PT-5 "The Appeal" (Acts 2:37-40)

 

SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 8/6/2017 6:50 AM

My Worship Time                                                                                 Focus:  PT-5 “The Appeal”

Bible Reading & Meditation                                                      Reference:  Acts 2:37-40

            Message of the verses: “37 Now when they heard this, they were pierced to the heart, and said to Peter and the rest of the apostles, "Brethren, what shall we do?" 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. 39  "For the promise is for you and your children and for all who are far off, as many as the Lord our God will call to Himself." 40 And with many other words he solemnly testified and kept on exhorting them, saying, "Be saved from this perverse generation!"”

            In our last SD we were looking at reasons why baptismal regeneration is a false doctrine, and we looked at three reasons. Today we want to begin our SD by looking at the fourth and that is that “this interpretation is not true to the facts of Scripture.”  One of the things that false teachers try to do is to isolate a verse in Scripture that seems to go for the cause they want to promote and then not look at certain other Scriptures that teach the truth on the subject.  I am not saying that Scripture contradicts Scripture at all, for that would be a false statement as Scripture never goes against itself.  People who take verse 38 as a verse that describes baptismal regeneration have not dug into the true meaning of the verse or they would understand that it is not teaching this false doctrine.  Now as we look at different verses from the book of Acts we find that forgiveness is linked to repentance and not linked to baptism.  “"Therefore repent and return, so that your sins may be wiped away, in order that times of refreshing may come from the presence of the Lord (Acts 3:19).”  “"He is the one whom God exalted to His right hand as a Prince and a Savior, to grant repentance to Israel, and forgiveness of sins (Acts 5:31).”  “but kept declaring both to those of Damascus first, and also at Jerusalem and then throughout all the region of Judea, and even to the Gentiles, that they should repent and turn to God, performing deeds appropriate to repentance (Acts 26:20).”  John MacArthur writes that “the Bible records that some who were baptized were not saved.”  “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 (Acts 8:13).  “21 “You have no part or portion in this matter, for your heart is not right before God. 22 “Therefore repent of this wickedness of yours, and pray the Lord that, if possible, the intention of your heart may be forgiven you. 23 “For I see that you are in the gall of bitterness and in the bondage of iniquity’ (Acts 8:21-23).”

            The Bible also records that some were saved without the mention of baptism (Luke 7:37-50; Matthew 9:2; Luke 18:13-14).  Later we will study the conversion of Cornelius and his friends in Acts chapter ten and this will show us the relationship of baptism to salvation.  Baptism happened only after they were saved, as shown by their receiving the Holy Spirit, that they were baptized (Acts 10:44-48).  Peter did not allow them to be baptized until he recognized that they had received the Holy Spirit.  Now remember that this was the first Gentile convert to Christianity, and this was early in the church age and so that is why when someone was saved that they received the Holy Spirit the way it happened in Acts chapter two.  God was doing this to confirm they were true believers.

            John MacArthur writes “In 1 Corinthians 15:1-4, the apostle Paul summarizes the gospel he preached and by which the Corinthians had been saved.  There is no mention of baptism.  Further, in 1 Corinthians except Crispus, Gaius, and the household of Stephanas.  That statement is inexplicable if baptism is necessary for salvation.  Paul would then in effect be saying he was thankful that only those few were saved under his ministry.  The apostle clearly distinguishes baptism from the gospel in 1 Corinthians 1:17, where he says that ‘Christ did not send me to baptize, but to preach the gospel.’  How could Paul have made such a statement if baptism was necessary for salvation?

            “While the preposition eis (‘for’) can mean ‘for the purpose of,’ it can also mean ‘because of,’ or ‘on the occasion of’ (A. T. Robertson, Word Pictures in the New Testament)

            “The order is clear.  Repentance is for forgiveness.  Baptism follows that forgiveness; it does not cause it (cf. 8:12, 34-39; 10:34-48; 16:31-33).  It is the public sign or symbol of what has taken place on the inside.  It is an important step of obedience for all believers, and should closely follow conversion.  In fact, in the early church it was inseparable from salvation, so that Paul referred to salvation as being related to ‘one Lord, faith, one baptism’ (Eph 4:5).”

            I hope that this rather long section that has included our last two Spiritual Diaries has cleared up anything that was unclear about what baptism is and when it is to happen in the life of a believer.  In many churches today after a person is saved they will then meet with the deacons of the church to go over exactly what has happened to them, making sure as best they can that there was genuine salvation that has taken place and then move onto the step of baptism.

            We will continue in our next SD with part six of “The Appeal.”

Answer to yesterday’s Bible question:  “That God would deliver the children of Israel out of Egypt” (Exodus 3, 18-10).

Today’s Bible question:  “What word did Paul use to describe idols?”

Answer in our next SD.

8/6/2017 7:28 AM