Quote:
Originally Posted by mfblume
The issue of when the blood is applied is a hairy one. It gets into all sorts of confusion, I think. So I do not use it.
For instance, since the blood was applied to the three posts of the Hebrew doors in Goshen during Passover, some say there is a three-fold application to denote repentance, baptism and Spirit infilling. No one stepper would agree with that. I would be called a three stepper, but I do not agree with that correlation either. However, that is the sort of can of worms one opens when one discusses when the blood is applied, when the New Testament does not use that terminology. Since it is not used, then neither sides of the steppers' views are proposed in relation to it.
We do read of BLOOD SHEDDING and BLOOD SPRINKLING. And that is another category altogether, though. Sprinkling of the blood occurs on thy human conscience and depicts a changing process of coming to full assurance of faith in Hebrews 9 - 10, after salvation. |
Historically, the debate's primary ramifications were whether or not other Christian groups should be considered as "saved" by the newly formed org in 1945.
The fact that the "Three Stepper" approach has become increasingly dominant is the primary reason the UPC is so often labeled as a "cult." This exclusivistic approach consigns everyone - even the "Guy Who Dies in the Car on the Way to Be Baptized" - to hell. It simply cannot be maintained in the light of Scripture (and I know you don't take it to that extreme, Mike).
Also, the glaring fact that the "
Acts 2:38 message" was not preached for at least 1,700 years of the Church Age also puts the more extreme "Three Steppers" in a bit of a bind.
I would not call you a "Three Stepper" Mike, despite the fact that sometimes you do jump into a discussion as if you were one. I see the need for someone who isn't fully wed to an opinion to feel as though they need to clear things up along their lines of thinking. We all do this in one way or the other.
And, your point about the "application" of the blood (
Hebrews 9-10) is excellent. "The blood" was NOT shed only on the Day of Atonement in the OT. It was a part of the daily rituals and prayers of Israel. The NT illustration is that Jesus once died for our sins and that this blood from Calvary is still available through faith for the needs of our daily lives today. So in a sense, the blood is really applied continually in the life of the NT believer.
The issue of that older debate, however, might be said to focus upon the question of when is the blood initially applied?
Hybrid Mode
