Wash Away Your Sin by Calling on His Name
Acts 22:1-16
Since we’re having a baptism this morning, I thought we would take a one-week break from our study of the book of Isaiah, and instead dig deeper into the meaning of baptism.
Imagine that you are at a formal dinner where everyone is wearing white – a white tux or white dress. And you were supposed to stand up and say a few words, but right before you took a sip of red wine and the glass slipped out of your hand and the wine spilled all down your front – leaving a massive stain that everyone can see.
How would you feel knowing that in a few minutes you are going to be standing up in front of everyone? You would long to have that stain washed away. You would be thrilled if someone could immediately remove that stain from your tux or dress.
The Bible teaches that all of us do have a stain – not red wine on a white tux or dress – but a stain that’s far more serious because it condemns us to God’s wrath and punishment. But there’s good news -- even though we all have this stain, we can all have this stain washed away.
Let’s turn to Acts 22. If you need a Bible, go ahead and raise your hand, and we’ll bring one to you. Acts 22 is on page 931 in the Bibles we are passing out.
Here’s the setting for this chapter. Paul had been teaching about Jesus in the temple in Jerusalem, and the Jewish leaders were angry. So they dragged Paul out of the temple and started beating him.
But Roman soldiers intervened, separated Paul from those beating him – and then Paul asked permission to speak to the crowd. So look at what Paul says starting in v.1 of ch.22 --
1 "Brothers and fathers, hear the defense that I now make before you."
2 And when they heard that he was addressing them in the Hebrew language, they became even more quiet. And he said:
3 "I am a Jew, born in Tarsus in Cilicia, but brought up in this city, educated at the feet of Gamaliel according to the strict manner of the law of our fathers, being zealous for God as all of you are this day.
4 I persecuted this Way [Christianity] to the death, binding and delivering to prison both men and women,
5 as the high priest and the whole council of elders can bear me witness. From them I received letters to the [Jewish] brothers, and I journeyed toward Damascus to take those [Christians] also who were there and bring them in bonds to Jerusalem to be punished.
6 "As I was on my way and drew near to Damascus, about noon a great light from heaven suddenly shone around me.
7 And I fell to the ground and heard a voice saying to me, 'Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting me?'
8 And I answered, 'Who are you, Lord?' [The word “Lord” shows that Paul immediately knew He was talking to God. God is a being like no other. When you meet God, you know it’s God.] And he said to me, 'I am Jesus of Nazareth, whom you are persecuting.'
9 Now those who were with me saw the light but did not understand the voice of the one who was speaking to me.
10 And I said, 'What shall I do, Lord?' And the Lord said to me, 'Rise, and go into Damascus, and there you will be told all that is appointed for you to do.'
11 And since I could not see because of the brightness of that light, I was led by the hand by those who were with me, and came into Damascus.
12 "And one Ananias, a devout man according to the law, well spoken of by all the Jews who lived there,
13 came to me, and standing by me said to me, 'Brother Saul, receive your sight.' And at that very hour I received my sight and saw him.
14 And he said, 'The God of our fathers appointed you to know his will, to see the Righteous One and to hear a voice from his mouth [that’s Jesus];
15 for you will be a witness for him to everyone of what you have seen and heard. [So Paul would change from killing witnesses for Jesus to becoming a witness for Jesus. But now here’s the verse I want us to focus on this morning -- ]
16 And now why do you wait? Rise and be baptized and wash away your sins, calling on his name.'
To unpack verse 16, let’s start with this question – What did Paul need? Read v.16 again --
And now why do you wait? Rise and be baptized and wash away your sins, calling on his name.'
What Paul needed, and what all of us need, is to have our sins washed away.
God created you – gave you life – gave you an amazing body – and placed you on this beautiful globe in a massive universe. That shows that God is perfectly good, flawlessly wise, and infinitely powerful. And so we have an infinite obligation to depend on Him completely and obey Him unquestioningly.
But all of us have refused. We’ve all turned our backs on God and tried to live independently of God. That’s what the Bible calls “sin.” We’ve all sinned thousands and thousands and thousands of times.
And because God is perfectly just, He has to punish sin. So because of our sin all of us have faced eternal punishment.
That’s why all of us need to wash away our sins. In v.16 Ananias tells Paul there is something he and all of us can do to wash away out sins. So –
How do we wash away our sins? It’s not by being good enough to make up for our sins. Because that’s not how justice works.
I like the illustration of a parking ticket. Let’s say I park too long downtown, get ticketed, and go to court to contest it. If I said to the judge, “Judge, I don’t think I need to pay a fine, because I’m planning on making up for my parking ticket by obeying all the parking laws from now on.” What would the judge say? He’d say “Sorry; that’s not how justice works. The traffic fine – the penalty – must be paid.”
Same with God – the penalty for our sin must be paid. So – will going to church every Sunday make up for your sin? No. How about meditating for an hour every day? No. Giving money to the homeless? No. That’s not how justice works. The penalty – the punishment – must be paid.
But Ananias says there is something Paul can do to wash away his sins. What is it? Read v.16 again --
And now why do you wait? Rise and be baptized and wash away your sins, calling on his [Jesus’] name.'
Jesus Christ is alive today. He is fully God and has always been from eternity past. But 2,000 years ago He became a man and walked on this earth. And He died on the Cross to pay the penalty for our sin. That’s what happened when Jesus died on the Cross. On the Cross God was pouring out upon Jesus the punishment you and I deserve.
Then Jesus rose from the dead – showing that His death was not the death of a criminal – His death was the death of God Himself being punished for our sins.
And so when you turn from your sin, from your independence, and call on His name – “Jesus! Wash me clean from guilt, forgive me, change me, help me!” – he hears you, and His death paid the penalty you owe for your sin, and he washes away all the guilt of your sin so you can come into the joy of knowing God now and forever.
So the way to wash away all the guilt of your sin is by calling upon Jesus.
So what does this have to do with baptism? To see the connection read v.16 again --
And now why do you wait? Rise and be baptized and wash away your sins, calling on his name.'
There’s two connections. Sometimes baptism is the first time someone calls on Jesus’ name. That was the case with Paul. Paul had just heard the good news of Jesus, and responded by being baptized, and while he was baptized, he called on Jesus’ name. And so it was during his baptism that his sins were washed away. Not because baptism in itself washes away sin, but because that was the time when Paul first called upon Jesus.
So that’s one connection. But Orion and Andrew have already called upon the name of Jesus, and they have already been cleansed from their sins. So what does baptism mean for them?
That’s the second connection. Always baptism is a picture of what happens when someone calls on Jesus’ name. Orion and Andrew have both already called upon Jesus’ name and so they have already had their sins washed away. But still, Jesus calls them and all of us to be baptized – to publicly show that we have called upon Jesus’ name, and to picture what happens when we call on Jesus’ name.
So baptism pictures what happens when you call on Jesus’ name. Picture yourself covered with mud and muck and slime. If we then put you in this water, and immersed you under water, you would come up clean. That’s what happens when we call on Jesus’ name – Jesus washes you clean from all the guilt of all your sin – so you no longer face eternal judgment, instead you are adopted into God’s family, and God is and will be your loving Father forever.
Questions?
So this is a huge celebration for all of us who are trusting Jesus Christ – Jesus has washed away our sins – we are completely free from guilt – there is no condemnation or punishment of any sort awaiting us – because of God’s mercy through Jesus Christ.
But maybe some of you are not trusting Jesus Christ. Maybe you have not called on Jesus to wash you clean from your sin. Call upon Him right now to forgive you, change you, save you, help you. You can be washed clean from your sins right where you are.