“And now why do you delay? Arise, and be baptized, and wash away your sins, calling on his name” – Acts 22:16 (New American Standard Bible).

These words were spoken to Saul by Ananias just before he became a Christian. Notice three important truths in this verse about baptism.

First, baptism is associated with washing away sins. I am continually amazed at the plain language of the New Testament about the purpose of baptism and how so many Bible teachers ignore this plain language today. Clearly, if baptism is for the purpose of washing away sins, it must be associated with salvation. Yet, in most pulpits and churches no such truth is taught.

Second, baptism is associated with calling on Jesus’ name for salvation. The expression “calling on his name” is what is known as an aorist participle in the original language of the Bible. This means that the act of calling on Jesus’ name for salvation occurs at the point in time just preceding baptism. The picture is of someone standing in water calling on Jesus to save him, and then immediately being baptized so sins can be washed away.

Third, we should not delay our baptisms. Ananias clearly says, “And now why do you delay? Arise, and be baptized…” We should not delay our baptisms! We should have a sense of urgency about it. And that means that very soon after we believe in and confess Jesus as the risen Lord, and repent of our sins, we should be baptized. Long delays are not prudent or Biblical. In the Bible, people were always baptized very quickly after confessing Christ as Lord.

Think about it. If baptism is to wash away sins (as Acts 22:16 clearly indicates), then we definitely don’t want to delay it! In fact, we should be scheduling our baptisms as quickly as possible. Having a “ho hum it can wait” attitude toward baptism is a bad mistake! Why on earth would we want to delay having our sins washed away? Truly, if we DO delay it for months or years, it shows we do not understand the purpose of baptism as Ananias states it above. It also shows that we don’t think obeying God is all that important.

Now don’t misunderstand. I know that some people are forced to delay their baptism due to special circumstances. We once had to get permission to baptize a woman in a nursing home who was paralyzed from her neck down. We had to arrange to take her in a wheel chair down a long ramp into a handicap accessible pool. We had to get many people involved to insure her safety and it took more than two weeks to get it all done. Certainly, in such circumstances, God’s mercy covers the person wishing to be baptized. And often, people want special persons to be involved in their baptisms that aren’t available for a few days. Again, I don’t think this is wrong. But delaying our baptism for weeks or months or even years IS wrong. We need to get moving! Why delay? Arise and be baptized to wash away your sins calling on his name!

 

Have you been baptized (immersed in water), calling on Jesus’ name? If not, I urge you to do it as soon as possible.