Semachiah
March 20th, 2008, 05:37 PM
Shalom,
Scripture references are from,
the SET (Stone Edition Tanach) for the OT
and the PNT (Power New Testament) for the NT unless otherwise specified.
Acts 9:8. Then Saul got up from the ground, but when he opened his eyes he was not seeing anything: and taking him by the hand they were leading him to Damascus. 9. And he was without sight three days and he was neither eating nor drinking.
...
Acts 9:18. And immediately there fell away from his eyes something like scales, and he regained sight and then when he got up he immersed
...
Acts 10:34. Then when Peter opened his mouth he said, “In truth I understand that God does not show partiality, (Dt 10:17, 2Chr 19:7, Mk 12:14) 35. but in every nation the one who fears Him and works righteousness is acceptable to Him. 36. The message, which He sent to the children of Israel, when He proclaimed Good News of peace through Jesus Messiah, this One, is Lord of All. 37. You know the report, what happened throughout the whole of Judea, beginning from Galilee after the baptism which John preached, 38. as God anointed this Jesus, the One from Nazareth, in the Holy Spirit and power, Who came through doing good and healing all those who were oppressed by the devil, because God was with Him. 39. And we are witnesses of all that He did in both the country of the Jewish people and in Jerusalem. And Whom they killed, by hanging Him on wood. 40. God raised Him on the third day and caused Him to be revealed, 41. not to all the people, but to witnesses chosen beforehand by God, to us, we who ate and drank with Him after He was raised from the dead: 42. and He commanded us to preach to the people and to testify earnestly that He is the One Who has been appointed by God as Judge of the living and the dead. 43. All the prophets testify; everyone who believes in Him takes forgiveness of sins through His name.” (Is 33:24, Jr 31:34, Dn 9:24)
10:44. While Peter was still speaking these words the Holy Spirit fell upon all those listening to the message. 45. And the faithful from the circumcision who came with Peter were amazed, because the gift of the Holy Spirit fell even upon the heathens: 46. for they heard them speaking in tongues and glorifying God. Then Peter responded, 47. “No one can deny the water, can they, for any of these to be baptized, who took the Holy Spirit like we did?” 48. And he ordered them to be baptized in the name of Jesus Messiah. Then they asked him to spend some days with them.
Chapter 9 is fairly straight forward and yet there really is much there. I only want to point to a thing or two. At his Damascus road experience Saul/Paul was blinded for three days. It was the equivalent to being buried. This is when he became dead and symbolically buried to Judaism. This was technically his water baptism. Then the scales fell off of his eyes. This action was his baptism in The SPIRIT. This is the baptism referred to in 9:18 that in the PNT is stated as...
And immediately there fell away from his eyes something like scales, and he regained sight and then when he got up he immersed
Every other time baptism is referred to in the PNT it specifically refers to it as baptism and then explains it as immersion. Here we see just the opposite as the author interjects his own "opinion". This is a perfect example of the sort of thing we must be cautious of whenever we read!
As we continue in chapter 9 we read of Peter healing Aeneas, and then Tabitha as he had been anointed by YHVH, through The HOLY SPIRIT. Peter was being a CHRISTian or in other words CHRIST-like!
Act 10:38 How God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Ghost and with power: who went about doing good, and healing all that were oppressed of the devil; for God was with him. KJV
He was not doing anything special because he was special but only because YHVH had anointed him; because 'YHVH was with him'. This same sort of thing would soon become apparent in or through the life of Saul/Paul as well as many other disciples of Y'SHUA.
Acts 10:34. Then when Peter opened his mouth he said, “In truth I understand that God does not show partiality,
This statement by Peter speaks volumes when coupled with what we have just spoken about!
YHVH no more showed partiality toward the early disciples than HE shows today. HE did not give Y'SHUA something special and then let it die with Him as is evident in the anointing upon Peter in these verses. HE did not then give this same anointing to the early church only to let it die with them!
In the next chapter of the Book of Acts we see this as an issue within the early church. They are upset with Peter for going to the Gentiles but Peter states...
Acts 11:16. And I remembered the word of the Lord as He was saying, ‘John indeed baptized in water, but you will be baptized in the Holy Spirit.’ 17. Therefore if God gave the same gift to them, as also to us believers in the Lord Jesus Messiah, who was I to be able to hinder God?” 18. And when they heard these things they remained silent, then glorified God saying, “So then God also gave the heathens the repentance into life.
In most churches that call themselves, "Apostolic" the following is the basic doctrine for their beliefs in baptism...
10:44. While Peter was still speaking these words the Holy Spirit fell upon all those listening to the message. 45. And the faithful from the circumcision who came with Peter were amazed, because the gift of the Holy Spirit fell even upon the heathens: 46. for they heard them speaking in tongues and glorifying God. Then Peter responded, 47. “No one can deny the water, can they, for any of these to be baptized, who took the Holy Spirit like we did?” 48. And he ordered them to be baptized in the name of Jesus Messiah. Then they asked him to spend some days with them.
This may not apply to all of them but this is the basic doctrinal belief of most...
1) You must be baptized in Y'SHUA's name ONLY
2) You must show the evidence by speaking in tongues that you have been baptized in The HOLY SPIRIT
For point #2 they point to this example and then ask you to show them anywhere else where this did not occur when someone received their salvation. To refute this we only need to look first to the Ethiopian eunuch in Acts chapter 8 or in chapter 9 where we read about Saul/Paul.
As for point #1 we need to study The Scriptures into enough depth to understand that to to be baptized into someone as is the indication here or to take on someones name is to represent someone. Peter was representing YHVH through the name or the covering of Y'SHUA when he healed Aeneas and then Tabitha. No where did he tell them to "be healed in the name of...." No where did he state that he came "in the name of...." However to the same extreme we need to realize the churches who baptize... "in the name of The FATHER, The Son and The HOLY GHOST" are equally wrong since this was a verse added at the Council of Nicea and was not written by Matthew at all and therefore should not be in the canon of Scripture.
Personally, in this instance, I believe the Apostolic churches are more correct!
Before you go off on the I ask you to remember this, "when you are under the water what name did you hear the Preacher say you were being baptized into?"
None!
The water prevented you from hearing anything!
As I have stated before he could have baptized you in the name of Ferd Furple and you would not have known unless someone else told you. In addition the way they baptized back then was not the same as it is today in most cases. The preacher did not place you under the water but you simply immersed yourself as The SPIRIT of YHVH moved you to do (most cases but not all).
Thus my point is that point #1 should not be an issue used to divide the Body of The CHRIST as it has been for essentially 100 years.
Prior to the coming of Y'SHUA the rabbis had added 613 laws to the ten Commandments that they extracted from The Scriptures and made into religious "tradition" (Mk 7:13). When Y'SHUA came He simplified them into...
Mat 22:36 Master, which [is] the great commandment in the law?
Mat 22:37 Jesus said unto him, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind.
Mat 22:38 This is the first and great commandment.
Mat 22:39 And the second [is] like unto it, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself.
Mat 22:40 On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets. KJV
Since that time we have returned to our rabbinical Jewish roots and have been adding laws to the simple love of YHVH.
When it was just Adam and YHVH life was simple...
Gen 2:16 And the LORD God commanded the man, saying, Of every tree of the garden thou mayest freely eat:
Gen 2:17 But of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, thou shalt not eat of it: for in the day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die. KJV
One simple rule!
Of Job YHVH said...
Job 1:8 And the LORD said unto Satan, Hast thou considered my servant Job, that [there is] none like him in the earth, a perfect and an upright man, one that feareth God, and escheweth evil? KJV
Of Job YHVH said that he had a respect or fear of YHVH and that this was manifest by his keeping of one simple rule... he escheweth evil.
To us, the rules are simple...
Mat 22:36 Master, which [is] the great commandment in the law?
Mat 22:37 Jesus said unto him, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind.
Mat 22:38 This is the first and great commandment.
Mat 22:39 And the second [is] like unto it, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself.
Mat 22:40 On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets. KJV
And by this or in doing this then...
1Th 5:22 Abstain from all appearance of evil. KJV
Basically there is no change it what YHVH told Adam and what through Y'SHUA HE is telling us.
In the US military they say,
K.I.S.S.,
Keep
It
Simple
Stupid
In YHVH K.I.S.S. means...
Keep
It
Simple
Saint
Let us not become so-called Christian rabbis and be found adding to the simplicity of YHVH.
Instead let us greet one another with a HOLY K.I.S.S..
Scripture references are from,
the SET (Stone Edition Tanach) for the OT
and the PNT (Power New Testament) for the NT unless otherwise specified.
Acts 9:8. Then Saul got up from the ground, but when he opened his eyes he was not seeing anything: and taking him by the hand they were leading him to Damascus. 9. And he was without sight three days and he was neither eating nor drinking.
...
Acts 9:18. And immediately there fell away from his eyes something like scales, and he regained sight and then when he got up he immersed
...
Acts 10:34. Then when Peter opened his mouth he said, “In truth I understand that God does not show partiality, (Dt 10:17, 2Chr 19:7, Mk 12:14) 35. but in every nation the one who fears Him and works righteousness is acceptable to Him. 36. The message, which He sent to the children of Israel, when He proclaimed Good News of peace through Jesus Messiah, this One, is Lord of All. 37. You know the report, what happened throughout the whole of Judea, beginning from Galilee after the baptism which John preached, 38. as God anointed this Jesus, the One from Nazareth, in the Holy Spirit and power, Who came through doing good and healing all those who were oppressed by the devil, because God was with Him. 39. And we are witnesses of all that He did in both the country of the Jewish people and in Jerusalem. And Whom they killed, by hanging Him on wood. 40. God raised Him on the third day and caused Him to be revealed, 41. not to all the people, but to witnesses chosen beforehand by God, to us, we who ate and drank with Him after He was raised from the dead: 42. and He commanded us to preach to the people and to testify earnestly that He is the One Who has been appointed by God as Judge of the living and the dead. 43. All the prophets testify; everyone who believes in Him takes forgiveness of sins through His name.” (Is 33:24, Jr 31:34, Dn 9:24)
10:44. While Peter was still speaking these words the Holy Spirit fell upon all those listening to the message. 45. And the faithful from the circumcision who came with Peter were amazed, because the gift of the Holy Spirit fell even upon the heathens: 46. for they heard them speaking in tongues and glorifying God. Then Peter responded, 47. “No one can deny the water, can they, for any of these to be baptized, who took the Holy Spirit like we did?” 48. And he ordered them to be baptized in the name of Jesus Messiah. Then they asked him to spend some days with them.
Chapter 9 is fairly straight forward and yet there really is much there. I only want to point to a thing or two. At his Damascus road experience Saul/Paul was blinded for three days. It was the equivalent to being buried. This is when he became dead and symbolically buried to Judaism. This was technically his water baptism. Then the scales fell off of his eyes. This action was his baptism in The SPIRIT. This is the baptism referred to in 9:18 that in the PNT is stated as...
And immediately there fell away from his eyes something like scales, and he regained sight and then when he got up he immersed
Every other time baptism is referred to in the PNT it specifically refers to it as baptism and then explains it as immersion. Here we see just the opposite as the author interjects his own "opinion". This is a perfect example of the sort of thing we must be cautious of whenever we read!
As we continue in chapter 9 we read of Peter healing Aeneas, and then Tabitha as he had been anointed by YHVH, through The HOLY SPIRIT. Peter was being a CHRISTian or in other words CHRIST-like!
Act 10:38 How God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Ghost and with power: who went about doing good, and healing all that were oppressed of the devil; for God was with him. KJV
He was not doing anything special because he was special but only because YHVH had anointed him; because 'YHVH was with him'. This same sort of thing would soon become apparent in or through the life of Saul/Paul as well as many other disciples of Y'SHUA.
Acts 10:34. Then when Peter opened his mouth he said, “In truth I understand that God does not show partiality,
This statement by Peter speaks volumes when coupled with what we have just spoken about!
YHVH no more showed partiality toward the early disciples than HE shows today. HE did not give Y'SHUA something special and then let it die with Him as is evident in the anointing upon Peter in these verses. HE did not then give this same anointing to the early church only to let it die with them!
In the next chapter of the Book of Acts we see this as an issue within the early church. They are upset with Peter for going to the Gentiles but Peter states...
Acts 11:16. And I remembered the word of the Lord as He was saying, ‘John indeed baptized in water, but you will be baptized in the Holy Spirit.’ 17. Therefore if God gave the same gift to them, as also to us believers in the Lord Jesus Messiah, who was I to be able to hinder God?” 18. And when they heard these things they remained silent, then glorified God saying, “So then God also gave the heathens the repentance into life.
In most churches that call themselves, "Apostolic" the following is the basic doctrine for their beliefs in baptism...
10:44. While Peter was still speaking these words the Holy Spirit fell upon all those listening to the message. 45. And the faithful from the circumcision who came with Peter were amazed, because the gift of the Holy Spirit fell even upon the heathens: 46. for they heard them speaking in tongues and glorifying God. Then Peter responded, 47. “No one can deny the water, can they, for any of these to be baptized, who took the Holy Spirit like we did?” 48. And he ordered them to be baptized in the name of Jesus Messiah. Then they asked him to spend some days with them.
This may not apply to all of them but this is the basic doctrinal belief of most...
1) You must be baptized in Y'SHUA's name ONLY
2) You must show the evidence by speaking in tongues that you have been baptized in The HOLY SPIRIT
For point #2 they point to this example and then ask you to show them anywhere else where this did not occur when someone received their salvation. To refute this we only need to look first to the Ethiopian eunuch in Acts chapter 8 or in chapter 9 where we read about Saul/Paul.
As for point #1 we need to study The Scriptures into enough depth to understand that to to be baptized into someone as is the indication here or to take on someones name is to represent someone. Peter was representing YHVH through the name or the covering of Y'SHUA when he healed Aeneas and then Tabitha. No where did he tell them to "be healed in the name of...." No where did he state that he came "in the name of...." However to the same extreme we need to realize the churches who baptize... "in the name of The FATHER, The Son and The HOLY GHOST" are equally wrong since this was a verse added at the Council of Nicea and was not written by Matthew at all and therefore should not be in the canon of Scripture.
Personally, in this instance, I believe the Apostolic churches are more correct!
Before you go off on the I ask you to remember this, "when you are under the water what name did you hear the Preacher say you were being baptized into?"
None!
The water prevented you from hearing anything!
As I have stated before he could have baptized you in the name of Ferd Furple and you would not have known unless someone else told you. In addition the way they baptized back then was not the same as it is today in most cases. The preacher did not place you under the water but you simply immersed yourself as The SPIRIT of YHVH moved you to do (most cases but not all).
Thus my point is that point #1 should not be an issue used to divide the Body of The CHRIST as it has been for essentially 100 years.
Prior to the coming of Y'SHUA the rabbis had added 613 laws to the ten Commandments that they extracted from The Scriptures and made into religious "tradition" (Mk 7:13). When Y'SHUA came He simplified them into...
Mat 22:36 Master, which [is] the great commandment in the law?
Mat 22:37 Jesus said unto him, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind.
Mat 22:38 This is the first and great commandment.
Mat 22:39 And the second [is] like unto it, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself.
Mat 22:40 On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets. KJV
Since that time we have returned to our rabbinical Jewish roots and have been adding laws to the simple love of YHVH.
When it was just Adam and YHVH life was simple...
Gen 2:16 And the LORD God commanded the man, saying, Of every tree of the garden thou mayest freely eat:
Gen 2:17 But of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, thou shalt not eat of it: for in the day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die. KJV
One simple rule!
Of Job YHVH said...
Job 1:8 And the LORD said unto Satan, Hast thou considered my servant Job, that [there is] none like him in the earth, a perfect and an upright man, one that feareth God, and escheweth evil? KJV
Of Job YHVH said that he had a respect or fear of YHVH and that this was manifest by his keeping of one simple rule... he escheweth evil.
To us, the rules are simple...
Mat 22:36 Master, which [is] the great commandment in the law?
Mat 22:37 Jesus said unto him, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind.
Mat 22:38 This is the first and great commandment.
Mat 22:39 And the second [is] like unto it, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself.
Mat 22:40 On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets. KJV
And by this or in doing this then...
1Th 5:22 Abstain from all appearance of evil. KJV
Basically there is no change it what YHVH told Adam and what through Y'SHUA HE is telling us.
In the US military they say,
K.I.S.S.,
Keep
It
Simple
Stupid
In YHVH K.I.S.S. means...
Keep
It
Simple
Saint
Let us not become so-called Christian rabbis and be found adding to the simplicity of YHVH.
Instead let us greet one another with a HOLY K.I.S.S..