Page 161 - Advanced Biblical Backgrounds Revised

Chapter 18: Jewish Backgrounds in Acts and the Epistles.

Connect…

There are some churches that believe a person must be baptized to be saved. Roman Catholicism,
Seventh-day Adventism, Mormonism, United Pentecostalism (and other Oneness churches), most
Churches of Christ, and Eastern Orthodoxy all believe that salvation is not finalized until one is baptized.
The problem is that there are a number of passages that clearly and explicitly declare faith to be the only
requirement for salvation. There are literally dozens of verses in the New Testament that attribute
salvation to faith/belief with no other requirement mentioned in the context. If baptism, or anything
else, is necessary for salvation, all of these verses are wrong, and the Bible contains errors and is
therefore no longer worthy of our trust.

If you don’t have to be baptized to be saved, then what is the reason for such an act? Today we are
going to look at the growth of the Church in the book of Acts, noting that upon his testimony of faith, a
believer was baptized. Let’s see if we can sort out the confusion…

Objectives…

1. Students should be able to describe the major conception of exile and its connection to baptism and
purity rituals.

2. Students should be able to summarize what the major sects of Judaism during Jesus and the Apostle's
ministry were.

3. Students should be able to explain the Diaspora and its impact on Jewish culture.

4. Students should be able to explain the discipleship relationship of a rabbi to a disciple and how that
informs biblical and theological interpretation.

The Lesson ...

Jewish Backgrounds in Acts and the Epistles

At some time or another Christians, all wonder whether baptism is necessary to be saved eternally. The
real question is, what was baptism in that culture, and how was it understood? We also wonder why the
Jewish culture in Palestine was convinced that the exile had not truly ended yet. Why did the Jewish
people consider themselves in exile though some still lived in their homeland? If we know why it will
help us to understand what the culture was trying to accomplish as it attempted to bring about the
return from exile. Understanding what the goal of ending exile entailed will help us understand the

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