Recently I was thinking about those statements in the Bible that are in no way are open-ended or open to interpretation. Times when words like must, will, required, and so on are used. Or when a direct question is raised and a direct answer is given leaving nothing left to be said. That led me to the passage in which the apostolic church holds to dearly, Acts 2:37-38. In which, a direct answer is given about salvation leaving only two possibilities. Either it is the way all people are to be saved or the Apostle Peter was a lair.
On the day of Pentecost, a crowd was drawn to where the apostles and other followers of Christ were gathered. The crowd came to get a better look at what was happening among the group. The people were all praising God and speaking in new tongues as a result of being filled with the Holy Ghost. After someone accuses the group of being drunk. Peter stood up to set things straight and proclaim the gospel of Jesus Christ. It was a message that moved many who had gathered and caused them to ask what they need to do to be saved.
Acts 2:37 (ESV)
37 Now when they heard this they were cut to the heart, and said to Peter and the rest of the apostles, “Brothers, what shall we do?”
As you can see the question was very direct. They wanted to know exactly what they needed to do. Not what you can do or what some people do. But what God required them to do in order to receive salvation. Peter’s response gave them the answer they were looking for. A direct answer to a direct question.
Acts 2:38 (ESV)
38 And Peter said to them, “Repent and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins, and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.
Peter did not meet them with a response that would have led them to believe they could do those things but didn’t have to. No, they said what shall we do and Peter said do this. It was that simple. Repent, be baptized in Jesus’s name, and you will receive the Holy Spirit. It’s in this passage that Peter shows us the keys to the kingdom of God that Jesus gave Him. The Bible goes on to record that those who believed were baptized that very day.
Acts 2:41 (ESV)
41 So those who received his word were baptized, and there were added that day about three thousand souls.
Even though we have this passage that clearly shows people in need of salvation and how they received it. Many still argue against the necessity of baptism. But to say that baptism is not necessary for salvation is to say that Peter was a liar. One of the men who lived with Jesus, helped to build the first church, penned a portion of the Bible, and eventually died a martyr’s death. It was even Peter who God used to first bring His message to the gentiles. The classification most Christians today would fall into.
That is the man who is called a liar when people say baptism is not necessary. He believed it was and preached that it was. But he was not alone that day. Eleven other Apostles stood right with him. Men who had all lived with Jesus from the start of His ministry. Not one questioned or opposed what Peter said. In fact, we see some of them teach the same principles later in the book of Acts. So if Peter is a liar then they are all liars as well.
To believe they were all lairs in regards to baptism should also cause questions to be raised about all they taught and said. Eventually unraveling one’s whole belief in the scripture. Because that passage is recorded under the inspiration of God and no Christian can believe that God is a lair. Or that He would include verses about the salvation He offers that are untrue.
2 Timothy 3:16 (ESV)
16 All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness,
Titus 1:2 (ESV)
2 in hope of eternal life, which God, who never lies, promised before the ages began
Hebrews 6:18 (ESV)
18 so that by two unchangeable things, in which it is impossible for God to lie, we who have fled for refuge might have strong encouragement to hold fast to the hope set before us.
You must ask yourself what you believe. Did Peter deliver the plan of salvation on the day of Pentecost? Or was he a liar that misled those who asked him what they must do to be saved? The answer is simple, Peter was not a liar but a man who had received knowledge from his time with Jesus and from being filled with the Holy Spirit. He was used by God to show us what we must do to be saved and baptism plays a major role in that.
This discussion also proves a much larger point. As many other passages in scripture make statements that all Christian are expected to adhere to. When such statements are spoken against, questioned, or even ignored then someone is being called a liar. Whether that is a prophet, apostle, man of God, or even God himself. Every time we question what is recorded in the Bible we are calling someone a liar. A road that will eventually lead to questioning God and the Christian faith.
Our Bibles do not lie and neither did the men who are recorded in them when they told us how to live righteous lives. It is not our place to question what God has said but to simply do all he commanded us to do. Jesus said if we love Him, we will follow all His commands and we would never want to accuse our savior of being a liar.
John 14:15 (ESV)
15 “If you love me, you will keep my commandments.
Don’t inadvertently call anyone a lair by questioning or ignoring what they said in the Bible. When you come across something in scripture that you begin to question. First, take a moment to ask yourself do I really believe this person was a liar. That question should be easy to answer. It will be a reminder to trust the scripture and its true author, God. He never has and He never will lie.
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