Acts 2:38 “Peter said
to them, ‘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 next lesson in this
study of the Christian sacraments which I am reading states that no one can
turn to Christ for salvation without first being “regenerated” by God the Holy
Spirit. That is Jesus’ point in John 3, where He states that it is impossible
to see the kingdom of God without first being born again “of water and the
Spirit” (v. 5). This regeneration is brought about by the Spirit according to
His schedule, not ours. After all, the Spirit goes where He wishes and when He
wishes, and we cannot determine precisely when and where He will act (v. 8).
Thus, while there is a theological connection between Christian baptism and our
regeneration—baptism tangibly portrays and confirms God’s promise to renew His
people—there is no necessary temporal connection between baptism and
regeneration. Because of the sovereignty of the Spirit, we cannot say that
everyone who is baptized is regenerated at the moment of baptism.
In addition to being a sign
and seal of regeneration, baptism is also a sign and seal of the forgiveness of
sins. This is taught in passages such as Acts 2:38, where Peter commands the
Pentecost crowd to repent and be baptized “for the forgiveness” of their sins.
The close relationship between cleansing and forgiveness in Scripture explains
why baptism is a good sign and seal of divine pardon. Jeremiah 33:8, for
example, promises the forgiveness and cleansing of the guilt associated with
Judah’s sins against the Lord. In His grace, God forgives our sin, choosing not
to hold our transgressions against us any longer. Yet He also removes our
guilt. He washes us clean with the blood of Christ (1 John 1:9). The atonement
of Christ removes our sin and guilt, which are replaced with the righteousness
of our Savior (2 Cor. 5:21).
The lesson stated that because water is a cleansing
agent for dirt on the body, it is a fitting visible sign for the spiritual
cleansing that God effects for our souls in Christ. But note that the reality
of forgiveness to which baptism points comes to pass only as baptized
individuals repent. The Apostle Peter joins the necessity of repentance with baptism in Acts 2:38, so we see that as with regeneration, there is no automatic
connection between the rite of baptism and the experience of divine
forgiveness. God makes a true promise to forgive sin in baptism, but that
promise is made only to those who repent. Without repentance, we do not benefit
from the grace signed and sealed by the sacrament. But if we are living lives
of faith and repentance, the water of baptism assures us that God has cleansed
us from our sin and forgiven us.
Every time we see a water baptism
administered, we should be reminded of God’s promise to cleanse and forgive.
The water of your baptism is God’s unbreakable promise to you to forgive you
when you repent. Just as water washes dirt from our flesh, so the Spirit washes
the filth of sin from our souls.
No comments:
Post a Comment