Conversion and Baptism in the Book of Acts

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Salvation expressed through baptism

Three types of baptism:

Baptism of John – water baptism of repentance; precursor to Jesus; getting the heart right through repentance.

Act 13:24 (NIV)
Before the coming of Jesus, John preached repentance and baptism to all the people of Israel.

Baptism of the Holy Spirit – indwelling of the Holy Spirit

Act 1:5 (NIV)
For John baptized with water, but in a few days you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit.”

Act 1:8 (NIV)
But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.”

Baptism of Jesus – a testimony of salvation. Water baptism representing spiritual cleansing and rebirth.

There are ten passages in Scripture documenting a conversion to Christ in the early church. All passages in Acts, and in all cases immediately followed by baptism.

1. Acts 2:38-41 – Peter’s sermon; the conversion of 3,000
Act 2:41 Those who accepted his message were baptized.

2. Acts 8:9-13 – Simon the magician
Act 8:13 Simon himself believed and was baptized.

3. Acts 8:26-38 – The Ethiopian eunuch
Act 8:38 Then both Philip and the eunuch went down into the water and Philip baptized him.

4. Acts 9:15-18 – the Apostle Paul (Saul)
Act 9:18 He got up and was baptized.

5. Acts 10:47-48 – Cornelius et al
Act 10:48 So he ordered that they be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ.

6. Acts 16:13-15 – Lydia and her household
Act 16:15 She and the members of her household were baptized.

7. Acts 16:30-33 – The Philippian jailer and his family
Act 16:33 Then immediately he and all his family were baptized.

8. Acts 18:7-8 – Crispus
Act 18:8 Many of the Corinthians who heard him believed and were baptized.

9. Acts 19:1-6 – unnamed disciples
Act 19:5 On hearing this, they were baptized into the name of the Lord Jesus.

10. Acts 22:12-16 – the Apostle Paul (flashback)
Act 22:16 Get up, be baptized and wash your sins away, calling on his name.

Why don’t we baptize immediately today?

1. Inconvenience; lack of water
2. perceived as a barrier to the gospel
3. desire for the entire church to be witnesses
4. perceived as adding works to the gospel

Generosity vs. Equality

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Equality eliminates generosity. You can’t be generous unless you have an excess. If you disagree with that statement, then consider this: two people have equal resources; Person 1 exhibits generosity by giving some of his resources to Person 2. Result: Person 1 and Person 2 no longer have equal resources.

Think about this the next time you hear someone talk about “redistribution of wealth.”

“Do not steal” implies (and condones) ownership. You can’t steal something unless it belongs to someone else. The Eighth Commandment declares that it is wrong to steal, and by implication declares that it is right for individuals to maintain ownership and control of their resources.

This about this the next time you hear someone talk about “communal ownership.”

See http://instruct.westvalley.edu/lafave/hb.html for an interesting look at these concepts.

Biblical Covenants

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The entire underpinning of the Bible rests on the covenants that God has made with His creation. It is common to hear references to the “Old Covenant” and the “New Covenant.” Sometimes references are made to an “Edenic Covenant,” an “Adamic Covenant,” a “Noahide (or Noahic) Covenant,” an “Abrahamic Covenant,” a “Mosaic Covenant,” and a “Davidic Covenant.”

What are all these covenants, and what bearing do they have on our life today?

To begin, let’s look at the definition of a covenant.

The Definition of a Covenant

The English dictionary defines a covenant as “an agreement, usually formal, between two or more persons to do or not do something specified.”

In the Bible, the word “covenant” is first encountered in Genesis 6:18, and is the Hebrew word “beri?yth” (Strong’s number H1285). The word is used 285 times in the KJV, and is translated “covenant” 265 times out of those 285. It is also translated as “league,” and “confederate” or “confederacy.”

“Beriyth” is related to the word “ba?ra?h” (H1262) meaning “to select” and “ba?ra?'” (H1254) meaning “to cut.” It is frequently used with the word “ka?rath,” which also means “to cut.” In Genesis 9:11 where the KJV reads “I will establish my covenant,” it is literally saying “I will cut my covenant.” The context of “cutting a covenant” is portrayed in Genesis 15 when God has Abraham cut a heifer, a goat, and a ram in half, then God passes between the halves.

In the New Testament, the word for “covenant” is the Greek word “diathe?ke?” (Strong’s number G1242). The same word is also translated “testament.”

Old Testament Covenants

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Salvation in the deep dark jungle

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If you have been a part of evangelical Christianity for any length of time, you understand the importance of a relationship with Jesus Christ, and the importance of sharing your faith with others so that they may come to Christ as well. With this understanding, the question is inevitably raised, “what about the people in the remote jungle who know nothing about Jesus?”

There are many ways to address this question; some answers can get quite involved.

One answer is, ignorance is no excuse. God is holy, humans are sinful (all of us, with no exceptions–Romans 3:10, 3:23), and without an acceptable sacrifice applied on our behalf, we deserve to go to hell (Romans 5:12, 6:23). There is nothing wrong with this answer, and it should motivate Christians towards global evangelism (Jerusalem, Judea, Samaria, and the ends of the earth–Acts 1:8).

However, this answer is still unsatisfactory to some, who find it difficult to accept that there is no hope of salvation for those who die without ever hearing about Jesus. Perhaps this raises the question, “what does it take for an acceptable sacrifice to be applied on your behalf?”

The question with regards to the inhabitant of the remote jungle might be, “is it possible to be saved by Jesus without knowing about Jesus?”

While not attempting to provide a definitive answer to every question that might be asked, there are several concepts that I find helpful.

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Sleeping arrangements

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What happens when an unmarried Christian couple (boyfriend and girlfriend) want to go on a trip together? Is it okay to stay in a hotel? Do they need to book separate rooms, or can they share a room?

In my opinion, there are two issues to be considered:

1. The issue of “appropriateness” versus “impropriety.”

2. The issue of temptation.

As a Christian, it’s a given that sexual acts (including, but not limited to, intercourse) are reserved for marriage. Engaging in such acts is sinful for those who are unmarried. There are also behaviors that are not necessarily wrong, but may result in being tempted towards behavior that would be wrong. For example, sleeping in the same bed, while not a sin itself, would open the door for lots of temptation, and put “forbidden fruit” within easy grasp, making it easy to succumb to temptation. Therefore sleeping in the same bed is a bad idea because of the issue of temptation. Also, even if two individuals were entirely confident in their ability to resist temptation, most people would agree that it would be inappropriate, in the same way that co-habitation prior to marriage is inappropriate. Even in the absence of any sexual behavior, sharing a bed is a very intimate arrangement, and that type of intimacy should probably be reserved for those who are married.

Sleeping in separate beds in the same room provides less opportunity for temptation, but still may allow for too much temptation to be a good choice. Particularly if there is no sofa or loveseat in the room, it would be quite easy to start out with the two individuals sitting on top of one bed talking or watching TV, and then the one invididual never makes it over to his/her own bed, which puts them right back into the problem described above. Most would agree that sharing a bedroom is inappropriate, just as sharing the same bed is inappropriate.

With separate sleeping quarters, one of the individuals must leave to “go to bed,” which greatly reduces the temptation that results from sharing the same sleeping quarters. From a temptation standpoint, my opinion is that separate rooms are called for. This could be separate bedrooms at the home of friends or family, a separate room in a hotel suite, or separate individual rooms in a hotel. In my view there is not a substantial difference between a separate room divided by a doorway and a separate room down the hall. There should be no more temptation or opportunity for temptation than spending time together normally at one individual’s house or apartment.