Acts 1 Dispensationalism: Why the Church Existed in Acts 1 and the Answer to the Acts 2:38 Water Baptism Controversy

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Published by AuthorHouse 01/24/2014

ISBN: 978-1-4918-5564-5 (sc)

ISBN: 978-1-4918-5565-2 (e)

Library of Congress Control Number: 2014901493

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Table of Contents

Preface

1. Peter and Paul’s Apostleship

2. The Answer to the Acts 2:38 Water Baptism Controversy

3. Why the Church, the body of Christ, Existed in Acts 1

4. The Answer to Modern-Day Tongues Confusion

5. Dispensationalism, the Second Coming of Christ, and the Rapture

6. Summary of Acts 1 Dispensationalism

Appendix I: The Historical Beginning of Dispensationalism

Appendix II: One Baptism of Ephesians 4:5

Appendix III: Progressive Dispensationalism

Appendix IV: Sabbath-Keeping and the Dispensational Transition Between Law and Grace in the Early Church

Appendix V: Covenantalism: Remixed Galatianism

Appendix VI: Four Groups of Believers Who Were Water Baptized in the Book of Acts

Appendix VII: Various Baptisms in the Bible

Appendix VIII: More on Disputed Verses

Appendix IX: Mid-Acts (9 & 13) and Acts 28 Ultradispensationalism

Epilogue

Glossary

Recommended Reading

All Scripture quotes are taken from the King James Bible.

ACTS 1 DISPENSATIONALISM

First Edition © 2007 by Steve Urick

Second Edition © 2014 by Steve Urick

Other paperbacks and eBooks by the author:

The Fundamentals of the Christian Faith

Christian Discipleship and the Local Church

Evangelism and Christian Apologetics

Practical Christian Living

Major Cults and False World Religions

False Teachings and Divisive Movements

The Church in the Coming Great Tribulation

Signs of the Second Coming of Jesus Christ

and the End of the World

Nowmillennial Dispensationalism

The Truth about Roman Catholicism

The Truth about Islam

Calvinism vs. Arminianism

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"Study to show thyself approved unto God,

a workman that needeth not to be ashamed,

rightly dividing the word of truth."

2 Timothy 2:15

"These [Bereans] were more noble than those in

Thessalonica, in that they received the word with

all readiness of mind, and searched the scriptures

daily, [to see] whether those things were so."

Acts 17:11

"Now I beseech you, brethren, by the name of our

Lord Jesus Christ, that ye all speak the same thing,

and that there be NO DIVISIONS among you;

but that ye be perfectly joined together in the

same mind and in the same judgment."

1 Corinthians 1:10

Preface

Ever since I first read Hal Lindsey’s bestseller—The Late Great Planet Earth (as a new Christian way back in 1979), I have been an ardent student of Dispensational Theology (i.e., the biblical study of stewardship responsibility, given to a nation or individual by God, for a certain period of time), which is key to understanding the Bible. However, dispensationalism can be misinterpreted and misapplied. This has left many Christians divided and confused, especially over the timing of when the Church, the body of Christ, began and who is a member of it. This affects how one views the book of Acts in relation to the Gospels and Paul’s epistles, and various mysteries that were taught by Jesus and more fully revealed later on by Paul. It even affects how one views the gospel itself!

Not only are dispensationalists divided over when the Church began, but also when Christ will return for His Church, how many gospels there are (or were), and the purpose of water baptism. However, by simply taking a reliable translation of the Bible, and carefully comparing scripture with scripture, it is possible to rightly interpret it and end much of the confusion and disunity that presently reigns in Christianity today, especially the centuries-old debate over water baptism. All this is very practical and vital to know because dispensationalism affects soteriology (doctrine of salvation), ecclesiology (doctrine of the Church), and eschatology (doctrine of last things), thus it affects our unity and understanding of God’s overall plan for the Church. It also affects the work of evangelism and discipleship. So even though we may not agree on every single detail (and it is not necessary to do so), we should still strive to get as close as possible to the truth.

Keep in mind, all true Christians are dispensationalists (and even covenantalists) to a certain degree. Why? Because all Christians are now living in the dispensation of grace (Eph. 3:2) and are partakers of the New Covenant, made by the blood of Jesus Christ (1 Cor. 11:25 cp. Eph. 2:12-13; Heb. 9:14-15). But dispensationalism today (that is being taught by various leading dispensationalists), though correct in many ways, has misinterpreted some critical truths that resulted from the death, resurrection, and ascension of Jesus Christ into heaven, a crucial one being the unity of all the saints of all ages—"that in the dispensation of the fullness of times he might gather together IN ONE ALL THINGS IN CHRIST, both which are in heaven, and which are on earth, even in him" (Eph. 1:10), "through the blood of his CROSS . . ." (Col. 1:20).

This book is dedicated to every Berean-type Christian (Acts 17:11) who is searching the scriptures daily to see what is true. You have read the Bible, along with the writings of many popular dispensational teachers (Ryrie, Walvoord, LaHaye, Stam, etc.), but sense that something is not quite right. Don’t settle with what you know to be error or give up, even though many around you don’t seem to care, including your pastor. You are on the right track! The Bible can be rightly divided and much of the division that exists in Christianity today can be ended through a proper understanding of dispensational truth.

I do not claim that every teaching in this book is entirely my own or totally brand new. In fact, much of what I wrote about has already been taught, to some degree, by various great Bible scholars (such as George Eldon Ladd, William MacDonald, Douglas Moo, and others). My goal was to take all the pieces of the dispensational puzzle and arrange them in a way that is more consistent with sound hermeneutics (methods of interpretation) and give it a distinct name—Acts One Dispensationalism.

With this in mind, the reader can rest assured that my conclusions are well within biblical orthodoxy. But as always, any and all teachings must be examined and judged in light of scripture, God’s only infallible Word.

—Steve Urick 6/07

I am now writing a second edition of this book, not because I have changed any of my views, but to clarify and add some thoughts that I think will help the reader to better understand my position. I have also changed the former ‘Acts One’ title to ‘Acts 1,’ in order to match other numerical dispensational titles (Acts 2, 9, 13, 28). It remains my firm belief that dispensational truth is key to being able to understand and rightly interpret scripture. Therefore, it is good for every Bible student to learn its basic principles and apply it to their studies.

—Steve Urick 1/14

1

Peter and Paul’s Apostleship

"For he that wrought effectually in Peter to

the apostleship of the circumcision, the same

was mighty in me toward the Gentiles."

Galatians 2:8

There is much confusion and division in Christianity today, especially over Dispensationalism. This is largely due to the failure to rightly divide the Word of truth by going too far, or by not going far enough, when drawing conclusions. Hence, a balance is needed. We must not be satisfied with what sort of makes sense in one scripture verse, but contradicts many other verses. We do not want to add to God’s Word or force it to say what it clearly is not saying to suit our beliefs or traditions. Nor do we want to make divisions in the Bible where the apostles made none.

With that said, I believe the key to understanding and properly interpreting the New Testament is to recognize the dispensational transition that took place in the Gospels and Acts, the commissioning of the eleven apostles, plus Matthias, in place of Judas (Matt. 28:18-20; Acts 1:26), and the completely separate commissioning of Paul, the apostle to the Gentiles, later on by the Lord Jesus (Acts 9:15-20; 22:6-21). In the beginning of the early church in Israel, and all throughout the book of Acts, the Jewish Christians proclaimed the gospel of Christ (Mk. 1:1), but they also continued to observe the Mosaic Law (which included circumcision, kosher dietary laws, Sabbath-day keeping, etc.) many years after the death of Jesus (see Acts 21:18-24).

This caused division and strife between certain strict Jewish traditionalists who became Christians and the Gentile converts who did not observe Jewish customs (Acts 15:5; 21:20), even certain pagan Romans who wrongly assumed Paul was promoting the Law upon their culture (Acts 16:21).¹ For example, concerning the issue of Gentile Christians at the Jerusalem Council in Acts 15, the apostles concluded: Forasmuch as we have heard, that certain [men, the Judaizers from Judea] which went out from us have troubled you with words, subverting your souls, saying, Ye must be circumcised, and keep the law [of Moses]: to whom we gave NO SUCH COMMANDMENT (Acts 15:24 cp. 15:1; 21:25).

Not only did Christian Jews in Jerusalem keep the Law, they also baptized for the remission of sins (2:38), and offered Israel the opportunity to repent and receive their promised Messiah from heaven (at least in the early part of Acts), and have the kingdom of God restored to them as a nation (Acts 3:19-21). Stiff-necked Israel rejected the gospel offer by stoning Stephen (Acts 7:51-60). Sometime later, Saul (also called Paul) was converted by Jesus Christ and sent by Him to preach the gospel to the Gentiles (Acts 9, 13; Rom. 15:15-20).

Paul received revelations from God concerning the meaning of various veiled mysteries that were written by the Old Testament prophets (Eph. 3:1-9; Rom. 16:25-26). These now revealed mysteries did not negate certain promises that God previously made to Israel, but showed how God had temporarily set Israel aside to allow the Gentile nations the opportunity to come into covenant relationship with God, totally by grace through faith, apart from the Mosaic Law (Rom. 9-11; Eph. 2:11-17).

In Acts 2, Peter preached to devout Jews from every nation under heaven who followed Judaism. They were not a bunch of pagans who had no knowledge of Jehovah God, nor were they strangers to His covenants and laws. The twelve apostles did not try to do away with the Law, for had they spoke against Moses they would have all been slaughtered by orthodox Jewry. Thus, Judaism, along with the belief in Jesus, continued in the early Jewish Christian church in Judea and Jerusalem until the destruction of the Temple in A.D. 70, or shortly before, with the writing of the Book of Hebrews.

(The early Christian Jews thought Jesus was the fulfillment of the Law, but they did not understand yet that He was also the end of the Law for all who believe—Romans 10:4.)

Keep in mind, THE LAW NEVER SAVED ANYONE because no one (except for Jesus Christ) could keep it perfectly (Gal. 2:16). But the Jewish Christians kept observing the Law because God did not tell them to stop yet in the transitional first century church (cp. Acts 21:17-25). On the other hand, Paul was sent to the Gentiles who did not observe the Mosaic Law, nor were they required to (Acts 15:24 21:25). Neither were the Gentiles offered the restoration of all things, that is, the Davidic kingdom (Acts 3:19-21), because it applied specifically to ISRAEL, and only to Israel, though the Gentiles were made partakers of the covenant blessings of God, through faith in Jesus Christ (Rom. 9-11; Eph. 2-3). Thus, the Gentiles were never commanded to repent and be baptized for the remission of sins,