Articles
"What Shall I Do?"
Saul was on the way to Damascus to persecute Christians when Jesus appeared to Him. The vision convinced him that Jesus was the Christ. Doubtless Saul’s heart instantly flooded with guilt. He humbly asked, “What shall I do, Lord?” Jesus told him to go to Damascus, where he would be told what he must do (Acts 22:3-10).
Three days later Ananias came to Saul with the answer to his question. That answer is recorded in Acts 22:16: “Now why do you delay? . . .”
“Get up.” Weighed down with guilt, Saul had been fasting and praying for three days. His remorse was admirable; now it was time for relief. But prayer was not the answer. Throughout the pages of Acts, no one was ever told to pray in order to be saved! Ananias told Saul it was time to obey, not to pray.
“And be baptized.” Be immersed. That is what the word means. If baptism is sprinkling or pouring, Saul would not have had to get up in order to be baptized. Baptism is a burial into Christ, into His death, a likeness of what He underwent to provide our salvation (Romans 6:3-4).
“And wash away your sins.” In Saul’s mind, his persecution of Christians made him the foremost of sinners (1 Timothy 1:15). But no matter what he had done, all could be forgiven in Christ. That is true of everyone.
Those who deny baptism’s essentiality say Saul’s baptism was to symbolize the cleansing that had already occurred. That is not what Ananias said! The expressions be baptized and wash away your sins are parallel. They are both the same tense. If the latter had already occurred, so had the former, and the entire instruction is nonsense. Baptism is “for forgiveness of sins” (Acts 2:38). The water itself has no power. We are justified by Jesus’ blood (Romans 5:9), contacted in baptism, as earlier noted (Romans 6:3).
“Calling on His name.” Baptism is in Jesus’ name (Acts 2:38). It is an appeal for cleansing through His death and resurrection (1 Peter 3:21). Calling on His name is in addition to believing in Him (Romans 10:14). It is something we do, not just something we say (Matthew 7:21). Acts 2:21 and 38 parallel this account; they confirm that the call occurs in baptism. Have you done what Saul was told to do?
