Acts 22:16:
Calling on the Name of the Lord (Part 7 of 12)

Part 7 of 12 · Salvation in Jesus Christ: The New Testament Witness to Grace, Faith, and the Blood

People often quote Acts 22:16 to prove that baptismal water washes away sin. Ananias said to Paul:

“And now why tarriest thou? arise, and be baptized, and wash away thy sins, calling on the name of the Lord.” (Acts 22:16, KJV)

Don’t stop reading before the last phrase: “calling on the name of the Lord.” In Greek it is a participle, epikalesamenos, “calling upon.” All through Scripture, calling on the name of the Lord goes together with believing and being saved.

Paul himself tells us how he understood forgiveness and justification. In his letters he says we are “justified by faith” (Romans 5:1) and “justified by his blood” (Romans 5:9), and that we have “redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins” (Ephesians 1:7).

Paul never taught that water took the place of the blood of Jesus Christ as what cleanses sin.

Acts 22:16 describes Paul’s response to Jesus Christ as one connected event. Paul arose and was baptized (Acts 9:18), and Ananias joined that act to calling on the name of the Lord. Baptism was the outward act that showed he belonged to Jesus Christ. Calling on the name of the Lord was his heart turning to Jesus Christ and trusting Jesus Christ to save him.

Paul’s conversion is told three times in the book of Acts, and it helps to read all three accounts together.

The water pictured the cleansing. Jesus Christ accomplished the cleansing, and Ananias pointed Paul to calling on His name. We must never confuse the outward sign with the reality it points to.

Search these Scriptures for yourself: Acts 2:21; Romans 10:9–13; 1 Corinthians 1:2; Romans 5:1; Romans 5:9; Ephesians 1:7; Acts 9:1–18; Acts 22:6–16; Acts 26:12–20.

Next in this series: Part 8, Mark 16:16: Read the Whole Verse.

Go Deeper

• Christ’s Blood, Not Baptismal Water, Washes Away Sin

Old Testament foundation: Where Water Baptism Belongs: Answering the Objections (Part 7 of 7)

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“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)