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"Acts, the Mikveh & the Blood: How the Bible Defines Remission"
Scripture Study Principles
Myles Coverdale; a Bible theologian & translator from the 1500’s. He wrote the Coverdale Bible. Say's don't judge Scripture by what is spoken, or written only.
When dissecting any verse of scripture. Ask yourself, of whom, to whom, with what words, what time, where, to what intent, with what circumstances, considering what is written before and what follows any single verse context.
Romans 15:4 For whatsoever things were written aforetime were written for our learning, that we through patience and comfort of the scriptures might have hope.
(NOTE: ALL scripture is written for our LEARNING. ALL scripture isn't written for our DOCTRINE.)
Example: Are NT believers required to bring an animal sacrifice to the Temple?
All Scripture is written for us, but not all Scripture is written to us.
Acts: A Transition Book
Acts maps the shift from the dispensation of Law to the dispensation of Grace. John the Baptist never baptized a Gentile in the Judean wilderness & no Gentile receives the Holy Spirit at Pentecost on the Temple Mount (Acts 2). The categories are 100% Jewish from start to finish.
Understanding Baptism Through Jewish Eyes
(NOTE: Source: Jewish Virtual Library, Topical Bible, Sefaria & Hirsch)
Under the Mosaic Law, Israel practiced many ceremonial water‑purification immersions (Ex 30; Lev 6, 13–16, 22).
Every Israelite understood the pattern:
Unclean > immerse > clean.
Impure > immerse > pure.
Out of fellowship > immerse > restored.
These immersions never removed sin. They restored ritual purity, not forgiveness.
A full Mikveh (precursor to NT baptism) immersion purification ritual expressed: I acknowledge I've been in an unclean state, I'm turning away from that state, I'm returning to covenant faithfulness, I'm restoring my ritual status before God & community
John, Jesus, & Peter all spoke Aramaic & Hebrew, where repent meant > return to God. See Strong's Hebrew repent: h7725. שׁוּב (shub) -- Return, turn back, restore
Category Is Purification:
Jn 3:25 records a dispute between John's disciples about purification. Not forgiveness. Not salvation. PURIFICATION! This is exactly how Jews interpreted immersion.
(NOTE: John the Baptist, his disciples, & Jesus' disciples all performed the baptism of repentance.)
Acts 19:4 confirms John's baptism was a baptism of repentance, preparing Israel to believe in the coming Messiah. It was not a remission ritual.
John the Baptist's mission was to prepare the way of the Lord (Mal 3:1 & Matt 3:3). His "baptism of repentance" was preparatory, not remissive.
Confession of sins = acknowledging they had turned away > Immersion = becoming ceremonially clean > This is Mosaic purification, not atonement.
Acts & the Purification Pattern
Acts 2:38
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.”
(NOTE: Repent = return to God. Be baptized = purify yourself (unclean > clean). Remission comes by calling on the Messiah, not by water. Peter is speaking to Israel, using the same purification categories they ALL knew)
Acts 22:16 “Be baptized, and wash away thy sins, calling on the name of the Lord.”
(NOTE: The washing is symbolic > the calling is effective.)
Acts 8:12 “But when they believed Philip preaching the things concerning the kingdom of God, and the name of Jesus Christ, they were baptized, both men and women.”
(NOTE: They believed Philip's preaching, then were baptized. Faith precedes water. Remission is tied to Christ, not immersion.)
"Nothing external removes sin."
Faith in the NAME saves, Faith in the BLOOD removes sin & the Jesus HOLY SPIRIT Baptism Forever seals the believers salvation. Water is a obedience response.
Scripture is clear:
"Without shedding of blood there is no remission" (Heb 9:22).
Jesus said, “This is My blood > shed for many for the remission of sins” (Matt 26:28).
He washed us from our sins in His own blood (Rev 1:5).
High Priest Foreshadow
Lev 16:21, Aaron laid both hands on the substitute, confessed the sins of the nation & imputes/transfers the sins onto the innocent victim. That was the foreshadow.
Jesus is the fulfillment.
Heb identifies Jesus as our great High Priest (Heb 4:14), called by God after the order of Melchizedek (Heb 5:10) & Mediator of the New Covenant (Heb 9:15; 12:24)
Under the Old Covenant, the priest transferred sin. Under the New Covenant, Christ performs the real sin‑transfer.
When we call on the name of the Lord (Acts 2:21 & Rom 10:13) & place our faith in Jesus' sin-atoning death & resurrection, He forgives all our sins (Heb 10:10–18) & imputes our sins onto Himself (Heb 10:10; 2 Cor 5:19; Rom 4:8, 11, 22–24). At that same moment, He baptizes the believer with His forever (Jn 14:16), salvation‑sealing (Eph 1:13, 2 Cor 1:22, 2 Cor 5:5) indwelling Holy Spirit you.
Anyone can immerse someone into water. Only Jesus, who knows the true heart, can baptize with/in/by the Holy Spirit. Jesus then imputes His righteousness to us (2 Cor 5:21 & Ja 2:23) & the believer becomes the righteousness of God, thru faith placed in Christ.)
Salvation Across the Ages
Before the incarnation, God required FAITH in the promised Messiah who would come (Gen 15:6 & Isa 53). During Jesus' earthly ministry, people were called to BELIEVE that He was the Messiah (Jn 20:31). After His death & resurrection, salvation is accessed through FAITH (Rom 5:1-2) in His finished, sin‑atoning work (Rom 3:25–26 & 1 Cor 15:1–4). In every era, salvation has always been by FAITH in God's Messiah & never by ritual, never by water, never by external acts.
The Gentile Timeline
The categories remained Jewish long after Pentecost. Acts shows a deliberate 7–10 year gap between:
Gentile inclusion (Cornelius, Acts 10), Gentile evangelism (Paul, Acts 13). Years after Cornelius, the Jerusalem church was still preaching "to Jews only" (Acts 11:19).
Why This Matters:
Neither John's water baptism nor early Acts water baptisms were ever the mechanism of remission. Water purified the ceremonially unclean. Only Faith in Jesus saves, His perpetually cleansing blood removes sin (Lev 17:11) & His Spirit baptism gives eternal life.
Two Sacraments every Believer should Partake in:
Water Baptism, a public identification with Jesus death & resurrection. An act of obedience/a gateway to discipleship. This undertaking is an outward physical expression, of the inner spiritual transformation activated, when Christ baptized you with His eternal life giving Holy Spirit.
Communion, both these actions are commanded acts are commanded by the Lord Himself. Neither action is the doorway leading to eternal salvation. These events follow the salvation sealing Holy Spirit baptism, performed by Christ alone. See Matt 3:11, Lk 3:16, Mk 1:8, Jn 1:33, Acts 1:4-5, 2:38, 10:45, 11:16)
Conclusion
Faith in Jesus sacrificial sin atoning work SAVES, His BLOOD washes away sin & Jesus baptism in/of/with His FOREVER (Jn 14:16) indwelling Holy Spirit SEALS (Eph 1:13-14, 4:30, 2 Cor 1:22, 5:5, 2 Tim 1:14) the believers eternal life. AMEN & Amen
Scripture Study Principles
Myles Coverdale; a Bible theologian & translator from the 1500’s. He wrote the Coverdale Bible. Say's don't judge Scripture by what is spoken, or written only.
When dissecting any verse of scripture. Ask yourself, of whom, to whom, with what words, what time, where, to what intent, with what circumstances, considering what is written before and what follows any single verse context.
Romans 15:4 For whatsoever things were written aforetime were written for our learning, that we through patience and comfort of the scriptures might have hope.
(NOTE: ALL scripture is written for our LEARNING. ALL scripture isn't written for our DOCTRINE.)
Example: Are NT believers required to bring an animal sacrifice to the Temple?
All Scripture is written for us, but not all Scripture is written to us.
Acts: A Transition Book
Acts maps the shift from the dispensation of Law to the dispensation of Grace. John the Baptist never baptized a Gentile in the Judean wilderness & no Gentile receives the Holy Spirit at Pentecost on the Temple Mount (Acts 2). The categories are 100% Jewish from start to finish.
Understanding Baptism Through Jewish Eyes
(NOTE: Source: Jewish Virtual Library, Topical Bible, Sefaria & Hirsch)
Under the Mosaic Law, Israel practiced many ceremonial water‑purification immersions (Ex 30; Lev 6, 13–16, 22).
Every Israelite understood the pattern:
Unclean > immerse > clean.
Impure > immerse > pure.
Out of fellowship > immerse > restored.
These immersions never removed sin. They restored ritual purity, not forgiveness.
A full Mikveh (precursor to NT baptism) immersion purification ritual expressed: I acknowledge I've been in an unclean state, I'm turning away from that state, I'm returning to covenant faithfulness, I'm restoring my ritual status before God & community
John, Jesus, & Peter all spoke Aramaic & Hebrew, where repent meant > return to God. See Strong's Hebrew repent: h7725. שׁוּב (shub) -- Return, turn back, restore
Category Is Purification:
Jn 3:25 records a dispute between John's disciples about purification. Not forgiveness. Not salvation. PURIFICATION! This is exactly how Jews interpreted immersion.
(NOTE: John the Baptist, his disciples, & Jesus' disciples all performed the baptism of repentance.)
Acts 19:4 confirms John's baptism was a baptism of repentance, preparing Israel to believe in the coming Messiah. It was not a remission ritual.
John the Baptist's mission was to prepare the way of the Lord (Mal 3:1 & Matt 3:3). His "baptism of repentance" was preparatory, not remissive.
Confession of sins = acknowledging they had turned away > Immersion = becoming ceremonially clean > This is Mosaic purification, not atonement.
Acts & the Purification Pattern
Acts 2:38
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.”
(NOTE: Repent = return to God. Be baptized = purify yourself (unclean > clean). Remission comes by calling on the Messiah, not by water. Peter is speaking to Israel, using the same purification categories they ALL knew)
Acts 22:16 “Be baptized, and wash away thy sins, calling on the name of the Lord.”
(NOTE: The washing is symbolic > the calling is effective.)
Acts 8:12 “But when they believed Philip preaching the things concerning the kingdom of God, and the name of Jesus Christ, they were baptized, both men and women.”
(NOTE: They believed Philip's preaching, then were baptized. Faith precedes water. Remission is tied to Christ, not immersion.)
"Nothing external removes sin."
Faith in the NAME saves, Faith in the BLOOD removes sin & the Jesus HOLY SPIRIT Baptism Forever seals the believers salvation. Water is a obedience response.
Scripture is clear:
"Without shedding of blood there is no remission" (Heb 9:22).
Jesus said, “This is My blood > shed for many for the remission of sins” (Matt 26:28).
He washed us from our sins in His own blood (Rev 1:5).
High Priest Foreshadow
Lev 16:21, Aaron laid both hands on the substitute, confessed the sins of the nation & imputes/transfers the sins onto the innocent victim. That was the foreshadow.
Jesus is the fulfillment.
Heb identifies Jesus as our great High Priest (Heb 4:14), called by God after the order of Melchizedek (Heb 5:10) & Mediator of the New Covenant (Heb 9:15; 12:24)
Under the Old Covenant, the priest transferred sin. Under the New Covenant, Christ performs the real sin‑transfer.
When we call on the name of the Lord (Acts 2:21 & Rom 10:13) & place our faith in Jesus' sin-atoning death & resurrection, He forgives all our sins (Heb 10:10–18) & imputes our sins onto Himself (Heb 10:10; 2 Cor 5:19; Rom 4:8, 11, 22–24). At that same moment, He baptizes the believer with His forever (Jn 14:16), salvation‑sealing (Eph 1:13, 2 Cor 1:22, 2 Cor 5:5) indwelling Holy Spirit you.
Anyone can immerse someone into water. Only Jesus, who knows the true heart, can baptize with/in/by the Holy Spirit. Jesus then imputes His righteousness to us (2 Cor 5:21 & Ja 2:23) & the believer becomes the righteousness of God, thru faith placed in Christ.)
Salvation Across the Ages
Before the incarnation, God required FAITH in the promised Messiah who would come (Gen 15:6 & Isa 53). During Jesus' earthly ministry, people were called to BELIEVE that He was the Messiah (Jn 20:31). After His death & resurrection, salvation is accessed through FAITH (Rom 5:1-2) in His finished, sin‑atoning work (Rom 3:25–26 & 1 Cor 15:1–4). In every era, salvation has always been by FAITH in God's Messiah & never by ritual, never by water, never by external acts.
The Gentile Timeline
The categories remained Jewish long after Pentecost. Acts shows a deliberate 7–10 year gap between:
Gentile inclusion (Cornelius, Acts 10), Gentile evangelism (Paul, Acts 13). Years after Cornelius, the Jerusalem church was still preaching "to Jews only" (Acts 11:19).
Why This Matters:
Neither John's water baptism nor early Acts water baptisms were ever the mechanism of remission. Water purified the ceremonially unclean. Only Faith in Jesus saves, His perpetually cleansing blood removes sin (Lev 17:11) & His Spirit baptism gives eternal life.
Two Sacraments every Believer should Partake in:
Water Baptism, a public identification with Jesus death & resurrection. An act of obedience/a gateway to discipleship. This undertaking is an outward physical expression, of the inner spiritual transformation activated, when Christ baptized you with His eternal life giving Holy Spirit.
Communion, both these actions are commanded acts are commanded by the Lord Himself. Neither action is the doorway leading to eternal salvation. These events follow the salvation sealing Holy Spirit baptism, performed by Christ alone. See Matt 3:11, Lk 3:16, Mk 1:8, Jn 1:33, Acts 1:4-5, 2:38, 10:45, 11:16)
Conclusion
Faith in Jesus sacrificial sin atoning work SAVES, His BLOOD washes away sin & Jesus baptism in/of/with His FOREVER (Jn 14:16) indwelling Holy Spirit SEALS (Eph 1:13-14, 4:30, 2 Cor 1:22, 5:5, 2 Tim 1:14) the believers eternal life. AMEN & Amen
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