“Repent therefore of this your wickedness, and pray God if perhaps the thought of your heart may be forgiven you”
(Acts 8:22 NKJV)

it is possible to fall, and be forgiven

A primary rule of Bible study is to discover who is speaking, and who is being addressed. Our speaker here is the apostle Peter. He is warning Simon of his perilous spiritual condition.

Luke, the writer, has described the effects of Philip’s preaching. Those who believed were baptized (Acts 8:12). Simon has also believed (“also” shows that he has done the same thing that the others did); he also believed and was baptized (Acts 8:13). The wording recalls Mark 16:16, ‘he who believes and is baptized shall be saved.’ Simon therefore was saved from his past sins.

But now, Simon has sinfully desired the apostles’ power. Peter warned him that he would perish (Acts 8:20) and urged him to repent. He needed forgiveness (Acts 8:22). Note: Simon, a sinner, was saved (Acts 8:13); now he is warned that he will perish (Acts 8:20) unless he repents. How could anyone deny the possibility of apostasy?

But, someone asks, why was Simon not required to be baptized again? Answer: for the same reason that Peter did not require him to believe again. Simon had already believed and been baptized (Acts 8:13). Now, as a Christian in sin, he must repent and pray to be forgiven.

Two facts are clear –

1. The New Testament forcefully, consistently teaches that baptism is necessary for the remission of sins (see Acts 2:38). But whose sins are washed away in baptism? Every example shows that alien sinners were baptized. In Acts 2:38, Peter does not command Christians to be baptized; his hearers are lost, but they have not been baptized yet. Ananias told Saul of Tarsus, “And now why are you waiting? Arise and be baptized, and wash away your sins, calling on the name of the Lord” (Acts 22:16). Observe: Saul had already believed and had shown great evidence of repentance: “And he was three days without sight, and neither ate nor drank” (Acts 9:9). Ananias told him to complete his obedience with baptism – he still had sins that needed to be washed away (Acts 22:16). Denominations wrongly teach that baptism is “because” one’s sins have already been forgiven. They cannot harmonize their doctrine with the biblical narrative.
2. Simon had believed and was baptized (Acts 8:13). His sin occurred after this fact (Acts 8:18-20). Peter told him to repent of his sins and pray for forgiveness (Acts 8:22). “For I see that you are poisoned by bitterness and bound by iniquity” (Acts 8:23). No wonder Simon says, “Pray to the Lord for me, that none of the things which you have spoken may come upon me” (Acts 8:24). The apostle John writing to Christians says: “If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness” (1 John 1:8-9).

Do denominations require a sinful member to re-believe in Christ? No – he already believes. Do denominations re-baptize their members every time they sin “because of” the remission of their sins? No. Even denominations recognize that water baptism is one to a person. There is one baptism (Ephesians 4:5).

Water baptism is necessary for an alien sinner to be saved from his sins (Acts 2:38; Mark 16:16). Repentance, prayer, and confession are necessary for him to be forgiven as a Christian (Acts 8; 1 John 1). The Lord’s plan is plain.

– Rick Duggin