Devotional #72

Question 72. Does this outward washing with water itself wash away sins?

Answer: Not at all (a): only the blood of Jesus Christ and the Holy Spirit cleanse us from all sin (b).

(a) Matthew 3:11: “I baptize you with water for repentance, but he who is coming after me is mightier than I, whose sandals I am not worthy to carry. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire.
1 Peter 3:21: Baptism, which corresponds to this, now saves you, not as a removal of dirt from the body but as an appeal to God for a good conscience, through the resurrection of Jesus Christ.
Ephesians 5:26-27: that he might sanctify her, having cleansed her by the washing of water with the word, so that he might present the church to himself in splendor, without spot or wrinkle or any such thing, that she might be holy and without blemish.

(b) 1 John 1:7: But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus his Son cleanses us from all sin.
1 Corinthians 6:11: And such were some of you. But you were washed, you were sanctified, you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and by the Spirit of our God.

For your personal reflection:
One of the great challenges for the church, and those in the church, is to keep distinct the sign (baptism) and the thing signified (the saving work of God in and through Jesus Christ).  Baptism does not save us.  Only Christ saves us. Baptism is the sign of this action communicating to us the spiritual truth of Christ’s action.

What problem arises if we fail to distinguish the sign of baptism from what it signifies?