And now why tarriest thou? arise, and be baptized, and wash away thy sins, calling on the name of the Lord.
The words were spoken by Ananias to Saul after Saul's encounter with Jesus, when Saul received his sight and was baptized immediately, his baptism following his conversion. They belong to Paul's own retelling of his conversion, in which he who had persecuted Christ's disciples had his proud heart brought to bow before Jesus the crucified Nazarene. That account of the change carried convincing power.
The command was part of Saul's calling to know God's will, to see Jesus, and to become a witness of what he had seen and heard. God appointed him to carry the message to the Gentiles and directed him in a vision to take his work to the Gentiles. Ananias urged him not to delay but to arise at once, be baptized, and call on the Lord's name as he turned to God from his sins for the washing away of his sins.
Baptism is thus joined with the washing away of sins and calling on the Lord as a decisive response to faith, not something to delay. Forgiveness is received through faith in Jesus, an experience reflected in the sense that sins have been washed away. That washing away of sins is the Lord's cleansing given to a sinner bought with the blood of the Son of God when he surrenders himself to God and receives Christ by believing in His name to become a son of God, and this washing gives a new heart. Sins are to be washed away now in this life by frankly confessing wrongs and fully righting them through deep, honest confession. This does not mean admitting only what has been plainly brought out while leaving the rest hidden and covered in darkness, for what is left unconfessed will be revealed in the trying day of God when it will be too late to right wrongs or have sins washed away.
The words were spoken by Ananias to Saul after Saul's encounter with Jesus, when Saul received his sight and was baptized immediately, his baptism following his conversion. They belong to Paul's own retelling of his conversion, in which he who had persecuted Christ's disciples had his proud heart brought to bow before Jesus the crucified Nazarene. That account of the change carried convincing power.
The command was part of Saul's calling to know God's will, to see Jesus, and to become a witness of what he had seen and heard. God appointed him to carry the message to the Gentiles and directed him in a vision to take his work to the Gentiles. Ananias urged him not to delay but to arise at once, be baptized, and call on the Lord's name as he turned to God from his sins for the washing away of his sins.
Baptism is thus joined with the washing away of sins and calling on the Lord as a decisive response to faith, not something to delay. Forgiveness is received through faith in Jesus, an experience reflected in the sense that sins have been washed away. That washing away of sins is the Lord's cleansing given to a sinner bought with the blood of the Son of God when he surrenders himself to God and receives Christ by believing in His name to become a son of God, and this washing gives a new heart. Sins are to be washed away now in this life by frankly confessing wrongs and fully righting them through deep, honest confession. This does not mean admitting only what has been plainly brought out while leaving the rest hidden and covered in darkness, for what is left unconfessed will be revealed in the trying day of God when it will be too late to right wrongs or have sins washed away.