I’d like you to use your imagination this morning to picture the worst possible criminal that you can.
Perhaps he’s something like this:
Although he was raised by a poor but godly Christian mother, he became the playground bully, killing neighborhood pets, and defacing people’s property.
It wasn’t long before his young criminal life led to petty theft and into stealing cars.
He became hooked on drugs and alcohol, stole an handgun and started robbing convenience stores.
His only friends were people just as low as himself,
But he even turned on them and started stealing from them and raping one or two.
He gave up all evidence of self-respect – he never bathed, shaved, changed his clothes, or cut his hair.
Eventually his thirst for drugs lead him into murdering people for their money.
Finally it appeared that there wasn’t a single redeeming feature in any aspect of his life.
The Holy Spirit convinced him that he was not only on the verge of death, but standing at the gate of Hell.
As he walked by a little Baptist church on a Sunday evening,
and he threw himself down on the grass below the windows with a completely broken heart.
But that night he crept into the back of that little church with a repentant heart and a longing for Christ.
After the service was over he met with the pastor and two other men of the church, giving evidence to them of genuine conversion, and expressing a desire to be baptized before going to prison.
The change in this man could be explained by nothing less than the working of the sovereign grace of God.
Now picture the Apostle Paul on the steps overlooking the temple in Jerusalem.
Other than some of the details, the person that I’ve just described could have been Saul of Tarsus.
He had been a man who hated Christ and murdered Christians.
Yet here he was telling everyone who’d listen about what had happened at the time he was born again.
We have looked at the way the Lord Jesus broke through the wall of sin that Paul had built around himself.
“And it came to pass, that, as I made my journey, and was come nigh unto Damascus about noon, suddenly there shone from heaven a great light round about me.”
And we’ve also looked at most of what Saul’s spiritual advisor said to him.
But now we come to the rather confusing statement that Ananias made in verse 16:
It appears to say that through the ordinance of baptism sins are washed away.
And since we remember that the Bible says that the wages of sin is death. . .
And since the majority of Christendom erroneously believes that baptism really does wash away sin. . .
Then it behooves us to examine this verse and subject once again.
How is this thieving, drug-addicted, murder going to be delivered from his sins? By being baptized?
The idea is preposterous.
Acts 22:16 teaches us some important lessons about baptism.
This made him a “Christian,” who happened to have been born into the family of Abraham,
and when he exhorted the criminal degenerate before him to be baptized, he spoke as a “Christian.”
The Jews had been practicing ceremonial washings and cleansings for centuries.
Some of them were proscribed by the Law of Moses and some of them were of their own concocting,
but they practiced nothing that compared to the Christian ordinance of baptism.
Nevertheless, I can’t imagine that the former Saul of Tarsus had not heard about Christian baptism.
John the Baptist was the first baptizer, and he became famous throughout Israel.
That had been several years before Saul’s conversion.
Then the disciples of Christ had baptized hundreds of people under the authority of the Lord Jesus.
Undoubtedly the man who spear-headed persecution of these baptized people, was familiar with baptism.
So when Ananias exhorted him to be baptized, Paul knew that this was the crossing of his Rubicon.
Not only was he going to be a part of a new religion, he was beginning to live a new life.
It is as meaningful and momentous as a person’s marriage.
It should be as life-changing as a person’s death, except that after this death there is life.
Baptism signifies a radical change in that person’s life.
And this baptism was a Christian ordinance.
Before the preacher’s arrival, the Lord had revealed to Paul that he would get his sight back, but in the mean time that blindness had been hard.
How many times had he bumped into things?
Had he gotten confused or even dizzy and fallen or nearly fallen?
He most likely stood to his feet when Ananias came into the house, but he probably quickly sat back down in the chair that he had learned to trust.
Then shortly thereafter, his blindness fell from his eyes as if they had been covered by scales.
And then the visitor said “Arise and be baptized.”
The word “arise” means exactly what you would think that it means.
It is the same word which we find in verse 11, after the Lord knocked Paul to the ground.
and there it shall be told thee of all things which are appointed for thee to do.”
When my wife cuts my hair, I always sit.
Or better yet, and even more religious, wouldn’t it have looked good if Ananias ordered Paul to kneel before him, if he intended to sprinkle water on his head?
They might have had to go into the courtyard, or down the street to the public fountain, or to the park.
And further, we know that Paul was immersed in water and not sprinkled, because that is what Ananais said:
“Arise and be [immersed].”
Every single time that you read the words “baptize” or “baptism,”
because that is the meaning of the Greek word which the Spirit used throughout the New Testament.
Sure baptism may have originally meant ‘immersion,’ but it doesn’t have to mean that today.”
the only meaning that it had when Ananias told Paul to “arise and be baptized” was IMMERSION.
I will grant any church or religion in the world the right
to sprinkle, pour or splash water on babies, adults or even corpses,
but I want them all to publically admit that what they are doing is “unscriptural” –
It is not found in the Bible.
then it was only a matter of minutes before Ananias was commanding Saul to be baptized.
And in Luke’s account in Acts 9 the events seem to move even more quickly:
And immediately there fell from his eyes as it had been scales: and he received sight forthwith, and arose, and was baptized.”
It’s like the kids at camp on Monday afternoon, standing at the lip of the dock, trying to convince themselves to dive into that water, not knowing how warm or how cold it is.
“Come on Paul, make up your mind, stand up and let’s go find enough water for your baptism.”
Generally speaking, baptism should not be something unduly postponed.
Because putting off baptism is also delaying the Christian service of that new believer.
He cannot become a member of one of Christ’s churches until he is scripturally baptized.
He shouldn’t be given the opportunity to lead others in the public worship of the Lord.
He shouldn’t be asked to lead in public prayer.
But, just as John the Baptist demanded of those who came to him for baptism,
there needs to be evidence in that candidate’s life that he has truly met the Saviour and been converted.
In Paul’s case there was no question about that fact, because the Lord had directly told Ananias about the meeting on the highway.
Ananias didn’t have to quiz Paul about whether or not he had truly repented of his sin.
He didn’t have to ask him how he was introduced to the Lord Jesus.
He didn’t need to consult with the friends of Paul to learn if the fruit of repentance could be found in his life.
Generally speaking baptism should not be delayed.
If someone says that they have come to believe that the Lord has saved him, then that person ought to be baptized as quickly as possible.
Perhaps in the case of small children, Ananias should move a little more slowly in order to determine if they really understand what they are professing.
Besides, those 8 & 10 year olds aren’t going to be taking the reigns of public worship very quickly anyway, but as a general rule, baptism should not be put off too long.
“Why tarriest thou? arise, and be baptized.”
Something else which ought to be obvious is that baptism should be a deliberate and conscious choice.
A.T. Robertson says that the words “be baptized” are in the “first aorist middle” tense.
He says that this makes the word CAUSATIVE, not PASSIVE,
In other words Ananias was saying, “Get thyself baptized,” or “Submit yourself to baptism.”
The CHOICE is yours, but the COMMAND is of God.
And I’ll include myself in that number.
It would sure simplify matters if this verse and Acts 2:38 were not in our Bibles.
But they are both there, whether we like it our not.
There are a lot of Baptists who even get angry when someone repeats what Ananias says.
It’s almost as if those people deny that this statement exists.
But it does, and we need to learn to deal with it.
The question is not: “Did Ananias say it?” but “What did he mean when he said it?”
If Ananias meant that the water of baptism washes away sins . . .
It means that there is not single person mentioned in the Old Testament who was cleansed from his sin.
That means that Abraham and Samuel, David and Daniel, Elijah and Elisha are still in their sins, and should be in judgment at this very moment.
If they were not baptized and yet they are still saints of God, then it must mean that there is more than one way for people to be saved.
And that is an idea totally foreign to the Bible.
In Luke 7 there is the wonderful account of the woman with the alabaster box which was broken open and it’s contents poured upon the Lord Jesus.
Verses 48-50 say, “And he [Jesus] said unto her, Thy sins are forgiven.
And he said to the woman, Thy faith hath saved thee; go in peace.”
Listen to these words from Luke 18:
“Two men went up into the temple to pray; the one a Pharisee, and the other a publican.
I fast twice in the week, I give tithes of all that I possess.
And the publican, standing afar off, would not lift up so much as his eyes unto heaven, but smote upon his breast, saying, God be merciful to me a sinner.
I tell you, this man went down to his house justified rather than the other: for every one that exalteth himself shall be abased; and he that humbleth himself shall be exalted.”
And what should we do with the dozens of verses like Acts 13:38?
And they said, Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved, and thy house.”
If the water of baptism washes away sins, then how do we explain the need for the blood of Christ?
I Peter 1:18-19 – “Forasmuch as ye know that ye were not redeemed with corruptible things, as silver and gold, from your vain conversation received by tradition from your fathers; but with the precious blood of Christ, as of a lamb without blemish and without spot.”
Romans 5 – “For when we were yet without strength, in due time Christ died for the ungodly.
But God commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.
Much more then, being now justified by his blood, we shall be saved from wrath through him.”
For if the blood of bulls and of goats, and the ashes of an heifer sprinkling the unclean, sanctifieth to the purifying of the flesh:
How much more shall the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered himself without spot to God, purge your conscience from dead works to serve the living God?”
But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship one with another, and the blood of Jesus Christ his Son cleanseth us from all sin.”
I have yet to see the waters of any baptism turn into blood, and if it did I’d be out of that pool in a heartbeat.
Furthermore, if baptism was necessary for the cleansing of sin, it would also necessitate the work of a priest.
Baptism cannot be self-administered.
Baptism cannot be self-administered.
And if that baptism was being performed in order to wash that person’s sins away, then it would mean that the administrator of that baptism was indirectly involved in saving that person.
That would ultimately take the saving of souls out of the hands of God and put it into the hands of men.
What Paul understood Ananias to mean by those words, was that he should be baptized as an illustration of the fact that his sins had been washed away.
Romans 6 – “Therefore we are buried with him by baptism into death: that like as Christ was raised up from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life.
The Lord saves people; they are not saved by the ministration of a baptizer.
When Ananias said, “Arise and be baptized” he was exhorting Paul to show to all the world that he was now a Christian.
He was dead to his old life and his old sins, and he was now spiritually alive through the eternal life of Christ.
He wasn’t looking to Ananias, or to the water, or to his repentance for the forgiveness of his sin.
Paul was looking to Christ Jesus, the Lord.
Later he wrote: “The word is nigh thee, even in thy mouth, and in thy heart: that is, the word of faith, which we preach; That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved. For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation. For the scripture saith, Whosoever believeth on him shall not be ashamed. For there is no difference between the Jew and the Greek: for the same Lord over all is rich unto all that call upon him. For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved.”
To what or Whom are YOU looking and calling for your salvation?
If you’re looking at your baptism, then you are as lost as Judas Iscariot.
Not only doesn’t baptism wash away past sins, it certainly can’t touch the sins you are yet to commit.
You need the blood of Christ; you need a real, living Saviour, not a diluted religious experience?
Repent of your sin, kneel before the cross and put your love and trust in the Lord Jesus.