Subject: Saved by belief or belief and baptism? |
Bible Note: If you will read Acts 9, 22, and 26 you will get the full picture of what happened with Saul and Ananias. A very important verse relevant to the proper understanding of this verse is Acts 9:17. This verse tells us why the Lord Jesus sent Ananias to Saul (Paul)! Ananias said “…Brother Saul, the Lord, even Jesus, that appeared unto thee in the way as thou camest, hath sent me, that thou mightest receive thy sight, and be filled with the Holy Ghost.” Therefore, the twofold purpose the Lord sent Ananias to Saul for was 1) So he would receive his physical eye sight and 2) Get filled with the Holy Ghost. The point is: Jesus never sent Ananias to His ‘chosen vessel’ to get him saved! He was already saved! If Saul still needed to get saved when Jesus was informing Ananias what to do, He certainly would have known it and would have put that on the top of Ananias’ list! However, Jesus never even indirectly mentioned such as He sent Ananias forth! Also, when one is sent to another to get him filled with the Holy Ghost, as Ananias was sent, the person to be filled is always a Christian already (Acts 8:14-17). These verses clearly tell us that the Apostles in Jerusalem sent Peter and John to those in Samaria, who were already saved, so they might receive the Holy Ghost! Last point here is that Paul said this about the Gospel, “for I neither received it of man, neither was I taught it, but by the revelation of Jesus Christ” in Galatians 1:12. If Paul learned the Gospel or the plan of salvation from Ananias, which would have to be the case if Acts 22:16 means water baptism washes away our sins, then Paul could have never made that statement!!! |