New Testament Week 3!

Hey everyone in my New Testament class and anyone else who might stumble upon this blog!  I am really excited to share the things that I am learning from the New Testament this semester in my class and hope that I can really share my testimony of the restore church and of the gospel of Jesus Christ!  There are a few assignments that I have the choice of choosing from.  I choose to do one that specifically focuses on Acts 19 verses 1-12 and Acts 20 verses 7-12.  It talks about Pauls Priesthood authority in performing Priesthood ordinances and ministering to the people.  So this is what I have learned:

5 priesthood ordinances Paul Performed

1.       Paul Baptized the people (Acts 19:5)

2.       Paul gave the gift of the Holy Ghost (Acts 19:6)

3.       Paul healed the sick (Acts 19:12)

4.       Paul Raised Eutychus from the dead (Acts 20:9)

5.       Paul administered the Sacrament? (Acts 20:11)

1.)    What did Paul do for the saints because it hadn’t been done right the first time?

a.       He baptized them and conferred the gift of the Holy Ghost on them.   It had not been done correctly the first time and so because he had the proper priesthood authority he was able to do it correctly. 

2.)    How does this help answer the questions that many nonmembers have about the need of being baptized when they have already been baptized?

a.       I would imagine this is very difficult for many people.  But here in Acts Paul has to redo many people’s baptism and confirmation because it was not given by the proper authority.  This would probably lead to other questions about why your church has the proper authority.  And we could then talk about the restoration and go from there.

3.)    In what way did Paul bestow the gift of the Holy Ghost?

a.       By the laying on of hands

4.)    On what day of the week did the saints meet to break bread?  What evidence is there in John 20:1, 19 for why the Sabbath day was changed?

a.       According to Acts 20:7 it sounds like they got together on the first day of the week.  So Monday.  In the footnotes it says the Sabbath day so maybe they counted Sunday as the first day, I am not sure.  A footnote in Acts 20:6 takes you to exodus and there it clarifies on which day the Sabbath should be.  That is the evidence of why it was changed.

Looking for the ways Paul used the Priesthood and answering these questions has really made me delve so much deeper into these verses.  For the most part I missed a lot of the details before hand.  I am so grateful that we have the proper Priesthood authority restored to us on the earth.