GOD’S WORD FOR YOU
LUKE 3:3 part 1
3 He went into all the region around the Jordan, proclaiming a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins.
As we approach this verse, the question most on our minds must be: Was John’s baptism the same as our Christian baptism? If this is true, how does the Bible prove it? If not, in what way does the Bible prove it was different?
Christians only receive the baptism instituted by Christ (Matthew 28:19), and any other washings or ceremonies that are called baptisms are not Christian at all. More about that in Part 2.
John’s baptism was a Christian baptism in every way. It was “a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins.” Therefore, it had the power of remitting or forgiving sins. This is the same power that baptism has for us. When Peter explained and offered baptism in his Pentecost sermon, he described it using the same language as John: “Repent and be baptized, every one of you, in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins” (Acts 2:38). Peter’s words also include baptism for children, which is especially worth remembering among so many Christians who, because they are misled, exclude their children from baptism and its blessings. Peter said, “The promise is for you and your children and for all who are far off—for all whom the Lord our God will call” (Acts 2:39).
John’s baptism also had the power to create faith. When Jesus spoke to Nicodemus about being born again (John 3:1-21), he said, “I tell you the truth, no one can enter the kingdom of God unless he is born of water and the Spirit” (John 3:5). The kingdom of God is another way of saying the church of those who are saved, and to be saved is to have faith in Christ. How is this done? Faith is created by the working of the gospel in the heart, and the power of baptism is in the gospel promise. Paul explained this by saying, “He saved us, not because of righteous things we had done, but because of his mercy,” that is, the gospel. “He saved us through the washing of rebirth and renewal of the Holy Spirit” (Titus 3:5). John’s baptism was the one Jesus was talking about with Nicodemus.
The reason that anyone might question John’s baptism is because of an incident that happened at Ephesus. When Paul arrived there, he found a dozen believers and asked, “‘Did you receive the Holy Spirit when you believed?’” (that is, when they came to faith). They said “No.” Why? They had not also been taught anything, which Jesus also commanded and which is necessary with adults (Mathew 28:19-20). They had been taught just a few things, but not very much. “We have not even heard,” they said, “that there is a Holy Spirit” (Acts 19:2). Based on incorrect or incomplete instruction, they thought that a washing without being told what Jesus accomplished was a baptism. They called it “John’s baptism” (Acts 19:3). But they did not know that John, who had pointed ahead to Christ, had all of his words fulfilled in Christ. There was nothing more to look ahead to. Jesus had come! Jesus had accomplished everything! Baptism doesn’t only look ahead, anticipating Jesus. Baptism for the Christian looks back to what Jesus has fully and completely done on our behalf. This wasn’t a fault in John’s baptism, but in their incomplete instruction. As Professor Richard Balge explains: “They had not really understood what John’s message was. Thus, they had participated in a ceremonial washing but they had not really been baptized. That ceremony could not be a true baptism without the revelation, the ‘name’ of Jesus. That was why they had not received the Holy Spirit” (People’s Bible: Acts p. 205-206).
So John himself performed a true baptism, which pointed to Christ with faith, which both offered and gave the forgiveness of sins, and which created faith in the hearts of those who were baptized. John’s baptism was a Christian baptism in every way.
In Christ,
Pastor Timothy Smith
Archives by Wisconsin Lutheran Chapel: http://www.wlchapel.org/worship/daily-devotion/
Pastor Smith serves St. Paul’s Lutheran Church, New Ulm, Minnesota