Butterball1
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Not at all. You are assuming the disciples did not make mistakes or did things based on not fully understanding God's message completely. Peter was rebuked by the apostle Paul. The disciples misunderstood Jesus about His reference to a sword. The disciples misunderstood His reason in going to the cross. The disciples did not understand that Christ would be risen from the grave three days later. So there was much the disciples did not understand, and they had to play catch up with what our Lord meant involving the Great Commission when he told them to baptize all nations.
I believe Jesus was referring to Spirit baptism and not water baptism in Matthew 28:19, and that the disciples merely misunderstood Him (yet again). We see this Spirit baptism done by the apostle Paul in Acts of the Apostles 19:1-7.
Here are some great articles for reading (to help you to see where I am coming from).
biblestudying.net
What is True Baptism? | Truth Or Tradition?
Side Note:
Oh, and I am strongly against Belief Alone-ism or Sin and Still Be Saved Type Beliefs. I believe Sanctification plays a part in our salvation after we are saved by God's grace through faith in Jesus Christ. But we cannot redefine the gospel in what we like it to say vs. what the Bible says it means. Nowhere does any NT Scripture state that the gospel includes baptism. In my experience in attending the church of Christ, they are all about getting people baptized, but they are not for preaching the gospel in 1 Corinthians 15:1-8. This is wrong.
Are you assuming the Apostles had it wrong about the great commission being water baptism? The fact water baptism was what was carried out (Acts of the Apostles 8:38-39, Acts of the Apostles 10:47-48) shows they understood correctly the baptism of the great commission is water baptism. In Acts of the Apostles 10:47-48 Peter was speaking by inspiration of the HS and the HS did not make a mistake in commanding water baptism.
Matthew 28:19 - "Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost:”
Acts of the Apostles 2:38 - Peter said to them, "Repent, and each of you be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins; and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.
Here are some verses that we need to add to these two above...
Acts of the Apostles 1:5 - for John baptized with water, but you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit not many days from now."
Ephesians 1:13 - In Him, you also, after listening to the message of truth, the gospel of your salvation--having also believed, you were sealed in Him with the Holy Spirit of promise,
1 Corinthians 12:13 - For by one Spirit we were all baptized into one body, whether Jews or Greeks, whether slaves or free, and we were all made to drink of one Spirit.
1 Corinthians 6:17 - But the one who joins himself to the Lord is one spirit with Him.
Here's the idea:
Foundationally baptism at it's core is a picture of immersion. When a person is baptized into the Spirit, it is a spiritual immersion. Baptism into the Father, the Word, and Holy Spirit is an individual receiving the Spirit after they believe in the gospel. It does not include water. Such a thing was John's baptism. Peter realized this truth in Acts between Acts 10 and 11.
Acts of the Apostles 11:15-17 says:
"And as I began to speak, the Holy Spirit fell upon them just as He did upon us at the beginning. And I remembered the word of the Lord, how He used to say, `John baptized with water, but you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit.' Therefore if God gave to them the same gift as He gave to us also after believing in the Lord Jesus Christ, who was I that I could stand in God's way?”
The words bolded in red point us back to Acts of the Apostles 1:5.
The words bolded in blue points us back to Acts of the Apostles 2:38. Therefore, if we take this line of thinking back to Matthew 28, the Lord Jesus Christ is telling us that a person must be saved through faith by abiding in the Father, the Word, and the Holy Spirit as part of the great commission. We must be immersed in the name of the triune God. We must be immersed in God. Water only gets you wet.
None of the verses you cite above say anything at all about anyone today being baptized with the Holy Spirit. The CONTEXT of Acts 1:5 Jesus is speaking to His Apostles in that context promising them this baptism (which they received in Acts 2) but Jesus is not promising that baptism to anyone today.
In Acts 11:15-17 Peter is referring back to "the beginning" which would Pentecost in Acts 2 when the Apostles were baptized with the Holy Spirit. Hence Peter is saying the Holy Spirit fell upon the Gentiles (Acts 10) just as it did with the Apostles in "the beginning" (Acts 2). THe Apostles (Jews) and Cornelius (Gentile) are the only 2 NT times that people were baptized with the Holy SPirit fulfilling Joel's prophecy of Joel 2:28 " that I will pour out my spirit upon all flesh".
----"All flesh" does NOT mean every single person would be baptized with the Holy Spirit.
----at that time they saw all flesh/mankind in two groups, you was either a 1) Jew or Non-Jew 2) a Gentile. The Apostles (Jews) and Cornelius (Gentile) were baptized with the Holy Spirit thereby FULFILLING Joel's prophecy about baptism with the Holy Spirit. Fulfill means to cease, come to an end meaning baptism with the Holy SPirit was fufilled, it ceased therefore the one baptism of Eph 4:5 is water baptism of the great comission.
----many many years passed from Acts 2 when the Apostles were baptized with the HS and when Gentiles were baptized with the HS in Acts 10. WHy did Peter have to go back all those years (to "the beginning") to find another example of baptism with the HS? IF baptism with the HS was a common occurance among all believers why did not Peter use those Jews he was speaking to in Acts 10 & 11 to remind them of their having been baptized with the HS? Because NONE of those Jews had been baptized with the HS. Again, the only two times baptism with the HS took place was Acts 2 with Apostles (Jews) and Acts 10 Cornelius (Gentile) fulfilling Joel's prophecy bringing that baptism to an end.
----Peter connects Joel's prophecy of baptism with the HS to the APostles being baptized with the HS in Acts 2:16. Then in Acts 11 Peter connects the Gentiles being baptized with the HS to Acts 2 ("the beginning") also. Showing Joel's prophecy of baptism with the Holy SPirit was fulfilled with the Jew and Gentile (all flesh) haven been baptized with the HS. Again, this baptism with the HS does not exist today having been a fulfilled prophecy. People today can CLAIM they have been baptized with the HS but cannot PROVE it in anyway, cannot provide any Bible evidence they were ever promised such a baptism. There is not one verse that promises anyone today baptism with the Holy Spirit.
----if baptism of the great commission is some kind of spirit baptism, then why did the Spirit in Acts 8 not just simply "spirit baptize" the eunuch? Why did the Spirit instead send for Phillip to teach and water baptize the Eunuch? Because water baptism is the baptism of the great commission administered by disciples as Phillip. Claiming people today are baptized with the HS creates 2 baptism in contradiction to there being just "one baptism" in effect today Ephesians 4:5.
----From John 3:5 Nicodemus had not been born again. If this new birth is baptism with the Holy Spirit, and this new birth is of God (John 1:13) then whose fault is it Nicodemus had not been born again? God's fault for failing to baptize Nicodemus with the HS. Yet the new birth is water baptism which has been commanded to man and men that are not water baptized of their own choice are held culpable.....not God.
-----the baptism of 1 Corithinas 12:13 therefore must be water baptism of the great commission, the new birth:
Jn 3:5-------------SPirit+++++++++Water>>>>>>>in the kingdom
1 Cor 12:13------SPirit+++++++++baptized>>>>>>in the body.
There is just one way to be saved (to get in the kingdom/body) no alternatives which means both verses MUST be speaking of the exact same thing. It is too obvious that both verses are referring to water baptism. Hence those not water baptized are culpable for their own choice in not being water baptized and not culpable for God having failed to baptize them with the HS. Paul water baptized some of those Corinthians himself, 1 Cor 1:14,16. THis eliminates any and all attempts of getting around the necessity of water baptism of the great commission.
Edit:
Matthew 7:21 "Not every one that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven; but he that doeth the will of my Father which is in heaven."
TO enter the kingdom requires a "doing" on the part of man.
John 3:5-----born of water (water baptized) >>>>>>>>enter the kingdom
Matt 7:21----doeth God's will>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>enter the kingdom
Again, just ONE way to be saved, no alternatives meaning these verses cannot contradict but speak the same thing. It is God's will, God's command (Acts of the Apostles 10:47-48) that men be water baptized. Those that obediently submit to DOING God's will in being water baptized are the ones to enter the kingdom.
Ephesians 1:13 or 1 Cor 6:17 speak nothing at all about a baptism of any kind.
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