If You Linger

rvmb · Mar 12, 2026

newnature said:
Acts 8:9-13, We get a specific episode in Samaria that concerns Simon, Simon the magician. In verse 9, There was a man named Simon who had previously practiced magic in the city and amazed the people of Samaria, saying that he himself was somebody great. They all paid attention to him from the least to the greatest saying, This man is the power of God that is called great. And they paid attention to him because for a long time he had amazed them with his magic. But when they believed Philip as he preached the things concerning the kingdom of God and the name of Jesus Christ. (The name, it’s not just Philip running around saying Jesus, Jesus, Jesus, he’s preaching a person, the name is the person.) And these people were baptized, both men and women. Even Simon himself believed. And after being baptized, he continued with Philip. And seeing signs and great miracles performed, he was amazed.

Acts 8:16-19, For the Holy Spirit had not yet fallen on any of them, and they had only been baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus. Then Peter and John laid their hands upon these believers, and they received the Holy Spirit. Now when Simon saw that the Spirit was given through the laying on of the apostles hands, he offered them money saying, give me this power, that anyone on whom I lay my hands on may receive the Holy Spirit. It’s kind of a naive request, obviously in verse 20-23 Peter doesn’t like it. Verse 24, Simon says, Pray for me to the Lord that nothing of what you have said may come upon me. Was Simon a believer? The text says he believed, but he asks a naive question, because he wants to be part of this and there’s no indication in the text he wants to sort of go off and be a wizard or something like that.

Now Peter is really hard on Simon, but Peter wasn’t there at the beginning, Philip was. Peter doesn’t know this guy’s history, or of his conversion necessarily, and Peter’s offended, people don’t get the Holy Spirit by paying for it or anything like that. Peter said Simon’s heart’s not right before God, he rebukes him really harshly. But what does Simon say? Enough of you guys, I’m just going to go off and do my wizard act again. No, he says, Pray for me to the Lord that nothing of what you have said may come upon me. He’s sincere, Okay, I did wrong.

But in verse 10, this phrasing of what was said about Simon prior to his conversion. The people all paid attention to him from the least to the greatest saying, This man is the power of God that is called great. That’s significant, because in Samaritan Targums, Targums are just a word for a translation. The Targum of the Old Testament is the Hebrew Old Testament translated into Aramaic. The Targum of the Greek New Testament translated into Aramaic. The Samaritans had Targums and Samaritans have access to a Samaritan text, it’s not going to look like Hebrew, it’s still going to be Semitic, but it’s their own form. In ancient Samaritan Targums, the Hebrew word El, which means God and is often used as a proper name for God, is often represented by “great power” and is often used for “angels.” What’s being said here, this man is the power of God that is called great.

The claim apparently is that some people either we’re not really told if it’s by Simon’s encouragement or if they just drew this conclusion, but some people were associating his magic with God himself and were referring to him as great or the great one. That term in Samaritan Targums is also a divine name for God, God is the great power. When Simon is called great, it sort of moves him into the same category as God in the minds of those referring to him as this is the one who is great and the power among the angels. That links Simon to not only the great power abstractly, but actually the principal angel, the angel of the Lord. The angel of the Lord is Yahweh embodied as a man in the Old Testament, and he’s linked by virtue of what the New Testament does with some of those angel of the Lord passages, he’s linked to Jesus.

This portrayal of Simon, there were people, they weren’t thinking about Jesus when they were calling him the great one, the great power, this was a guy who some people associated with or as the angel of the Lord, that he was that close to God. The people look at the amazing magical stuff Simon does, the angel of the Lord has come to us and the power that he exhibits, they’re associating Simon with the second Yahweh figure of the Old Testament, the angel of the Lord. But who does Simon submit to? Who does Simon look at and essentially turn his back on his old life and believed in? It’s Jesus. It’s a victory of the true second power, the true second Yahweh over one who had been falsely claimed as having that status.

Acts 8 is BEFORE Paul had an audience in his capacity as Rom 11:13 Apostle & Rom 15:16 Minister.
Try again NN
""List the verses that teach the OTHER Apostles have the authority to teach Salvation to the audience of Paul""
ps..The 'audience' of Paul are believers listed in Gal 3:28, 1 Cor 12:13, Col 3:11, Gal 6:15 :Thumbsup:

newnature · Mar 12, 2026

rvmb said:
Acts 8 is BEFORE Paul had an audience in his capacity as Rom 11:13 Apostle & Rom 15:16 Minister.
Try again NN
""List the verses that teach the OTHER Apostles have the authority to teach Salvation to the audience of Paul""
ps..The 'audience' of Paul are believers listed in Gal 3:28, 1 Cor 12:13, Col 3:11, Gal 6:15

Paul defends the authenticity of his message and authority as an apostle, he was commissioned by the risen Jesus himself, to go to the non-Jewish world. Paul says, it was only later, that he went to Jerusalem to consult the other apostles like Peter and James, and when he told them, he was not requiring non-Jewish Christians to be circumcised or eat kosher, they were in full support. But this tension ran deeper, Peter had come to Antioch to visit and see all of these non-Jewish Christians, and he was eating and mingling with them, but when some of these Jerusalem opposition groups showed up in Antioch, Peter caved under their pressure. Peter stopped eating with these uncircumcised Christians and he was avoiding them. Paul confronted and accused Peter of hypocrisy of not staying true to the gospel.

For Paul, demanding these new Christians to become circumcised and Torah observant, it was wrong-headed for all kinds of reasons. First of all, because it is a betrayal of the gospel, people are not justified by the works of the Torah, but rather by the faith of Jesus the Messiah and we have faith in the Messiah Jesus. To be justified, “to be declared righteous” it is when God declares that someone is in a right relationship with him, they are forgiven, they are given a place in God’s family, and they are being transformed by God’s grace. It is Paul’s conviction, that no one can be justified by observing the commands of the Torah, but only by the faith of Jesus, people are justified only through trusting in what God did for them through Jesus, not by what they do for themselves.

rvmb · Mar 13, 2026

newnature said:
Paul defends the authenticity of his message and authority as an apostle, he was commissioned by the risen Jesus himself, to go to the non-Jewish world. Paul says, it was only later, that he went to Jerusalem to consult the other apostles like Peter and James, and when he told them, he was not requiring non-Jewish Christians to be circumcised or eat kosher, they were in full support. But this tension ran deeper, Peter had come to Antioch to visit and see all of these non-Jewish Christians, and he was eating and mingling with them, but when some of these Jerusalem opposition groups showed up in Antioch, Peter caved under their pressure. Peter stopped eating with these uncircumcised Christians and he was avoiding them. Paul confronted and accused Peter of hypocrisy of not staying true to the gospel.

For Paul, demanding these new Christians to become circumcised and Torah observant, it was wrong-headed for all kinds of reasons. First of all, because it is a betrayal of the gospel, people are not justified by the works of the Torah, but rather by the faith of Jesus the Messiah and we have faith in the Messiah Jesus. To be justified, “to be declared righteous” it is when God declares that someone is in a right relationship with him, they are forgiven, they are given a place in God’s family, and they are being transformed by God’s grace. It is Paul’s conviction, that no one can be justified by observing the commands of the Torah, but only by the faith of Jesus, people are justified only through trusting in what God did for them through Jesus, not by what they do for themselves.

No surprise, no verses to the simple request below because there are none.
""List the verses that teach the OTHER Apostles have the authority to teach Salvation to the audience of Paul""
ps..The 'audience' of Paul are believers listed in Gal 3:28, 1 Cor 12:13, Col 3:11, Gal 6:15 :Thumbsup:

newnature · Mar 13, 2026

Acts 8:1-3, opens with Saul approving of Stephens execution, and there arose on that day a great persecution against the church in Jerusalem. And they were all scattered throughout the regions of Judea and Samaria. Saul was ravaging the church and entering house after house. He dragged off men and women and committed them to prison. We have this scene where things, they’re just not going well, great persecution against the church in Jerusalem. The believers get scattered throughout the regions of Judea and Samaria, except for the Apostles. The Apostles are going to be focused in Jerusalem. But the reference to Judea and Samaria, Acts 1:8 you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you and you’ll be my witnesses in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria and to the end of the earth.

Verses 4-8, those who were scattered went about preaching the word. Philip went down to the city of Samaria and proclaimed to them the Christ. And the crowds with one accord paid attention to what was being said by Philip when they heard him and saw the signs that he did. For unclean spirits crying out with a loud voice came out of many who had them and many who were paralyzed or lame were healed. So there was much joy in that city, but what’s so significant about Samaria? This was the place in Old Testament history, this region and of course the particular city is where the 10 tribes of Israel had forsaken the line of David. They go off into their own area, their own kingdom, their own government and they commit idolatry and they set up their own system of worship, they become apostates. God sends them into exile at the hands of the Assyrians and the rest is history.

This is the area, where the gospel is taken into Samaria. Samaria, which had apostatized, is going to be reclaimed. The Bible presents the Samaritan population as being the product of the fallout of this exile. The Assyrians had a policy when they conquered a people, they would deport them to lands and then they would take other people they had conquered and bring those people into a specific region. They’re breaking up regional loyalties and national loyalties. In 2 Kings chapter 17, to make a long story short, the Samaritans were half breeds. They were not pure in their lineage or in their ethnicity because of the exile situation. The Samaritans would claim that they’re direct descendants of Ephraim and Manasseh who survived the exile, who weren’t deported and somehow escaped the act of the Assyrians, they’re going to reject this notion that they’re half breed.

Acts chapter 8, the messaging is important, people who live here, regardless of how they got here, can be the people of God. The gospel is taken to Samaria, and this area is now going to be reclaimed as turf for Yahweh. When the apostles at Jerusalem heard that Samaria had received the word of God, they got to check this out, they need to verify what’s going on, because they didn’t have representatives from Samaria in Acts chapter 2. So they sent to them Peter and John. So they pray that these new converts would receive the Holy Spirit, because the Holy Spirit had not fallen on any of them, like in Acts chapter 2 at Pentecost to start this whole thing off. Samaria is a spiritually awful place, it’s kind of icky. They lay hands on them and they received the Holy Spirit.

newnature · Mar 13, 2026

newnature · Mar 13, 2026

newnature said:

lforrest · Mar 13, 2026

rvmb said:
No surprise, no verses to the simple request below because there are none.
""List the verses that teach the OTHER Apostles have the authority to teach Salvation to the audience of Paul""
ps..The 'audience' of Paul are believers listed in Gal 3:28, 1 Cor 12:13, Col 3:11, Gal 6:15

Cornelius the Roman centurion was baptized by Peter.
The Ethiopian was baptized by Phillip.

Galatians 3:26-29
26 So in Christ Jesus you are all children of God through faith, 27 for all of you who were baptized into Christ have clothed yourselves with Christ. 28 There is neither Jew nor Gentile, neither slave nor free, nor is there male and female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus. 29 If you belong to Christ, then you are Abraham’s seed, and heirs according to the promise.

newnature · Mar 13, 2026

The Bible says that Paul saw what John wrote in the book of Revelations. They say John went through this before he wrote what Paul was not allowed to write.

rvmb · Mar 13, 2026

lforrest said:
Cornelius the Roman centurion was baptized by Peter.
The Ethiopian was baptized by Phillip.

Galatians 3:26-29
26 So in Christ Jesus you are all children of God through faith, 27 for all of you who were baptized into Christ have clothed yourselves with Christ. 28 There is neither Jew nor Gentile, neither slave nor free, nor is there male and female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus. 29 If you belong to Christ, then you are Abraham’s seed, and heirs according to the promise.

Acts is transitional - be careful how you apply what to who :)
List the verses in Acts that teaches ALL BELIEVERS are equal.
Acts 15:6-25 <<< read & study it carefully !!
Acts required lay hands to receive the HS eg Acts 19:2-6
TODAY this is NOT required >>> Eph 1:13
Believers TODAY are equal, no distinction Gal 3:28, 1 Cor 12:13, Col 3:11, Gal 6:15
Romans to Philemon - Where does Paul teach water baptism is a requirement to be saved/sealed/justified ?
Verses please :Thumbsup:

newnature · Mar 14, 2026

God and the need for repentance, because John proclaimed the Kingdom of God is at hand. It’s a decision of which kingdom you want to be in. Repent, is the way John is caste in the Old Testament. This baptism, John’s baptism would give way to being baptized with the Spirit. John’s baptism had been given to those who repented, those who wanted to be in the Kingdom of God.

The one baptism supersedes the other. But that doesn’t mean that water baptism is done away with. We see it practiced plenty of times in the book of Acts. The command to repent and be baptized with the result that you will receive the gift of the Spirit, and of course be forgiven. What changed the person’s heart wasn’t the water baptism, it was going to be the Spirit indwelling them.

What’s happening in Acts chapter 1, Jesus is telling them before he ascends, look, you’re going to stay here in Jerusalem, because this is where the Kingdom of God begins. You stay right here, because this stuff that was talked about in the scriptures, I have now triggered through my ministry, through my death, through my resurrection, and now through my ascension, the Spirit can come. The Spirit who is me, but isn’t. All of that has been prophesied, and you’re going to see it happen, you stay put.

The Spirit supersedes John’s water baptism and the coming of the Spirit at Pentecost was already upon those who already believed, but they haven’t been Spirit baptized yet. The 120 in the room, they’re already believers. The Spirit has some connection to a state of believing the truth that God wants us to believe. Peter wants people to believe that Jesus is both Lord and Christ and wants us to believe that the Kingdom of itself has come. The New Covenant promise of the Spirit will result in being Spirit baptized.

This is the beginning of the Kingdom of God, it’s not the full version yet, because of those Old Testament passages. Israel’s land is going to be like a paradise. Israel is going to be governed by one shepherd, who is the Messiah. Already here, but not yet, is what’s going on in the book of Acts. Jerusalem is the dwelling place of Yahweh and he is the true owner of all nations. This is where reclaiming the nations is going to start and It starts in Judea, the immediate vicinity of Jerusalem.

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If You Linger

rvmb

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