**5And He took him outside and said, “Now look toward the heavens, and count the stars, if you are able to count them.” And He said to him, “So shall your descendants be.”
6Then he believed in the LORD; and He reckoned it to him as righteousness.
Context in understanding the Word is your friend....**
That wasn’t the first time God promised seed unto Abraham:
God said, “..I will make of thee a great nation..”. Gen. 12:2
Abraham apparently believed God then, or he would have stayed put in Haran.
and 13:15-17: “..the land which thou seest, to thee will I give it, and unto thy seed for ever. And I will make thy seed as the dust of the earth, then shall thy seed also be numbered. Arise, walk through the land.......for I will give it unto thee”.
Abraham believed God again, for:
“Then Abram removed his tent, and came and dwelt in the plain of Mamre, which is near Hebron..” (from Bethel, just 30 miles as the crow flies,.........over the mountains that separated the two places. Also, when the word says that he removed his tent, I think it means he moved his home and the rest of the operation.),..”and built there an altar unto the Lord”.
**Jesus said it was her faith that made her well.**
I guess she didn’t need to touch him after all. Oops!......that’s when the Lord felt virtue “had gone out of him”. (the long version in Mark 5:25-34 is more detailed.)
**Go back to Matt 8:5-13 with the account of the Centurion. He believed Jesus could heal his servant from afar. No physical contact needed.**
Matt. 8:5; “And when Jesus was entered into Capernaum, there CAME unto him a centurion, beseeching him...”.
In Luke 7:1-10, the centurion sent elders of the Jews to beseech Jesus to come and heal his servant, but by the time Jesus was not far from the house, the centurion sent friends to ask that the Lord only speak the word, and his servant would be healed.
No they didn’t even shake hands, but there was a whole lot of physical movement by several of those present.
(So, in your opinion, is speaking words not physical movement?)
**Without faith in Christ, getting baptized only makes you a wet sinner.**
True. So you don’t believe Acts 2:38? That would be like the rich young ruler, that was faithful in all that he knew to be faithful in. When the Lord told him to go even further, selling all and following him (that sounds like ‘works’, by the way), it was too much to ask. Many preachers today, have been faithful, in what they know. But when shown Acts 2:38, it’s too much to ask, for they have much riches (a congregation, a following, a nice home, paycheck, retirement plan).
**Now, back to Acts. Go to Acts 10 with Peter and Cornelius. While Peter was preaching the Holy Spirit came upon those who were listening to the message (Acts 10:44). It was at this point they were saved. Peter then ordered them to be baptized (Acts 10:47).**
Then there would be no need for water baptism in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins.
**The blood of Christ, offered as a final, one time sacrifice, covers all of the sins of the believer.**
Christ is the one that commanded water baptism, and also commanded “that repentance and remission of sins should be preached in his name among ALL nations, beginning at Jerusalem” (Lk 24:47). Beginning?????....That began with Acts 2:38.
**If not, Colossians 2:13-14 will need to be removed from the Word, as would a lot of other verses on our forgiveness.**
Verse 13 starts: “AND YOU..”.
“You”,.....who??...
Right here:
Col. 1:2, “To the saints and faithful brethren in Christ which are at Colosse..”. That, once again shows that Paul is addressing people that are already born again, just as he does in his other epistles.
And why not include verse 10-12 in the passage?...with the very detailed reminder of their conversion in verse 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.”
Context is your friend.
God bless.
That wasn’t the first time God promised seed unto Abraham: God said, “..I will make of thee a great nation..”. Gen. 12:2 Abraham apparently believed God then, or he would have stayed put in Haran.
It was however the first time that God, using His determination, declared Abraham righteous.
Do you have a different standard than God?
Then there would be no need for water baptism in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins.
**The blood of Christ, offered as a final, one time sacrifice, covers all of the sins of the believer.**
Christ is the one that commanded water baptism, and also commanded “that repentance and remission of sins should be preached in his name among ALL nations, beginning at Jerusalem” (Lk 24:47). Beginning?????....That began with Acts 2:38.
Things changed...Some people seem to ignore that...
Act 11:15 And as I began to speak, the Holy Ghost fell on them, as on us at the beginning.
Act 11:16 Then remembered I the word of the Lord, how that he said, John indeed baptized with water; but ye shall be baptized with the Holy Ghost.
A baptism just took place...And there was no water involved...
They believed in Jesus Christ and were then indwelt with the Holy Ghost...Just as Christians do today...THAT baptism replaced water baptism just as Jesus proclaimed it would...
Actually the water baptism was never the impetus for receiving the Holy Ghost...It was always faith...