SPECIAL STUDY ON BAPTISM

Taken from Baptism: A Biblical Study
by Jack Cottrell
Material reprinted with permission from College Press Publishing Co., 
Joplin, MO  64802

Dr. Cottrell is Professor of Theology at Cincinnati Bible Seminary, Cincinnati, Ohio

ACTS 22:16

	Baptism is mentioned a number of times in the book of Acts after 2:38, but mostly just to record the fact that certain individuals were baptized (e.g., 8:12,38; 9:18; 10:48; 16:15,33).  Only one other passage reflects significantly on the actual meaning of baptism, viz., Acts 22:16.  Here God’s servant Ananias addresses the humble Saul of Tarsus (who is about to become Paul the Apostle) with these words: “And now why do you delay?  Arise and be baptized, and wash away your sins, calling on His name.”

Saul the Sinner

	To understand the meaning of baptism as taught in this passage, again we must study the historical context in which the statement is made.  Especially we must inquire concerning Saul’s spiritual state at the time Ananias addresses him.  Is he already saved, or is he still an unsaved sinner?  To find the answer we must study all three accounts of Saul’s conversion together: Acts 9:1-19; 22:1-16; and 26:1-18.
	Before his conversion experience Saul considered himself to be among the elite in believing Israel, a devout Jew who was “zealous for God” (22:3).  From his perspective as a Christian, however, he realized that he had been the foremost sinner (I Tim. 1:15).  He was guilty of blasphemy, persecution of Christians and of Christ Himself (26:14-15), violence, and unbelief (I Tim. 1:13).  This is another example of how even the most sincere Old Covenant faith was no longer sufficient once Christ was known.

	While Saul was on his way to Damascus to persecute more Christians, the risen and living Christ appeared to him and demanded, “Saul, why are you persecuting me?”  The bewildered and bedazzled Saul could only ask, “Who are you, Lord?” The reply: “I am Jesus, the one you are actually persecuting” (9:5; 22:8; 26:15).  Immediately filled with a sense of his guilt and with fear, Saul could only ask, “What shall I do, Lord?”  The reply: “Go into Damascus, and there someone will tell you what to do” (22:10).

	Blinded by the brilliance of the risen Christ, Saul was led into Damascus; but no one came to him for three days.  During this time the blind Saul prayed and fasted, waiting for someone to help him.  He knew from a vision that a man named Ananias would come for this purpose (9:9-12).  Ananias himself prepared by a vision, finally arrived after the three days of fasting and prayer.  First he laid his hands on Saul so that the latter’s sight might be miraculously restored (9:12, 17,18; 22:13).  Then he announced why the Lord had confronted him to be an apostle to the Gentiles (22:14,15; see (:15,16).  Finally, Ananias told Saul what to do about his sin and guilt: “Arise, and be baptized, and wash away your sins, calling on His name” (22:16).

	Now the crucial question is this: can we discern whether Saul is still in his sins when thus exhorted, or whether he has already been saved?  To put it another way, is there any point prior to this where he might have been fully converted?

	Someone might suggest that he was converted on the Damascus road at the time of his encounter with Christ.  Since he calls Jesus “Lord” (22:8,10), perhaps this means that he was at that point surrendering to the Lordship of Christ.  This is unlikely, however.  The word itself (Greek, kurios) was the usual term of respectful address, on which occasions it was roughly equivalent to our word “sir”.  Perhaps  this is all Saul meant in his first use of this term, since at this point he does not even know who Jesus is: “Who art Thou, Lord?” (22:8).  But after Jesus identifies Himself (22:8), Saul again calls Him “Lord” (22:10), perhaps in a stronger sense than before, and perhaps even indicating an attitude of submission.  It is still unlikely, though, that any true conversion has taken place.  Saul had not yet heard the gospel offer, nor had he been told the conditions for receiving what is offered.  This is why he asks, “What shall I do, Lord?” (22:10).

	The fact that Saul asked this question suggests that he was at that time in the same spiritual condition as the Jews who were convicted by Peter’s Pentecost sermon.  They asked, “What shall we do?” (Acts 2:37).  Saul’s question is exactly the same: “What shall I do?”  But whereas they were immediately told who to receive forgiveness, Saul was not told at this point what to do about his sins.  Thus we conclude that he is still in them here on the Damascus road.
	But even if this is so, someone might say that Saul was surely converted during the three days when he was fasting and praying.  But there is no indication that any change took place in him during this time.  Conversion is usually accompanied by a deep sense of joy and relief (see Acts 8:39; 16:34), but this is not mentioned here.  The fact that Saul continues to pray and fast during the whole three days shows he has not yet received that for which he is praying and fasting.  He has still not had his question answered: “What shall I do?”  He knows that someone named Ananias will come and tell him what to do (9:6,12), but nothing happens for three days.  During this time he is still in his blindness, which is symbolic of the fact that he is still in his sins.

	When Ananias first encounters Saul, what does he assume about the latter’s spiritual condition?  The fact that he addresses him as “Brother Saul” (9:17; 22:13) is taken by many to be a sure indication that Ananias accepts him as a fellow Christian and thus as a saved person.  It is true that Christians called each other “brother” and “brethren.”  About 30 instances occur in Acts and 130 in Paul’s own writings.  But this practice probably arose from the fact that the Jews already customarily called each other “brethren,”  by which they meant only “fellow Jews.”  This is the sense in which Paul refers to all Jews as “my brethren, my kinsmen according to the flesh” (Rom. 9:3).  The addressing of fellow Jews as brethren occurs quite often in the book of Acts; thus we need not think that anything more than this is implied by Ananias’ address of Saul as “brother.”

	In fact there are two strong indications that Ananias did not view Saul as a saved Christian brother when he first encountered him.  As we have seen in our study of Acts 2:38, salvation in the Messianic age includes receiving the Holy Spirit.  But Ananias says that he has been sent to Saul for the very purpose of filling him with the Holy Spirit (9:17).  This shows that Saul was not yet saved, and that Ananias was quite aware of it.  The other element of the double cure of salvation is forgiveness of sins.  Now, when Ananias tells Saul to rise up and wash away his sins (22:16), this shows that he sees Saul as still bearing the burden of guilt.

	Thus there is nothing in the text or context that places Saul in the company of the saved when he first meets Ananias.  He welcomes Ananias as the one whom God has sent at last to tell him what to do to be saved, and baptism is a central element in the instruction.  It is related both to receiving the Spirit and to forgiveness, just as in Acts 2:38.

	We can infer its relation to the Spirit in Saul’s case from Acts 9:12, 17,18.  In verse 17 Ananias mentions two reasons why he was sent: that Saul might regain his sight and be filled with the Spirit.  In the very next verse we are told that Saul’s sight returned (when Ananias laid his hands on him, v. 12) and that he was baptized.  The implication is that the latter was the occasion for the giving of the Spirit, as promised in Acts 2:38.
	The relation of baptism to the forgiveness of Saul’s sins is the focal point of Acts 22:16.  We now turn to a more detailed study of this aspect of the verse.
Wash Away Your Sins

	Ananias’ instruction to Saul includes two aorist participles, “rising up” and “calling upon”; and two imperatives, “be baptized” and “wash away your sins.”  This last item is the crucial one.  What does it mean to “wash away” sins?  At first the imagery might suggest to our minds the second part of the double cure, or the cleansing of our souls from the condition of sinfulness, a purifying change wrought within our very hearts.  But this is not the main idea.  It rather refers to the first part of the double cure, namely, the washing away of the guilt we have incurred because of our sins.  It is equivalent to the forgiveness of sins as discussed in the study of Acts 2:38; its background is the washing or ritual cleansing ceremonies of the Old Testament.  It is accomplished only by the application of the blood of Christ to our lives: “The blood of Jesus His Son cleanses us from all sin” (I John 1:7).  When Ananias says, “Get your sins washed away,” he is simply saying, “Get your sins forgiven.”

	The significant point for our purposes is the close connection between baptism and the washing away of sins.  The most natural understanding is that the former is somehow the occasion or the condition of the latter.  This is true for several reasons.  First, this is consistent with the situation as described in the last section.  Saul is under deep conviction of  his sins, and has been fasting and praying for three days while awaiting instruction as to what he should do about them.  Thus when Ananias tells him to “be baptized and wash away your sins,” the guilt-ridden Saul would most naturally take baptism to be what he should do to wash his sins away.

	Second, this view is consistent with other New Testament teaching about baptism and salvation in general and with its teaching about baptism and forgiveness in particular.  It is in effect the exact equivalent of Peter’s instruction in Acts 2:38.  “Be baptized for the forgiveness of your sins” means the very same thing as “be baptized and wash away your sins.”
	Third, the very fact that Saul is instructed with an imperative to wash away his sins shows that it must be the result of baptism.  As noted above, the only true means of washing sins away is the blood of Jesus Christ.  All would surely agree that only the Lord Himself can apply His blood to our souls.  That is to say, the washing away of sins is an act of God and not the act of any human being.  It is a spiritual act accomplished by divine power alone.  It is impossible for Saul or anyone else to literally wash away his own sins.  What sense does it make, then, for Saul to be told to “wash away your sins”?  How could he possibly do such a thing?  Here is the answer: there was no way that he could do this himself unless the washing away of sins was dependent on something he could do, namely submit to Christian baptism.  This is the implication of the fact that “wash away” is in the imperative form.

	Finally, the number and order of the imperatives show that baptism is a condition for washing away sins.  If the outward act were only a symbolic picture of a prior inner cleansing, we would not expect him to put both in the imperative form.  In such a case it would be appropriate for the “washing away” to be an aorist participle (like “rising up” and “calling upon”).  Strictly speaking the action of an aorist participle precedes the action of  the main verb.  Ananias thus would have said, “Be baptized [imperative], having washed away your sins [aorist participle].”  But he does not say this; he uses two imperatives instead.

	But does the use of two imperatives in itself mean that baptism is a condition for washing away sins?  Not necessarily.  Both could be imperative, with baptism still being just a symbolic picture of the prior inner cleansing.  But in this case, the imperatives would have to be reversed: “wash away your sins and be baptized.”  In fact, only if they were in this order could we say that baptism just pictures the prior cleansing.  But they are not; “be baptized” - an imperative - precedes “wash away your sins” - an imperative.  This order of the two imperatives, along with the other reasons cited above, requires us to conclude that baptism is a preceding condition for the washing away or forgiveness of sins.
	The close connection between baptism and washing in Acts 22:16 helps us to understand the baptismal content of other New Testament references to washing.  For example, Paul says to the converted sinners at Corinth, “But you were washed, but you were sanctified, but you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ, and in the Spirit of our God” (I Cor. 6:11).  All three verbs are in the aorist tense, referring to a single action in the past.  The verb for “washed” is the same as that used in Acts 22:16, where the action is connected with baptism.  This suggests that I Cor. 6:11 is also referring to baptism.

	The two modifying phrases in this verse in Corinthians also point to baptism.  “In the name of the Lord Jesus Christ” recalls Matthew 28:19; Acts 2:38; 8:16; 10:48; 19:5; and I Cor. 1:13.  “In [ev] the Spirit” is the same expression as Matthew 3:11 (and parallels); Acts 1:5; and Acts 11:16.  These are all baptismal references.  The fact that the two phrases are used to modify all three verbs shows that the latter are all referring to a single act, namely baptism.  “You were washed,” at which time “you were sanctified” and “you were justified.”
	Another passage that speaks of washing is Hebrews 10:22, which says that we have had “our hearts sprinkled clean from an evil conscience and our bodies washed with pure water.”  That this speaks of baptism is clear not only from the reference to washing but also from its description as an application of water to our bodies.  The statement as a whole refers to the inner and outer aspects of the “one baptism” (Eph. 4:5), namely, the cleansing of the heart from sin and the immersion of the body in water.

	Two other inferences to washing that most probably are speaking of baptism are Ephesians 5:26 and Titus 3:5.  These will be discussed in separate chapters.

Calling on His Name

 	Ananias instructs Saul to arise and be baptized, and wash away his sins, “calling on His name.”  The verb here is an aorist participle.  This means that this action, while intimately connected with that of the main verb, is nevertheless meant to precede it.  Saul is thus told to “call on His name” as a preface to his baptism and the washing away of his sins.

	What is the significance of this action?  To understand this we must look to the origin of this expression in Joel and its use elsewhere in the New Testament, especially in Acts.  The Old Testament source is Joel 2:32, “And it will come about that whoever calls on the name of the LORD will be delivered.”  Since this appears in connection with Joel’s prophecy concerning the coming of the Spirit, we are not surprised that Peter quotes it in Acts 2:21, “And it shall be, that every one who calls on the name of the Lord shall be saved.”  Paul quotes it in Romans 10:13, “Whoever will call upon the name of the Lord will be saved.”  Christians are described as those who call upon His name (Acts 9:14,21; I Cor. 1:2).

	Specifically, whose name is being called upon?  In Joel it is the name of Yahweh (Jehovah), whom we know in the New Covenant revelation to include Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.  In the New Testament passages the name “Lord” specifically refers to Jesus Christ.  This is especially clear in Acts 9:13-17; Romans 10:9-13; and I Cor. 1:2.  Thus, although no specific name is mentioned in Acts 22:16, it undoubtedly refers to calling on the name of the Lord Jesus Christ.

	Now the crucial question is this: for what purpose or what end was Saul told to call upon the name of the Lord?  Here again the answer is not in doubt.  He must call upon the name of the Lord for salvation.  This is Joel’s point: “Whoever calls on the name of the LORD will be delivered.”  This is how Peter and Paul quote it: whoever calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.  Paul equates it with the confession of the mouth that Jesus is Lord, a confession that results in salvation (Rom. 10:9,10; cf. 10:13).

	Thus Ananias’ instruction does no less than confirm the unanimous Biblical testimony to the saving significance of baptism.  God has promised to save us - to give us forgiveness of sins and the gift of the Holy Spirit - in Christian baptism.  As a person prepares to be baptized, he should call upon God to keep this promise; he should call upon the Lord Jesus Christ to apply His cleansing blood to his sinful heart and to send the gift of the Holy Spirit.  It is  a prayer of faith in the faithfulness of God.

	As it applied to Saul, it meant two things.  First, the fact that he was supposed to call upon the Lord’s name in connection with his baptism meant that he had not yet received salvation.  The whole point of his calling upon the Lord’s name was to be saved.  Thus this is one final confirmation of the conclusion already reached above, that Saul was not saved on the Damascus Road nor during his three days of fasting and prayer.  He was not saved until he called upon the Lord’s name in baptism.  Second, this “calling upon His name” was an indication of Saul’s faith in Jesus.  We may note that there is no specific mention of faith in Ananias’ instruction, but it is implied nevertheless.  According to Romans 10:14, one cannot call upon Him unless he has believed in Him.  Thus Saul is here being told to do what every good Jew has to do now that the Messiah has come, namely, transform his limited Old Covenant faith into the fully-rounded faith that accepts Jesus as Yahweh Himself and as the source of salvation.

Summary
	In this chapter we have explored the teaching of Acts 22:16 on the meaning of baptism.  First we recounted the basic facts of Saul’s encounters with Jesus and Ananias, and concluded that he was not yet saved when Ananias instructed him concerning baptism.  We noted that Ananias gave him the gospel offer of the double cure: forgiveness (the “washing away” of the guilt of his sins) and the Holy Spirit.

	Next, we concentrated on the relation between baptism and the washing away of sins.  We concluded that the only reasonable understanding of Ananias’ words is that the washing takes place in the act of baptism.  This is consistent with the context and with other New Testament teaching.  Also, it is required by the fact that “wash away” is an imperative as such, and also by the number and order of the two imperatives in the verse.

	Finally we saw that “calling on His name” refers to calling on the name of Jesus for His promised salvation.  That this precedes baptism is shown by the participle construction and confirms the fact that baptism is for salvation.  The sinner approaches baptism calling upon the Lord to save him as He has promised.

ANDANTES