If the baptism of John symbolized the washing of sin and so served as a ceremonial cleansing, how could it make sense for Jesus to be baptized?
The Bible states multiple times that Jesus was without sin. “He committed no sin," we read in 1 Peter 2:22.
That, then, brings us to the question: HOW would all righteousness be fulfilled by Jesus being baptizedin the same water in which symbolically, the filth of the nation's sins had been washed off?
How was this was foreshadowed by the day of atonement? - Which we read about in Leviticus 16 - where the priest would"put both of his hands on a scapegoat's head and confess over it all the evils, sins, and rebellions of the people of Israel, and so transfer them to the goat's head.”
At the baptism of Jesus, He symbolically took the sins of the world upon Him, so He could bear the sins, so that the sins would be punished in His body on the cross.This brings us to the question: Were your sins forgiven?
Or were your sins punished on the cross?
Because, you see, your sins cannot both be forgiven AND be punished. If sins are forgiven, they are no longer punished. If sins are punished, they were clearly not forgiven.
At your baptism, God divided sin and sinner, so that the sinner could go free and the sin could be punished, without killing the sinner.
In Hebrews 9:22, we read: “without shedding of blood there is no forgiveness” In other words: without shedding ofblood (as punishment for sin) there is no forgiveness (for the sinner).
Normally, the sinner would be punished for the sin, but where the sin is “taken away” by the Lamb of God, the sinner is forgiven, and the sin is punished in the body of Christ.
Therefore, do NOT say God forgives sin - for it is not truly Biblical to say so. God forgives sinners. God punishes sin. YOU were forgiven your sins. Your sins, themselves, are not forgiven; your sins were punished on the cross at Calvary.
After all, the cross of Jesus is the cross of punishment.
Baptism communicates to us that God washes the sins off those who turn away from sin. At Baptism, God symbolically divides sin and sinner, so that sin could be punished and thesinner can go free.
Only once you have the simple and basic understanding of baptism, can you move on to the more poetic and expanded view on baptism, that Paul shares, among others, in Romans 6:3-4
Don’t think that because baptism is a symbol, it is somehow any less real. Your signature is just a symbol, but applying your little signature to a contract is legally binding and has real-world consequences.
By putting your symbol - your signature on a contract, you can actually sign your house away.
The symbol of baptism is no less real and no less binding than your signature and just like your signature has real world consequences, the consequences of baptism too, are absolutely real.
For more - visit my channel on YouTube at: Nicholas – thinking about God.
