Day 3
Verse 3. He went into all the region around the Jordan, preaching a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins,
What does it mean to be baptized? Free Dictionary dot com says this: bap·tism (băp′tĭz′əm) n. 1. A religious rite considered a sacrament by most Christian groups, marked by the symbolic application of water to the head or immersion of the body into water and resulting in admission of the recipient into the community of Christians. 2. A ceremony in certain religious or nonreligious traditions in which one is initiated, purified, or given a name. 3. An initiatory experience, act, or effort:
I think the words Father gave Luke to write mean more than Free Dictionary gives us.
preaching a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins,
We understand baptism to be immersion, right?
And we know repentance means to change our minds.
Could we say John was preaching that our being forgiven is predicated on us being immersed; all in, sold out to the act of changing our minds about our sins? Going further, could not we say changing our minds about our sins, also means agreeing with what GOD has said about sin?
I think so. Do you?
Day 3
