Repentance and Baptism
Last week in my Cross Point article I talked about believing like Satan, and that such belief, a mental assent belief, is not enough. Real belief, real faith, is defined by the actions we take. To say we have made Jesus Lord through faith, but then to refuse to obey him, contradicts faith. We referenced Jesus saying, “Why do you call me ‘Lord, Lord’ and yet do not do what I tell you?”
And I made the statement that the initial response Jesus and his apostles ask for as we turn to Jesus as Savior, is to repent and to be baptized (Matt. 28:18-20; Acts 2:36-39, etc.). So, let’s look at repentance and baptism. Why are these such crucial pieces of the salvation puzzle?
Jesus said on one occasion, “No, I tell you, but unless you repent, you will all likewise perish” (Luke 13:3). Why is repentance important? The word simply means sincere regret, remorse, a turning to God. First, we are sinners who have offended God by our disregard and our disobedience, every one of us. To seek God’s forgiveness, we must first of all recognize this, admit our sinfulness with regret, remorse, and turn from it toward God, pursuing his way. To pridefully do otherwise flies in the face of any desire to claim Jesus as Lord. Repentance is the understandable first step once we have determined that Jesus is who he claims, and that in faith we want him as Savior. He must be Lord. Only repenting takes us that direction. Not a one-time thing, we must keep to this path.
The second part of this initial response to conversion is baptism. What is baptism all about? As we move from the Old Testament to the New, we discover that ceremonial cleansings were not new, but part of Jewish practice. Before God spoke to the Israelites on Sinai, he commanded them to wash their clothes and prepare (Exodus 19:10-11). At the consecration of the priests Moses brought Aaron and his sons to wash them with water (Leviticus 8:6-9). A person who had recovered from an unclean skin disease had to wash his clothes and bathe with water to be ceremonially clean (Lev. 14:8-9). The Jewish mikveh embraces both purification and initiation, practiced among Orthodox Jews even today. So, when John the Baptist called for repentance and baptism, the significance of water immersion was apparent. John’s baptism was paving the way for Christian baptism, which took on a new significance with the imagery it depicted.
What is that imagery? It represents the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus, the very thing that saves us! “Do you not know that all of us who have been baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death? We were buried with him by baptism into death, in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, we too might walk in newness of life. For if we have been united with him in death, we shall certainly be united with him in a resurrection” (Romans 6:3-4). How could there be a more appropriate initiation process as we become a Christ-follower?
The imagery continues. I am a sinner, God and Jesus are perfect. How can I reconnect? How can I be allowed in a perfect heaven since my imperfection will mess it up? I love the thoughts of Paul to the Galatians when he says, “In Christ Jesus you are all sons of God through faith. For as many of you as were baptized into Christ have put on Christ” (3:26, 27). With the clothing of Jesus wrapped around us, God looks at us and see’s the perfection needed! We put him on when we are baptized.
Indeed, when we decide to become a Christ-follower, repentance and baptism are the appropriate responses. We are born again to this new life (John 3:3-5). True belief will take us there.
Cross Point: “Having been buried with Jesus in baptism, in which you were raised with him through faith in the powerful working of God, who raised him from the dead. You, who were dead, God made alive.” Col. 2:12-13
And I made the statement that the initial response Jesus and his apostles ask for as we turn to Jesus as Savior, is to repent and to be baptized (Matt. 28:18-20; Acts 2:36-39, etc.). So, let’s look at repentance and baptism. Why are these such crucial pieces of the salvation puzzle?
Jesus said on one occasion, “No, I tell you, but unless you repent, you will all likewise perish” (Luke 13:3). Why is repentance important? The word simply means sincere regret, remorse, a turning to God. First, we are sinners who have offended God by our disregard and our disobedience, every one of us. To seek God’s forgiveness, we must first of all recognize this, admit our sinfulness with regret, remorse, and turn from it toward God, pursuing his way. To pridefully do otherwise flies in the face of any desire to claim Jesus as Lord. Repentance is the understandable first step once we have determined that Jesus is who he claims, and that in faith we want him as Savior. He must be Lord. Only repenting takes us that direction. Not a one-time thing, we must keep to this path.
The second part of this initial response to conversion is baptism. What is baptism all about? As we move from the Old Testament to the New, we discover that ceremonial cleansings were not new, but part of Jewish practice. Before God spoke to the Israelites on Sinai, he commanded them to wash their clothes and prepare (Exodus 19:10-11). At the consecration of the priests Moses brought Aaron and his sons to wash them with water (Leviticus 8:6-9). A person who had recovered from an unclean skin disease had to wash his clothes and bathe with water to be ceremonially clean (Lev. 14:8-9). The Jewish mikveh embraces both purification and initiation, practiced among Orthodox Jews even today. So, when John the Baptist called for repentance and baptism, the significance of water immersion was apparent. John’s baptism was paving the way for Christian baptism, which took on a new significance with the imagery it depicted.
What is that imagery? It represents the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus, the very thing that saves us! “Do you not know that all of us who have been baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death? We were buried with him by baptism into death, in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, we too might walk in newness of life. For if we have been united with him in death, we shall certainly be united with him in a resurrection” (Romans 6:3-4). How could there be a more appropriate initiation process as we become a Christ-follower?
The imagery continues. I am a sinner, God and Jesus are perfect. How can I reconnect? How can I be allowed in a perfect heaven since my imperfection will mess it up? I love the thoughts of Paul to the Galatians when he says, “In Christ Jesus you are all sons of God through faith. For as many of you as were baptized into Christ have put on Christ” (3:26, 27). With the clothing of Jesus wrapped around us, God looks at us and see’s the perfection needed! We put him on when we are baptized.
Indeed, when we decide to become a Christ-follower, repentance and baptism are the appropriate responses. We are born again to this new life (John 3:3-5). True belief will take us there.
Cross Point: “Having been buried with Jesus in baptism, in which you were raised with him through faith in the powerful working of God, who raised him from the dead. You, who were dead, God made alive.” Col. 2:12-13
Posted in Cross Points