Now for part 2, "When does a person receive forgiveness of sins, according to the Bible?"
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.
(Act 2:38)
Peter clearly identifies that baptism is "for the remission of sins". The Greek word translated "for" is "eis" and literally means "into". He literally said "repent and be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ
into the remission of sins".
Baptism is "into the remission" (or "forgiveness") of sins.
In whom we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of his grace;
(Eph 1:7)
We have redemption through the blood of Christ, "the forgiveness of sins". Clearly, forgiveness or remission of sins requires the blood of Christ. The question is, when is the blood of Christ applied to a person's life so as to remove their sins? Obviously it must be applied at some point, otherwise all people would have been automatically saved the moment Christ died and rose again, and we know that is not true, because that is universalism. So when is the blood applied? That is to say, when does a person enter into the benefits of the blood of Christ? (Notice, we must enter INTO the death of Christ, just as baptism is INTO the remission of sins...)
Elect according to the foreknowledge of God the Father, through sanctification of the Spirit, unto obedience and sprinkling of the blood of Jesus Christ: Grace unto you, and peace, be multiplied.
(1Pe 1:2)
Obedience is connected to the "sprinkling of the blood of Jesus Christ". In order to have the blood applied, there must be some kind of obedience involved.
Something is to be obeyed.
And from Jesus Christ, who is the faithful witness, and the first begotten of the dead, and the prince of the kings of the earth. Unto him that loved us, and washed us from our sins in his own blood,
(Rev 1:5)
Having the blood applied is here identified as being "washed... from our sins in His own blood". So application of the blood, the "sprinkling of the blood upon us" so to say, is also called having our sins washed from us in His blood. When does this washing of our sins take place?
Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! because ye build the tombs of the prophets, and garnish the sepulchres of the righteous, And say, If we had been in the days of our fathers, we would not have been partakers with them in the blood of the prophets. Wherefore ye be witnesses unto yourselves, that ye are the children of them which killed the prophets.
(Mat 23:29-31)
Now, in this passage, we see that "the blood" is used to represent the "killing" or death of the prophets. So when we read of "the blood of Christ" we are reading about His
death. Since the blood washes us from our sins, and since the blood is to be sprinkled upon us, since the blood must be applied to us, since we must somehow avail ourselves of the blood of Christ to receive the remission or forgiveness of sins, this all means it is His DEATH that takes care of our sins, and it is His DEATH that must be applied to us, it is His DEATH that we must somehow access. How and when is this done?
Know ye not, that so many of us as were baptized into Jesus Christ were baptized into his death? 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. For if we have been planted together in the likeness of his death, we shall be also in the likeness of his resurrection: Knowing this, that our old man is crucified with him, that the body of sin might be destroyed, that henceforth we should not serve sin. For he that is dead is freed from sin. Now if we be dead with Christ, we believe that we shall also live with him: Knowing that Christ being raised from the dead dieth no more; death hath no more dominion over him. For in that he died, he died unto sin once: but in that he liveth, he liveth unto God. Likewise reckon ye also yourselves to be dead indeed unto sin, but alive unto God through Jesus Christ our Lord.
(Rom 6:3-11)
We access and apply the death of Christ when we are baptised! We are baptised into His death, that is to say, the blood.
Remember, we read in Revelation how Christ washes away our sins in His own blood (that is to say, by His death). So we also read this:
And now why tarriest thou? arise, and be baptized, and wash away thy sins, calling on the name of the Lord.
(Act 22:16)
In baptism our sins are washed away. This is WHEN Christ washes us from our sins in His blood, this is when we are identified with Him and His death and when His death is applied to us - in baptism. Which means very simply this is when the convicted sinner has his or her sins FORGIVEN.
A person hears the Gospel, comes under conviction, and is now anxious about the condition of their soul. That is, they now understand that they are sinners, and that they need to be forgiven or pardoned, they need to be cleansed or washed from their sins. They hear that Christ died for them, that forgiveness or remission of sins is available to them (because of His death aka "the blood of His cross"). So they wonder "what must I do?"
Mere mental assent to the facts of the Gospel is not enough. Demons know all this. Demons agree all this is correct. Jesus really is the Saviour, His blood really atones for sins.
But knowing that is not enough. It must become PERSONAL. His death must be applied to the individual.
At this point, the convicted sinner is going to be told what to do (in most evangelistic meetings, anyway). And the vast majority of the time they will be told to "Come forward" and make some kind of prayer. Whether it is a simple "ABC repeat after me" or whether it is a more old fashioned "Just have a talk with Jesus about your sins", it all amounts to the same thing - the sinner is told to PRAY his way to the blood.
But is that the Bible way?
NO.
Nobody in al the Bible was ever told to "come forward", nobody was ever told to "say this prayer" nor were they told to "have a time of crying and talk it out with God". Nobody was ever told to "invite Jesus into their heart" nor was anyone ever told to "accept Jesus as your personal Lord and Saviour." Instead, they are told to "repent and be baptised in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins." They are told to "be baptised and wash away your sins calling on the name of the Lord". Baptism is the Biblical, apostolic "thing to do" that has been replaced by the man made "make your decision, say this prayer, cry it out at the altar rail" methods of modern religionists.
Remember we read about "obedience and sprinkling"? One is to OBEY the Gospel, this means believe it FOR REAL. Not just in your head (the belief level of demons) but in your LIFE. Real belief is ACTION. In baptism we publicly before others confess Jesus Christ, in baptism we plead the blood of Christ for the covering of our sins, in baptism we make our request to God to apply the death of Christ to our miserable sin-spotted life. In baptism we pledge ourselves to Christ, to become His disciple, His follower. In baptism we identify with the blood of Christ, and in baptism we are raised up in newness of life. In baptism we experience the remission or forgiveness or washing away of our sins.
Everything that the modern "pray Jesus into your heart" methods seek to accomplish is supplied by the Biblical method of Christian baptism.
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