Following His resurrection and prior to His ascension Jesus spoke what has been called the Great Commission.  This account is found in Mathew 28:19 summarized as go teach, baptize and teach; Mark 16:15-16 go ye into all the world and preach the gospel…he that believeth and is baptized shall be saved; and in Luke 24:47 Jesus said that repentance and remission of sins would be preached beginning at Jerusalem.  From these accounts of the commission, we learn several of the essentials for salvation, namely teaching, believing, repentance and baptism.  When we look at the book of Acts of the Apostles, we see this Commission being executed and receive a clear understanding of God’s plan of salvation.

The book of Acts contains 11 specific examples of conversion. The account of these conversions is included in Chapters 2, 8, 9, 10, 16, 17, 18, 19. They geographically progress as indicated in Acts 1:8, Jerusalem and all Judea, Samaria, and the uttermost parts of the earth.  In each conversion account certain elements of the Commission are specifically identified.  In Acts chapter 2 belief, repentance and baptism are identified.  In Acts 8 belief, confession and baptism and in Acts 17 certain Athenians are simply said to have believed and followed.  In all conversion accounts teaching is mentioned prior to action.

From these accounts a person might look at simply the Athenians in Acts 17 and conclude that they must only be taught and that belief will save them. Or they might look at the Ephesians in Acts 19 and say that following teaching all they needed to do was be baptized.  When these false conclusions are opposed, they might question why the accounts are stated differently.  This may be answered in at least three ways as follows;

  • The action required depends upon the initial condition of the one being instructed. For example, if you were giving instructions to your neighbor on how to get to the Museum; if they were at home the instructions would be different than if they were around the corner from the Museum in the parking lot. Some of these converts were at different stages of their walk towards salvation.

 

  • The scripture is using a figure of speech known as a synecdoche. This is defined as using a part to indicate the whole.  For example, in the scripture it is said that the early disciples broke bread from house to house (Acts 2:46). Are we to assume that they simply went to each house, separated pieces of bread and then left?  That of course is ridiculous. The scripture says that faith comes by hearing and receiving instruction by the word of God (Romans 10:17).  Therefore, when someone is said to believe we know that they have received instruction on other necessary actions to be saved.

 

  • In the scripture, man’s salvation is said to be common (belonging to several). In Jude verse 3 the scripture speaks of the common salvation and in Titus 1:4 the scripture speaks of the common faith.  In essence we have a common faith which leads to our common salvation.  Further it is noted that since mans salvation is common and God is no respecter of persons (Acts 10:34; Romans 2:11) then the requirements for salvation must be the same for all (Jackson, Wayne. “Conversions in Acts.” Christian Courier).

 

It is noteworthy that few in the religious world oppose the plan of salvation when it comes to hearing, believing, repenting and confessing.  Most however have perverted the need and purpose of baptism. A brief summary and refutation from the scripture follows:

  • Baptism is not necessary – Baptism is specified in 10 of the 11 examples of conversion in the book of Acts. When Peter told those in Acts 2:40 to save themselves the scripture says in verse 41 that they who gladly received the word were baptized. In Acts 2: 21 the scripture says that “whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved”.  Acts 22:16 tells us that obedience in baptism is how we call upon the name of the Lord. Salvation and baptism are clearly linked.  This is further supported by 1 Peter 3:21.
  • Full immersion is not necessary for baptism – In Acts 8 36-39 Philip and the Eunuch both went down into the water and came up out of the water. This is supported by Romans 6: 3-4 in which baptism is described as a burial. Incidentally the confession of Jesus is also supported by Romans 10:9-10 and Matt 10:32.
  • Baptism is because your sins have already been forgiven – This position is based upon the definition of the word “for” (eis) the remission of sins (Acts 2:38). If this is the case then Jesus did not need to shed His blood because the same language is used in Matthew 26:28 where Jesus said that His blood is shed for many “for the remission of sins”.  We are baptized in order to receive the remission of sins.
  • The blood of Jesus washes away our sins and not baptism – While it is true that the blood of Jesus washes away our sins (Rev. 1:5) baptism is said to do the same in Acts 22:16. Therefore we conclude that baptism is where we contact the blood of Christ.
  • Baptism is a work and therefore we are saved at the point of belief – Belief is also a work (John 6:28-29). As stated in Vincent’s Word Studies, “Faith includes all works which God requires”.

Finally, though the Book of Acts of the Apostles clearly lays out Gods Plan of Salvation the balance of the scripture makes it plain that we must continue to walk in the light (1 John 1:7) and remain faithful until death if we are to ultimately be saved (Rev 2:10).  In the end, we must be able to say as the apostle Paul said in his letter to Timothy, that we have fought a good fight, finished our course and kept the faith (2 Tim 4:7-8).

How God Saves – -Keep the Faith