There is a religion which we common refer to as the “Jesus Only”. They do not believe in the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, despite the Bible being very clear about it (see appropriate sections in the Jehovah’s Witnesses document). If you have been baptized in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, they will go as far as to tell you that the baptism had no merit, and you must be baptized, again, but only in the name of Jesus. This is exactly the kind of problem that arises when people take verses from the Bible out of context. Many times, they base an entire religion just on one verse, neglecting all the other verses that complement it.
The Jesus Only sect clings to one verse as their basis; Acts 2:38 -
Peter replied, “Repent and be baptized, every one of you, in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins. And you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.
The thing they never bother to ask themselves is: why did Peter say this? I personally know someone who, upon entering a temple, would remove his shoes because God had told Moses to remove his sandals because he was standing on holy ground, and therein lies a huge problem, in that people fail to analyze and make a distinction of the things in the Bible that apply to us and the things that were stated or done for a special reason or for one or more individuals.
Why did Peter make the statement we read in Acts 2:38? Without analyzing anything else in the Bible, the Jesus Only sect’s theology would be accurate. However, let us examine what Jesus himself stated in Matthew 28:19 - Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. This seems to contradict Acts 2:38. As it turns out, there is a very logical reason why Peter only mentioned Jesus. Remember, Peter was preaching to Jews, the very people who demanded that Jesus be crucified, the very people who did not believe the he was the Messiah. The point that Peter is trying to make is that he wanted the Jews to accept Jesus; that was difficult for them. Peter intentionally emphasized the name of Jesus, so as to nail it through their heads. Those words were not for us; they were for the Jews, much as God’s words were for Moses, not for us.
Let’s make the assumption that Peter was stating something which contradicted the words of Jesus. Galatians 1 states the following:
8 But even if we or an angel from heaven should preach a gospel other than the one we preached to you, let him be eternally condemned!
9 As we have already said, so now I say again: If anybody is preaching to you a gospel other than what you accepted, let him be eternally condemned!
So, even if an angel were to deliver a message (or a gospel) that contradicts the gospel of Jesus, he is absolutely to be ignored (and rebuked, if possible). The sect of the Jesus Only exists solely because they choose to ignore Jesus’ words; quite ironic!
