Quote:
Originally Posted by mfblume
I agree. But that does not remove the need for obedience to the apostles' teachings.
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Ah yes the apostle’s teachings that you believe supersede the teachings of Christ. "as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness so must the son of Man be lifted up THAT WHO SOVER BELIEVETH in him shall not perish but have everlasting life".
If that is not a standalone statement of how faith works, I don't know what else to say. You say the plan of salvation is
Acts 2:38, but where does Peter say that is what saves you? The question was, "what must we do" NOT what must we do to be saved? Peter already told them that calling on the name of the Lord is what would save them.
I have stated over and over that I believe baptism is symbolic, (it does not wash one’s sins away) "it is our answer of a clear conscious" (whether before God or man) It symbolizes our burial with Christ, It symbolizes our washing away of sins. Finally, it is a direct command of Christ. But is it the actual point in time when sins are washed away? No Paul refutes that in
Romans 4. How can righteousness be imputed before baptism if our sins are not removed by faith? Or our sins are not removed until baptism.
See we seem to have a contradiction here, you quote
Mark 16:16 to say baptism and believe, And I quote right back at you the words of Christ in
John 3:14-15.
John 3:14-15 would be the best example of death bed repentance saving someone. Yet you say, no so, because Jesus commanded his disciples to preach… Houston we have a problem. But we don’t have a problem is baptism is subsequent to salvation.
Which leads to the next thought, what is salvation anyway? I believe we have added the meaning of salvation to something to which it never was intended to mean. The whole premise of the book of Acts was the outpouring of God’s spirit on all flesh, and declaring the kingdom of God had come to the world. The emphasis on receiving the spirit of God by faith. Peter did not say “repent and be baptized and you shall be saved” he said “repent and be baptized and you too shall receive the spirit”. Neither did he preach the same to the house of Cornelius, repent and be baptized and you shall be saved. He preached that the kingdom of God had come, then they received the spirit of God. Neither did Paul ask the disciples of John, “have you repented and been baptized since you believed” rather he ask “have you received the spirit since you believed”.
Finally, when God poured his spirit out in the early 1900’s for years it was not repent and be baptized and get saved. It was people got saved when they believed, and God poured his spirit out on them and they then went on to be baptized. It is not about religion, religion sets edicts, hoops, forms, and calls it getting saved. The kingdom of God is individuals coming to a knowledge of God and entering the kingdom by faith, and God indwelling them with his spirit. And those same people go on to live a life of love to God and neighbor as themselves.
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