4 Great Blessings of Baptism in the Name of the Lord

1. Forgiveness of Your Sins

Paul said that his sins were washed away when he called on the name of the Lord in his baptism. He readily confessed this even to his enemies, that the man who came to baptize him said, “Now why do you delay? Arise, and be baptized, and wash away your sins, calling on His name” (Ac 22:16).

Do you understand how to call upon the name of the Lord to be saved?

Peter said, “Repent, and each of you be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness [i.e. remission] of your sins” (Ac 2:38). Therefore, when you repent of your sins and are also baptized, you will receive the great blessing of God forgiving all of your sins. He will not hold them against you. He will wash them away through the blood of Jesus Christ.

Note: Why Were You Baptized? Was it to receive the forgiveness of your sins? If not, would you be willing to be baptized for that great reason? In order for you to be right with God, you must do things in the right way and for the right reasons. “Make sure no one deceives you; the one who practices righteousness is righteous, just as He is righteous” (1 Jn 3:7). Have you practiced the right baptism?

2. Salvation vs. Condemnation

Jesus said, “He who has believed and has been baptized shall be saved” (Mk 16:16). Peter said, “Baptism now saves you,--not the removal of dirt from the flesh, but an appeal to God for a good conscience-- through the resurrection of Jesus Christ” (1 Pe 3:21). Baptism saves you through Christ and His resurrection, that is the gospel DBR. What will you be saved from? God will preserve, deliver, and save your soul from paying the penalty of eternal punishment in the lake of fire (2 Thess 1:1, 9). Instead, you will get to go to heaven.

Note: Why Were You Baptized? Was it in order to be saved? If not, are you willing to be baptized to be saved? Many people are mistakenly taught that they are saved first without being baptized. And so they get baptized for the wrong reason, such as doing it as a sign for the world to see. But the Bible does not say to be baptized for that reason. Instead, Peter said that in baptism you are answering, responding, or appealing to God to clear your conscience (1 Pe 3:21, 22). So baptism is between you and God, not between you and the world.

3. A New Life, Birth

Paul said, “Or do you not know that all of us who have been baptized into Christ Jesus have been baptized into His death? Therefore we have been buried with Him through baptism into death, in order that as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, so we too might walk in newness of life... knowing this, that our old self was crucified with Him, that our body of sin might be done away with” (Ro 6:3, 4, 6). Do you understand that you must bury your old sinful self in the watery grave of baptism, to be buried with Jesus, and then rise up out of that grave to receive the great blessing of newness of life; the Christian life?

Note: Have you buried your old sinful self in the waters of baptism? Have you been raised up to live the Christian life? Paul said to others that they were buried with Christ in baptism, and raised up with Him through their faith in the power of God (Col 2:11, 12).

4. The Gift of the Holy Spirit

Another amazing and great blessing which you will receive when you are baptized is the gift of the Holy Spirit. Peter said, “Repent, and let each of you be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins; and you shall receive the gift of the Holy Spirit” (Ac 2:38). Notice that Peter said the “gift” of the Holy Spirit, and not the “gifts” of the Holy Spirit. There is a difference between the gift of the Holy Spirit and the gifts of the Holy Spirit. Do You Know the Difference Between the Two? Learn more about this subject in the Q&A section.

It’s How to Call upon the Lord to Be Saved

Paul said, “Whoever will call upon the name of the Lord will be saved” (Ro 10:13). How then did Paul himself call upon the name of the Lord to be saved? He testified that Jesus Himself sent a man, Ananias, to instruct him to call upon the name of the Lord in his baptism to be saved. Ananias said, “And now why do you delay? Arise, and be baptized, and wash away your sins, calling on His name” (Ac 22:16). So Ananias told Paul to call upon the name of the Lord in his baptism [that is, the person who baptized him called upon the name of the Lord for him; the baptizer]. This is how a sinner is to initially call upon the name of the Lord to be saved.

Note: If you look at the context of this passage, you will see that before Paul was baptized, evidently he was repenting, he did not eat for three days. He also was praying. But prayer for salvation is not a first teaching about the Christ. Jesus said to call upon the name of the Lord in baptism for our salvation, not prayer. For example, Jesus said, “make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit” (Mt 28:19). In other words, the one doing the baptizing is supposed to call upon the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. God did not intend for sinners to initially call upon the name of the Lord in prayer for their salvation and forgiveness, like many mistakenly teach and follow. Prayer is not the gospel. The gospel is not a DPR-- a Death, Prayer, and Resurrection. The Gospel is a DBR-- a Death, Burial, and Resurrection. And baptism represents the burial. The Bible first directs penitent sinners to call upon the name of the Lord in connection with baptism for their salvation. It is only after sinners are saved in this way that they are told to repent and pray to God for forgiveness if they sin again (READ: Ac 8:13, 22; 1 Jn 1:9). So the Bible tells Christians, not the lost, to pray for forgiveness if they realize that they have sinned again.