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Dear Grace Bible College (and other Hyper-Dispensationalist) Part 1

10 Jan

Hey Grace,

On your website you say “The one divine and spiritual baptism by which believers are made members of the Body of Christ at conversion as the only baptism necessary in God’s spiritual program in this dispensation of the Grace of God.” Which means you do not believe in baptism for believers in water (which by the way is not exactly orthodox but whatever). We all know this is one of your deepest held beliefs (though you do an excellent job hiding it from your prospective students)…and I am not trying to be mean here because there is no doubt that when compared to the other “Christian” school in town you do a much better job loving and helping the church. But alas I have to ask this question: If as implied above there is only one baptism, and that not of water, and the water baptism was a Jewish phenomenon, what in the world was Peter thinking when he baptized the gentile converts in Acts 10. And what of the fact that the reason he baptizes them with water is based on the evidence of their baptism in the Spirit? (10:47) Was he confused…was he just not ready for the beginning of the church after Acts 12 (as you believe, not me)…And what of the fact that Luke records their baptism as based upon their prior reception of the Spirit? You would think Luke under inspiration would at least point out Peters folly, as even if the Church had not historically begun in the era spoken of in chapter 10, it certainly had by the time Luke wrote, and if your theology is correct then Luke a companion of Paul would certainly have been familiar with the need only for one “Spirit” baptism, no? I know you will want to argue dispensations at this point? But I would have to ask what made these gentiles different? Why in the dawning of the church age (your words again) are they not recipients of the same gifts as the other gentiles, why are they reckoned under a different dispensation? And if they are under a different dispensation, are they reckoned as Jews?

Let the hermeneutical gymnastics begin.
D