"The beginning of the gospel of Jesus Christ, the Son of God; As it is written in the prophets, Behold, I send my messenger before thy face, which shall prepare thy way before thee. The voice of one crying in the wilderness, Prepare ye the way of the Lord, make his paths straight. John did baptize in the wilderness, and preach the baptism of repentance for the remission of sins."
Today's lesson further confirms our interpretation of Matthew 28:19 and relates part of Mark's account of the appearance, as well as the divinely inspired message and actions, of John the baptist.
Herein, the author of Mark's account states very clearly that John the baptist was divinely sent by God the Father to prepare the Jewish people for the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ and His new law of salvation by grace through faith.
Note that John's only instruction was to "prepare ye the way of the Lord". He was NOT instructed to preach the gospel of Christ, nor was he to preach the method by which lost souls achieve eternal salvation.
John the Baptist could not have known what the gospel of Christ would be until Jesus had created that gospel and had fulfilled His divine designation by offering His own life as a one-time-fits-all sacrifice for the sins of the world. John's message of, 'baptism unto (toward) repentance', was NOT a means by which one can be saved. This is proved out by Apollos' example in Acts 18:24-26; "And a certain Jew named Apollos, born at Alexandria, an eloquent man, and mighty in the scriptures, came to Ephesus. This man was instructed in the way of the Lord; and being fervent in the spirit, he spake and taught diligently the things of the Lord, KNOWING ONLY THE BAPTISM OF JOHN. And he began to speak boldly in the synagogue: whom when Aquila and Priscilla had heard, they took him unto them, AND EXPOUNDED UNTO HIM THE WAY OF GOD MORE PERFECTLY." Although Apollos was a devout man, capable and willing to preach, he was not properly prepared to preach the gospel because he only knew the message of "baptism unto repentance" that was preached by John the Baptist and therefore was taught to preach "more perfectly" the gospel of Jesus Christ.
I refer to all this because so many still cling to the erroneous contention that water baptism, as John performed it, is a required step in a process that eventually culminates in the salvation of one's eternal soul. Salvation is NOT a process, it is a simple, one step action achieved by grace through faith. "For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God" (Ephesians 2:8)
Just as verse four of today's quote states, John did baptize in the wilderness, and preach the baptism of repentance for the remission of sins. He not only baptized the willing in water, he also preached the message (baptism) that God instructed him to preach. All Jews were required by Old Testament law to be cleansed in water before taking part in any religious ordeal. Therefore, John's water baptism was simply a required ritual that prepared the Jews for the coming of Jesus Christ.~
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