I once heard a weak argument regarding the nonessentiality of baptism.  A man once said he knew that baptism did not work because he had been baptized several times but kept on sinning.  First, the purpose of baptism is not to stop a person from sinning but to take care of one’s past sins.  Second, what failed in this man’s case was not being baptized but refusing to stop sinning.  In other words, he never did repent.

It does not matter how many times a person is dipped into some water if he is unwilling to repent.  Scriptural baptism always follows true repentance (Acts 2:38).  To be baptized without first repenting is to, as it has been said, “go into the water a dry sinner, and come out a went sinner.”

We know that the man previously mentioned never did repent because he kept on sinning.  Proper repentance is always verified by what a person does afterward.  In the Bible that is called the fruit of repentance.

Matthew 3:7-8 (ESV)
⁷  But when he saw many of the Pharisees and Sadducees coming to his baptism, he said to them, “You brood of vipers! Who warned you to flee from the wrath to come? ⁸  Bear fruit in keeping with repentance.

The fruit of repentance is the changed behavior of the one who has repented.  If one truly has had a change of heart, he will stop sinning.  The thief will stop stealing, the liar will stop lying, the adulterer will stop committing adultery, etc.  If a person guilty of gossiping claims to have repented but keeps on gossiping, we know by his fruit that he has not repented.    

Luke 6:43-44 (ESV)
⁴³  “For no good tree bears bad fruit, nor again does a bad tree bear good fruit, ⁴⁴  for each tree is known by its own fruit. For figs are not gathered from thornbushes, nor are grapes picked from a bramble bush.

A scriptural reference to this process of repenting and properly verifying the repentance is found in Acts 3:19.  Peter told the people, “Repent therefore, and turn back, that your sins may be blotted out.”

I heard a preacher once say about this verse that “repent” was in the active voice and “turn back” in the passive, meaning that we act by repenting, and then God acts by turning us back from sin.  To be fair, the KJV says, “Repent ye therefore, and be converted…” which makes it sound like the preacher had a point.  However, he was wrong.  Both “repent” and “turn back” are in the active voice, telling us that we must repent (have a change of heart), and then turn back (bear fruit in keeping with repentance).

As we have seen this week, repentance is critical for our salvation.  Let’s make sure that when we sin, we really repent, properly verifying it by a change of behavior.

As you wind down for the night, think about these things.