Ernest T. Bass
Well-Known Member
The Bible does not contradict itself. When one verse says one must believe and another verse says one must repent and be baptized then the obvious conclusion is one must believe repent and be baptized. There is no one verse theology when it comes to salvation, all salvific verses MUST be examined and when all salvific verses are examined one must believe John 8:24, repent Luke 13:3 confess Matthew 10:32-33 and be baptized Mark 16:16.Here is the will of God for you.
See if you can find water in it .
"the will of God.......is........that you believe on Jesus, whom God sent".
Now, look at your verse....>"repent and be baptized"
Notice that there is no connection between those verses?
= Zero.
So, what is the problem?
The problem is simple........ The Acts of the Apostles, didnt stop in Acts 2..... but you did.
In Acts 2, you have Peter, who does not yet have the revelation of the Grace of God that Jesus gave to PAUL, that Paul calls "my gospel".....as this is the '"Gospel of the Grace of God"........its the one that Paul says is the only.....and if you preach another, such as "water saves"...or "born again of water".....then you are this..... Galatians 1:8.
Listen....
Acts has 28 chapters in it. Its a epistle of progressive revelation, that starts with Christ's death and resurrection, and continues to Acts 28 where Paul tells the Jews, the House of Israel....>"im taking the Gospel to the GENTILES"
See that?
Look closely........>Peter is preaching only to JEWs in Acts 2, and by the time the Epistle of Acts ends 28 chapters later, which is about 30 yrs of literal time passed.....Paul is taking the Gospel to the GENTILES, = away from the JEWS......as a Nation.
That is your "apostle to the Gentiles".......in the "time of the Gentiles", and that is NOT Peter, in ACTS 2.
So, your issue, is that you have not been taught that the bible, the NT, is a progressive revelation.....its keeps changing, as God keeps bringing in the new rules......like the NEW Covenant and the NEW Testament.
And in Acts 2, Peter does not have Paul's revelation that is : "The Gospel of the Grace of God".
He does not have this revelation yet.
See, this revelation was given to Paul by JESUS, as he is the "chosen vessel" for this "time of the gentiles".
Paul came later then the original 12 apostles........and so did that GOSPEL, that Paul defines as : """MY GOSPEL.....""
Peter didnt have this knowledge in Acts 2, and that is why hes talking about John the Baptist's water baptism.
See, the "repent and be baptized", is what John the Baptist was telling the Jews....and that is all that Peter knew to preach, in Acts 2 when he is only talking to JEWS.
SEE IT ????
LATER, he is not preaching that water baptism message, as Paul came to all the Apostles, later, and gave them the revelation of the "Gospel of the Grace of God".....that Paul defines as "MY Gospel". Romans 16:25.
Now.....What is the short version, of this teaching im giving you?
Its this....when an apostle does not have a certain revelation, then they can't teach it or preach it.
And that is Peter in Acts 2.
Later, he has Paul's Gospel.
You still dont.
Wake up !
Peter and Paul both being inspired by the Holy Spirit, and the Holy Spirit does not contradict himself. There is but one gospel, one faith (Ephesians 4:4-5 and Peter and Paul taught that one same gospel faith that requires water baptism. Saul once destroyed the faith of those in Jerusalem but Saul, after being converted to Christianity, we see that Paul "now preacheth the faith which once he destroyed" (Galatians 1:23) meaning Paul NOW preaches the same thing Peter preached at Jerusalem in Acts 2:38.
Acts 2:38 is NOT John's baptism. Before Christ's left earth, He gave His great commission and Luke's account of the great commission saying "And that repentance and remission of sins should be preached in his name among all nations, beginning at Jerusalem." (Luke 24:47). The fulfillment of Christ's great commission and Christ's baptism replacing John's baptism took place in Acts 2 when Peter was at Jerusalem and preached repent and be baptized for remission of sins just as Christ said. We see from Galatians 1:23 Paul preached THE faith he once destroyed meaning he preached the same thing as Peter did in Acts 2 else Paul preached a false gospel. Note Paul is said to preach "THE faith" with the definite article 'THE' depicting one particular, specific faith. Jude said to contend for "THE faith". There is just ONE faith, always has been just ONE faith, never will be more than just ONE faith that all the Apostles taught.
Galatians 1:23 - The Faith
"The Lord does not admonish us to contend for "a faith" or "the faith of your choice". The definite article "the" is used which means a specific faith is being discussed." Jude 3 - Contender For The Faith