Response to an Acts 2:38 Campbellite

Here is my reply to a "Church of Christ" (Antichrist) Campbellite. But Campbellites deny the literal 7 year time of Jacob's trouble (Daniel's 70th Week), the future restoration of Israel (they think the Body of Christ replaced Israel), the literal Second Coming of Christ to the Earth, and they deny the 1,000 Millennium of Christ reigning on the Earth (they are A-Millennial). Also, no Campbellite believes in ONE Book ONE Authority, they cherry pick whichever perversion of the word of God they like at the moment. They do not believe that the King James Bible is the inspired word of God for the English speaking people. This is because they follow Alexander Campbell, who wrote his own version of the Bible called "Living Oracles"
http://av1611studyblog.blogspot.com/2015/08/alexander-campbell-bible-perverter.html  

 

You quoted Galatians 3:27. What does it have to do with water baptism? The text says baptism into Christ, not baptism in water. Rom. 6:3-4, Col. 2:10-12, Gal. 3:26-28, Eph. 2:6, and 1 Cor. 12:12-18 all refer to baptism INTO CHRIST, not water. Do you think Christ is a tank of water? That is blasphemous. Baptism into Christ is done "by one Spirit" "through the faith of the operation of God". The Holy Spirit joins the believer to Christ making us one spirit with Him and members of His body. When the Holy Spirit baptizes a believer into Christ, that believers becomes crucified, buried, risen, and seated with Christ.

Colossians 2:
[10] And ye are complete in him, which is the head of all principality and power:
[11] In whom also ye are circumcised with the circumcision MADE WITHOUT HANDS, in putting off the body of the sins of the flesh BY THE CIRCUMCISION OF CHRIST:
[12] Buried with him in baptism, wherein also ye are risen with him THROUGH THE FAITH OF THE OPERATION OF GOD, who hath raised him from the dead.

1 Corinthians 6:15, 17 "Know ye not that your bodies are the members of Christ?....he that is joined unto the Lord is one spirit."

1 Corinthians 12:
[12] For as the body is one, and hath many members, and all the members of that one body, being many, are one body: so also is Christ.
[13] For BY ONE SPIRIT ARE WE ALL BAPTIZED INTO ONE BODY, whether we be Jews or Gentiles, whether we be bond or free; and have been all made to drink into one Spirit.
[14] For the body is not one member, but many.
[15] If the foot shall say, Because I am not the hand, I am not of the body; is it therefore not of the body?
[16] And if the ear shall say, Because I am not the eye, I am not of the body; is it therefore not of the body?
[17] If the whole body were an eye, where were the hearing? If the whole were hearing, where were the smelling?
[18] But now hath GOD SET THE MEMBERS EVERY ONE OF THEM IN THE BODY, as it hath pleased him.

Romans 6:
[3] Know ye not, that so many of us as were baptized into Jesus Christ were baptized into his death?
[4] Therefore we are buried with him by baptism into death: that like as Christ was raised up from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life.

Galatians 2:20 I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me: and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave himself for me.

Galatians 3:
[26] For ye are all the children of God BY FAITH in Christ Jesus.
[27] For as many of you as have been baptized into Christ have put on Christ.
[28] There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither bond nor free, there is neither male nor female: for ye are all one in Christ Jesus.

None of that has anything to do with dunking someone in water. They are referring to baptism into Christ by the Holy Spirit.

What does Acts 2 have to do with the Dispensation of Grace and gospel of the grace of God given to the apostle of the Gentiles, Paul? (Gal. 1:11-12, Rom. 2:16, 11:13, 15:15-16, 16:25, 2 Tim. 2:8, Eph. 3:1-9, Col. 1:24-28, etc). Pentecost was a Jewish feast day, not the beginning of the Dispensation of Grace that we live in (where there is neither Jew nor Gentile).

Peter's sermon in Acts 2 was the gospel of the kingdom to Israel. (it wasn't the gospel of the grace of God that the Lord revealed to Paul to preach to the Gentiles, Acts 20:24, Gal. 1:11-12, 2:1-9, Rom. 11:13, 15:15-16, 16:25, 2 Tim. 4:17).

Notice that the ministry of the 12 apostles (Matthias replaced Judas) was to ISRAEL (Matt. 19:28) and they preached the gospel of the kingdom (Matt. 4:17, 4:23, 9:35, 10:5-7, 24:14, Mark 1:14-15). Here is what Peter preached....

Acts 1:6-7  When they therefore were come together, they asked of him, saying, Lord, wilt thou at this time restore again THE KINGDOM TO ISRAEL? And he said unto them, It is not for you to know the times or the seasons, which the Father hath put in his own power.

Acts 2:14 "...Ye men of JUDEA, and all ye that dwell at JERUSALEM, be this known unto you, and hearken to my words:"

Acts 2:22 "Ye men of ISRAEL, hear these words..."

Acts 2:36 "Therefore let all THE HOUSE OF ISRAEL know assuredly..."

Acts 3:12 "...Ye men of Israel..."

Acts 3:
[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.
[22] For Moses truly said unto the fathers, A prophet shall the Lord your God raise up unto you of your brethren, like unto me; him shall ye hear in all things whatsoever he shall say unto you.
[23] And it shall come to pass, that every soul, which will not hear that prophet, shall be destroyed from among the people.
[24] Yea, and all the prophets from Samuel and those that follow after, as many as have spoken, have likewise foretold of these days.
[25] Ye are the children of the prophets, and of the covenant which God made with our fathers, saying unto Abraham, And in thy seed shall all the kindreds of the earth be blessed.

1.) Peter's message was about restoring the kingdom to Israel (Acts 1:6).

2.) Peter's message was to Israel (Acts 2:14, 22, 36, 3:12).

3.) The present age that we live in now was a "great mystery" "kept secret since the world began" "hid from ages and from generations" (Eph. 3:1-9, 5:32, Rom. 11:25-27, 16:25, Col. 1:24-28). The OT did not prophesy of the temporary fall of Israel until the fullness of the Gentiles comes in (Rom. 11:25-27). But the days of early Acts were spoken of by all the prophets since the world began (Acts 2:16, 3:21, 3:24).

4.) Peter preached that those Jews who were converted would have theirs sins blottted out at the Second Advent (Acts 3:19). But in the Dispensation of Grace, saved people have "now received the atonement" and have "now been justified" (Rom. 5:9-11). Saved people under grace do not have to wait until the Second Coming of Christ to have their sins blotted out, that is what the Bible says about ISRAEL and the gospel of the kingdom (Heb. 3:14, 8:8-12, Acts 3:19-21,  Rom. 11:25-27, 1 Pet. 1:5-9, Zech. 3:9, 8:8, Isa. 1:27, 4:4, 25:9, 27:9, 54:13-14, 59:20, 60:21, Jer. 30:17, 31:31-34, 32:37-42, 33:8, Ezek. 36:24-33, Hos. 2:23, Deut. 30:6, and Joel 3:20-21).

5.) Peter taught works for salvation, the gospel of the kingdom required works. But under grace salvation is by faith without works (Eph. 1:13, 2:8-9, Rom. 3:19-28, 4:4-5, 5:1, etc.). Peter told the Jews to "Save yourselves" (2:40) but now under grace salvation is "not of yourselves" (Eph. 2:8).

6.) The gospel of the kingdom required you to sell all that you have and have all things common with your brethren. If you think we are suppose to follow Acts 2, why don't you follow verses 44-45? "And all that believed were together, and had all things common; And sold their possessions and goods, and parted them to all men, as every man had need." The other references to this requirement of the gospel of the kingdom are Matt. 6:19-34, 8:20, 10:5-10, 13:44-46, 19:16-30; Mark 6:7-9, 10:17-31; Luke 3:8-11, 5:11, 9:1-4, 12:15-34, 14:26-27, 14:33; Acts 2:44-45, 3:1-6, 4:32-37. If you are going to claim to follow Acts 2:38, why are you not following Acts 2:44-45?
http://av1611studyblog.blogspot.com/2015/04/do-you-really-follow-jesus.html

7.) Peter said that if the Jews repented then the Father would send Christ back to them (Acts 2:19-20).

Paul was sent with the gospel of the grace of God to the Gentiles, not the gospel of the kingdom to the Jews. He was not sent to baptize (1 Cor. 1:14-21). Peter's message of Acts 3:19-26 was POSTPONED until the fullness of the Gentiles comes in, according to Rom. 11:25-27. "For I would not, brethren, that ye should be ignorant of this MYSTERY, lest ye should be wise in your own conceits; that blindness in part is happened to Israel, UNTIL the fulness of the Gentiles be come in. And so all Israel shall be saved: as it is written, There shall come out of Sion the Deliverer, and shall turn away ungodliness from Jacob: For this is my covenant unto them, when I shall take away their sins."

I am a King James Bible believing Mid-Acts Dispensationalist.
http://av1611studyblog.blogspot.com/p/statement-of-faith.html