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Transcript 251A — The Nature of John the Baptist's Baptism
HC: Good evening. Welcome to Open Forum
CALLER: Yes. I have a question about the nature of the baptism of John. In the Gospel according to Mark, in verse 4 it says, "John did baptize in the wilderness and preached the baptism of repentance for the remission of sins." Since Christ had not died yet and since there is no atonement without blood, what kind of forgiveness was he talking about? And I would ask the same about Christ, before He died. And I'll take my answer on the air.
HC: Thank you very much for calling. Good night.
A question is raised which is a very logical and a very good question. Since there is no forgiveness of sins without the shedding of blood, and yet John the Baptist was baptizing the baptism of repentance for the remission of sins, what kind of a baptism was this?
Let's enlarge the question. How did the Old Testament believers become saved? What kind of a salvation did they have if Christ did not go to the cross until AD 33?
Actually, you see, the Bible teaches that the efficacy of the atonement, the impact, the cleansing power of the blood of Christ, is timeless. Remember in the Book of Revelation it says that His blood was shed from the foundations of the earth. The Old Testament believer was saved exactly as we are saved, by the shed blood of Christ. It's true that in time Christ went to the cross. But the impact of the cross reached all the way back to Adam and Eve and all the way forward to ourselves, because Christ is outside of time. He is the great "I AM."
And that is why we can read of Noah that he found grace in the eyes of the Lord, and he lived five thousand years before Christ. That's why we can read of Elijah that he was caught up in a whirlwind into Heaven. He could go into Heaven only because his sins had been dealt with. Otherwise there would be no way that he could go into Heaven.
That is why we read of Abraham, who lived two thousand years before Christ, that he is called the father of all believers. Those people were saved like we are, by placing their trust in the Messiah. Now they looked at Him as the coming one. We look upon Him as the one who has already come. But their salvation was the same.
And so someone who trusted in God and in the coming messiah - this was evidenced by the fact that he was baptized by John. The baptism of John actually was an Old Testament ablution. It was typical of that which was utilized by the Old Testament laws, when they were told to wash for certain situations.
Well, I hope this will help.