Are you Apostolic? Because an Apostolic site is a strange place for someone to disagree and debate against Apostolic teaching.
Water is mentioned together with the Spirit, meaning two different things, "Water and of the Spirit".
As a whole, the New Testament plan of salvation is all summed up in
Acts 2:38, "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".
The message of
Acts 2:38 is the new covenant that God spoke of in the Old Testament that would come (
Jeremiah 31:31 – 33). In
Matthew 26:28, Jesus said, "For this is My blood of the new covenant, which is shed for many for the remission of sins". That's the connection between the blood and death of Jesus and the message of
Acts 2:38. The old covenant was by the blood and sacrifice of animals, and was to the Jew. But the new covenant was by the blood and sacrifice of Jesus Christ, and is to all mankind. That if we, by faith in Jesus, turn to God in repentance and baptism in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins, then God will forgive us and will wash away oir sins, and we'll receive the gift of the Holy Spirit, as He has promised, "For the promise is to you and to your children, and to all who are afar off, as many as the Lord our God will call" (
Acts 2:39). And He will be our God, and we will be His people.
That alone is a big revelation and a lot to take in and think about if you didn't already know that.
But as for washing away of sins,
Acts 2:38 plainly says that baptism in the name of Jesus Christ is for the remission of sins. In
Luke 24:47, that's what Jesus meant by remission of sins being preached in His name (following repentance). In
Acts 22:16, Ananias told Paul, "And now why tarriest thou? arise, and be baptized, and wash away thy sins, calling on the name of the Lord". Sins are remitted in baptism, they are washed away in baptism.
And in
John 20:23, Jesus says, " Whose soever sins ye remit, they are remitted unto them; and whose soever sins ye retain, they are retained". This means whoever is baptized will have their sins remitted, washed or taken away. But whoever is not baptized will not have their sins remitted, their sins will be retained, or remain.
That's why Jesus says, "He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved" (
Mark 16:16). He meant that literally. And in
John 3:5, "Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born of water and of the Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God". He meant that literally, too. And He even stressed the importance of it by saying, "Verily, verily", or, "Truly, truly".
According to Jesus Himself, no one will enter into the kingdom of God unless they are born again by being baptized in water and receiving the Holy Ghost. But we must believe and repent before we can be baptized, or before we can receive the Holy Ghost. So even if we believe and repent, we're still not born again yet until we've been baptized and filled with the Holy Ghost. So it takes all three together to be born again, repentance, and baptism, and the gift of the Holy Ghost. And that's why all three of those steps are given all together in that one single verse in
Acts 2:38. That is how we are born again.
The Truth About Salvation
http://salvationaccordingtogodsword.blogspot.com
Jesus Is God Who Was Manifest In The Flesh
http://jesusgodintheflesh.blogspot.com
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