For those that left the UPC...

[Pressing-On]

Originally Posted by missourimary

Could they have had authority without faith? (My answer is no.)

The "vagbond" Jews had no authority to think about administering the name of Jesus. They had no clue and were trying to incorporate that name into their everyday use of going about performing exorcisms. Faith is a side issue. It has nothing to do with that scripture reference.

PO, you and Onefaith automatically have assumed that I was disagreeing with baptism in the name of Jesus, and immediately started arguing against what I said, without really reading it. Please carefully reread the initial posts that started this:

I read everything and I believe you are watering down the power and importance of His name. A candidate's heart is just as important as His name. You must have the heart, but you must have the name. I'll show you that in the next response. It is revelation and it is power. The devil trembles at his name.

All I originally intended to do was correct Onefaith's statement "How did they baptize in the name of Jesus Christ? Acts 22:16 is the only example we see.". The statement was incorrect on two counts: the verse was taken out of content, and it is by far not the ONLY example of anything. I went on to explain that there were other ways of reading that particular verse-simply that it is not the ONLY verse and that one verse could be read other ways, were it the ONLY one. I didn't care for the verse being taken out of context and was discussing that, not arguing against one mode of baptism or for another.

The whole focus of Acts 22 is Saul's testimony. He begins with his pedigree and credentials showing that he knows what he knows - born a Jew, studied at the feet of Gamaliel, taught according to the perfect manner of the law and the fathers, being zealous toward God. He speaks of his persecution of the church - the way which they call heresy.

He then shares his Damascus Road encounter - "Who art thou LORD?"

So, in his testimony, he is identifying who Jesus Christ is. When he says, in Acts 22:16 - "calling on the name of the Lord", the Greek is defined as "epikaleomai", which means to "entitle". To "entitle" is to "furnish with a right or claim to something or to give a name or title to".

He is identifying, to the hearers, that the title "Lord" is none other than Jesus Christ. It is not a baptismal formula. It is a revelation.