Salvation By Grace

R.C. Sproul’s Baptism series lecture 1/8 “The Baptism of John”

• OT covenant goes from the beginning to the last supper
• The life of John the Baptist is lived under the old covenant
• Jesus lived under the old covenant
  • Jesus’ life is lived under the terms of the covenant made with Israel
  • this is why Jesus is scrupulous to obey every part of the OT law
• the new covenant was not instituted until the upper room

• proselyte baptizing at that time was for Gentile converts to Judaism only (besides circumcision, etc.)
  • no Jew had to undergo baptism because only Gentiles were considered unclean
  • it was scandalous to suggest cleansing for a Jew to be baptized
  • John comes along and says time for everyone to get baptized – Pharisees become outraged
  • God is now imposing a new requirement on his people because a new moment in redemptive history is at hand
  • God is now calling for his own people to be washed for the remission on their sins
• Why must Jesus be baptized?
  • Jesus is called not only to die for the sins of the nation
  • Jesus must obey the law perfectly so everything requirement imposed upon Israel is imposed on Israel’s messiah so he can win the blessing for those who he represents
  • Jesus is not being baptized for his sins, he is baptized for the sins of those he represents
• John’s baptism is NOT new testament baptism, John’s baptism is linked to new testament baptism, but they are not the same thing
  • NT baptism goes beyond John’s baptism
  • John’s baptism was preparatory for people awaiting the Messiah
    • it serves as a bridge to NT baptism
  • Malachi said the messiah would not return until Elijah returned
    • Malachi 4:5 5  Behold, I will send you Elijah the prophet f before the great and awesome day of the Lord comes. 6 And he will turn the hearts of fathers to their children and the hearts of children to their fathers, lest I come and strike the land with a decree of utter destruction.”
  • John comes in the spirit and power of Elijah
    • Jesus says John was the Elijah to come
  • not a direct identity but there is a point of continuity and the ministry of Elijah is re-introduced in John the Baptist

This entry was posted on April 25, 2009 at 6:29 pm and is filed under Old Testament, OT Messianic Prophecies with tags Baptism, New Covenant. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.