Bite the fruit!

Matthew 3:1 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.

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:

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:

13 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.

Baptism has fallen out of favor. There are preachers whose entire ministries are devoted to the idea that baptism is completely unnecessary. “Well sure”, you might be thinking. “We are saved by grace and not by works”. Absolutely true! We are saved by grace through FAITH. Faith is surprisingly connected to repentance in this passage of scripture. Because everyone understands repentance is essential to our salvation. It is, after all, the natural consequence of our belief. Repentance is the first step every believer in scripture took once they came to believe. It might be surprising to learn the connection between repentance and baptism.

John’s ministry was all about repentance. When he preached it, people did it. The multitudes came to John in the wilderness and confessed their sins in repentance. And they were all baptized in water as the public completion of their repentance. John described baptism as the summary of all he did in his ministry. John baptized people unto (leading to, completed by) repentance. Baptism is a part of repentance, the manifestation of faith. Thus it is essential to salvation.

Incidentally, this principle deals with the “works” issue. Let’s take a look at some pertinent scripture:

Eph 2:8:8 For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God:

9 Not of works, lest any man should boast.

Here it is confirmed our works cannot save us. All that we contribute to salvation is our faith. But what is faith? How do we manifest our faith? James puts it like this:

Jas 2:18 Yea, a man may say, Thou hast faith, and I have works: shew me thy faith without thy works, and I will shew thee my faith by my works.

There you have it. We manifest our faith by our works. John said the same thing in this passage when he advised the religious leaders to demonstrate the works which go along with repentance.
The first manifestation of faith was the baptism in water of those who had repented. Baptism is the outward manifestation of our inward repentance. John said that was the purpose of baptism - to complete repentance.

Now, just as giving money to a charity does not save us, nor can being dunked in water. That is why we cannot boast of our holy works. What our obedience offers is a manifestation of our faith, which connects us to God’s grace. Here is how Peter put it:

1 Pet 3:21 The like figure whereunto even baptism doth also now save us (not the putting away of the filth of the flesh, but the answer of a good conscience toward God,) by the resurrection of Jesus Christ:

It’s not how thoroughly we wash, it’s the repentance in our heart which gives baptism it’s meaning. Baptism reflects our repentance. Thus as repentance is essential for our salvation, so also is baptism. Baptism is so important that Jesus had to be baptized before his ministry could begin.

John had the same thought many of us have about Jesus’s baptism: Surely a sinless man did not need to repent. Jesus’s answer really settles the question of baptism for all of us. It is becoming (fitting) to fulfill all righteousness.

The implication is plain. To remain sinless, Jesus had to fulfill everything that would be expected of us. He is our example; how could I deny the importance of what Jesus found so necessary?

We have learned a lot about faith, works, and repentance. We have learned even more about baptism. Baptism is intertwined with faith and repentance. Baptism is a fruit meet for repentance. There is so much more to baptism than we have covered in this lesson. Perhaps you realize now how important baptism is and you want to know more. Are you ready to take a bite of repentance’s fruit?