126 Acts 22:16 PAULS ACCOUNT OF HIS BAPTISM Introduction: In the first part of this chapter we heard Paul’s account of his conversion. In our most recent text we heard Paul’s account of his call to preach the gospel. In this text we hear Paul make a brief mention of his baptism. Well, to be technical. In this text Paul does not actually say that he was baptized. What he does say is that he was told that he get baptized and by this he implied that he did get baptized. I. A reminder of the setting Let me remind you that the Apostle Paul had returned to Jerusalem from his third missionary tour. At the time that he speaks the words of our text he has just been rescued by Roman soldiers from an angry mob of Jews who had attacked him in the Jewish courtyard of the holy temple. The soldiers had to go into that angry mob and bodily lift Paul off the ground and carry him to a stairway and up the stairway which led directly into a barracks building which housed the Roman soldiers just outside the temple grounds. When the soldiers reached the top of the stairs safely out of reach of the angry mob below, Paul was stood on his feet. Before they could lead him into the barracks building he asked the Roman captain who was in charge to allow him to speak to the angry mob of Jews who had tried to kill him. He was granted permission to do so. When the mob finally quieted down so that Paul could speak to them, the first thing that he did was to remind them that he had once been a fierce persecutor of Christians. Then he related to them how he had been on the road to Damascus to persecute Christians when a brilliant light from heaven did shine down around him and he fell to the ground. He looked up into heaven and he saw a man in heaven. That man identified Himself as Jesus of Nazareth and demanded to know why Paul was persecuting Him. Immediately Paul had changed his whole attitude toward Jesus. He had accepted Jesus as being the Christ whom God through the prophets of old had promised would come. In other words, he himself got saved. He accepted Jesus as his Savior. After accepting Jesus as his Savior, he then accepted Jesus as his Lord. He asked Jesus, “Lord, what will you have me to do?” Jesus informed him that he was to arise and go into Damascus and that there he would be informed what Jesus wanted him to do. It was there in Damascus that he was told that what Jesus wanted him to do was to go to the Gentiles and to be a witness to them that Jesus is the Christ. II. The mob informed by Paul that he was told to be baptized Acts 22:16, “And now why tarriest thou? arise, and be baptized, and wash away thy sins, calling on the name of the Lord.” You will note that Ananias, on behalf of Jesus, asked Paul a question. Paul was asked (and let me paraphrase), “Paul, what are you waiting for? Jesus wants you to be baptized, so what are you waiting for. Come on and lets get going to the water and get you baptized.” This is a question to Paul that Luke did not mention back in chapter 9 when he gave his own account of Paul’s conversion. Luke did mention Paul’s baptism, but he did not mention that Paul was asked this question. We would not know that Paul was asked this question if Paul, himself, had not mentioned it here as he addressed that mob of Jews in the temple courtyard. This teaches us something about the manner in which the Bible was written. It shows us that not any one writer recorded all of the facts about any particular event. One writer would record some of the facts and another writer would record additional facts. Some of the details were not recorded at all. What we can be sure of is that all of the details which we need to know were recorded by one writer or another. It is important for us to know that after Paul was saved, he was instructed to be baptized. Paul had asked Jesus what Jesus wanted him to do and Jesus told him to go into Damascus and he would be told what he should do. The Lord sent Ananias to tell Paul what Jesus wanted him to do. He first told Paul that Jesus wanted him to preach the gospel to the Gentiles. Then he told Paul that Jesus wanted him to be baptized. Actually this is what Jesus wants every saved person to do. Jesus wants every man, woman, boy and girl who has trusted Jesus for salvation to be baptized. In the Great Commission Jesus told the Jerusalem church to go into all the world and make disciples. Then He told them to baptize those who had been made disciples. After one gets saved he need not wait to try to figure out what Jesus wants him to do. Jesus wants him to be baptized at the hands of a scriptural church and get to work serving God. There is no excuse for saved people to wait for years before submitting themselves to be baptized. There most certainly is no excuse for a believer in Jesus Christ to go through life without ever being baptized. I think the question which Ananias presented to Paul applies to every believer who has not yet been baptized. The question is: “Why tarriest thou?” The Lord’s will is: “Arise and be baptized!” III. A new question in our own minds As we read and study this text a new question arises. Ananias told Paul to be baptized and by being baptized to wash away his sins. The question is: Did the water literally wash away his sins or did the water only figuratively wash away his sins? What is more important for us the question is: Does baptism literally wash away the sins of a lost sinner of does it figuratively wash away the sins of a saved sinner? Or, to put the question another way: Is it necessary for an unsaved person to be baptized in order to be saved? It is essential for us to find the correct answer to this question in order that we may know how to be saved. It is also essential for us to find the right answer to this question so that we can give accurate information to the unsaved who are looking to us for an answer to this question. IV. The Biblical answer to the question The Scripture overwhelmingly gives evidence that baptismal water only figuratively washes away sin. The first evidence that I cite to you is that the Apostle Paul, himself understood Ananias to be speaking figuratively. If Paul had understood that water baptism is necessary for salvation, he would have answered the Philippian jailor differently. The Philippian jailor asked Paul, “What must I do to be saved?” Paul told that man, “Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and thou shalt be saved.” If Paul had understood that baptism was necessary for salvation, then he would most certainly have said so. Another evidence that baptism only figuratively washes away sins is that the Apostle Peter said so in I Peter 3:21. I Peter 3:21, “The like figure whereunto [even] baptism doth also now save us (not the putting away of the filth of the flesh, but the answer of a good conscience toward God,) by the resurrection of Jesus Christ.” Peter said that baptism is a figure of salvation. That is, it pictures salvation. It does not produce salvation. It only gives a figure which pictures it. Still another Biblical evidence that baptism only figuratively washes away is that the Bible clearly states that it is the blood of Jesus Christ which cleanses the guilty sinner of his sin. I John 1:7 reads, “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.” The Apostle John said that it the blood of Jesus Christ which cleanses the lost sinner of his sin. The blood of Jesus literally cleanses the sinner of his sin. The water of baptism figuratively cleanses him. By being baptized one proclaims to all that he has been cleansed by the blood of Jesus Christ. Another reason that we can be sure that baptism only figuratively washes away sin is because one can be saved without being baptized. John 3:18, “He that believeth on him is not condemned: but he that believeth not is condemned already, because he hath not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God.” In this verse Jesus clearly said that if one believes on Him, that person is not condemned. He is saved. He is saved whether he has been baptized or not. He is saved whether or not he ever gets baptized. Even if he afterwards follows through and gets baptism, he was saved when he trusted Jesus to be his Savior, not when he got baptism. When he trusted Jesus to be his Savior, the blood of Jesus literally washed away all his sin. Then when he was baptized the waters of baptism figuratively washed away his sins. His act of baptism is a testimony to all that his sins had already been washed away by the blood of Jesus. V. The importance of the believer being baptized Even though baptism does not literally wash away sin and save the soul, yet it plays an important role in the life of the one who trusts Jesus for salvation. Paul felt that it was important and that is the reason that he mentioned it to that mob of Jews who had tried to kill him. His baptism was a testimony to all that he was no longer a persecutor of Christians, but he was, himself, a believer in Jesus Christ. It was also a testimony to all Jesus had forgiven Paul and had accepted him into His group of followers in spite of the fact that he had once been a vicious persecutor of Christians. It was also a symbol testifying that all of Paul’s sins were now forgiven. They were literally washed away by the blood of Jesus Christ. They were symbolically washed away in the waters of baptism. Paul’s baptism at Damascus gave testimony to this fact. So it is with every true believer in Jesus Christ who follows through with scriptural baptism. His sins are literally washed away by the blood of Jesus Christ when he trusts Jesus to be his Savior. This is a person private thing between himself and God. But then his sins are figuratively washed away when he gets baptized. This is a public affair. The general public has a visible testimony that his sins are washed away when he gets baptized. And it should be done without any great delay. It is vital for the lost sinner not to delay placing his faith in Jesus for salvation because if he does he may wait too long and death may overtake him while he is still unsaved. Therefore, he will wind up in the everlasting fires of torment and miss out on heaven. Let me tell you that there is nothing in this world important enough to cause one to put off being saved until some other time. It places one’s soul in grave danger. Likewise a person who has been saved should be baptized at the hands of a Scriptural , Bible believing, Bible practicing New Testament church as soon as possible. He should be baptized with out delay. The salvation of his soul does not depend in any way on his baptism, but his witness for Jesus depends to a very great extent on his baptism. The sooner a saved person can get baptized the better. He can then get started out on life of service to Jesus. His baptism will be a testimony to all that he is a believer in Jesus. It will be a testimony to all that his sins have been washed away by the blood of Jesus. People are not going to take one’s testimony of Jesus serious until he first gets baptized. Conclusion: It is very likely that there is an unsaved person in this service who needs to turn to Jesus and call upon Him for salvation. In the words of our text I say to you, “Why do you wait? Come now and trust Jesus now. Come now and get your eternal destiny settle with God now. It is also very possible that there is some saved person in this service who has never received Scriptural baptism. You are to be commended because you have already turned to Jesus Christ and trusted Him to save your soul. Your sins have already been washed away literally by the blood of Jesus Christ. But the people around you cannot see that you have been saved. You need to be baptized so that your sins can be symbolically washed away and then the people around you can know that you have professed faith in Jesus. Your baptism will be a testimony to the unsaved that they, too, need to trust in Jesus and be saved. In the words of our text, I ask, “Why tarriest thou? Arise and be baptized so that your unsaved family members and your unsaved friends will take your profession of faith seriously. Your baptism might lead some lost sinner to Christ.