Currently, in traditional Christianity, misleading concepts and doctrines about the Gospel of salvation have been circulating for centuries, confusing and preventing many believers from finding true freedom from sin and inner transformation to become a new creation in Christ Jesus and an adopted child of God the Father.
For example, today it is common to teach and accept the deceptive and unbiblical doctrine that one is justified and accepted by God simply by believing and declaring that Jesus died for one, and therefore accepting him as savior after formulating a sinner's prayer.
However, Jesus himself lived and showed us the three steps to fulfill the will and righteous requirements of God his Father in order to be justified and accepted by him. Let's read first in the Scriptures what happened the day He was baptized by the prophet John the Baptist and received the fullness of the holy Spirit of his Father:
Matthew 3:13-17
[13] Then Jesus came from Galilee to the Jordan to be baptized by John. [14] But John tried to deter him, saying, “I need to be baptized by you, and do you come to me?” [15] Jesus replied, “Let it be so now; it is proper for us to do this to fulfill all righteousness.” Then John consented. [16] As soon as Jesus was baptized, he went up out of the water. At that moment heaven was opened, and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and alighting on him. [17] And a voice from heaven said, “This is my Son, whom I love; with him I am well pleased.”
Jesus’ repentance and baptism in water
Jesus was also baptized in water. But why did He have to be baptized in water? Was it simply to set an example for us as a witness to others? He did it for a deeper and more profound reason: to show us the path of total surrender and consecration to fulfilling God's righteous requirements. In fact, just before being baptized by John the Baptist in order to start his ministry on Earth, He had to REPENT something. Of course He did not have to repent of any sin, since he had been born without sin.
But the word REPENTANCE does not only mean that one turns away from any sinful action, but also that one surrenders and consecrates himself entirely to doing the will of God the Father. In fact, the original biblical word of repentance in Greek is METANOIA, which means: a complete change of direction or trajectory.
So when God's time came, Jesus was ready to dedicate himself and leave behind his former life as an extraordinary man of good reputation in the eyes of men. He had been a person of integrity, an excellent carpenter, a Jew very well versed in the Holy Scriptures, and a faithful practitioner of the Mosaic Law. But He was willing to pay the price of making the decision to give up his good reputation in front of everyone, including his own family. (Luke 2:45-52; Matthew 13:53-58; Mark 6:1-6)
Jesus went all the way to see John the Baptist in order to be immersed in water by him, as a sign of full repentance. In that moment, Jesus completely renounced being simply the son of Joseph and Mary. He renounced being a carpenter respected by his relatives, acquaintances and fellow citizens. He pledged then to reveal his true identity as the Son and Lamb of God his Father openly. And right after He was baptized, his Father in Heaven honoured him by sending him the fullness and power of the Holy Spirit. He also honoured him by declaring with an audible voice to everyone out there that Jesus was in fact his beloved Son. From that moment, John the Baptist was openly declaring that Jesus was in fact the Lamb of God that takes the sin of the world! (Matthew 3:13-17; John 1:29-34; 1John 5:6-8)
Jesus had to be baptized in water to show his Father that He was willing to fulfill his role of revealing his true identity, by proclaiming the Good News of God's kingdom and by demonstrating the power of healing and miracles. He had to do it to show openly that He was in fact the Messiah and Son of the One who had sent him—God his Father. He knew that He was going to suffer great and constant persecution, and even to die cruelly on the cross, for declaring that He was in fact the Truth, the Life, and the Way to have access to God the Father. (Luke 4:1-30; John 5:16-30; 14:6-11)
Jesus consecrated himself in water baptism to obey and fulfill the will of his Father, accepting the challenge of suffering and feeling anguish for us, since He had to be martyred and die cruelly three years and a half later to end his ministry and life on Earth. What an example He gave us of giving everything unconditionally out of love for his Father and for us! (Hebrews 10:3-10)
Jesus’ baptism of God's holy Spirit
Just after Jesus was baptized in water, his Father sent him his own holy Spirit to receive the anointing and power to carry out his mission and ministry of preaching the Kingdom of God, healing the sick, casting out evil spirits, performing miracles, making disciples, and dying for our sins. The Father completely filled him with his Spirit and power for having dedicated himself to revealing the truth of the Word and will of God, and being willing to suffer and die for humanity. (Matthew 3:16-17; Luke 4:14-22; Acts 10:38)
This is the price Jesus had to pay in order to receive the gift of the holy Spirit: complete repentance, death to self in water baptism, and total submission and complete obedience to hear from God his Father and serve him and do his will until death:
John 5:19-21
[19] Jesus gave them this answer: “Very truly I tell you, the Son can do nothing by himself; he can do only what he sees his Father doing, because whatever the Father does the Son also does. [20] For the Father loves the Son and shows him all he does. Yes, and he will show him even greater works than these, so that you will be amazed. [21] For just as the Father raises the dead and gives them life, even so the Son gives life to whom he is pleased to give it.
John 12:49-50
(Jesus:) [49] For I did not speak on my own, but the Father who sent me commanded me to say all that I have spoken. [50] I know that his command leads to eternal life. So whatever I say is just what the Father has told me to say.”
Philippians 2:8-9
[8] And Jesus being found in appearance as a man, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to death— even death on a cross! [9] Therefore God exalted him to the highest place and gave him the name that is above every name.
Hebrews 5:7-10
[7] During the days of Jesus’ life on earth, he offered up prayers and petitions with fervent cries and tears to the one who could save him from death, and he was heard because of his reverent submission. [8] Son though he was, he learned obedience from what he suffered [9] and, once made perfect, he became the source of eternal salvation for all who obey him [10] and was designated by God to be high priest in the order of Melchizedek.
What Jesus said about how to enter God's Kingdom
Jesus said the following about how we can enter God's Kingdom:
John 3:5-8
[5] Jesus answered, “Very truly I tell you, no one can enter the kingdom of God unless they are born of water and the Spirit. [6] Flesh gives birth to flesh, but the Spirit gives birth to spirit. [7] You should not be surprised at my saying, ‘You must be born again.’ [8] The wind blows wherever it pleases. You hear its sound, but you cannot tell where it comes from or where it is going. So it is with everyone born of the Spirit.”
In other words, if we want to be saved from sin and enter God's Kingdom, we must be born from above through repenting to God the Father, getting immersed in water into Jesus, and getting filled with the very life-giving power of God's holy Spirit. (Matthew 3:11; Romans 8:1-4; Titus 3:3-7; Jeremiah 31:33-34; Ezekiel 36:25-27)
However, not many understand what the word REPENTANCE truly means. As Jesus taught and showed us by example, we must not only turn away from all sinful and worldly ways, but turn towards God in full submission and surrender in order to follow his holy and heavenly ways and obey his will, even if this means to suffer opposition and persecution for spreading the Good News of God's Kingdom:
Mark 8:34-38
[34] Then Jesus called the crowd to him along with his disciples and said: “Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me. [35] For whoever wants to save their life will lose it, but whoever loses their life for me and for the gospel will save it. [36] What good is it for someone to gain the whole world, yet forfeit their soul? [37] Or what can anyone give in exchange for their soul? [38] If anyone is ashamed of me and my words in this adulterous and sinful generation, the Son of Man will be ashamed of them when he comes in his Father’s glory with the holy angels.”
In other words, Jesus said that if we want to follow him and be reconciled to God, we must be willing to go out of our comfort zone and change our way of life (including abandoning wealth and unfruitful relative ties), and be ready to suffer mockery and persecution with him, even physical death, for faithfully proclaiming his name and the biblical Gospel to everyone. This is in fact the real meaning of full repentance towards God and immersion in water in union with Jesus:
Mark 10:28-30
[28] Then Peter spoke up, “We have left everything to follow you!” [29] “Truly I tell you,” Jesus replied, “no one who has left home or brothers or sisters or mother or father or children or fields for me and the gospel [30] will fail to receive a hundred times as much in this present age: homes, brothers, sisters, mothers, children and fields—along with persecutions—and in the age to come eternal life.
God provided our salvation through Jesus’ bloodshed and resurrection
From the beginning of his ministry, Jesus suffered intense and constant persecution, primarily from the Jewish religious leaders. About three years later He was arrested by the same Jewish persecutors who handed him over to the Roman authorities to be tortured and crucified. On the cross, He shed his blood and died. Right after, He was buried, but on the third day God rose him from the dead:
Matthew 20:18-19
[18] “Listen,” Jesus said, “we’re going up to Jerusalem, where the Son of Man will be betrayed to the leading priests and the teachers of religious law. They will sentence him to die. [19] Then they will hand him over to the Romans to be mocked, flogged with a whip, and crucified. But on the third day he will be raised from the dead.”
1 Corinthians 15:3-4
[3] For what I received I passed on to you as of first importance: that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, [4] that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures.
Out of love for us, God provided human redemption from our sins by giving us his beloved Son. Jesus paid the heavy price of dying for the sins of all humanity and God's wrath was satisfied. Redemption from our sins and the dominion of sin over us, that we inherited at birth because of the disobedience of the first man, is now available for every human being. (John 3:16-17; Galatians 3:13-14; Hebrews 2:14-18; 1Peter 3:18)
And God not only provided us with redemption from our sins through the shedding of Jesus' blood on the cross, but also reconciliation to him by giving us his holy Spirit, which is, in fact, God's glorious nature, holy presence, and miraculous power. It is the glorious spiritual substance of the inner being of God and of Jesus as well, for he inherited it from his Father:
Acts 2:16-18
[16] This is what was spoken by the prophet Joel: [17] “ ‘In the last days, God says, I will pour out my Spirit on all people. Your sons and daughters will prophesy, your young men will see visions, your old men will dream dreams. [18] Even on my servants, both men and women, I will pour out my Spirit in those days, and they will prophesy.
Romans 5:8-10
[8] But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us. [9] Since we have now been justified by his blood, how much more shall we be saved from God’s wrath through him! [10] For if, while we were God’s enemies, we were reconciled to him through the death of his Son, how much more, having been reconciled, shall we be saved through his life!
1 Corinthians 2:10-12
[10] But it was to us that God revealed these things by his Spirit. For his Spirit searches out everything and shows us God’s deep secrets. [11] No one can know a person’s thoughts except that person’s own spirit, and no one can know God’s thoughts except God’s own Spirit. [12] And we have received God’s Spirit (not the world’s spirit), so we can know the wonderful things God has freely given us.
2 Corinthians 5:19
[19] For God was in Christ, reconciling the world to himself, no longer counting people’s sins against them. And he gave us this wonderful message of reconciliation.
Colossians 1:19-20
[19] For God in all his fullness was pleased to live in Christ, [20] and through him God reconciled everything to himself. He made peace with everything in heaven and on earth by means of Christ’s blood on the cross.
Titus 3:4-7
[4] But when the kindness and love of God our Savior appeared, [5] he saved us, not because of righteous things we had done, but because of his mercy. He saved us through the washing of rebirth and renewal by the Holy Spirit, [6] whom he poured out on us generously through Jesus Christ our Savior, [7] so that, having been justified by his grace, we might become heirs having the hope of eternal life.
Our response to Jesus' redemption and call
The disciples of Jesus gave themselves completely and were willing to suffer persecution and even die as martyrs for proclaiming his name and the Gospel. And because of this, they received the infilling of the power of God's Spirit to be able to be witnesses of Jesus, and thus continue the work and ministry that He had begun:
Acts 1:8
(Jesus said:) [8] But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes upon you. And you will be my witnesses, telling people about me everywhere—in Jerusalem, throughout Judea, in Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.”
The apostle Peter said the following, after preaching to the multitude God's Good News that Jesus is Lord and Messiah, and the crowd asking him what they should do to be saved:
Acts 2:38-39
[38] Peter replied, “Repent and be baptized, every one of you, in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins. And you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. [39] The promise is for you and your children and for all who are far off—for all whom the Lord our God will call.”
Jesus and the apostles made it clear that if we want to be freed from sin and reconciled to God, we must repent before God and change our way of life, be baptized in water in union with Jesus to bury our old self and wash away our sins, and receive the glorious nature, holy presence, and miraculous power of God's Spirit.
The reason we must receive the holy Spirit is so that, as his adopted children, we can have a personal relationship with God, and Jesus as well, through meditating on his Word and praying in his Spirit (John 1:12-13; 4:23-24; 14:25-26; 17:3; 2Thessalonians 2:13-14; 1John 1:3; Jude 1:20-21). And also so that we can be disciples of Jesus who obey his great commission to proclaim the Gospel, heal the sick, cast out evil spirits, and make disciples of all nations at every opportunity (John 20:21; Mark 16:15-18; Matthew 28:18-20)
We must live and do the same works that Jesus did on Earth
God's Word confirm that those who claim to live in God must live, not an easy and comfortable life, but a difficult and sacrificial life in order to do the same works that Jesus did on Earth, in full faith and obedience to the Gospel:
John 12:23-26
[23] Jesus replied, “The hour has come for the Son of Man to be glorified. [24] Very truly I tell you, unless a kernel of wheat falls to the ground and dies, it remains only a single seed. But if it dies, it produces many seeds. [25] Anyone who loves their life will lose it, while anyone who hates their life in this world will keep it for eternal life. [26] Whoever serves me must follow me; and where I am, my servant also will be. My Father will honor the one who serves me.
John 14:12
(Jesus:) [12] “I tell you the truth, anyone who believes in me will do the same works I have done, and even greater works, because I am going to be with the Father.
John 14:23-24
[23] Jesus replied, “All who love me will do what I say. My Father will love them, and we will come and make our home with each of them. [24] Anyone who doesn’t love me will not obey me. And remember, my words are not my own. What I am telling you is from the Father who sent me.
John 15:9-10
[9] “I have loved you even as the Father has loved me. Remain in my love. [10] When you obey my commandments, you remain in my love, just as I obey my Father’s commandments and remain in his love.
John 15:14-16
[14] You are my friends if you do what I command. [15] I no longer call you servants, because a servant does not know his master’s business. Instead, I have called you friends, for everything that I learned from my Father I have made known to you. [16] You did not choose me, but I chose you and appointed you so that you might go and bear fruit—fruit that will last—and so that whatever you ask in my name the Father will give you.
Romans 8:16-17
[16] The Spirit himself testifies with our spirit that we are God’s children. [17] Now if we are children, then we are heirs—heirs of God and co-heirs with Christ, if indeed we share in his sufferings in order that we may also share in his glory.
2 Corinthians 5:17-18
[17] This means that anyone who belongs to Christ has become a new person. The old life is gone; a new life has begun! [18] And all of this is a gift from God, who brought us back to himself through Christ. And God has given us this task of reconciling people to him.
1 John 2:3-6
(Apostle John:) [3] And we can be sure that we know him if we obey his commandments. [4] If someone claims, “I know God,” but doesn’t obey God’s commandments, that person is a liar and is not living in the truth. [5] But those who obey God’s word truly show how completely they love him. That is how we know we are living in him. [6] Those who say they live in God should live their lives as Jesus did.
We must believe and obey God's Good News
Jesus lived and showed us the way to fulfill God's righteous requirements to be free from sin and be made right with God—through repentance, baptism in water, and holy Spirit. And we obtain this redemption and reconciliation when we believe and obey the biblical Gospel—God's powerful Good News of salvation for everyone who believes and obeys it:
Romans 1:16-17
[16] For I am not ashamed of this Good News about Christ. It is the power of God at work, saving everyone who believes—the Jew first and also the Gentile. [17] This Good News tells us how God makes us right in his sight. This is accomplished from start to finish by faith. As the Scriptures say, “It is through faith that a righteous person has life.”
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