This post is also the subject of FAQ 27.
Can we Apostolics be wrong about Acts 2:38 being the Christian plan of salvation?
This question may be equivalent to the following way of reasoning: “Anyone can be deceived, right? Then why can’t we? And if we think so many people are deceived, how can we be sure we’re not? The others probably think they’re right and we’re wrong. How can anyone be sure he has the truth?”
As we approach this question, let’s first assure ourselves that a person can know he has the truth. This is according to Jesus. He said a person can know the truth and the truth will set him free (John 8:32). Having settled that important matter, let’s proceed with reasoning through our question.
Hasn’t everyone been deceived before— in some matter? How can we be sure then it’s not happening to us now?
It is true that anyone can be deceived. We all have been fooled by someone or something before. But that doesn’t imply that everyone is deceived all the time. An honest person can be deceived. We have all been the victim of lies. But an honest person, upon hearing the reasons that support the truth compared with the reasons which support the lie, will come to see and believe the truth. Because he regards truth, he will see through the lie and understand why it is untrue. Solomon said so much. According to him, everyone thinks he’s right, even the fool (Proverbs 12:15a). But if an errant person will listen to sound teaching, he will be enlightened (part b of the same verse). Thankfully, ignorance is easily remedied with instruction.
Many people don’t see the truth because they won’t listen to the reasons that support it. They refuse to have their faith cross-examined (Proverbs 18:17). By refusing to hear the biblical support for the truth, they prefer and embrace the lie and are, thus, willfully ignorant (2Peter 3:5). There’s nothing more that can be done for them but to pray God mercifully deals with their stubborn heart. This is what John referred to as the spirit of error, which will not be corrected (1John 4:6). When this situation occurs, you have to conclude that, perhaps due to pride, their current preferred position is more important to them than God’s truth.
Sadly, in salvation matters, the Bible assures us that many will be deceived (Matthew 24:5,11). Many people will travel the wrong road in life (Matthew 7:13-14). And many religious people will be lost (Matthew 7:21-23). All of those are the teaching of Jesus, by the way. While Christ predicted gloom for many, each reference either states or implies that some few would be saved. As we previously noted, Jesus said some will know the truth (John 7:17; 8:31-32). From this, we can infer that the truth is knowable. And, if it’s knowable, then those who have it must know it.
But doesn’t everyone believe he is right?
Sure, as we have pointed out. But not everyone knows he’s right. Many persons who believe they are right also believe many other people with differing views are right also. They really don’t understand what makes a person doctrinally correct. They can use a few Scriptures or human reasonings they believe support their view, or parrot what an influential teacher told them, but they can’t explain how their salvation position is right and how Acts 2:38 or any other position is not. For a person to know he’s right, he must understand in a substantial way exactly how his position is right and also how other positions are false, not just believe that they are false.
It takes some learning but, ideally, a person who comes to know the truth can prove his doctrine soundly, tying in both Testaments, and, at the same time, refute all erroneous views. The Bible will not support more than one Christian plan of salvation (Ephesians 4:5) so he should want to be able to show how only what he believes is true. He may be accused of being dogmatic for this strong position but it is the only way he can truly help an errant soul. Jesus was the most dogmatic person to ever live. Where would we be if He hadn’t been?
Some people may say that everyone is entitled to his own interpretation of the Scriptures.
That position simply is not true. The Bible actually teaches that everyone can come to the knowledge of the truth, if he wants to. (John 7:17; Matthew 13:12). It also states that the Gospel is not hidden in God’s Word but radiates in Scripture (2Corinthians 4:3-4). That makes each person responsible to know the truth by being open to it in his personal approach to God and when it is presented to him (Proverbs 1:20-33).
Humbly, we say that there is a point at which darkness is replaced by light. Knowledge supersedes ignorance. Truth prevails over error. This is the fact in every column of human progress, spiritual and secular. In the secular realm, we have come, not just to believe 2+2=4, or that the earth is flat, but to understand and know it. By similar means of acquiring certainty, we understand the revealed plan of salvation. No one is entitled to his own interpretation, just as in the secular realm of learning no one is entitled to his own math, or geography, or biology. In both realms, there is one truth.
We will continue this theme in the next post.