While the passage just quoted gives us a clear
promise of forgiveness, many people fail to understand that it is only
through personal faith in Christ that we receive what is promised
(Galatians 3:22). Instead, the tendency of the human heart is either to
assume that forgiveness comes automatically, simply because a rite is
performed, or to explain away what is said.
One difficulty that people have in understanding
baptism lies in the carnal assumption that it is some sort of work. In
fact, I have met people who insist that it is a work. Yet the person
who is being baptized does nothing! Moreover, the rite is designed to
make it clear that salvation does not come to us through something we
do, but through something that we receive from Christ. That is why
self-baptism is never valid.
To come to baptism "in the name of Jesus Christ for
the remission of sins," is to come believing that there is forgiveness
in Christ (Acts 2:38). Christ's representative then washes you with
water as a way of telling you that you now have forgiveness in Christ.
However, the key factor is not immersion, but your faith that you have
forgiveness in Christ. Therefore, while God uses the ceremony to give
us His promise of forgiveness in Christ, it is only through personal
faith in Christ that we receive what is promised (2Corinthians 1:20,
Galatians 3:22).
Since the act of presenting oneself for baptism
should go hand in hand with repentance, it can be seen as both, an
acknowledgement of sin and a request for forgiveness (Acts 2:38). In
other words, when Peter called upon his listeners to "repent and be
baptized... for the remission of sins," their response was an implied
request for forgiveness (Acts 2:38 and 22:16). However, that
forgiveness does not come because we ask but because Christ died to
secure it for us. That is why, only those who trust in him receive what
is promised (Romans 5:2).
While children should be led to see their sin and
look to Christ for forgiveness at the earliest possible age, we should
never assume that the outward act of baptism will save them, apart from
personal faith in Jesus Christ.
All who partake of the Lord's Supper receive
Christ's promise that His body was given for them, and His blood "shed"
for them, for the remission of sins (1 Corinthians 11:24, Luke
22:19,20, Matthew 26:26-28). However, the Bible makes it clear that it
is only through personal faith in Christ that we receive what is
promised (Galatians 3:22, 2Corinthians 1:20). Therefore, while the
promise of Christ's body and blood is given to all that partake, only
those who acknowledge their sin, looking to Christ for forgiveness, are
worthy to partake (1Corinthians 11:31).
If Christ is the door to eternal life, then the
gospel is the key that opens that door, for it is only through the
gospel that we are brought to a saving knowledge of Jesus Christ.
Therefore, when Jesus said to Peter, “I will give unto thee the keys of
the kingdom of heaven” He was telling Peter that He would give him the
knowledge that opens the door to eternal life, and that knowledge
belongs to all who trust in Christ (Matthew 16:19). Consequently,
everyone who understands the way of salvation has the keys to the
kingdom of heaven, and we use those keys every time we proclaim the
gospel (Matthew 18:18, John 20:21-23).
When we look at how Jesus used those keys when he
was on earth, we find that He never used self-exalting language. He
never said, "I, by the authority vested in me, forgive you all your
sin." Instead, he simply said, "be of good cheer; thy sins be forgiven
thee" (Matthew 9:2, Luke 7:48). Therefore, if we follow His example, we
will be using the keys of the kingdom every time we tell someone that
there is forgiveness in Christ, and all who believe that message will
receive eternal life.
In order to rightly-divide the word of truth; the
warnings of law must be directed at the unrepentant, while those who
repent are assured of forgiveness in Christ. To that end, we are to
bind sin by withholding baptism from the unrepentant, and lose sin by
extending God's promise of forgiveness in Christ to those who repent.
The same holds true for the lord's supper. And when we carry out this
task as God intended, God works through us to forgive the sins of all
who believe (John 20:23, Luke 10:16).