Is Acts.2:38 The One Plan Of Salvation ?

[NotforSale]

Originally Posted by Amanah

well, they were waiting to receive it because it had not been poured out yet right? today we don't have to "wait" to receive it, we should just go ahead and receive it, right?

Yeah, wait, scream, yell, message, shake the head, hold hands and arms up, play music so loud you can't hear if they are speaking in tongues, run, dance, roll on the floor, tell people “Come on! You almost got it! Hang in there! Don’t doubt! Give it to God!” This whole experience has turned into doing whatever it takes to get the "Stammering" started...

Good point, Amanah. Waiting has turned into a Tradition of foul play at the altar.

[Steve Epley]

Originally Posted by Amanah

well, they were waiting to receive it because it had not been poured out yet right? today we don't have to "wait" to receive it, we should just go ahead and receive it, right?

Our waiting is on God we can't baptize ourselves. So the waiting is the same.
They were seeking while they were waiting(Acts1:14, Luke 24:53) just like we do. Jesus in Luke 11:9-13 instructed us to.

[Steve Epley]

Originally Posted by NotforSale

So, are you saying 99.9% of Humanity is going to boil in Hell? How about those who have followed your idea, but are in sin when they die? How about people who are confused about the Godhead or Salvation? What about the majority of the Human population who have never read a Bible? (BTW, your post is one of the most arrogant, depressing, and religiously bound statements I have EVER read in my life!)

I guarantee, if we critique your life we will find grave error in attitude, spirit, and flesh, and that even you aren’t worthy to enter those Pearly Gates, despite your understanding that supposedly supersedes others in the world of Faith and Scripture.

Bro Epley, you need an awakening to the genuine mercy of God. I'm beyond surprised to see an elderly man make such shallow and unproven statements. You, my friend, have no idea what happened(s) to people when they leave this life.

When a man stands upon Spectral Evidence to validate his facts, beware!!

"If our gospel be hid it is hid to them that are lost." 2Cor. 4:3 Sadly the majority of this world is going to an endless burning lake of fire. But you don't have to obey the gospel and be saved.

[Adam]

Originally Posted by Steve Epley

But you don't have to obey the gospel and be saved.

But, if you are saved, it was predestined that it was to be so. We, ultimately, have no say in the matter. God knows from the beginning who is to be saved and who is to be lost.

[Amanah]

I'm not sure what is more depressing, the thought that most of the world is going to hell, or the thought that people have no control of going there. Why would God create a world, knowing that people would fall, knowing that some would spend eternity in tortourous agony? does this make sense? couldn't he have come up with a better plan?

[Steve Epley]

Originally Posted by Adam

But, if you are saved, it was predestined that it was to be so. We, ultimately, have no say in the matter. God knows from the beginning who is to be saved and who is to be lost.

I don't believe ONE word of that. God has given every man the choice to accept or reject.

[Adam]

Originally Posted by Steve Epley

I don't believe ONE word of that. God has given every man the choice to accept or reject.

Ephesians 1

1 Paul, an apostle of Jesus Christ by the will of God,

To the saints who are in Ephesus, and faithful in Christ Jesus:

2 Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.

3 Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ, 4 just as He chose us in Him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before Him in love, 5 having predestined us to adoption as sons by Jesus Christ to Himself, according to the good pleasure of His will, 6 to the praise of the glory of His grace, by which He made us accepted in the Beloved.

7 In Him we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of His grace 8 which He made to abound toward us in all wisdom and prudence, 9 having made known to us the mystery of His will, according to His good pleasure which He purposed in Himself, 10 that in the dispensation of the fullness of the times He might gather together in one all things in Christ, both which are in heaven and which are on earth—in Him. 11 In Him also we have obtained an inheritance, being predestined according to the purpose of Him who works all things according to the counsel of His will, 12 that we who first trusted in Christ should be to the praise of His glory.

13 In Him you also trusted, after you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation; in whom also, having believed, you were sealed with the Holy Spirit of promise, 14 who is the guarantee of our inheritance until the redemption of the purchased possession, to the praise of His glory.

[Adam]

Originally Posted by Steve Epley

I don't believe ONE word of that. God has given every man the choice to accept or reject.

The accepting or rejecting that a man will do has already been predestined by God. Every thought, action, deed that we make, from birth until death, has already been predestined. He is all-knowing. He is God. I do not currently have the HG. I am not 100% certain that there be a Holy Ghost. However, if He has predestined that I shall receive it before I die, then there is nothing I can do to stop Him.

[pelathais]

Originally Posted by Steve Epley

You quit reading to early. Verse 48 "tells words whereby you and your house can be saved." Acts 11:14-15

It was a COMMAND not a suggestion.

Just what was Peter's "COMMAND" to the household of Cornelius telling them how to be saved? Peter said:

Acts 10:43: "... whosoever believeth in him shall receive remission of sins."

And the BAM! The Holy Ghost fell and filled Cornelius and his house. This was the "visible evidence" that Peter needed to convince some of those who had come up with him. These folks had their doubts that gentiles could be saved. And yet - here it was! Salvation!

AND... all of this was BEFORE the gentiles were even baptized in water. With such strong and clear evidence of their salvation - Peter argued that no one could possibly resist baptizing these Gentiles and bringing them into community with the other believers.

Water baptism clearly was NOT what saved these Gentiles. It was their faith in the words that Peter had preached. And what did Peter preach?

"Whosoever believeth in him (Jesus) shall receive remission of sins."

[pelathais]

Originally Posted by Steve Epley

There are records throughout history. I have the Post Nicean Fathers and if you know what you are looking for they are mentioned as hereticks. Remember victors are the folks who write histories. The RCC from the 4th century onward ruled or influenced the world. That does not mean if you search they are not there. There is ample evidence from my studies and I am no historian of folks preaching the Acts 2:38 message and the absolute Oneness of God throughout history until the present.

No. Sorry. There is absolutely NO RECORD in either the Post Nicene nor the Ante Nicene Fathers of ANYONE who practiced your idea of the "complete package" - water baptism by immersion in Jesus name, the infilling of the Holy Ghost as evidenced by speaking in other tongues and a Oneness view of the Godhead.

Nobody. Not one. Just getting water baptism by immersion is something of a chore in the Post Nicene Fathers; never mind water baptism by immersion in Jesus' name only.

Of course, since you do have at least the "Post Nicene Fathers" it would be easy for you to prove me wrong. Just name one individual in the Post Nicene fathers, one "heretick" or anyone else for that matter who practiced what you advocate and what you insist is the only way to be saved.

One example. One name. Go for it.