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Here is a senario that I've seen many times...
John Doe is baptized in Jesus' name, gets the Holy Ghost and his life proves that he never repented.
Jane Doe repents and is baptized but never gets the Holy Ghost.
Jack Jones gets the Holy Ghost but is never baptized neither does he ever repent, as evidenced by his life.
Then here come the modern day Professors of the Law to tells the rest of us what happened in each case...according to their own three step theories, having been schooled in Acts without having been schooled in the Gospels.
In the case of John Doe, the Professors of the Law will probably hypothesize that surely they repented even if but for a moment...just long enough to get the Holy Ghost.
How silly! It is true that, according to Peter that God once winked at ignorance but now commands all men everywhere to REPENT. Add whatever definition that you choose to the word, but anything less than a change of direction of one's life is short of repentance.
In the case of Jane Doe, she found that an encounter with Jesus Christ changed her life internally, externally and eternally as evidenced by the level of godliness in her life after the encounter. I have been in the presence of sanctified lives that have never received the Holy Ghost as evidenced by speaking in tongues that leaves me looking quite deficient in the "holiness" department by comparison, even though I speak in tongues frequently.
Jack Jones gets the Holy Ghost, speaking in tongues just sitting in his pew listening to the preaching of the Word. He gets up and walks right out the door, not repenting, to live his same old life of sin without ever going to the water.
Without being schooled in the GOSPELS, being schooled in Acts only, this senario leave one, two and three steppers baffled and at a loss as to how to explain it...though some, from Acts and the Epistles may foolishly try.
This discussion of steps one, two and three will surely go on forever with no resolution (as it has for decades in modern Pentecost) without being schooled by Jesus in the Gospels. It would be my strong suggestion that the Gospels should be read and studied at least to the ratio of ten to one to Acts and the Epistles, paying the most careful attention to the words of Jesus. By studying the Words of Jesus in the Gospel, we are better equipped to understand the words and teachings of the Apostles without becoming "one or two verse Charlies."
Jesus is the Chief Cornerstone. The Apostles are not. It is from the Chief Cornerstone that all things are measured...including the Apostles who can be misunderstood without a clear understanding of the Gospels. There was a reason Paul told his followers to follow him AS he followed Christ. Paul recognized the principle. We are members of the Body of Christ which life is derived from the Words of Jesus. Christ, not Peter is the head. It was not Peter that said, "He that heareth my words and doeth them, I will liken him unto a wise man who dug deep and builded his house upon the rock...," it was Jesus. Though Jesus commended the Words of his disciples to all who would hear them, (hearing them is hearing Him) they preached and taught the words of Jesus, not their own.
Here, I will make a statement that will surely bring on a critique of my words but here it is anyway: I believe it a mistake to place the words of the Apostles on the same level as the Words of Jesus. I don't recall any of the Apostles making such a claim. (I stand to be corrected) Nowhere did any of the Apostles say, "The words that I speak unto you, they are Spirit and they are Life," but Jesus did. Neither did any of them say, "Now you are clean through the Word that I have spoken unto you," but Jesus did. The Apostles themselves declared that they did not preach themselves, but Christ...that is, the Words of Jesus. They subordinated themselves and their words to the Words of Jesus from the Gospels. There is a principle here that I think that we should examine.
Well, I rambled on and on but, I deleted about half of what I wrote here. I am ready to be corrected but I think that I am right while at the same time, concededing to the principle that there is no contradiction in the "word of God" from Genesis to Revelation, only a contradiction in perception that can be corrected with a clearer revelation of the Words of Jesus from the Gospels.
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