God Out of His Box

Acts 10:34 "Then Peter opened his mouth, and said, Of a truth I perceive that God is no respecter of persons: 35 But in every nation he that feareth him, and worketh righteousness, is accepted with him.45 And they of the circumcision which believed were astonished, as many as came with Peter, because that on the Gentiles also was poured out the gift of the Holy Ghost. 46 For they heard them speak with tongues, and magnify God. Then answered Peter, 47 Can any man forbid water, that these should not be baptized, which have received the Holy Ghost as well as we? 48 And he commanded them to be baptized in the name of the Lord."

The apostle's acts and Christ's grace was in transition at this time. Up until now it would appear that salvation was for the Jewish people, although Jesus taught that it was for all! Imagine, if you will, those who you consider the most vile and dirty, now have the same grace which Jesus gave to you!

I have a confession: Because of ethnocentrism, I imagined all my young years that Christianity was for people of the western world. I suppose that's because Christianity is in mostly the western world: Europe and the Americas. As such Christ was imagined to be the savior of a bunch of white guys. This misconception was rooted in where Christianity had taken hold. It appeared to me that the orientals had different gods as did the Africans.

In spite of this false picture, I still believed that Jesus died for everybody; albeit it was unlikely that those foreign to me would ever accept Jesus! Now, the most fruitful lands for Christ are South Korea and some African nations. Jesus doesn't care what language is spoken, what the skin color is or what facial structures there are. Heaven is a kingdom to be integrated by the nations, but segregated from those who love the world. It's a place where the heart is the most noble feature and the skin is spiritually transparent!

Peter exclaimed "God is no respecter of persons!" (verse 34). What that means is that justice is for everybody and grace is for all. In this case, to the surprise of the Jews, those dirty gentiles got what they had!  At this point in history God broke free of the box the Jews had put him in! This instant "the mystery of Christ" was revealed! (see Herrin Daily Thought; Mystery of Christ).

The order of events again are as follows:

1. Belief and acceptance (justification)
2. Received the Holy Ghost (sanctification)
3. Spoke in tongues (evidence)
4. Wash in water (baptism) (in the name of the Lord).

Note that Saul was blinded before he listened! I suppose that sinners are always blind, but when they see the Light, they, rather than continuing in darkness, receive their sight! Let me add "1A": Enlightenment!  

I suppose that a sinner is enlightened when they understand that they can't be saved on their own, and that Jesus is the only way to salvation! At that time fatalism is replaced by hope! Although I believe that the self is "the other god", Jesus understands his own flesh well. We accept Jesus to save our god, but Jesus understands! At the moment god's grace is propitiated, that instinct to save oneself is replaced with loving and obeying the one who saves! 

The old person dies as should "the other god" and is replaced with a new God for a new person. This God is no longer "You", but is now Jesus!  The enlightened person gives up his god (the living sacrifice) in favor of Jesus. At that time when the human nature ceases and a divine nature is incorporated, the "born again" experience is consummated! The child of Satan is adopted by God and becomes a child of God. That is salvation. Most people who proclaim Christ may not have been genuinely enlightened. Their belief is shallow because confidence is lacking!

Subsequent to "justification"; being "born again" is receiving the Holy Ghost. It happens after justification. From what I understand from scripture, it happens immediately afterwards, at least in this case.

We're going to jump ahead for this one! 

Acts 19:19 "And it came to pass, that, while Apollos was at Corinth, Paul having passed through the upper coasts came to Ephesus: and finding certain disciples, 2 He said unto them, Have ye received the Holy Ghost since ye believed? And they said unto him, We have not so much as heard whether there be any Holy Ghost. 3 And he said unto them, Unto what then were ye baptized? And they said, Unto John's baptism. 4 Then said Paul, John verily baptized with the baptism of repentance, saying unto the people, that they should believe on him which should come after him, that is, on Christ Jesus. 5 When they heard this, they were baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus. 6 And when Paul had laid his hands upon them, the Holy Ghost came on them; and they spake with tongues, and prophesied."

John's Baptism was for those who believed in Jesus BEFORE he made the propitiation for their sins. As a precursor to their salvation in what was to come, they repented of their sins. Paul recognized them as believers. It would appear that they were "saved" because they were called "disciples". Although they were believers they had not yet received the Holy Ghost. This would imply that the filling of the Holy Ghost is not in the born-again experience! It is at a later time, and here it is quite a bit later!

After this conversation the disciples were baptized in the name of Lord Jesus. Paul laid hands on them, they received the Holy Ghost, spoke in tongues and prophesied!

The sequence of events for these particular disciples is:

1. Belief and acceptance (justification)
2. Understanding (Enlightenment)
3. Baptism (Lord Jesus' name)
4. Laying on of hands.
5. Received the Holy Ghost.(sanctification)
6. Spoke in tongues (evidence)
7. Prophesied (gift)

These disciples had an experience different than those before them. The peculiar thing is that they first believed in Jesus before he made the sacrifice, and made a show of faith by John's baptism. When John baptized only Jesus had the Holy Ghost remain on him. By default for all the others, the Holy Ghost came and did his work, then left. As such, these disciples were believers, but they didn't have the Holy Ghost before this! (For this reason, John's baptism was a show of repentance and was not included as effectual for receiving the Holy Spirit).

What's my point? Take God out of the box in which you have placed him. He doesn't have a formula. It's different strokes for different folks. Because he did something one time doesn't mean it's the norm for everyone! Books have been written on the sequence of events; many which differ! God can do everything at once if he chooses or delay or reorder events! He's God! That's his prerogative.