Objection 26

From Sovereign Grace and the Scope of Election: A Comparative Examination of Attainment Theology and Grace Theology, with Particular Attention to the Question of Whether God's Elect Are Found Among All Nations and Religions

Acts 22:16, "be baptized, and wash away thy sins.

Ananias speaks to a man who has already seen the risen Lord, called Him "Lord," obeyed Him, and spent three days praying (9:11). Saul was a quickened, praying, commissioned man before Ananias arrived. The washing is the same declarative washing as 1 Peter 3:21: baptism visibly, ceremonially, and before witnesses washes away the sins that the blood of Christ had already actually purged. Ceremonial language for real transactions is the Bible's constant idiom, the Levitical priest "made atonement," yet "it is not possible that the blood of bulls and of goats should take away sins" (Hebrews 10:4).