‘Repent, and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ, for the remission of sins, and you shall receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.’ (Acts 2:38)
So, lets say it different!
Repent means, 'to change your mind', and face the truth of what God is saying to us.
And get baptized in the name of Jesus Christ. There is nothing complicated or even a 'religious ritual' in this command. If you believe the gospel (good news) of Jesus and have received Him as your Saviour, then get baptized.
You do not need to have a church training-course or have to prove your faith to anyone. "Believe and be baptized", is what the Bible teaches.
It is a simple act of faith and making your stand and testimony as a true Believer.
Both of these are commands. The people who Peter was speaking to in this passage were struck to the heart because they came to understand that they were wrong, and they needed to get right with God. That is where the call to repent comes in.
If we will change our minds and listen to what God says, then God will change our hearts.
Baptism is an outward confession
of what is going on inside our hearts. It is declaring that we do indeed repent (to change our mind, turn around), and are ready to follow Christ for the rest of our lives.
It is an act of declaring that we are now true Believers. It is saying, "I am not ashamed to state that I am a new person after believing that Jesus died for me and rose again form the dead for me, and that I have received Him as my Lord and my Saviour."
It is signing your life over to the call of God, and making an outward profession of being a follower of Jesus. It represents the burying of my old life and rising up into the new life that Jesus Christ has given me. It is simply an act of faith. It is not about me turning over a new leaf ot trying to make my self better.
Baptism is a picture of death and burial to the old life, and rising again into the new resurrection life
in God through Jesus. It is walking on a new road with a different understanding and purpose to my life.
If you want to be forgiven and
saved for eternity, then repent, and get baptized.
The act of baptism does not remove sin, but faith in the death and resurrection of Jesus and the blood which He shed for us on the cross to cleanse us from all sin, compels us to get baptized. It is in this act of obedience that we prove and state our faith, and rejoice in the God-imparted knowledge that our sins are forgiven for Christ's sake.
What we claim to believe is now endorsed through our obedience of faith.
So,
being baptized ‘for the forgiveness of sins’, follows the words of Jesus, ‘If
you love me, keep my commands.’ (John14:15)
You may have been baptized or christened as a child, but that is not the baptism that is being spoken of here. You knew nothing of what it really meant back then, and it was simply a church practice that many people throughout the world have experienced. You may have been baptized as an adult, but have never truly repented or been born again. You need to turn and face God, and be baptized with understanding of what it really means.
'And you shall receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.'
Most churches baptize in ‘the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost’. The disciples only baptized in the name of Jesus Christ. They commanded that people be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ; for Jesus is the name above every name throughout the universe, on earth, and in heaven.
I believe that we need to come back to this in an age where his name is continually despised and blasphemed. People, (even some church-goers), don’t mind speaking about God; but just mention Jesus, and the heads drop in embarrassment!
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