Lessons from Matthew - Repent and Be Baptized

This morning finds me on my latest journey into the New Testament and obviously that begins in the Gospel of Matthew. Several things stand out this morning, as I begin to study the narrative of the life of Jesus and His ministry.

First of all, we find that John the Baptist has come forward to prepare the way for the public arrival of Jesus. The message that John preached was a simple one; Repent. Why? Because the Kingdom of God is at hand. John was preparing the way by telling the people that if they want to know the Messiah, they will be required to change. The message of the Gospel is no different today. When Jesus calls us to new life, our hearts will be forever changed. We must turn away from how we view our behaviors and confess our sins. We must repent.

It is popular to tell people today that you don’t have to clean yourself up before coming to Christ, and while that is true, that does not mean you won’t be getting cleaned up. True salvation experiences always involve immediate change. While certainly sanctification, the process of becoming like Christ, is a life-long process, there will be evidence of conversion when one becomes Born Again. Simply saying you believe in Jesus and yet, demonstrating no change at all, ought to raise an alarm in the lives of those who claim Christ. John calls us to repent. The first words of Jesus as He began His public ministry were the same.

Matthew 4:17
From that time Jesus began to preach, saying, “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.”

Not only did John prepare the way by preaching repentance and baptizing people as they confessed their sins, Jesus also came on the public scene by getting baptized. Why would Jesus need to be baptized? He was without sin. There are several things to understand about why Jesus had John baptize Him.

First, the baptism of Jesus was not a baptism of repentance as John was doing with the people. It was a baptism of identification. Having came from Heaven as a man, Jesus was identifying Himself with us in the sense that would find Himself tempted in all ways, just as we are, (See Hebrews 4:15). By allowing John to baptize Him, Jesus was also identifying Himself as one who is fully obedient to the will of the Father as expressed in John 6:38 saying, “For I have come down from heaven, not to do my own will but the will of him who sent me.” The root of repentance is that we have changed our minds, we have turned from our desire to please our self and are seeking to please God.

The second reason I believe Jesus was baptized is found in the tension of Him being both God and man. There are those who argue the theology behind the incarnation of Jesus as to how His Deity was dealt with while on this earth, but I find no evidence that at any time He wanted to, Jesus could not choose to exercise the full powers of being God. But in His baptism, He had the full power of the Holy Spirit come upon Him. This was to be an example for us.

Matthew 3:16
And when Jesus was baptized, immediately he went up from the water, and behold, the heavens were opened to him, and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and coming to rest on him.

By being baptized Jesus was empowered by the Holy Spirit. This was to show us that we can live for Him through the power of God as we move by the work of the Holy Spirit, just as Jesus did. We are not to serve God by our own efforts, our own strength, or anything of our flesh; we are to serve God and walk this life in His power as the scriptures have declared.

Ezekiel 36:27
And I will put my Spirit within you, and cause you to walk in my statutes and be careful to obey my rules.

Acts 1:8
 But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth.

Romans 8:11
 If the Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, he who raised Christ Jesus from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through his Spirit who dwells in you.

Though many Christians may differ on how the Holy Spirit comes upon us, all must agree with God’s Word which tells us that all true believers have the Holy Spirit indwelling them.

Romans 8:9
 You, however, are not in the flesh but in the Spirit, if in fact the Spirit of God dwells in you. Anyone who does not have the Spirit of Christ does not belong to him.

I don’t know what you’ve been taught, but the scriptures are clear.

1 Corinthians 3:16
 Do you not know that you are God’s temple and that God’s Spirit dwells in you?

All Christians have the Holy Spirit indwelling their hearts and He is the power that changes us and the power that drives us when we serve God. If you gain nothing else from this writing, see the truth of the indwelling of the Spirit in your life. And what does that mean to you today? Again, we turn to God’s Word.

Galatians 5:16
But I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the flesh.

I close for now with this truth; We must repent, and we must live in and by the power of the Holy Spirit. If we have no desire for that, then we are not His. But if we are hearing the voice of God calling us to come to him, then we must simply follow the words of Peter as recorded in the Book of Acts.

Acts 2:38
And 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.

Peter also said this in 2 Peter 1:10
Therefore, brothers, be all the more diligent to confirm your calling and election, for if you practice these qualities you will never fall.

Today is the day of salvation. Repent and be baptized.