Biblical Excellence

Here are 11 conversion stories from Acts that do not include baptism which occurred after the resurrection of Jesus.

To interpret all these occurrences as false conversions or incomplete conversions it would be generally
awkward or impossible due to the full context and might imply that Paul or others were not trustworthy.
eg. in Chapter 4 one would have to believe that 5 thousand of the early church were false/incomplete converts. 
I have tried to copy all the relevant contexts to make this point below.

Chapter 4
  1 As they spoke to the people, the priests and the captain of the temple and the Sadducees came to them,
  2 being upset because they taught the people and proclaimed in Jesus the resurrection from the dead.
  3 They laid hands on them, and put them in custody until the next day, for it was now evening.

4 But many of those who heard the word believed, and the number of the men came to be about five thousand.

  5 It happened in the morning, that their rulers, elders, and scribes were gathered together in Jerusalem.
  6 Annas the high priest was there, with Caiaphas, John, Alexander, and as many as were relatives of the high priest.
  7 When they had stood them in the middle of them, they inquired, “By what power, or in what name, have you (P) done this?”

Chapter 9
  32 It happened, as Peter went throughout all those parts, he came down also to the saints who lived at Lydda.
  33 There he found a certain man named Aeneas, who had been bedridden for eight years, because he was paralyzed.
  34 Peter said to him, “Aeneas, Jesus Christ heals you. Get up and make your bed!” Immediately he arose.

35 All who lived at Lydda and in Sharon saw him, and they turned to the Lord.

  36 Now there was at Joppa a certain disciple named Tabitha, which when translated, means Dorcas. This woman was full of good works and acts of mercy which she did.
  37 It happened in those days that she fell sick, and died. When they had washed her, they laid her in an upper chamber.

Chapter 11
  15 As I began to speak, the Holy Spirit fell on them, even as on us at the beginning.
  16 I remembered the word of the Lord, how he said, ‘John indeed baptized in water, but you will be baptized in the Holy Spirit.’
  17 If then God gave to them the same gift as us, when we believed in the Lord Jesus Christ, who was I, that I could withstand God?”

  18 When they heard these things, they held their peace, and glorified God, saying, “Then God has also granted to the Gentiles repentance to life!”

  19 They therefore who were scattered abroad by the oppression that arose about Stephen traveled as far as Phoenicia, Cyprus, and Antioch, speaking the word to no one except to Jews only.
  20 But there were some of them, men of Cyprus and Cyrene, who, when they had come to Antioch, spoke to the Greeks, preaching the Lord Jesus.

21 The hand of the Lord was with them, and a great number believed and turned to the Lord.

  22 The report concerning them came to the ears of the assembly which was in Jerusalem. They sent out Barnabas to go as far as Antioch,
  23 who, when he had come, and had seen the grace of God, was glad. He exhorted them all, that with purpose of heart they should remain near to the Lord.

24 For he was a good man, and full of the Holy Spirit and of faith, and many people were added to the Lord.

  25 Barnabas went out to Tarsus to look for Saul.
  26 When he had found him, he brought him to Antioch. It happened, that for a whole year they were gathered together with the assembly, and taught many people. The disciples were first called Christians in Antioch.

Chapter 13
  6 When they had gone through the island to Paphos, they found a certain sorcerer, a false prophet, a Jew, whose name was Bar Jesus,
  7 who was with the proconsul, Sergius Paulus, a man of understanding. This man summoned Barnabas and Saul, and sought to hear the word of God.
  8 But Elymas the sorcerer (for so is his name by interpretation) withstood them, seeking to turn aside the proconsul from the faith.
  9 But Saul, who is also called Paul, filled with the Holy Spirit, fastened his eyes on him,
  10 and said, “Full of all deceit and all cunning, you son of the devil, you enemy of all righteousness, will you not cease to pervert the right ways of the Lord?
  11 Now, behold, the hand of the Lord is on you, and you will be blind, not seeing the sun for a season!”
Immediately there fell on him a mist and darkness. He went around seeking someone to lead him by the hand.

12 Then the proconsul, when he saw what was done, believed, being astonished at the teaching of the Lord.

  13 Now Paul and his company set sail from Paphos, and came to Perga in Pamphylia. John departed from them and returned to Jerusalem.
…

  46 Paul and Barnabas spoke out boldly, and said, “It was necessary that God’s word should be spoken to you first. Since indeed you (P) thrust it from you, and judge yourselves unworthy of eternal life, behold, we turn to the Gentiles.
  47 For so has the Lord commanded us, saying,
‘I have set you as a light for the Gentiles,
That you should bring salvation to the uttermost parts of the earth.’”

48 As the Gentiles heard this, they were glad, and glorified the word of God. As many as were appointed to eternal life believed.

  49 The Lord’s word was spread abroad throughout all the region.
  50 But the Jews stirred up the devout and prominent women and the chief men of the city, and stirred up a persecution against Paul and Barnabas, and threw them out of their borders.
  51 But they shook off the dust of their feet against them, and came to Iconium.

Chapter 17
  1 Now when they had passed through Amphipolis and Apollonia, they came to Thessalonica, where there was a synagogue of the Jews.
  2 Paul, as was his custom, went in to them, and for three Sabbath days reasoned with them from the Scriptures,
  3 explaining and demonstrating that the Christ had to suffer and rise again from the dead, and saying, “This Jesus, whom I proclaim to you, is the Christ.”

4 Some of them were persuaded, and joined Paul and Silas, of the devout Greeks a great multitude, and not a few of the chief women.

  5 But the unpersuaded Jews took along some wicked men from the marketplace, and gathering a crowd, set the city in an uproar. Assaulting the house of Jason, they sought to bring them out to the people.
  6 When they didn’t find them, they dragged Jason and certain brothers before the rulers of the city, crying, “These who have turned the world upside down have come here also,
  7 whom Jason has received. These all act contrary to the decrees of Caesar, saying that there is another king, Jesus!”
  8 The multitude and the rulers of the city were troubled when they heard these things.
  9 When they had taken security from Jason and the rest, they let them go.
  10 The brothers immediately sent Paul and Silas away by night to Beroea. When they arrived, they went into the Jewish synagogue.
 
  11 Now these were more noble than those in Thessalonica, in that they received the word with all readiness of the mind, examining the Scriptures daily to see whether these things were so.

12 Many of them therefore believed; also of the prominent Greek women, and not a few men.

  13 But when the Jews of Thessalonica had knowledge that the word of God was proclaimed by Paul at Beroea also, they came there likewise, agitating the multitudes.
  14 Then the brothers immediately sent out Paul to go as far as to the sea, and Silas and Timothy still stayed there.
  15 But those who escorted Paul brought him as far as Athens. Receiving a commandment to Silas and Timothy that they should come to him very quickly, they departed.
…
  30 The times of ignorance therefore God overlooked. But now he commands that all people everywhere should repent,
  31 because he has appointed a day in which he will judge the world in righteousness by the man whom he has ordained; whereof he has given assurance to all men, in that he has raised him from the dead.”

  32 Now when they heard of the resurrection of the dead, some mocked; but others said, “We want to hear you again concerning this.”

  33 Thus Paul went out from among them.

34 But certain men joined with him, and believed, among whom also was Dionysius the Areopagite, and a woman named Damaris, and others with them.

Chapter 19
  11 God worked special miracles by the hands of Paul,
  12 so that even handkerchiefs or aprons were carried away from his body to the sick, and the evil spirits went out.
  13 But some of the itinerant Jews, exorcists, took on themselves to name over those who had the evil spirits the name of the Lord Jesus, saying, “We adjure you by Jesus whom Paul preaches.”
  14 There were seven sons of one Sceva, a Jewish chief priest, who did this.

  15 The evil spirit answered, “Jesus I know, and Paul I know, but who are you (P)?”
  16 The man in whom the evil spirit was leaped on them, and overpowered them, and prevailed against them, so that they fled out of that house naked and wounded.
  17 This became known to all, both Jews and Greeks, who lived at Ephesus. Fear fell on them all, and the name of the Lord Jesus was magnified.

18 Many also of those who had believed came, confessing, and declaring their deeds.

  19 Many of those who practiced magical arts brought their books together and burned them in the sight of all. They counted the price of them, and found it to be fifty thousand pieces of silver.
  20 So the word of the Lord was growing and becoming mighty.

  21 Now after these things had ended, Paul determined in the spirit, when he had passed through Macedonia and Achaia, to go to Jerusalem, saying, “After I have been there, I must also see Rome.”

Chapter 28
23 When they had appointed him a day, many people came to him at his lodging. He explained to them, testifying about the Kingdom of God, and persuading them concerning Jesus, both from the law of Moses and from the prophets, from morning until evening.

24 Some believed the things which were spoken, and some disbelieved.

  25 When they didn’t agree among themselves, they departed after Paul had spoken one word, “The Holy Spirit spoke rightly through Isaiah, the prophet, to our fathers,
  26 saying,
‘Go to this people, and say,
In hearing, you (P) will hear,
But will in no way understand.
In seeing, you (P) will see,
But will in no way perceive.

  27 For this people’s heart has grown callous.
Their ears are dull of hearing.
Their eyes they have closed.
Lest they should see with their eyes,
Hear with their ears,
Understand with their heart,
And would turn again,
And I would heal them.’

  28 “Be it known therefore to you, that the salvation of God is sent to the Gentiles. They will also listen.”

  29 When he had said these words, the Jews departed, having a great dispute among themselves.

  30 Paul stayed two whole years in his own rented house, and received all who were coming to him,
  31 preaching the Kingdom of God, and teaching the things concerning the Lord Jesus Christ with all boldness, without hinderance.
 

Regular bible study is an important part of ones spiritual growth. There are many people (teachers, gurus, etc) who may try to convince you of truths they have ‘found’ in the bible. Without reading it for your self there will be very little chance of you discovering who is feeding you ‘a line’ and who is genuinely on the ‘right track’.

Fellowship with other believers is also important. People are social creatures and its not good for us to be alone (See Genesis). When we get around others where we can discuss and even debate important topics all of us benefit. As iron sharpens iron so one man sharpens another (See Proverbs).

At the moment I am approaching the end of a Romans study that I have been doing with an early morning mens group. Romans covers lots of theology in relatively few pages. If you bite off a small pieces it can be easily followed by new believers and yet still remain relished by those mature in the faith.

Here is the outline I put together for studying Romans.

The Bible was written for us not to us. This does not make the word of God less true or applicable but impacts how we apply the truths. As the Bible is read we are frequently 3rd party observers, gleaning pearls of wisdom from the mistakes and advice of others.

Think about the letters written by Paul, for example, they targeted a specific audience that Paul had a relationship with and cared about very much. Because of this relationship (and insight given by the Holy Spirit) he frequently gives them specific advice to help them overcome their immediate trials. It would be silly for us to believe that he was writing TO us and thereby implying that we are going through those same trials.

There are times we do have similar trials and in those moments God will reveal scriptures where God’s spokesperson gives the right guidance but the context must always be kept in mind.

The context of any dialog, letter, narration, or speech is very important to accurate Bible interpretation. Revelations for example, is a book that was written by John to the 7 churches. This conversation must have made sense at the time or the believers in those churches would have lost all hope. Without a context one could easily conclude that our once strong brother in the faith John had gone completely mad.

More on this later.

Introductory truths about Gods word

• God has given his inerrant Scripture in Greek and Hebrew. He has preserved it in the traditional Hebrew Masoretic and Greek Received Text underlying the King James Bible and other Reformation Bibles. We have an accurate translation of his Scripture in the English language in the Authorized Version.
• The Authorized Version is not superior to the Hebrew and Greek texts upon which it was based therefore it is still beneficial and necessary to study Greek and Hebrew today, also the use of lexicons and dictionaries are very appropriate in the study of Gods word.
• It is incorrect to believe that a person can only be saved through the use of the King James Bible. Literacy and understanding old English is not a prerequisite for salvation, Romans makes it clear that we understand it by good preaching.

  (Romans 10:13-15) 13For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved. 14How then shall they call on him in whom they have not believed? and how shall they believe in him of whom they have not heard? and how shall they hear without a preacher? 15And how shall they preach, except they be sent? as it is written, How beautiful are the feet of them that preach the gospel of peace, and bring glad tidings of good things!

• The King James Bible could be changed and updated; an example of this is the UKJV. This may be necessary every few hundred years as languages change sufficiently to loose the original meaning. See Young???s comments found in the introduction to his literal translation of the Bible. He points out that a literal translation that transports the reader into the mindset and timeframe of the original author will stand the test of time.