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NASB | Acts 24:3 we acknowledge this in every way and everywhere, most excellent Felix, with all thankfulness. |
AMPLIFIED 2015 | Acts 24:3 ¶ in every way and in every place, most excellent Felix, we acknowledge this with all gratitude. |
Bible Question: Where did the custom of telling the lost that in order to be saved, one must "accept Christ" originate, when this term is not found in the scriptures in reference to true salvation by God's grace? |
Bible Answer: In deference to my fine colleagues on the Forum, I believe the key issue under consideration is a semantic, not a theological, one. The first definition of "accept" in Merriam-Webster's Collegiate Dictionary is "to receive willingly." To receive and to accept mean virtually the same thing; I see no merit of one term over the other. Paul in 2 Cor. 6:2 uses a word that the NASB and other translators rendered as "acceptable" in this passage: "Behold, now is the acceptable time, behold now is the day of salvation." Webster's first definition of "acceptable" is "capable or worthy of being accepted." I'm as conservative a creature as just about anyone who ever came down the pike, but I fail to see anything instrinsically non-scriptural with accept in the context of "to accept Christ." It is a monument to the richness and scope of the English language to have synonyms such as "receive" available for those whose orientation leads them feel more comfortable with an alternate term. There are far more serious threats to sound teaching, with vastly greater potential to do harm, being promulgated by some modern theologians than the issue of accept versus receive. --Hank. |