Quote:
Originally Posted by Steve Epley
Then please explain how men had forgiveness of sins in the OT but NOT remission?
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http://www.inchristalone.org/RemissionOfSins.htm
Steve, here's a link (above) that will help you understand your question above.
Here's just a tiny piece of the article there.
The question, "What does Peter mean in
Acts 2:38 by ‘be baptized. . . for the remission of sins’?," has provoked several different answers in Church history. Groups such as the Church of Christ, the Church of Jesus Christ: Latter Day Saints, and the United Pentecostal Church, interpret Peter to be saying to his hearers that they could obtain remission of sins by the means of baptism. If Peter’s hearers remained un-baptized, then they remained unforgiven by God as well. This way of interpreting Peter’s statement has led these groups to promulgate a doctrine of salvation that is more sacerdotal/sacramental than it is Reformational/Evangelical. The current form of this interpretation holds that since remission of sins is by baptism, then one cannot be forgiven without baptism. Thus, Baptism is the instrumental cause of our remission of sins.
First, it is important to clear up the use of the terms, "remission" and "forgiveness." An old argument has been used to attempt to solve the problem of
Acts 15:9 and
Acts 2:38. It proposes that one is forgiven at the point of faith, but one’s sins are not remitted until baptism. The error in this teaching is that, while the English translations give us two words, the original language – Greek – uses only one. Both remission and forgiveness are the English translation of the single Greek noun aphesis or verb aphiemi. Thus, both forgiveness and remission mean the same thing. The root meaning of these words is to "send away or dismiss." In the New Testament this word takes a deeper theological meaning. Vine says that this word:
[F]irstly signifies the remission of the punishment due to sinful conduct, . . . secondly, it involves the complete removal of the cause of offense; such remission is based upon the vicarious and propitiatory sacrifice of Christ.. In the O.T. atoning sacrifice and forgiveness are often associated. [W. E. Vine, Expository Dictionary of New Testament Words, Revell, 1966, pp. 122,123]
A number of current proponents of the UPCI teaching have dropped this argument because they have been exposed to enough education in the Greek New Testament that they now know this argument is misinformed. At the same time, several important exegetical and theological implications of their interpretation of
Acts 2:38 remain to be challenged. Without looking at all the exegetical and theological problems we will look at two. First is the exegetical, and second is the theological.
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Do take a moment and read the article...I know you say, " you could'nt order a hot dog in Hebrew.....maybe Br. Gilespie can help you out. He seems to have a better understanding of it than you or me
