Salvation: Is it really FREE ? (Part 3)

Now let's continue looking at Mr. Finnel's article.

"The events on the Day of Pentecost that lead to salvation.

1. Peter preached the death, burial , and resurrection of Jesus.(Acts 2:22-35)

2. Peter proclaimed Jesus as both Lord and Christ. (Acts 2:36)

3. Men believed the message and were convicted of their sins and ask what they should do. (Acts 2:37)

4. Peter told them to repent and be baptized (immersed in water) so their sins could be forgiven and they could receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.

5. How were they saved? Act 2:40-41..."Be saved from this perverse generation" 41 So then, those who had received his word were baptized; and that day there were added about three thousand souls. (Notice they were not saved until they were baptized)."

Yes Peter preached the death, burial, and resurrection of Christ--but he preached it as BAD NEWS.

Acts 2:
[21] And it shall come to pass, that whosoever shall call on the name of the Lord shall be saved.
[22] Ye men of Israel, hear these words; Jesus of Nazareth, a man approved of God among you by miracles and wonders and signs, which God did by him in the midst of you, as ye yourselves also know:
[23] Him, being delivered by the determinate counsel and foreknowledge of God, ye have taken, and by wicked hands have crucified and slain:
[24] Whom God hath raised up, having loosed the pains of death: because it was not possible that he should be holden of it.
[25] For David speaketh concerning him, I foresaw the Lord always before my face, for he is on my right hand, that I should not be moved:
[26] Therefore did my heart rejoice, and my tongue was glad; moreover also my flesh shall rest in hope:
[27] Because thou wilt not leave my soul in hell, neither wilt thou suffer thine Holy One to see corruption.
[28] Thou hast made known to me the ways of life; thou shalt make me full of joy with thy countenance.
[29] Men and brethren, let me freely speak unto you of the patriarch David, that he is both dead and buried, and his sepulchre is with us unto this day.
[30] Therefore being a prophet, and knowing that God had sworn with an oath to him, that of the fruit of his loins, according to the flesh, he would raise up Christ to sit on his throne;
[31] He seeing this before spake of the resurrection of Christ, that his soul was not left in hell, neither his flesh did see corruption.
[32] This Jesus hath God raised up, whereof we all are witnesses.
[33] Therefore being by the right hand of God exalted, and having received of the Father the promise of the Holy Ghost, he hath shed forth this, which ye now see and hear.
[34] For David is not ascended into the heavens: but he saith himself, The LORD said unto my Lord, Sit thou on my right hand,
[35] Until I make thy foes thy footstool.
[36] Therefore let all the house of Israel know assuredly, that God hath made that same Jesus, whom ye have crucified, both Lord and Christ.

As you can see, Peter preached to the Jews that they had wickedly killed Jesus Christ. Peter did not preach the blood atonement that Christ provided, he did not say that Christ had died for their sins. All Peter did was preach that Jesus was the prophesied Christ.

Peter says in Acts 3 that they would not have their sins blotted out until the 2nd coming of Christ.

Acts 3:
[18] But those things, which God before had shewed by the mouth of all his prophets, that Christ should suffer, he hath so fulfilled.
[19] Repent ye therefore, and be converted, that your sins may be blotted out, when the times of refreshing shall come from the presence of the Lord;
[20] And he shall send Jesus Christ, which before was preached unto you:
[21] Whom the heaven must receive until the times of restitution of all things, which God hath spoken by the mouth of all his holy prophets since the world began.

That is very different from Paul's gospel....

Acts 13:
[38] Be it known unto you therefore, men and brethren, that through this man is preached unto you the forgiveness of sins:
[39] And by him all that believe are justified from all things, from which ye could not be justified by the law of Moses.

Romans 16:25 Now to him that is of power to stablish you according to my gospel, and the preaching of Jesus Christ, according to the revelation of the mystery, which was kept secret since the world began,

Mr. Finnel did a terrible job explaining what Peter taught in Acts 2. Mr. Finnel pretended like Peter and Paul taught the same gospel when they obviously did not. Just compare Peter's sermon in Acts 2 to Paul's sermon in Acts 13.

Let's continue examining Mr. Finnel's article.

"PETER DID NOT TELL THEM TO SAY THE "SINNER'S PRAYER" IN ORDER TO BE SAVED.

What did they have to do to be saved?

They needed to have faith: John 3:16, Mark 16:16

They needed to repent: Acts 2:38, Acts 3;19 (repentance means to make a commitment to turn from sin and turn toward God).

They needed to confess: Romans 10:9-10, Acts 8:36-37.

They needed to be baptized: Acts 2:38, Mark 16:16, 1 Peter 3:20-21.

The apostles never taught the sinner's prayer as the terms for pardon.

No one is questioning the sincerity of those who recite the SINNER'S PRAYER, the question is, can the SINNER'S PRAYER SAVE ANYONE?"

Mr. Finnel is correct, the Bible never reveals a "sinner's prayer" as the plan of salvation. But it does say that those who call upon the Lord believing the gospel (1 Cor. 15:1-4) will be saved (Rom. 10:13).

Mr. Finnel deceitfully excluded part of Peter's message in Acts 2...."And it shall come to pass, that whosoever shall call on the name of the Lord shall be saved." Peter said that in Acts 2:21.

Now let's examine Acts 2:38 in light of its context.

Acts 2:38 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.

Mr. Finnel's position, baptismal regeneration, is  largely based on a misinterpretation of Acts 2:38. They believe that the phrase "for the remission of sins" means "in order to get the remission of sins". However, that is AGAINST the context. When did Christ ever say that water gave people the remission of sins? Would that not make the preacher (that is baptizing us) some sort of priest that has to do something for us so that we may get to heaven? Would that not make salvation between a sinner, a preacher, and Christ rather than just the sinner and Christ?

Here are some irrefutable facts about Acts 2:  Peter knew nothing about the dispensation of grace, The body of Christ, the pre-trib rapture of the body of Christ, complete salvation before the 2nd coming (he thought it came at the 2nd coming), Peter would not preach to Gentiles without Jews present until Israel repented (Luke 24:47), Peter did not preach that Christ died for sins in Acts 2 (he only preached a murder charge against the Jews), Peter and the apostles were still keeping the law (Acts 2:46, Acts 10:1-14, Acts 15), those in Acts 2 were keeping Christ's commandment to sell all that they had (Matthew 19:16-23, Matthew 10:9-10, Acts 2:44-45, Acts 4:34-37, 5:1-11).

Those are irrefutable facts about Acts 2.

Also, the plan of salvation was already given before verse 38....

Acts 2:21 And it shall come to pass, that whosoever shall call on the name of the Lord shall be saved.

Then Peter proves that Christ rose from the dead and is God and King over Israel (v. 22-36). So before we even get to verse 38 the plan of salvation has been given. Now look at verses 37-38.

"Now when they heard this, they were pricked in their heart, and said unto Peter and to the rest of the apostles, Men and brethren, what shall we do? 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."

Clearly these Jews had already called on the name of the Lord and believed that Christ was God and King over Israel, or else they would not have felt "pricked in their heart". These Jews did not ask "what shall we do to be saved" because Peter already declared in verse 21 that "whosoever shall call on the name of the Lord shall be saved". What these Jews ARE ASKING is what should they do now....since they crucified their Messiah, which was Peter's charge against them (Acts 2:22-36).

The answer to that was the following:
1.) Repent of it
2.) Get water baptized to answer God with a good conscience (1 Peter 3:21) which you cannot do if you are not already saved (Titus 1:15).

"FOR the remission of sins" does not mean "to obtain the remission of sins". It means 'BECAUSE OF' the remission of sins......look at the references yourself.

Bring forth therefore fruits meet FOR repentance . . . --Matt. 3:4

Offer the gift that Moses commanded, FOR a testimony unto them . . . -- Matt. 8:3, 4

They cried FOR fear . . . --Matt. 14:26

Offer FOR thy cleansing those things which Moses commanded . . . -- Mark 1:11

They could not come nigh unto him FOR the press . . . --Mark 2:4

He looked . . . being grieved FOR the hardness of their hearts . . . -- Mark 3:3

Then Peter said unto them, Repent, and be baptized everyone of you IN THE NAME of Jesus Christ FOR the remission of sins . . . --Acts 2:38

The word "for" means different things. It CAN mean "in order to obtain", but that is not what it means in Acts 2:38. As seen above, in the context of Acts 2:38 it means "because of". The Jews had already called upon God from their heart and were already saved.

Here is a perfect illustration of this.

Luke 5:12-14: "And it came to pass, when he was in a certain city, behold a man full of leprosy: who seeing Jesus fell on his face, and besought him, saying, Lord, if thou wilt, thou canst make me clean. And he put forth his hand, and touched him, saying, I will: be thou clean. And immediately the leprosy departed from him. And he charged him to tell no man: but go, and shew thyself to the priest, and offer for thy cleansing, according as Moses commanded, for a testimony unto them."

The man with leprosy represents a sinner. He then saw Jesus and called upon the name of the Lord, then Christ healed him. Then the man was to go and offer FOR his cleansing, that is BECAUSE OF.

What the Mr. Finnel has built an entire system of theology based on a verse that he pulled out of context and didn't compare scripture with scripture on.

Salvation is a FREE gift. To receive a free gift you do not have to ask for it or do anything for it--you just believe the person who is giving the gift to you and receive it.

Romans 3:24 Being justified freely by his grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus:

Romans 5:
[15] But not as the offence, so also is the free gift. For if through the offence of one many be dead, much more the grace of God, and the gift by grace, which is by one man, Jesus Christ, hath abounded unto many.
[16] And not as it was by one that sinned, so is the gift: for the judgment was by one to condemnation, but the free gift is of many offences unto justification.
[17] For if by one man's offence death reigned by one; much more they which receive abundance of grace and of the gift of righteousness shall reign in life by one, Jesus Christ.)
[18] Therefore as by the offence of one judgment came upon all men to condemnation; even so by the righteousness of one the free gift came upon all men unto justification of life.

Romans 11:6 And if by grace, then is it no more of works: otherwise grace is no more grace. But if it be of works, then is it no more grace: otherwise work is no more work.

John 1:
[11] He came unto his own, and his own received him not.
[12] But as many as received him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on his name:
[13] Which were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God.

2 Timothy 1:
[9] Who hath saved us, and called us with an holy calling, not according to our works, but according to his own purpose and grace, which was given us in Christ Jesus before the world began,
[10] But is now made manifest by the appearing of our Saviour Jesus Christ, who hath abolished death, and hath brought life and immortality to light through the gospel:
[11] Whereunto I am appointed a preacher, and an apostle, and a teacher of the Gentiles.

Ephesians 2:
[8] For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God:
[9] Not of works, lest any man should boast.

Titus 3:
[4] But after that the kindness and love of God our Saviour toward man appeared,
[5] Not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to his mercy he saved us, by the washing of regeneration, and renewing of the Holy Ghost;
[6] Which he shed on us abundantly through Jesus Christ our Saviour;
[7] That being justified by his grace, we should be made heirs according to the hope of eternal life.

Acts 16:
[30] And brought them out, and said, Sirs, what must I do to be saved?
[31] And they said, Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved, and thy house.

--Eli "Hoss" Caldwell