Quote:
Originally Posted by coksiw
Peter omits faith here, but includes repentance, baptism, and the Spirit: Act 2:38 NKJV - (38) Then Peter said to them, "Repent, and let every one of you be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins; and you shall receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. Peter omits faith, baptism, but includes repentance and what might be interpreted as the Spirit: Act 3:19 NKJV - (19) "Repent therefore and be converted, that your sins may be blotted out, so that times of refreshing may come from the presence of the Lord, Peter includes faith, but omits repentance, baptism, and the Spirit: Act 10:43 NKJV - (43) "To Him all the prophets witness that, through His name, whoever believes in Him will receive remission of sins." Peter includes baptism, but omits faith, repentance, and Spirit: 1Pe 3:21 NKJV - (21) There is also an antitype which now saves us--baptism (not the removal of the filth of the flesh, but the answer of a good conscience toward God), through the resurrection of Jesus Christ, So, according to the logic that if it is omitted is not necessary for forgiveness, then, what is included commonly in all those passages is the key, right?
Guess what it is common to all of them: nothing. So people don't need to believe, repent, be baptized, or receive the Spirit to be saved, according to Peter.
We can actually do the same with Paul and you will find surprising results.
Better hermeneutics: if it is included once, it is part of the way to be saved. The reason why it appears in some places but not in others can be explained with linguistics. We all actually practice the same phenomenon, but for whatever reason, some don't expect the biblical writers to do the same? |
For Peter and the rest of the writers of the New Testament, faith and repentance are two sides of one coin and can be used as a synecdoche for each other. They are inextricably linked. Faith alone can be mentioned, and that always implies repentance, and repentance alone can be mentioned, and that always implies faith.
As you point out, in
Acts 2.38 Peter says "repent" but in
Acts 10.43 he says "that everyone who believes in him receives forgiveness of sins". In
Acts 15.17, Peter describes the Gentiles as believing, and in the next verse, the Jewish leaders call it repentance.
At the beginning of Jesus’s ministry, he said, “Repent and believe the gospel” (
Mark 1.15). Paul said he preached “repentance toward God and faith in our Lord Jesus Christ” (
Acts 20.21).
Regarding,
1 Peter 3.21, if someone has come to faith and repentance and has been baptized but has not spoken in tongues, has baptism saved them?
I think another way to look at this issue is to focus on what the Bible says has happened to someone who has received the Spirit. They have been sanctified, that is, made holy and set apart for relationship with God, and have received new life in the Spirit--Jesus describing it as new birth and Paul describing it as being raised from the dead. What had made us unholy before God and in need of new life? Our sin. Can you be made holy but not have your sins removed? No. How can you be holy when that which made you unholy is still present? Can you be born again or raised from the dead but still be dead in sin? No. How can you be alive when what made you dead is still present?