Theonomy?

There are all kinds of theologically rich language that has been lost in the church. Somehow we thought it would be best if we watered down or dumbed down our rich Bible heritage. A word that is probably foreign to many believers is the word "theonomy."

According to John Frame a "Theonomy can be defined simply as adherence to God's law, which would make all Christians, especially Reformed Christians, into theonomists. Here I define the term more narrowly as a school of thought within Reformed theology which prefers literal, specific, and detailed applications of Mosaic civil laws to modern civil government. The word "prefers" gives us some leeway. At points, the theonomists, like the rest of us, apply the law only in general and non-literal ways. But they tend more than the rest of us to prefer the specific and the literal. - John Frame from Penulitimate Thoughts on Theonomy

"Reform is no answer for a culture like ours. Redemption is what is needed, and that occurs at the individual, not societal level. The church needs to get back to the real task to which we are called: evangelizing the lost. Only when multitudes of individuals in our society turn to Christ will society itself experience any significant transformation." - John MacArthur

Dr. Van Till taught that "There is no alternative but that of theonomy and autonomy" (Christian Theistic Ethics, p. 134). Every ethical decision assumes some final authority or standard, and that will either be self-law (autonomy) or God's law (theonomy). While unbelievers consider themselves the ultimate authority in determining moral right or wrong, believers acknowledge that God alone has that position and prerogative. The position which has come to be labeled "theonomy" today so this holds that the word of The Lord is sole, supreme, and unchallengeable standard for the actions and attitudes of all men in all areas of life. Our obligation to keep God's commands cannot be judged by any extrascriptural standard, such as whether its specific requirement (when properly interpreted) are congenial to past traditions or modern feelings and practices." - Greg Bahnsen from "What is Theonomy?"

There is Much in a Name

Concerning the use of the name “Trinity” and other technical terms we often employ such as essence, ontos, ousia, substantia, persona, hypostasis and the like, the great theologian of the sixteenth century John Calvin writes:

“Where names have not been invented rashly, we must beware lest we become chargeable with arrogance and rashness in rejecting them. I wish, indeed, that such names were buried, provided all would concur in the belief that the Father, Son, and Spirit, are one God, and yet that the Son is not the Father, nor the Spirit the Son, but that each has his particular subsistence. I am not so minutely precise as to fight furiously for mere words. For I observe, that the writers of the ancient Church, while they uniformly spoke with great reverence on these matters, neither agreed with each other, nor were always consistent with themselves” (Institutes, 1.13.5).

No Christian understands the doctrine of the Trinity fully. In fact, if people are not confused to some degree by this doctrine, it probably means that they have slipped into heresy in their thinking. If we think about it too long, try to solve it, or nuance it according to our desire to comprehend things, we will find ourselves refusing the hand of God who has given the mysterious Trinity to us a description of Himself. While it is impossible that finite beings can fully comprehend an infinite God, we can understand him truly. The doctrine of the Trinity does not give us the full understanding of God, but it does give us a true understanding of God.

 

As Evangelicals we Confess the Trinity

We believe in one God (monotheism vs. polytheism) who is one in essence, yet three in person. All three members of the Trinity are eternally God, all of whom are equal.  

Wow! What's that all about? Stay tuned as we continue to look at God as Trinity.

Where's the Help?

Trusting God to help us is stated often in church but what does that really mean? Much of the NT deals with all kinds of crises. Several of these NT letters were written specifically to deal with all sorts of issues from sickness, divisions, relations, to death itself. There is scarcely an issue today that Christians will deal with that is not referenced in the Word of God. If you and I really want to know God’s will for our lives in dealing with particular problems we may be facing, the Scriptures will direct and help us to the right answer or course to follow.

The key to dealing with our plethora of problems is to lean to lean on and trust what God says for us to do about it. Too many of us want to make our own decisions and then ask God to “bless” what they have already decided to do or not do. The alternative, we need to figure out what God would have us to do and do it with the confidence that He will bless it. Our obedience to His commands places us in a position to receive His blessings in our lives.

Our willingness to trust God in every circumstance of life depends on our confidence in his love. All indecision on our part is an expression of distrust in his love. It is a basic rejection of God’s character and nature. When we fail to trust him with our problems we are really distrusting his sincerity and integrity. Since God truly is all-loving with our best interests in mind, we must learn to trust His love for us in spite of our circumstances.

Whether we fully understand it or not, God is sovereign over the events in our lives. Jay Adams says, “No matter how bad the crisis may appear to be, it is never beyond His ability to resolve it.”  Every crisis in our lives is part of God’s sovereign purpose for us. We may not understand that purpose while we are going through the struggle, but we will eventually see how the circumstance was for our benefit.

In the above four paragraphs, is what you would find in any number of Christian counseling books or hear from your pastor. In those paragraphs, I have stated a whole lot about God and who he has revealed himself to be: His love, sovereignty, character, will, and nature and even our trusting in him. I stated that when we fail to trust God with our problems we are distrusting his character and nature. But here is the problem that I see in the landscape of Christianity…we don’t know or at the most know very little of God’s character, nature, sincerity and integrity. How are we to trust that which we don’t know?

Think about the last time you had a physical, emotional, or some other type of problem. In confronting the situation, you say, perhaps under your breath “Where’s the help?” You then think about all the possibilities of getting some kind of assistance. Yet how many go to God? How many of us think about his sovereignty in the situation? For that matter, what is his sovereignty? The reason we don’t go to God is because we don’t know God nor have we had much history in trusting him for anything. Why? We don’t know him.

When we go to church what do you hear mostly preached? How God can help ______. You know the answer that goes in the blank – “me.” How can God help me with my emotional, physical, financial, or relational problem? And so we have one series after series on our felt needs and how to get the most out of God.

When was the last time you had a series on who God is? Can you imagine a two month series on Sunday morning on the sovereignty of God? But pastor, how is that going to help me in my finances or marriage? Where would be the application on a message on the transcendence of God?

On the first page of his Institutes, Calvin observes that the knowledge of God and the knowledge of self are interrelated. We might expect Calvin (as a good Calvinist!) to add that of the two, the knowledge of God “comes first.” Extraordinarily, however, Calvin says instead that he doesn’t know which comes first. This comment I take to be enormously perceptive. The best way to look at the matter is that neither knowledge of God nor knowledge of self is possible without knowledge of the other, and growth in one area is always accompanied by growth in the other. My perception is that we have focused entirely too much on self. My prayer is that we would regain the balance.

The question I asked myself is how? To be honest, I don’t think a two month series on the sovereignty of God or any number of series on his nature and being will work. I also don’t believe there is only one methodology that will work. So how do we bring the pendulum back on balance? Actually, the answer is not that profound. It’s through exegesis of the Scriptures. If we are faithful to preaching and teaching the whole counsel of God’s word, it will be in each and every one of our messages. Jesus came to make the Father known. The Holy Spirit was given to make the Son known. The apostles and disciples of Christ have the indwelling Spirit to continue to make the Son known.

The simple solution is to preach Christ and him crucified, buried, risen, and coming again. It’s the gospel that will change hearts and minds and by faithfully preaching and teaching God’s word, we will cry out as Paul did, “that I may know him and the power of his resurrection, and may share his sufferings, becoming like him in his death,” (Philippians 3:10). And so will you join me on the journey to know him? I believe the more we see him clearly as revealed in Scripture, we will have a greater hunger and desire for more of him versus this world. It truly will become strangely dim. He (God) has that effect on you. You can’t get close to him without his glory spilling out. Just ask Moses.

God as Trinity

To study the person and nature of God is a humbling, daunting and yet necessary journey we must take throughout our Christian walk. In doing so it's important that we don't try and put God in a box or to pull him down to a place where we can define and understand him. We can't as he is inexhaustible in all that he is and revealed himself to be. Tozer said it best... 

“Left to ourselves we tend immediately to reduce God to manageable terms. We want to get Him where we can use Him, or at least know where He is when we need Him. We want a God we can in some measure control. We need the feeling of security that comes from knowing what God is like, and what He is like is of course a compose of all the religious pictures we have seen, all the best people we have known or heard about, and all the sublime ideas we have entertained. If all this sounds strange to modern ears, it is only because we have for a full half century taken God for granted. The glory of God has not been revealed to this generation of men.”

—A.W. Tozer

Why does our view of God matter? Our primary duty and principle reason we were created was to worship God. So, who are you worshiping?  In other words, are you worshiping the God you created in your mind to be or are you worshiping the God he has revealed himself to be? Think with me for a moment. If we have even a small initial wrong belief just imagine where that road will take you? From what I have experienced personally it will take you far away from a right view of God. Thus the view that we have now will matter greatly later on in whether or not you have a biblical view of God as revealed in Scripture or some other view. That's why I would implore you to study theology proper (study of God). We need to be constantly correcting our beliefs and ensuring that we keep ourselves in line with what the Bible says.  

                         

Can we have a perfect view of God? The quick answer is no. There isn’t anybody that has a perfect view of God. But what we must do is look at the Bible and our rich Christian heritage and history for that last 2000 plus years and look at how and what God has revealed about Himself. I believe that what you will find is that you have moved away, in many instances, to what is a right belief of who God is.

Has God revealed himself in such a way that he wants us to know Him accurately?Again, the short answer is yes. The doctrine of Trinity is a foundational cardinal truth in Christianity. All three major Christian traditions - Protestant, Roman Catholic, and Eastern Orthodox, throughout the history of the Church have been united on this doctrine. A denial of it constitutes a serious departure from the Christian faith and a rejection of the clear biblical witness to God as he has introduced himself to us. Sadly, many have gone astray from the faith because of their refusal to accept these truths. 

Stay tuned and we will continue to post more on this subject. May we, like the apostle Paul cry out, "Oh that I might know him" (Phil 3:10)!

Social Justice and the Great Commission

I thought  this was a good article since our church is involved in reaching our community with a food pantry.

The Great Commission and Social Justice: 4 Questions to Ask Yourself

• by Elizabeth Russell
• November 15, 2013
• Ebooks

 

How can Christians apply social justice in their walk of faith? God calls us to help those less fortunate than ourselves:
“Defend the weak and the fatherless, uphold the cause of the poor and the oppressed. Rescue the weak and the needy; deliver them from the hand of the wicked” (Psalm 82:3–4).
But is helping the poor solely with their earthly needs all we’re called to do? Christ also gave us The Great Commission—to go and make disciples of all nations. How do these two relate?
Here are four questions to consider:

1. What are your personal motives?

Truly examine your heart with this question. Why do you want to go on that mission trip? Why are you raising money for that organization? Is it to feel better about yourself? To boost your resume? To post about it via social media? Remember Matthew 6:3. Ask yourself, “If no one but God knew I was helping, would I still be doing this? Would I still be just as excited?

2. Are you helping meet peoples’ basic needs?

Sharing the gospel can eternally transform a life. Yet if we really want to impact people in their spiritual lives, we must first show them that we care about their physical lives. It’s comforting to know that my friend prays for me when I’m sick. But it’s more comforting when she drives me to the doctor or picks up my medicine at the drugstore. The same goes for helping others with both their spiritual and their tangible needs.

3. Are you developing relationships with those you’re helping?

Many Americans choose to raise and donate money for charitable organizations designed to help impoverished countries all over the globe. Or change their Facebook profile picture to “raise awareness.”  Good deed for the month: check.  While the motives behind these acts are likely good, challenge yourself to reach out on a relational level. Invite the family in your church where the husband just lost his job over for dinner.  Offer to watch the kids of a single mom in your neighborhood so she can have a day to herself—maybe send a meal home with her when she returns. Get to know those you’re helping on a personal level. Open up about your own struggles. Become friends. Take a look at Luke 14:12–13.

4. Is the gospel infused into your social action?

You’re three for three so far. You have a passion to pour out Christ’s love, you’re bringing food to the destitute.  You know their names, you visit them, and they’ve even been to your house. But have you actually followed The Great Commission? Have you communicated the message of Christ? Helping people with material needs but leaving out the good news of Christ does nothing to differentiate Christians from the rest of culture. It takes courage, but it’s an imperative part of a Christian’s mission.
The problem is that too often we keep social justice and The Great Commission separate.  We have social justice and The Great Commission neatly tucked away in their own boxes. Yet realistically, neither of those can fully function without the other. Social justice and The Great Commission are designed to work together.

Ranting About Worship

Worship is always a natural response to something that is already true. It's not something that is demanded nor can be demanded to be worship. Worship happens because of a realization of God. God is not in need of anything but is eternally self-giving out of His attributes or who he is. 

Toward the end of his ministry Dr. A.W. Tozer commented that the war was lost, referring to the atrocious invasion of the world into the church. He objected to anemic Christianity. “In many churches,” Tozer complained, “Christianity has been watered down until the solution is so weak that if it were poison it would not hurt anyone, and if it were medicine it would not cure anyone!”

No Magic Formula

Remember, there is no magic in faith or in names. You can name the name of Jesus a thousand times; but if you will not follow the nature of Jesus the name of Jesus will not mean anything to you. We cannot worship God and live after our own nature. It is when God’s nature and our nature begin to harmonize that the power of the name of God begins to operate within us. As it was said so quaintly of Samson that “the Spirit of the Lord began to move him at times in the camp of Dan” (Judges 13:25), I believe that God’s people ought to be moved at times to true worship. But we cannot pray toward the east and walk toward the west and then hope for harmony in our being. We cannot pray in love and live in hate and still think we are worshiping God.

Let us suppose we are back in the old days of the high priest, who took incense into the sanctum and went behind the veil and offered it there. And let us suppose that rubber—the worst-smelling thing I can think of when it burns—had been available in those days. Let us suppose that chips of rubber had been mixed with the incense, so that instead of the pure smoke of the spices filling the temple with sweet perfume, there had been the black, angry, rancid smell of rubber mixed with it. How could a priest worship God by mixing with the sweet-smelling ingredients some foul ingredient that would be a stench in the nostrils of priest and people?

So how can we worship God acceptably when there is within our nature something that, when it catches on fire, gives off not a fragrance but a smell? How can we hope to worship God acceptably when there is something in our nature which is undisciplined, uncorrected, unpurged, unpurified—which is evil and which will not and cannot worship God acceptably?

So I’ve got to tell you that if you do not worship God seven days a week, you do not worship Him on one day a week. There is no such thing known in heaven as Sunday worship unless it is accompanied by Monday worship and Tuesday worship and so on.

Too many of us discharge our obligations to God Almighty in one day, usually by a trip to church. Sometimes nobly we make it two trips to church. But it’s all on the same day when we’ve nothing else to do—and that is supposed to be worship. And a Mid-week service is fast becoming something a relic of the past. Three times in one week are you crazy? Don't you know I have Karate practice, gymnastics, baseball, soccer, football, and baseball practice? Not to mention, my favorite reality show is on Wednesday night.

I mean, you don’t really need to be in church—you can worship God at your desk...Our Lord Himself went to the synagogue or the temple, as His custom was, on the Sabbath day. Other days He was a carpenter and worked and shaved and sawed and drove nails with His supposed father.

We can go to church and worship. But if we go to church and worship one day it’s not true worship unless it is followed by worship six days after that till the next Sabbath comes. We must never rest until everything inside us worships God.

What is Your Goal?

More specifically, what is your goal as a disciple of Jesus Christ? And if you can articulate your goal, do you know how your going to get there? In serving in the Army Special Forces, we often trained to fight and called it combatives. The combatives that I'm talking about here are not the ones we see in the video games and in the movie house per se. However, cabatives in the US Army and biblical are similar in that they are both fought for a honorable and principal cause.

When I joined the military and volunteered to be a Special Forces Green Beret, my motives we not exactly honorable. The motto within Special Forces is "De Opresso Liber" - To Free the Oppressed" and as time went on that motto took on a greater significance in what I was training and fighting for. In other words, I learned that I was fighting for something worthwhile and much bigger than I was or ever could be. I believe that part of the image of God (Imago De) of man is that we hunger for a noble fight.

I mentioned the image of God (Genesis 1:26-28) above and in a nutshell that's what discipleship is - image. We were created in the image of the Father but sin messed that image up and were put in a position of desperation for renewal (Romans 5:12-21). Christ's life, death, burial, resurrection, ascension and soon return gives us that renewal and ability to relate again to a holy God as well with one another (2 Cor. 3:18; Colossians 1:15, 3:10). He (Christ) is our example and the One we must look to and at as a disciple, which means we must look away from our sin and self (2 Corinthians 4:6). That's why our vision here at Mt Zion Baptist Church is to glorify God by igniting a passion for Christ, period. This vision and gospel knowledge of Christ keeps is on course so that we not only behold but our transformed into the image of Christ to the glory of God. We fight for many things and my fighting in the Army started out in selfish desires but as I beheld the the cause as honorable and principled it changes me. The same is with discipleship - true nobility and honor converge at the foot of the Cross with the Person and word of Christ. It is a true when one says we become what we behold.

I am the son of my Father and he has rubbed off on me in so many ways. The same is true with many others who invested and poured their life into me. The problem, however, is Genesis three. Yes, we're saved but saved sinners. We still have that old nature in us and unfortunately find ourselves sliding back into the broken image. That's why the gospel - the person and work of Christ is not just for our new birth but that same gospel calls us back to look at Jesus over and over again. It's an everyday thing! It was the gospel - the initial grace of God through the drawing of the Spirit (Jn 6:44) that opened our eyes to see Jesus for our new birth and justification. But it is that same gospel that must continue to empower us to continue to behold Jesus and change us into the image of his glory (2 Corinthians 3:17-18). How can this be? Remember when Jesus ascended to be at the right hand of the Father, he did not leave us comfortless. It's the person of God in the person of the Spirit that lives within a believer and a true disciple must rely on the Spirit to focus and draw our attention to Jesus. However, that's where the fighting comes in - amen? Are you still hooking and jabbing with the Spirit to be like Jesus? I would submit to you that it's a definite goal worth fighting for, even to give our very lives to it. When was the last time, like Moses, you said "Please show my your glory" (Exodus 33:18)? Oh that we would be willing to fight the noble fight to behold the face of Jesus in our lives.

So what's the goal of a disciple? First, there is going to be a fight (1 Timothy 6:12). The fight to believe the gospel - a real belief that shakes us out of our culturally comfortable Christianity that has created our own gospel. Disciples of Christ fight in knowing that Jesus' death and resurrection is ours as well. Dead to sin and alive to Christ (Romans 6:11; Galatians 2:20; 1 Peter 3:18). We aren't fighting to be perfect as our perfection is already ours in Christ, but for BELIEF. Do we really believe it? If so we would be beholding Him more as revealed in Scripture and becoming more like Him every day. As we used to say in the Army, "let's gear up for the fight." Let's gear up for the fight and believe the gospel - it's a worthy and noble fight.

How's Your Holy?

In most our Sunday school small group classes this month we have been looking at holiness. That’s really something that isn’t talked about an awful lot in most churches today. I mean our life is hard enough as it is and who can be holy anyway - right? Of course, we want to be a good person and better ourselves and for the most part we don’t do the really bad sins, our sins are the respectable ones. We got the blood and have been saved and pastor (that’s me) tells us that any righteousness or good that we have was given to us by Jesus and so holiness is not so much a requirement and something I need to think about too much. That’s where we tend to go wrong and where we are so good at justifying our sin in failing to grow in holiness.

Kevin DeYoung, in his new book, calls it our hole in our holiness. In other words, “the hole in our holiness is that we don’t really care much about it.” ^[1] He rightly goes on to say that “too many sermons are basically self-help seminars on becoming a better you.” ^[2] However, in realty, the gospel is not about our good, trying to be good or being better. Any good we do and our morality without heralding what Christ has first done for us on the cross is another gospel.

Holiness comes first from Christ sanctifying us by Him giving of himself (Hebrews 7:27; 9:14) as our sacrifice once for all (Hebrews 9:28) on the altar of the cross. Jesus became our Passover lamb (1 Corinthians 5:7) and took our place (2 Corinthians 5:21; 1 Peter 3:18) and bore our sins (1 Peter 2:24) and became for us a source of eternal food (John 6:53) which meets our deepest needs and gives us eternal life.  

With that said, and all that He has done He also tell us, “You shall be holy, for I am holy” (1 Peter 1:16). And the wonderful thing is, He doesn’t tell us to do anything that He doesn’t expect to do for us through Jesus Christ. It’s all through that wonderful word called GRACE! Paul said it best in 1 Corinthians 15:10  where he says, “by the grace of God I am what I am, and his grace toward me was not in vain. On the contrary, I worked harder than any of them, though it was not I, but the grace of God that is with me.” There’s a whole lot of grace in that verse, did you see it?

Again, DeYoung makes a good statement here: “My fear is that as we rightly celebrate, and in some quarters rediscover, all that Christ has saved us from, we are giving little thought and making little effort concerning all that Christ has saved us to.” ^[3]

So how can we know that there are holes in our holiness? I think the Scripture gives us one way that we could possible know. 1 Peter 3:15 says, “but in your hearts honor Christ the Lord as holy, always being prepared to make a defense to anyone who asks you for a reason for the hope that is in you; yet do it with gentleness and respect.” Did you read that real carefully? If so, ask yourself when was the last time someone asked you about your hope? Of course that hope is the hope we have in our salvation. And because of what He again did for us, we are to live holy lives. In other words, we live so contrary to the world that they obviously see that there is something different about us – we’re holy!

Jesus said it best: “In the same way, let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father who is in heaven” (Matthew 5:16). So how bright is our light? That light is the holiness of Christ that was graciously given to us by God because Christ lived the life we could not live and paid a debt we could not pay. When we serve Him and allow Him to work in and through us our light shines like a city on a hill that cannot be hid (Matthew 5:14).

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^[1] Kevin DeYoung, The Hole in Our Holiness: Filling the Gap Between Gospel Passion and the Pursuit of Godliness (Wheaton, IL: Crossway, 2012).

^[2] Ibid.

^[3] Ibid

Saved by Baptism?

Last week while serving at the food pantry, I was asked by a sweet lady if I would baptize her baby. It gave me an opportunity to share with her our conviction of what we call “Believers Baptism” and that we do it according to Scripture. I will explain this at another time. However, what she was alluding to was that her baby needed to be baptized in order for her salvation.

I encounter this “belief” quite often as I talk with people. I will ask them if they have a relationship with Christ and they will often answer that they were baptized at such and such time, often when they were younger.

Much of the confusion comes from taking Scripture out of context and not looking at the whole of Scripture and what it teaches in reference to water baptism. One example is in Acts 2:38 where it seems that Peter states that those who respond must not only repent and believe but also must be baptized in order to receive the Holy Ghost. However, this is contrary to many teachings in the whole of Scripture. Paul states that baptism is not part of the Gospel (1 Corinthians 1:17) (That’s important to remember and know what the Gospel is and isn’t!) and that we are saved by grace through faith in Christ (Romans 4:4; Ephesians 2:8-9; Titus 3:5-7).

So in order to resolve this we must consider the possible meaning of being baptized for the remission of sins. In this usage, again, we must take the whole context of what Scripture teaches. In close study you will see that first of all the word for (eis) can mean a couple of different things. It could mean “with a view to” or even “because of.” In this verse, water baptism would be because they had been saved, not in order to be saved.

It also needs to be understood that people are saved by receiving God’s word, and Peter’s audience “gladly received his word” before they were baptized (Acts 2:41). In addition, it says later on of “all who believed” (Acts 2:44) as constituting the early church, not all who were baptized.

In looking further at the context, those who believed Peter’s message clearly received the Holy Spirit before they were baptized. Peter said, “Can any man forbid water, that these should not be baptized which have received the Holy Ghost as well as we?” (Acts 10:47). Paul here separates baptism from the Gospel, saying in 1 Corinthians 1:17 “For Christ sent me not to baptize, but to preach the gospel…” and that “the gospel of Christ…is the power of God unto salvation” (Romans 1:16). Therefore, baptism doesn’t have any part of what brings us to salvation.

Jesus himself, in context, referred to baptism as a work of righteousness (Matthew 3:15) and that is further emphasized in Scripture how salvation is clearly “not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to his [Jesus] mercy he saved us…” (Titus 3:5). Not once in the Gospel of John does it give the idea that baptism is a part of or a necessary condition of salvation. It simply says over and over that people should “believe” and be saved (John 3:16, 18, 36, 20:31).

In looking at all of these explanations it seems best to understand Peter’s statement like this: “Repent and be baptized with a view to the forgiveness of sins.” That this view looked backward to their sins being forgiven after they were saved is made clear by the context in Acts chapter two and the rest of Scripture. Believing and or repenting and being baptized are placed together, since baptism should follow belief. But nowhere does it say, “He who is not baptized will be condemned” (Mark 16:16). Yet Jesus said emphatically that “he that believeth not is condemned already” (John 3:18). So neither Peter nor the rest of Scripture makes baptism a condition of salvation.^[1]

It would also indeed be a mistake to link the words “for the forgiveness of sins” with the command “be baptized” to the exclusion of the prior command to repent. It is against the whole teaching of the New Testament to suppose that the outward rite could have any value except insofar as it was accompanied by the work of grace within.^[2] Baptism symbolizes that which has already taken place through grace by faith in Christ and once that happens you are born again or baptized with the Holy Spirit – our water baptism is an outward expression or public testimony to the fact that we have already believed!

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^[1] Norman L. Geisler and Thomas A. Howe, When Critics Ask : A Popular Handbook on Bible Difficulties (Wheaton, Ill.: Victor Books, 1992), 428-29.

^[2] F. F. Bruce, The Book of the Acts, The New International Commentary on the New Testament (Grand Rapids, MI: Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Co., 1988), 70.