Did the believers in the House of Cornelius have the Holy Spirit in them BEFORE they were baptized? Yes. Did Peter then give them the outward sign of their being members of the Ekklesia AFTER they were enjoined by the Holy Spirit? Yes. Were the 3000+ FIRST sealed by the Holy Spirit, then baptized? Yes.
Actually, there were 3,000 who came to believe they had to repent (which implies they believed in all that Peter said) and then they were baptized. There is no doubt that God, through the Holy Spirit and Jesus’ grace was reaching out to them since a man cannot even believe without receiving the gift of belief from God. Baptism was the way God gave grace for cleansing. It washed away sins. This is why Peter himself sad baptism saved people. Clearly he meant what baptism did - cleansed through grace.
“Were the 3000+ FIRST sealed by the Holy Spirit, then baptized? Yes.”
Actually:
Acts 2:38: Peter replied, “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.
In this case, the order was the exact opposite of what you said. How do you account for your error? Did you not ever read Acts 2:38 before?
(I pinged you ebb because your accusations toward Prots are not always without basis. This is a good example of the cherry picking of verses that you claim take place, with me pointing out the inconsistantsies. And MHG, this is not just directed at you, so don’t think I’m singling you out)
**Did the believers in the House of Cornelius have the Holy Spirit in them BEFORE they were baptized? Yes.**
The urgency was there. Peter wasted no time in commanding that they be baptized. He even asked the church big shots back in Jerusalem: “what was I, that I could withstand God?”
Withstand God of what? His command to baptize for the remission of sins.
**Did Peter then give them the outward sign of their being members of the Ekklesia AFTER they were enjoined by the Holy Spirit? Yes.**
Outward sign of an inward cleansing......chapter and verse please.
I’ll toss this man-made conversion at you too: Raise your hand, and repeat after me......chapter and verse please.
**Were the 3000+ FIRST sealed by the Holy Spirit, then baptized? Yes.**
First? Prove it.
The Samaritans received the Holy Ghost, possibly a couple of days or more, after being baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus (Acts 8:12,16). That story alone, proves that it’s a lie to say that one automatically receives the Spirit when first believing.
The Ethiopian eunuch was taken down into the water, and baptized, with no mention of him receiving the Spirit first.
Paul, no dummy, after encountering certain disciples in Ephesus, judged that these people had not been taught to be baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus, SINCE they believed. He asked them if they had received the Holy Ghost SINCE they believed. He rebaptized them in the name of the Lord Jesus, and then they were filled with the Holy Ghost.
This “don’t flinch a muscle to be saved” doctrine is not faith. Because it downplays the Lord’s own detailed conversion commandments, throws Peter under the bus whenever his words don’t meet the “easy believing” template. And shows the Lord to have been a failure at times at instructing his disciples.
Hebrews chapter 11 shows faith BY obedience. Even Abraham had done many faithful acts before being promised a third time that he would be the father to multitudes. How long did he count stars, as instructed by God, before being commended for his faith.
Folks are told to believe in Jesus, but if some of the words that he spoke that show people HOW to believe, are just a pitiful vanity (”outward sign of an inward cleansing”. That’s a lie from the pit of there ever was.), then it’s no wonder that other scriptures are also twisted to result in destruction.
Sola scripture? Where is the phrases “God the Son” or “God the Holy Ghost” in the scriptures? Where is, water baptism in the name of Jesus Christ, taught to be an outward sign of an inward cleansing? From the mouths of leading liars like John MacArthur and Chuck “the soul swindler” Swindoll. People like them have made a comfortable living cherry picking verses (oh, I’m sure they believe that they are interpreting scripture). I spent my first 28 yrs being told saving faith is without works. But not believing the Lord’s detailed conversion instructions, is not faith. The scriptures even point to the Lord’s witness of faith in people (”when he SAW their faith”).
And that doesn’t excuse the RC leaders that keep promoting prayer to images, and selling books of fairy tale doctrine.
(I could make a whip and overturn tables full of these liars books right now! Glory to God!)