Bishop G E Patterson - fussing thread (see other thread for nice things)

Originally Posted by Timmy

Oops, my bad.

OK, let me ask you this. You are 100% certain that you have the correct formula for salvation, straight from Scripture, clear as day. Right? Never mind that there are some who disagree (they must be evil folks, not to accept such a clear command from the Lord). You have it right, and they have it wrong. Fine.

Suppose on your first day in Heaven, you are given the job, the honor, of manning The Gate for a day. They give you a really nice laptop computer that has all the information you need about each candidate's life. The exact wording used at their baptism, the full history of their life, including the state of their hearts! (I said it was a nice laptop!)

Now, before you get started, Peter himself starts to tell you what to look for. Do you stop him and say "No, that's OK. I already know. Read it, understand it, no need to repeat it."?

Peter says, "Oh, good for you! Alright, then, I'll be back in a few hours to check on things."

First candidate. Your hand is on The Switch. (It has an "Up" position and a "Down" position. It's in "Neutral" for now.) Looking over this guy's records, you see that everything is in order. Oopsie! Except for one thing. The preacher that baptized the poor guy said, according to the audio, "...in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit". Ah, so close.

DOWN!

Yes, this is an impossible, ridiculous hypothetical situation. But, just asking: are you really that certain you have it right?

But in fact, it's not so hypothetical. By preaching what you are preaching, everyone who believes you is trusting you! Trusting that you got it right. Resting their own eternal lives on what you have taught them.

Nervous? No? Not even a little??

Timmy,

No, to be quite honest, I'm not even a 'little' nervous. I have a command from on high to 'rightly divide the word of truth' and see what the Bible says about matters of salvation. I rest assured in my deepest heart of hearts that the Acts 2:38 message is the right way or I would be something else!

As for the whole 'Peter step back and let me make the decisions here' stuff you were trying to say... I have no clue how to make sense out of it. If you're saying that I imply to know more than the Apostle I would refute that vehemently; I take my instructions from him!

How is it that you come to enjoy an Apostolic forum without being Apostolic? Again, the ground level of being an Apostolic is the New Birth of Acts 2:38 and it's verified by the rest of the scriptures.

The one thing that those who argue the whole 'are you saying Matthew 28:19 isn't acceptable' and 'I think people can be saved without the New Birth' are missing is that God is Sovereign. He makes the rules (yes, rules) and not us. I find it somewhere on the fragile border of funny and sad that anybody would dare stand in the face of God and say, "Well, I know what you said but this is what I think..."

As to whether Patterson was baptized in Jesus Name I don't know. Most likely he was filled with the Holy Ghost at one point. But the 'fruits' by which we know them tell us that if he was sold to the Apostolic message he sure forgot to hand it to his organization.