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Jun 21, 2023 18:30pm

Jesus Alone

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It might have been the 7th or 8th grade, but we had a substitute teacher one day.

Mr. Montague.

He was an older man, in his late 60’s or early 70’s, but to a kid, that was ancient. He would say, “back in my day…” for almost everything we did or said.

Throughout the day, he would hear us say something and he’d say, “back in my day, that word had a different meaning.”

Puzzled, we all began to quiz him about various words and what they used to mean.

“Bully” used to mean “sweetheart”, but of course now means someone who picks on or terrorizes another.

“Gay” used to mean “happy”, but now means someone who chooses to be a homosexual.

“Smart” used to mean “looks nice, professional” but now means intelligent.

We did this all day! I couldn’t believe how many words are in our English language that have just been changed to mean something else. But then I thought about how we talk. “Slang” if you will. We would say, ”that’s cool” not meaning something is cold, but that we approve of it and like it. Similar to saying “sweet”. Not that it tastes delicious, but that we like it.

“And he came into all the country about Jordan, preaching the baptism of repentance for the remission of sins;”
Luke 3:3

John the Baptist is a man who was a prophet for God. In other words, he was a mouthpiece for the Lord. He went where the Lord directed and spoke what He instructed.

He lived in the wilderness for many years, surviving off of the land, trusting in the Lord to provide. But now, the time was at hand for him to begin sharing the word of God.

This scripture, verse 3, begins the message God had given him to preach. Let’s take a closer look.

“Baptism of repentance for the remission of sins”.

Here we see that there is a cause and effect. To get the effect (remission of sins) there must be a cause (baptism of repentance).

What is remission of sins and what is baptism of repentance?

Remission means the cancellation of debt owed. The debt of sin is what? Scripture tells us that the wages of sin is death. So if we are receiving the remission of sins, that means death for our sins will be cancelled, paid for.

Baptism of repentance. Here’s where it gets interesting. Just like we were talking about words having different meanings, this portion of scripture is similar.

Baptism. To us, it means immersed in water. Which is true. But here, in this particular verse, it has more meaning.

“of John’s baptism, that purification rite by which men on confessing their sins were bound to spiritual reformation, obtained the pardon of their past sins and became qualified for the benefits of the Messiah’s kingdom soon to be set up. This was valid Christian baptism, as this was the only baptism the apostles received and it is not recorded anywhere that they were ever rebaptised after Pentecost.” – blue letter Bible, interlinear/concordance

Now let’s look at repentance. Repentance is the complete turning away from. It’s like walking in one direction and then something happens to make you turn in the other direction. A complete 180! In this instance it would be walking in sin and towards sin, and then something happens (Jesus) and it turns you the other way, walking towards God and in His way.

So, John wasn’t preaching that you had to be baptized to be saved of the debt of your sins, he was preaching that if you confess your sins and repent, your life will be completely changed and you will live for God.

Why then do we baptize if it doesn’t cleanse us of sin?

Let’s look at Jesus. In Matthew 3:13-17, we see John baptizing Jesus. Was Jesus sinless? Yes! Otherwise, His death would not have accomplished anything. So, if He was sinless, why would He need to be baptized if it meant it was washing away sin?

Jesus was baptized because He was being an example for the others. They had repented of their sins. The baptism represented they were putting off the old way, the old life (the law) and they were being raised up in the new life (with Christ) trusting in Him!

If we trust in anything other than the work Jesus did, we have nothing. Even if we trust in Jesus AND a work, it’s still nothing.

Jesus Alone.

That‘s it!

“For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: Not of works, lest any man should boast.”
Ephesians 2:8-9

This is salvation. This is how you know you are going to Heaven. This is how you know your sins have been forgiven.

“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.”
Romans 10:9-10

It’s not something we do. We trust in Christ and the work He did on the cross. If it was something we could do, why then did He go through all that torture and pain on the cross? Why die? Why be raised from the dead? It would all be for nought.

Faith.

That’s it.

Faith.

This is one area we cannot afford to be confused or wrong in. We must know the truth and share the truth so that others will be saved.

Jesus alone.