Let me show you two verses tonight that speak of forgiveness, cleansing, and redemption, and watch what is missing from both of them. Hear God through Isaiah:
“I have blotted out, as a thick cloud, thy transgressions, and, as a cloud, thy sins: return unto me; for I have redeemed thee.” (Isaiah 44:22, KJV)
Blotted out: gone like the morning mist burns off under the sun. The record of your guilt, wiped clean by God Himself. And hear John:
“If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.” (1 John 1:9, KJV)
Forgiveness. Cleansing. Redemption. And not one word about baptismal water in either verse. If water were the thing that erased guilt, these would be the places to say so, and God does not say it.
God forgives; the blood redeems; faith receives
Instead, Scripture is careful about who does what. God forgives sin. The blood of His Son cleanses and redeems: “the blood of Jesus Christ his Son cleanseth us from all sin” (1 John 1:7); “In whom we have redemption through his blood, even the forgiveness of sins” (Colossians 1:14; Ephesians 1:7). And faith is the empty hand that receives it: “whosoever believeth in him shall receive remission of sins” (Acts 10:43). So I will not hand baptismal water the saving power that Scripture gives only to God and to the blood of Christ. God forgives; the blood redeems; faith receives; and water baptism follows in glad obedience. Glory to God.
Related Teaching
The Gospel, Stated Plainly
Everything I teach on this site rests on one message from Scripture. Read it in God’s own words from 1 Corinthians 15:1-4, Romans 1:16, and Ephesians 2:8-9.
“And all things are of God, who hath reconciled us to himself by Jesus Christ, and hath given to us the ministry of reconciliation; To wit, that God was in Christ, reconciling the world unto himself, not imputing their trespasses unto them; and hath committed unto us the word of reconciliation. Now then we are ambassadors for Christ, as though God did beseech you by us: we pray you in Christ’s stead, be ye reconciled to God. For he hath made him to be sin for us, who knew no sin; that we might be made the righteousness of God in him.”
2 Corinthians 5:18-21 (KJV)
Watch the teachingNew verse by verse studies go out every week on YouTube, King James Version, with the passage on the screen. Subscribe to The Prevailing Word of God, taught by John Kempf of Melbourne, Florida.