Receiving the Promise
A word of Wisdom
On Receiving the Promise
Acts 2:38-41 KJV
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.
For the promise is unto you, and to your children, and to all that are afar off, even as many as the Lord our God shall call.
And with many other words did he testify and exhort, saying,
Save yourselves from this untoward generation.
Then they that gladly received his word were baptized: and the same day there were added unto them about three thousand souls.
~~~
The promise is this:
When you Repent and are Baptized for the remission of sins (meaning, with water) in the Name of Jesus,
after which, Jesus, Himself, Shall baptized you with the Holy Ghost and you will then receive the gift of the Holy Ghost.
A)
However, the ceremonial religious church misunderstood this promise and it became an outward ritual of the flesh that Jesus had came in the first place to abolish from the Pharisees and Sadducees of the time.
The ceremonially religious church believers of our time did indeed repent of the heart.
But alas!, they can only be water baptized by the pastor and not by any disciples, contrary to the command by our Lord, for the remission of sins, in the Name of the Father, the Son and the Holy Ghost as though the incantation has power in itself, much like any witchcraft the God abhored
In reality, as much as the church denied it with all manner of excuses, only the pastors and elders are considered to be qualified for the task which is contrary to the Word of God.
Further, the water baptism can only be ritually performed after the already repented believer have attended a period from days to months of intellectual education classes, trying to intellectually teach the repented believers (who repented by the power of God not man) what is repentance and baptism according to man's theology, that is, what God has already done in the repented believers.
Consider Acts 2:41 above,
"Then they that gladly received his word were baptized: and the same day there were added unto them about three thousand souls."
They were baptized immediately upon Peter's word to repent, on the same day!
What the ceremonial church has done, however, is to impede and hinder the souls to be added to the Body of Christ, regardless of the multitide of reasons they have, by imposing their man-made theology on the believers who are already saved!
The church is trying to educate them into Salvation where they are already saved by grace through faith and not by our efforts or works!
B)
With such an unnecessarily elaborated and prolonged ritual of water baptism, the ceremonial church even neglect to know whether the believers received the gift of the Holy Ghost thereafter.
This is also contrary to what the apostles and disciples focused on and intentionally looked for, throughout the Book of Acts.
Acts 19:2-6 KJV
He said unto them,
Have ye received the Holy Ghost since ye believed?
And they said unto him,
We have not so much as heard whether there be any Holy Ghost.
And he said unto them, Unto what then were ye baptized?
And they said,
Unto John's baptism.
Then said Paul, John verily baptized with the baptism of repentance, saying unto the people, that they should believe on him which should come after him, that is, on Christ Jesus.
When they heard this, they were baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus.
And when Paul had laid his hands upon them, the Holy Ghost came on them; and they spake with tongues, and prophesied.
... because that is the reason that Jesus had to leave, in order to give us the gift of the Holy Ghost!
John 16:7 KJV
Nevertheless I tell you the truth; It is expedient for you that I go away: for if I go not away, the Comforter will not come unto you; but if I depart, I will send him unto you.
How is it the church could not comprehend the reason for water baptism, for the remission of sin, is to prepare us to be the temple to receive the Holy Ghost?
C)
The reason that the church stopped short at water baptism is that they are mistaken that at the point of water baptism they automatically received the gift of the Holy Ghost by the pastor's water baptism (note: not Jesus' baptism), even in the absence of any evidences of receiving the Holy Ghost:
Acts 2:4 KJV
And they were all filled with the Holy Ghost, and began to speak with other tongues, as the Spirit gave them utterance.
Having mistakenly thought they already have received the gift, it is no wonder that they do not have any more thirst for the Holy Ghost, that they no longer wait upon Jesus, the baptizer with the Holy Ghost to receive the gift from Him directly afterwards.
John 7:37-39 KJV
In the last day, that great day of the feast, Jesus stood and cried, saying,
If any man thirst, let him come unto me, and drink.
He that believeth on me, as the scripture hath said, out of his belly shall flow rivers of living water.
(But this spake he of the Spirit, which they that believe on him should receive: for the Holy Ghost was not yet given ; because that Jesus was not yet glorified.)
Now, if they did not even desire upon their heart to ask for the gift, they shall also not have it afterwards, just like the Ephesians in Acts 19:2-6 quoted above.
Luke 11:9-10,13 KJV
Ask, and it shall be given you; seek, and ye shall find; knock, and it shall be opened unto you.
For every one that asketh receiveth; and he that seeketh findeth; and to him that knocketh it shall be opened.
If ye then, being evil, know how to give good gifts unto your children: how much more shall your heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to them that ask him?
The plan of God to restore man back to Him is to give us His begotten Son, Jesus, to baptize with the Holy Ghost, so that God Himself may dwell in us in His power.
The remission of sin through water baptism is simply a means to an end and certainly not the end itself.
Have ye receive the Holy Ghost since ye believed?
On Receiving the Promise
Acts 2:38-41 KJV
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.
For the promise is unto you, and to your children, and to all that are afar off, even as many as the Lord our God shall call.
And with many other words did he testify and exhort, saying,
Save yourselves from this untoward generation.
Then they that gladly received his word were baptized: and the same day there were added unto them about three thousand souls.
~~~
The promise is this:
When you Repent and are Baptized for the remission of sins (meaning, with water) in the Name of Jesus,
after which, Jesus, Himself, Shall baptized you with the Holy Ghost and you will then receive the gift of the Holy Ghost.
A)
However, the ceremonial religious church misunderstood this promise and it became an outward ritual of the flesh that Jesus had came in the first place to abolish from the Pharisees and Sadducees of the time.
The ceremonially religious church believers of our time did indeed repent of the heart.
But alas!, they can only be water baptized by the pastor and not by any disciples, contrary to the command by our Lord, for the remission of sins, in the Name of the Father, the Son and the Holy Ghost as though the incantation has power in itself, much like any witchcraft the God abhored
In reality, as much as the church denied it with all manner of excuses, only the pastors and elders are considered to be qualified for the task which is contrary to the Word of God.
Further, the water baptism can only be ritually performed after the already repented believer have attended a period from days to months of intellectual education classes, trying to intellectually teach the repented believers (who repented by the power of God not man) what is repentance and baptism according to man's theology, that is, what God has already done in the repented believers.
Consider Acts 2:41 above,
"Then they that gladly received his word were baptized: and the same day there were added unto them about three thousand souls."
They were baptized immediately upon Peter's word to repent, on the same day!
What the ceremonial church has done, however, is to impede and hinder the souls to be added to the Body of Christ, regardless of the multitide of reasons they have, by imposing their man-made theology on the believers who are already saved!
The church is trying to educate them into Salvation where they are already saved by grace through faith and not by our efforts or works!
B)
With such an unnecessarily elaborated and prolonged ritual of water baptism, the ceremonial church even neglect to know whether the believers received the gift of the Holy Ghost thereafter.
This is also contrary to what the apostles and disciples focused on and intentionally looked for, throughout the Book of Acts.
Acts 19:2-6 KJV
He said unto them,
Have ye received the Holy Ghost since ye believed?
And they said unto him,
We have not so much as heard whether there be any Holy Ghost.
And he said unto them, Unto what then were ye baptized?
And they said,
Unto John's baptism.
Then said Paul, John verily baptized with the baptism of repentance, saying unto the people, that they should believe on him which should come after him, that is, on Christ Jesus.
When they heard this, they were baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus.
And when Paul had laid his hands upon them, the Holy Ghost came on them; and they spake with tongues, and prophesied.
... because that is the reason that Jesus had to leave, in order to give us the gift of the Holy Ghost!
John 16:7 KJV
Nevertheless I tell you the truth; It is expedient for you that I go away: for if I go not away, the Comforter will not come unto you; but if I depart, I will send him unto you.
How is it the church could not comprehend the reason for water baptism, for the remission of sin, is to prepare us to be the temple to receive the Holy Ghost?
C)
The reason that the church stopped short at water baptism is that they are mistaken that at the point of water baptism they automatically received the gift of the Holy Ghost by the pastor's water baptism (note: not Jesus' baptism), even in the absence of any evidences of receiving the Holy Ghost:
Acts 2:4 KJV
And they were all filled with the Holy Ghost, and began to speak with other tongues, as the Spirit gave them utterance.
Having mistakenly thought they already have received the gift, it is no wonder that they do not have any more thirst for the Holy Ghost, that they no longer wait upon Jesus, the baptizer with the Holy Ghost to receive the gift from Him directly afterwards.
John 7:37-39 KJV
In the last day, that great day of the feast, Jesus stood and cried, saying,
If any man thirst, let him come unto me, and drink.
He that believeth on me, as the scripture hath said, out of his belly shall flow rivers of living water.
(But this spake he of the Spirit, which they that believe on him should receive: for the Holy Ghost was not yet given ; because that Jesus was not yet glorified.)
Now, if they did not even desire upon their heart to ask for the gift, they shall also not have it afterwards, just like the Ephesians in Acts 19:2-6 quoted above.
Luke 11:9-10,13 KJV
Ask, and it shall be given you; seek, and ye shall find; knock, and it shall be opened unto you.
For every one that asketh receiveth; and he that seeketh findeth; and to him that knocketh it shall be opened.
If ye then, being evil, know how to give good gifts unto your children: how much more shall your heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to them that ask him?
The plan of God to restore man back to Him is to give us His begotten Son, Jesus, to baptize with the Holy Ghost, so that God Himself may dwell in us in His power.
The remission of sin through water baptism is simply a means to an end and certainly not the end itself.
Have ye receive the Holy Ghost since ye believed?
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