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yea I guess ..............but still scratch'n my head.
Its just when I read it it seems that he is doing all that at the same time
Kind of hard to determine really. Best bet is to just leave it all up to God, or as scriptures state "I will have mercy on who I decide to have mercy on"
Funnily enough, the Apostle Paul actually makes a reference to the fact that he doesn't understand why God chose to save him in one particular verse.(can't remember which one) And often times reflects very much on his former sinful lifestyle. Paul's example in itself, is one we should all follow in moving forward in our Christian walk. Never losing sight of the fact that we are consistently under God's grace. The Lord extended much of his grace to Paul, as he has with all of us on this earth right now. We all do indeed need to pray that we are given the ability to respond appropriately to God's calling.
Act 22:12 And one Ananias, a devout man according to the law, having a good report of all the Jews which dwelt there,
Act 22:13 Came unto me, and stood, and said unto me, Brother Saul, receive thy sight. And the same hour I looked up upon him.
Act 22:14 And he said, The God of our fathers hath chosen thee, that thou shouldest know his will, and see that Just One, and shouldest hear the voice of his mouth.
Act 22:15 For thou shalt be his witness unto all men of what thou hast seen and heard.
Act 22:16 And now why tarriest thou? arise, and be baptized, and wash away thy sins, calling on the name of the Lord.
1. If we read the accounts Paul prays to Jesus and/or God for 3 days and he received no salvation.
2. If Ananias preached to him the gospel and he was saved at this point then why does Ananias tell him to wash away his sins? If saved he had no sins to wash away.
Act 22:16 And now why tarriest thou? arise, and be baptized, and wash away thy sins, calling on the name of the Lord.
He wasn't saved until he called on the name of the Lord, IMO. That is the "baptism" that washed away his sins, thru faith. The physical baptism was a sign of this. If you'll notice, it says "and wash away thy sins, calling on the name of the Lord." It doesn't say "be baptized to wash away thy sins."
Act 22:12 And one Ananias, a devout man according to the law, having a good report of all the Jews which dwelt there,
Act 22:13 Came unto me, and stood, and said unto me, Brother Saul, receive thy sight. And the same hour I looked up upon him.
Act 22:14 And he said, The God of our fathers hath chosen thee, that thou shouldest know his will, and see that Just One, and shouldest hear the voice of his mouth.
Act 22:15 For thou shalt be his witness unto all men of what thou hast seen and heard.
Act 22:16 And now why tarriest thou? arise, and be baptized, and wash away thy sins, calling on the name of the Lord.
OK, all this is just "what I think" which means nothing. "I think", "I believe", "in my opinion", and "why would God..." are all phrases you should be careful of in these forum posts.
Having said that, "I think" verse 16 is basically Ananias saying to Paul "What are you waiting on? Get on with it!" In other words, step into God's plan for your life. Get going and make an impact. Obviously, he had already 'met' Jesus and had a divine encounter. He was a believer in the Risen Lord before he ever got to Ananias' house. That's why he was obeying Christ's instructions already.
I'm trying to understand what portion of this scripture you are struggling with.
Are you trying to discern whether Paul was "saved" before he got baptized?
Also, and this question is to other readers here, I can't seem to recall if the actual baptism of Paul is recorded in scripture. Is it? Do we have scriptural proof Paul ever got baptized? (I personally believe he would have gotten baptized, I'm just wondering if there's a reference somewhere.)
Eph 4:4 There is one body, and one Spirit, even as ye are called in one hope of your calling;
Eph 4:5 One Lord, one faith, one baptism,
Eph 4:6 One God and Father of all, who is above all, and through all, and in you all.
Gal 3:26 For ye are all the children of God by faith in Christ Jesus.
Gal 3:27 For as many of you as have been baptized into Christ have put on Christ
Rom 6:3 Know ye not, that so many of us as were baptized into Jesus Christ were baptized into his death?
Rom 6:4 Therefore we are buried with him by baptism into death: that like as Christ was raised up from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life.
Rom 6:5 For if we have been planted together in the likeness of his death, we shall be also in the likeness of his resurrection:
Rom 6:6 Knowing this, that our old man is crucified with him, that the body of sin might be destroyed, that henceforth we should not serve sin.
Rom 6:7 For he that is dead is freed from sin.
Mar 16:15 And he said unto them, Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature.
Mar 16:16 He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved; but he that believeth not shall be damned
1Pe 3:20 Which sometime were disobedient, when once the longsuffering of God waited in the days of Noah, while the ark was a preparing, wherein few, that is, eight souls were saved by water.
1Pe 3:21 The like figure whereunto even baptism doth also now save us (not the putting away of the filth of the flesh, but the answer of a good conscience toward God,) by the resurrection of Jesus Christ:
Act 2:37 Now when they heard this, they were pricked in their heart, and said unto Peter and to the rest of the apostles, Men and brethren, what shall we do?
Act 2:38 Then Peter said unto them, Repent, and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins, and ye shall receive the gift of the Holy Ghost.
ok fellas i did all my quoting first to get it outa the way
I read these Scriptures along with a host of others. Now what has me confused is that at the end of the very first preaching of the gospel under the new testament covenant these men ask Peter what to do. he answers them. now here is my confusion. you tell me that i am to believe the first part of his answer that it does in fact apply to salvation but i am to ignore the second because it is not nessesary for salvation
Am i the only one that finds this a contradiction?
you tell me that i am to believe the first part of his answer that it does in fact apply to salvation but i am to ignore the second because it is not nessesary for salvation
Am i the only one that finds this a contradiction?
I don't think anyone has told you to ignore anything in scripture. At least I'm pretty sure I haven't.
If you're in doubt on your salvation because you haven't been baptized, then get baptized.
Certainly everyone following Christ should be baptized, but I'm also fairly confident that I can trust Christ.
Having said that, he told the thief on the cross "Today you will be with me in paradise" and the thief had not been baptized.
So, by all means, a believer should be baptized to be obedient to the scripture. But I don't think if a person dies before they are able to be baptized that they are lost.
I have friends that I asked about this and they had no answer.
Why would the thief be baptized when the new covenant was not in place?
And I would hate to hinge my salvation on an example that can not ever happen again.
Another thing is that I have read and read and find no example of a conversion in the new testament that follows the example that alot of you are telling me.
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