I was baptized several years ago in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit AFTER my conversion to Christ. Now for the umpteenth time, in Acts 2:38, "for the remission of sins" does not refer back to both clauses, "you all repent" and "each one of you be baptized," but refers only to the first. Peter is saying "repent unto the remission of your sins," the same as in Acts 3:19. The clause "each one of you be baptized" is parenthetical. This is exactly what Acts 3:19 teaches except that Peter omits the parenthesis.
*Also compare the fact that these Gentiles in Acts 10:45 received
the gift of the Holy Spirit (compare with Acts 2:38 -
the gift of the Holy Spirit) and this was BEFORE water baptism (Acts 10:47). In Acts 10:43 we read
..whoever believes in Him receives remission of sins. Again, these Gentiles received
the gift of the Holy Spirit - Acts 10:45 -
when they believed on the Lord Jesus Christ - Acts 11:17 - (compare with Acts 16:31 -
Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and you will be saved) BEFORE water baptism - Acts 10:47. This is referred to as
repentance unto life - Acts 11:18. *HERMENEUTICS*
These 3,000 folks in Acts 2 were added to the Lord upon repentance/faith (prior to receiving water baptism), just as we see in (Acts 10:43-47; 11:17,18; 15:8,9; 26:18).
Acts 4:4 - However, many of those who heard the word
believed; and the
number of the men came to be about five thousand. *What happened to baptism?
Acts 5:14 - And
believers were increasingly
added to the Lord, multitudes of both men and women. *What happened to baptism? *HERMENEUTICS*
Your church is basically a water baptism cult.
It is worth mentioning that there are non-Christian cults who will baptize people “in Jesus’ name” instead of “in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit” as Jesus commanded in Matthew 28:19-20. The reason they do this is that they believe that the proper baptismal formula is “in Jesus’ name” and will reference verses like Acts 19:5 above for their support. However, they mistakingly think that baptizing in Jesus’ name is a formula for baptism. They are incorrect. Instead, it is a designation of the authority to baptize in the name of Jesus according to what Jesus commanded in Matthew 28:19-20.
The phrase "in Jesus' name" designates the authority associated with Jesus by which certain actions are authoritatively performed.
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