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NASB | Acts 8:13 Even Simon himself believed; and after being baptized, he continued on with Philip, and as he observed signs and great miracles taking place, he was constantly amazed. |
AMPLIFIED 2015 | Acts 8:13 Even Simon believed [Philip's message of salvation]; and after being baptized, he continued on with Philip, and as he watched the attesting signs and great miracles taking place, he was constantly amazed. |
Subject: I have a related question for anyone... |
Bible Note: Greetings Hank! I would respectfully disagree that the context of Heb. 10 does not support the notion that 'receiving the knowledge of the truth' is synonymous with saving faith. For the following reasons: 1) All the five verses where this phrase is found use it in connection with saving faith, repentance, ect... See my previous post for that discussion. 2) Heb. 10:23 is a call to persevere in the faith, not to accept Christ. 3) Heb. 10:26, as you pointed out, uses the word 'we' as the subject of the clause. Was Paul writing to non-Christians or Christians? 4) Heb. 10:28-31 compares and contrasts rejecting Christ with rejecting the Law. 5) The one who is worthy of punishment in Heb. 10:29 is described as one who "was sanctified by the blood of the covenant". Believe me, it is not my intention to start another C/A debate! :-) But, I don't see anyway to make this passage a reference to someone who did not truely know Christ. Here is what the Bible Knowledge Commentary (a moderate Calvinist publication) says about this verse: ****************************************** Heb. 10:26-27: "The KJV translation here, ?if we sin willfully,? is superior to NIV?s if we deliberately keep on sinning, as the words ?keep on? overplay the Greek tense. As the context shows (cf. v. 23), the author was concerned here, as throughout the epistle, with the danger of defection from the faith. Most sin is ?deliberate,? but the writer was here influenced by the Old Testament?s teaching about sins of presumption (cf. Num. 15:29-31) which lay outside the sacrificial provisions of the Law. Apostasy from the faith would be such a ?willful? act and for those who commit it no sacrifice for sins is left (cf. Heb. 10:18). If the efficacious sacrifice of Christ should be renounced, there remained no other available sacrifice which could shield an apostate from God?s judgment by raging fire. A Christian who abandons ?the confidence [he] had at first? (3:14) puts himself on the side of God?s enemies and, as the writer had already said, is in effect ?crucifying the Son of God all over again and subjecting Him to public disgrace? (6:6). Such reprehensible conduct can scarcely be worthy of anything but God?s flaming indignation and retribution." AND Heb. 10:28-29: "In order to show that this is so, the writer then placed defection from the faith in the harshest possible light. An apostate from the New Covenant has trampled the Son of God underfoot and has treated as an unholy thing the blood of the covenant (cf. ?blood of the eternal covenant,? 13:20) that sanctified him. The words ?sanctified him? refer to true Christians. Already the writer to the Hebrews has described them as ?made holy (Gr. sanctified¯) through the sacrifice of the body of Jesus Christ once for all? (10:10) and as ?made perfect forever? through this sanctifying work (v. 14). Some seek to evade this conclusion by suggesting that Christ is the One referred to here as ?sanctified? or that the person only claims to be sanctified. But these efforts are foreign to the writer?s thought and are so forced that they carry their own refutation. The author?s whole point lies in the seriousness of the act. To treat ?the blood of the covenant? (which actually sanctifies believers) as though it were an ?unholy? (koinon, ?common?) thing and to renounce its efficacy, is to commit a sin so heinous as to dwarf the fatal infractions of the Old Covenant. To this, an apostate adds the offense of insulting the Spirit of grace who originally wooed him to faith in Christ. This kind of spiritual rebellion clearly calls for a much worse punishment than the capital penalty that was inflicted under the Mosaic setup." *********************************************** Now, the 'out' that they adopt is to deny that the puishment is loss of salvation, but they do ackowledge that true Christians are being described in the passage. Just my two cents worth my friend! :-) Your Brother in Christ, Tim Moran |