not baptized as an infant, but as an adult becasue his father was a pagan, while his mother was a Chritian, stated that the doctrine of infant baptism was handed down from the Apostles. He said this in the context of settleing a dispute brought to him about whether parents had to wait until the eight day to baptize because "baptism is the circumcsion of Christ" or if they could baptize their children sooner. He sided with those who did not want to wait. The dispute in Christian families was not about infant baptism itself, that was agreed upon but rather about whetehr it could be done before the eight day. It is true that Catholic theology did not fully develope and limit the exact numeber of sacrament to seven until the 1300's, but they were all practiced from Apostolic times and the earliest Church Fathers allowed only the baptized to receive the other sacraments and in particular the Eucharist. The seven sacrament are not a "seven step process to get into heaven." However, baptism is necessary before the other sacraments can be received. The vast majority of Catholics never receive all seven sacrament if for no other reason than the fact that those who receive Holy Orders, do not, except in unusual circumstances, receive the sacrament of Matrimony and vice versa. What the Church actually teaches is this: "1129 The Church affirms that for believers the sacraments of the New Covenant are necessary for salvation. "Sacramental grace" is the grace of the Holy Spirit, given by Christ and proper to each sacrament. The Spirit heals and transforms those who receive him by conforming them to the Son of God. The fruit of the sacramental life is that the Spirit of adoption makes the faithful partakers in the divine nature [Cf. 2 Pet 1:4] by uniting them in a living union with the only Son, the Savior." This teaching must see in its fuller context of the Church's teaching on grace. It is not a mechanical process by any means. Emmaus |