Repent and be baptized
Acts 2:36-41
Therefore let all the house of Israel know assuredly, that God hath made that same Jesus, whom ye have crucified, both Lord and Christ. 37 ¶ Now when they heard this, they were pricked in their heart, and said unto Peter and to the rest of the apostles, Men and brethren, what shall we do? 38 Then Peter said unto them, Repent, and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins, and ye shall receive the gift of the Holy Ghost. 39 For the promise is unto you, and to your children, and to all that are afar off, even as many as the Lord our God shall call. 40 And with many other words did he testify and exhort, saying, Save yourselves from this untoward generation. 41 Then they that gladly received his word were baptized: and the same day there were added unto them about three thousand souls.
What does it mean to repent?
To repent is to be in a humble or contrite state of mind being sorry or sorrowful for something you have done which was wrong to have done. In this case, something you regret having done against God.
We’re talking about the transgression or sins made against our holy God and his righteous and holy laws.
The Bible teaches of sin.
1st John 3:4
Whosoever committeth sin transgresseth also the law: for sin is the transgression of the law.
All men, women, and children are born into sin from the first sin of our ancient ancestors Adam and Eve, who broke God’s first commandment, and were cursed by God of the curse of Sin and death for all mankind as a punishment for their transgression.
The wages, or price of sin, is death.
Romans 6:23
For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.
So, all men are already under the curse of sin.
But later God gave men more commandments to live by. He gave the children of Israel a law and commandments.
Here are few key commandments known the world over today as the ‘ten commandments.’ of YHWH (pronounced possibly as YAHWEH).
Exodus 20:1-17
¶ And God spake all these words, saying, 2 I am YHWH thy God, which have brought thee out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage. 3 Thou shalt have no other gods before me. 4 Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven image, or any likeness of any thing that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth: 5 Thou shalt not bow down thyself to them, nor serve them: for I YHWH thy God am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children unto the third and fourth generation of them that hate me; 6 And shewing mercy unto thousands of them that love me, and keep my commandments. 7 Thou shalt not take the name of YHWH thy God in vain; for YHWH will not hold him guiltless that taketh his name in vain. 8 Remember the sabbath day, to keep it holy. 9 Six days shalt thou labour, and do all thy work: 10 But the seventh day is the sabbath of YHWH thy God: in it thou shalt not do any work, thou, nor thy son, nor thy daughter, thy manservant, nor thy maidservant, nor thy cattle, nor thy stranger that is within thy gates: 11 For in six days YHWH made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that in them is, and rested the seventh day: wherefore YHWH blessed the sabbath day, and hallowed it. 12 ¶ Honour thy father and thy mother: that thy days may be long upon the land which YHWH thy God giveth thee. 13 Thou shalt not kill. 14 Thou shalt not commit adultery. 15 Thou shalt not steal. 16 Thou shalt not bear false witness against thy neighbour. 17 Thou shalt not covet thy neighbour’s house, thou shalt not covet thy neighbour’s wife, nor his manservant, nor his maidservant, nor his ox, nor his ass, nor any thing that is thy neighbour’s.
God gave many, many other minor commandments, or statutes, for the people of Israel to follow and obey in his holy law.
Exodus 19:5-8
Now therefore, if ye will obey my voice indeed, and keep my covenant, then ye shall be a peculiar treasure unto me above all people: for all the earth is mine: 6 And ye shall be unto me a kingdom of priests, and an holy nation. These are the words which thou shalt speak unto the children of Israel. 7 And Moses came and called for the elders of the people, and laid before their faces all these words which YHWH commanded him. 8 And all the people answered together, and said, All that YHWH hath spoken we will do. And Moses returned the words of the people unto YHWH.
The people of Israel, as we now know from the Holy Bible, sinned and disobeyed God’s commandments. They sinned greatly against God and had committed many sins against their God and his holy laws and even forsook him. YHWH God was longsuffering with Israel but ultimately could bear no more and then he punished all of the 12 tribes of Israel and casts them away.
Fast forward several thousands of years…
Jesus came to save his people Israel from their sins and transgressions committed against God.
When Jesus began his ministry to the lost sheep of Israel, he preached for the people to repent.
Matthew 4:17
From that time Jesus began to preach, and to say, Repent: for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.
You see, today, you are a living remnant of your past ancestors and ultimately going back to Adam and Eve and their sin.
You are born into this life with their curse of sin.
Now some of us, though we may not know it, are descendants of those lost Israelites (lost into the Gentiles, scattered as lost sheep in the world), thus we would carry their burden of many sins committed against the God of Israel.
This is known as generational sin or sin that caries from one generation to another.
Regardless, as you grow up in life you will, no doubt, do things that are not good, or not righteous, by God’s holy and righteous standards, thus you more than likely have committed sins against God. All men will commit sins in some form or another. All sin separates us from God.
The good news is that Jesus the Christ died for your sins.
Jesus, God in the flesh, came into this world to be a holy sacrifice for the sin of his people Israel and all men, or mankind.
Jesus took upon himself all the sins of the world when he was upon the cross, and died in your place.
What do you mean by Jesus died in my place?
You see, we who have sinned against God really deserve to be punished by God.
We deserved to die, and die a bloody death on the cross like as Jesus did. We deserved the painful punishment, not Jesus who was sinless and holy and performed many good miracles and taught the truth of God and obeyed God and his commandments till the death.
We truly really only deserve God’s wrath for our sins. We truly only deserve the eternal hell fire Jesus spoke of.
Therefore, you should acknowledge before God that you are a sinner and repent.
You should confess all your sins, you can think of, to God.
How do you do this?
If you are truly convicted in your heart, that you have sinned and have a fear of God’s wrath over your soul, get down on your knees and humble yourself.
No one is watching you, but God is.
Simply speak truthfully directly to God. He will hear you.
God, heavenly Father, Jesus I realize now that I am a sinner. I have broken your commandments. Most likely my ancestors have sinned against you and your righteous laws.
Lord I’m truly very sorry for all my sins.
I know that you gave your life for my sins on the cross and died for the sins of all men, the sin of the world.
Please God, have mercy on a sinner like me.
I repent of my sins and starting this day will do my best to turn away from that which might cause me to sin again.
If you have done this in truth and communicated to God your repentance for your sins, you have committed the first step toward your salvation.
If you now believe you are a sinner and believe in Jesus the Christ can free you from your sins and forgive you of your sins made against God, then you should seek to be baptized in his name for the remission of your sins.
What does this mean to be baptized?
What is baptism?
Baptism is a practice with origins that can be seen going all the way back to the days of Moses when YHWH commanded that the children of Israel to sanctify themselves by washing themselves and their clothes in water three days before God would meet before them at Mount Sinai to give them his commandments.
Exodus 19:10-11
And YHWH said unto Moses, Go unto the people, and sanctify them to day and to morrow, and let them wash their clothes, 11 And be ready against the third day: for the third day YHWH will come down in the sight of all the people upon mount Sinai.
Later, God commanded those chosen to be the priests of Israel, who would minister to God, to wash with water and sanctify themselves before doing any service for the holy tabernacle (holy tent) service of YHWH. They had to be washed and cleansed.
Fast forward in time several thousand years later, God’s messenger, chosen to be a witness of the coming of the Lord, was baptizing people in the river for the repentance of sins.
Matthew 3:1-12 ¶ In those days came John the Baptist, preaching in the wilderness of Judaea, 2 And saying, Repent ye: for the kingdom of heaven is at hand. 3 For this is he that was spoken of by the prophet Esaias, saying, The voice of one crying in the wilderness, Prepare ye the way of the Lord, make his paths straight. 4 And the same John had his raiment of camel’s hair, and a leathern girdle about his loins; and his meat was locusts and wild honey. 5 Then went out to him Jerusalem, and all Judaea, and all the region round about Jordan, 6 And were baptized of him in Jordan, confessing their sins. 7 ¶ But when he saw many of the Pharisees and Sadducees come to his baptism, he said unto them, O generation of vipers, who hath warned you to flee from the wrath to come? 8 Bring forth therefore fruits meet for repentance: 9 And think not to say within yourselves, We have Abraham to our father: for I say unto you, that God is able of these stones to raise up children unto Abraham. 10 And now also the axe is laid unto the root of the trees: therefore every tree which bringeth not forth good fruit is hewn down, and cast into the fire. 11 I indeed baptize you with water unto repentance: but he that cometh after me is mightier than I, whose shoes I am not worthy to bear: he shall baptize you with the Holy Ghost, and with fire: 12 Whose fan is in his hand, and he will throughly purge his floor, and gather his wheat into the garner; but he will burn up the chaff with unquenchable fire.
As John was baptizing in the river, a man came up to be baptized, but this was no ordinary man, for this was God in the flesh and Jesus came to be baptized of John.
Matthew 3:13-17
¶ Then cometh Jesus from Galilee to Jordan unto John, to be baptized of him. 14 But John forbad him, saying, I have need to be baptized of thee, and comest thou to me? 15 And Jesus answering said unto him, Suffer it to be so now: for thus it becometh us to fulfil all righteousness. Then he suffered him. 16 And Jesus, when he was baptized, went up straightway out of the water: and, lo, the heavens were opened unto him, and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove, and lighting upon him: 17 And lo a voice from heaven, saying, This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased.
Look at what Jesus said to John’s protest of baptizing the one he knew was the Lamb of God.
Jesus says “Suffer it to be so now: for thus it becometh us to fulfil all righteousness.”
Jesus was then baptized in the water. Jesus went down into the water.
Then notice what happened next.
When Jesus arose from the water, the Spirit of God descended upon him and a voice from heaven said “This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased.”
In this description of Jesus’ baptism, we have the reason for baptism, “to fulfill all righteousness,” and we have the outcome of baptism, the falling on the baptized of the Holy Ghost or Holy Spirit of God on the believer. We also know that God is “well pleased.”
After Jesus was baptized, he began his full ministry of three and a half years before his death on the cross for the sins of the world.
It is after Jesus dies and is resurrected three days later to life by the power of almighty God; God sends to Jesus’ twelve disciples the Holy Ghost.
Remember what John the baptizer said of Jesus, he would “baptize with the Holy Ghost and with fire.”
This happened to Jesus’ disciples after Jesus had ascended into heaven and left them, and days later, on the day of Pentecost, they were baptized by the Holy Ghost and the fire of God.
Acts 2:1-4
¶ And when the day of Pentecost was fully come, they were all with one accord in one place. 2 And suddenly there came a sound from heaven as of a rushing mighty wind, and it filled all the house where they were sitting. 3 And there appeared unto them cloven tongues like as of fire, and it sat upon each of them. 4 And they were all filled with the Holy Ghost, and began to speak with other tongues, as the Spirit gave them utterance.
It was on this day that God’s Spirit fell on all the apostles, that Peter, the chief apostle of Christ, gave his first sermon to the people to what would become the first start of the Church age.
Peter finished his sermon with a commandment.
Acts 2:38-41
Then Peter said unto them, Repent, and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins, and ye shall receive the gift of the Holy Ghost. 39 For the promise is unto you, and to your children, and to all that are afar off, even as many as the Lord our God shall call. 40 And with many other words did he testify and exhort, saying, Save yourselves from this untoward generation. 41 Then they that gladly received his word were baptized: and the same day there were added unto them about three thousand souls.
With those first 3,000 souls, who were water baptized and baptized by the Spirit, began the Church of Jesus the Christ on earth.
Notice, Peter commands to repent and be baptized for the remission of sins. This is different from John the baptizer’s repentance of sins. This baptism in Jesus is for the removal or remission of sins.
Matthew 26:28
For this is my blood of the new testament, which is shed for many for the remission of sins.
When you are baptized in Jesus’ name for the remission of sins, your sins are cleansed, and they are removed. You are now clean before God. Not only this, but you receive the Spirit of God, the Holy Ghost which will enter into your body and dwell inside you!
What makes a baptism real is when you in humble and contrite spirit repent of you sins, believing in Christ and have the conviction of the need of Christ to be saved of your sins, that you are willfully want to be water baptized in the name of Jesus the Christ.
This is why water baptism should only come after we have a conviction in our hearts and true belief in Jesus the Christ.
Many millions of people have been ‘christened’ or baptized as babies by the Catholic church and other church denominations, but a baby has no knowledge or understanding, nor it is ready to comprehend the gospel of Jesus Christ. Therefore, many who were christened in ‘infant baptism’ simply grow up and can even fall away committing sins before God and being in just a state of sin the same as or worse than when they started off.
In the Bible only adults or children who received the Gospel message of Jesus the Christ and chose willingly to be baptized, were baptized in full body immersion in water as was Jesus the Christ, and later his disciples who would baptize people in Jesus’ name.
You should, have an understanding of why Jesus died on the cross before you can believe in Christ and be baptized.
When this takes place, God will reward you with his Holy Spirit which will dwell forever in your body as Jesus said I will never leave you nor forsake you.
Hebrews 13:5
Let your conversation be without covetousness; and be content with such things as ye have: for he hath said, I will never leave thee, nor forsake thee.
John 14:15-20
¶ If ye love me, keep my commandments. 16 And I will pray the Father, and he shall give you another Comforter, that he may abide with you for ever; 17 Even the Spirit of truth; whom the world cannot receive, because it seeth him not, neither knoweth him: but ye know him; for he dwelleth with you, and shall be in you. 18 ¶ I will not leave you comfortless: I will come to you. 19 Yet a little while, and the world seeth me no more; but ye see me: because I live, ye shall live also. 20 At that day ye shall know that I am in my Father, and ye in me, and I in you.
So, having come to the conclusion of the matter, I ask you:
Have you repented of your sin to God?
If you believe in Jesus the Christ, and know why he died on the cross to save you of your sins, then what is stopping you from be being baptized in the name of Jesus for the remission of your sins?
Will you repent and be baptized?
Heavenly Father, we thank you for giving us your Son, Jesus the Christ, that we would receive the mercy and grace of God through his death on the cross to be delivered from our sins, so we can receive your Holy Spirit and be rejoined with you as one holy family in Christ Jesus.
Won’t you take this time to think about your sins, the past and present state of your life, and your need for Jesus.
Won’t you repent today to God of your sins?
Will you be baptized in Jesus’ name?
Learn more about baptism and what you should do to be saved.
If you don’t truly know Jesus or his Gospel, I invite you learn of him now.
He died for you sins.