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Let's look at Acts 2:38. But first, let me say this again, Acts 8:37 is not in any Greek manuscript! There is not one immersion in the N.T. where the one immersing "professes" that he/she believes Yeshua is the Son of God! We don't see it in Acts 2: 38! Many versions, including the ISV, NET, BBE, and WEB, do not include the verse! These versions were done hundreds of years after the KJV, with far more manuscripts to work from. The verse did not appear until about 500-600 A.D. in a manuscript called Codex Laudianus. It is evident that the "verse" was inserted by a scribe. The Codex Laundianus is the only manuscript that contains vs 37.
Neither did Yeshua command the disciples, "baptizing them in the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit in Mat 28:18. We see the disciples of Yeshua immersing in John 4:1-2. They weren't immersed in the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, which, if that were what Yeshua commanded, Scripture would have said something about "and his disciples were immersing in the name of..." In Acts 2:38 (which happened after Yeshua ascended), Peter commands, "Repent and be immersed in the name of Yeshua..." Would Peter have openly defied Yeshua? In every case of immersion recorded after Yeshua ascended, there is not one example of anyone being immersed in the "name of the Father, in the name of the Son..." Eusebius quoted this verse to read, "With one word and voice, He said to his disciples: Go and make disciples of all nations in my name teaching to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you" in 311 A.D. There is no doubt that the phrase was inserted by some scribe, but apparently, nobody knows when this happened. But it is known that Yeshua never said it!
Acts 2:38 Peter said, "Repent (Return to Jehovah) and immerse yourselves in the name of Yeshua for the remittance of sins. Then you will be given the Holy Spirit. Receive/given the Holy Spirit is future tense. One can construe this to mean "immediately after the immersion," or it can also mean "at a later time, you will receive the Holy Spirit." Peter was a Jewish man speaking to a crowd of Jewish people who were in Jerusalem to participate in the Jewish feast of Pentecost! Not a Gentile among them! So, while many will claim this as "proof" of a ceremony of "Christian Baptism," it doesn't hold water!
But I am going to take this a step further. Because after the death and resurrection of Yeshua, the need for a physical immersion for the remission of sins was done away with! We all know that the shed blood of Yeshua did away with any need to go through an earthly priest to offer an animal sacrifice or sin offering to have our sins forgiven. The only thing a sheep must do today is confess sins directly to Jehovah/Yeshua (with a contrite heart and repentance), and our sins will be forgiven 1Jn1:9.
But we also see that with the way in place for sins to be forgiven, the other side of the coin was remission, the removal of sins.
Psa 25:7 Remember not the sins of my youth...
Psa 103:11-12 For as heaven is high above the earth, so is He great in His mercy to them that fear Him. As far as the East is from the West, this is as far as He has removed our transgressions from us.
Is 38:17 Behold, for peace I had great bitterness: but because You love my soul and delivered it from the pit of corruption, for You have cast all of my sins behind Your back.
Is 43:25 I am He that blots out your transgressions, for my own sake. I will not remember your sins.
Is 44:22 I have erased your sins and transgressions as I would wipe away a cloud. Return to me (repent), for I have redeemed you.
Eze 18:21-22 But if a wicked man will turn from his sins that he is guilty of and from then on keep all of my statutes and do what is lawful and right, he will surely live, he will not die. Not one of his sins will be held against him or mentioned. In his righteousness that he now lives by, he will live.
Mic 7:18-19 Who is a God like you! That pardons iniquity and passes by the transgressions of the remnant of His heritage? He does not hold onto His anger for ever, because He delights in mercy. He will turn back again. He will have compassion upon us, His remnant. He will cast all of their sins into the depths of the sea.
What is key to remember is that the remission of sins is a part of the Renewed Covenant.
Jer 31:31-34 "...for I will forgive their iniquity and I will remember their sin no more."
Heb 8:12 For I will be merciful towards their unrighteousness. Their sins and iniquities I will no longer remember.
Heb 10:16-17 "...And their sins and iniquities I will remember no more.
Acts 3:19 Repent ye therefore and be converted, that your sins may be blotted out...
Rom 11:27 For this is my covenant unto them, at which time I will take away their sins.
2Cor 5:19 That is, That God, who was present in Christ, reconciled the sheep unto Himself, not counting the sheep trespasses against them.
Since the work Yeshua began on the cross and finished with His resurrection was complete and covered everything required to implement the Renewed Covenant, it can only mean that the remission of sins was included along with the way for forgiveness to be in place. This means that any need for physical immersion in water for the remission of sins was no longer required or necessary!
Traditions that have been in place for a thousand years are hard to overcome. In many cases, the majority will never see any legitmate reason to stop a tradition. The Jewish people in those days were so ingrained to the practice of physical self-immersion for different reasons, plus they had added to what Jehovah required, and also ingrained was the idea that when a Gentile wanted to convert, physical self-immersion was a part of the process, along with making an animal sacrifice. The thing is that nowhere in the Old Testament did Jehovah require complete physical self-immersion for any act of cleansing or becoming ritually pure. the only physical act required of a Gentile proselyte was physical circumcision, Ex 12:48.
At some point in time, the Pharisees added self-immersion to replace the normal cleaning process required by Jehovah. At some point, the Pharisees taught that a Gentile proselyte not only had to be circumcised but that he also self-immerse and offer an animal sacrifice. I am fairly positive that these "Traditions of Men" started shortly after the Pharisees were created during the Babylonian captivity.
To any of you who have gone through this entire study, I hope you have learned much, as I also learned new things during my own study on this subject. I didn't realize how in-depth this study was going to become when I started it. But, since we are not a part of Jewish culture and are not aware of the details and background of Scripture events, there is always more to study and learn.
In Truth
Bob Corrigan.
Neither did Yeshua command the disciples, "baptizing them in the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit in Mat 28:18. We see the disciples of Yeshua immersing in John 4:1-2. They weren't immersed in the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, which, if that were what Yeshua commanded, Scripture would have said something about "and his disciples were immersing in the name of..." In Acts 2:38 (which happened after Yeshua ascended), Peter commands, "Repent and be immersed in the name of Yeshua..." Would Peter have openly defied Yeshua? In every case of immersion recorded after Yeshua ascended, there is not one example of anyone being immersed in the "name of the Father, in the name of the Son..." Eusebius quoted this verse to read, "With one word and voice, He said to his disciples: Go and make disciples of all nations in my name teaching to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you" in 311 A.D. There is no doubt that the phrase was inserted by some scribe, but apparently, nobody knows when this happened. But it is known that Yeshua never said it!
Acts 2:38 Peter said, "Repent (Return to Jehovah) and immerse yourselves in the name of Yeshua for the remittance of sins. Then you will be given the Holy Spirit. Receive/given the Holy Spirit is future tense. One can construe this to mean "immediately after the immersion," or it can also mean "at a later time, you will receive the Holy Spirit." Peter was a Jewish man speaking to a crowd of Jewish people who were in Jerusalem to participate in the Jewish feast of Pentecost! Not a Gentile among them! So, while many will claim this as "proof" of a ceremony of "Christian Baptism," it doesn't hold water!
But I am going to take this a step further. Because after the death and resurrection of Yeshua, the need for a physical immersion for the remission of sins was done away with! We all know that the shed blood of Yeshua did away with any need to go through an earthly priest to offer an animal sacrifice or sin offering to have our sins forgiven. The only thing a sheep must do today is confess sins directly to Jehovah/Yeshua (with a contrite heart and repentance), and our sins will be forgiven 1Jn1:9.
But we also see that with the way in place for sins to be forgiven, the other side of the coin was remission, the removal of sins.
Psa 25:7 Remember not the sins of my youth...
Psa 103:11-12 For as heaven is high above the earth, so is He great in His mercy to them that fear Him. As far as the East is from the West, this is as far as He has removed our transgressions from us.
Is 38:17 Behold, for peace I had great bitterness: but because You love my soul and delivered it from the pit of corruption, for You have cast all of my sins behind Your back.
Is 43:25 I am He that blots out your transgressions, for my own sake. I will not remember your sins.
Is 44:22 I have erased your sins and transgressions as I would wipe away a cloud. Return to me (repent), for I have redeemed you.
Eze 18:21-22 But if a wicked man will turn from his sins that he is guilty of and from then on keep all of my statutes and do what is lawful and right, he will surely live, he will not die. Not one of his sins will be held against him or mentioned. In his righteousness that he now lives by, he will live.
Mic 7:18-19 Who is a God like you! That pardons iniquity and passes by the transgressions of the remnant of His heritage? He does not hold onto His anger for ever, because He delights in mercy. He will turn back again. He will have compassion upon us, His remnant. He will cast all of their sins into the depths of the sea.
What is key to remember is that the remission of sins is a part of the Renewed Covenant.
Jer 31:31-34 "...for I will forgive their iniquity and I will remember their sin no more."
Heb 8:12 For I will be merciful towards their unrighteousness. Their sins and iniquities I will no longer remember.
Heb 10:16-17 "...And their sins and iniquities I will remember no more.
Acts 3:19 Repent ye therefore and be converted, that your sins may be blotted out...
Rom 11:27 For this is my covenant unto them, at which time I will take away their sins.
2Cor 5:19 That is, That God, who was present in Christ, reconciled the sheep unto Himself, not counting the sheep trespasses against them.
Since the work Yeshua began on the cross and finished with His resurrection was complete and covered everything required to implement the Renewed Covenant, it can only mean that the remission of sins was included along with the way for forgiveness to be in place. This means that any need for physical immersion in water for the remission of sins was no longer required or necessary!
Traditions that have been in place for a thousand years are hard to overcome. In many cases, the majority will never see any legitmate reason to stop a tradition. The Jewish people in those days were so ingrained to the practice of physical self-immersion for different reasons, plus they had added to what Jehovah required, and also ingrained was the idea that when a Gentile wanted to convert, physical self-immersion was a part of the process, along with making an animal sacrifice. The thing is that nowhere in the Old Testament did Jehovah require complete physical self-immersion for any act of cleansing or becoming ritually pure. the only physical act required of a Gentile proselyte was physical circumcision, Ex 12:48.
At some point in time, the Pharisees added self-immersion to replace the normal cleaning process required by Jehovah. At some point, the Pharisees taught that a Gentile proselyte not only had to be circumcised but that he also self-immerse and offer an animal sacrifice. I am fairly positive that these "Traditions of Men" started shortly after the Pharisees were created during the Babylonian captivity.
To any of you who have gone through this entire study, I hope you have learned much, as I also learned new things during my own study on this subject. I didn't realize how in-depth this study was going to become when I started it. But, since we are not a part of Jewish culture and are not aware of the details and background of Scripture events, there is always more to study and learn.
In Truth
Bob Corrigan.
