Question 71: Where is the sure promise that we are washed with the blood and Spirit of Christ just as we are washed with water in baptism?

Question 71: Where is the sure promise that we are washed with the blood and Spirit of Christ just as we are washed with water in baptism?

Answer: When Christ instituted baptism, he said, “Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit,” and “Whoever believes and is baptized will be saved, but whoever does not believe will be condemned.” This promise is repeated in other passages where baptism is spoken of as the washing of regeneration and the washing away of sins.

Acts 22:16 "And now why do you delay? Rise, be baptized, and wash away your sins, calling on the name of the Lord (aporousai tas hamartias)." Aporousai tas hamartias (ἀπόλουσαι τὰς ἁμαρτίας) means "be forgiven of your sins." Aporousai means to remove (take off), and is translated as wash away (to clean with water).

Washing away sins implies that sins accumulate again and must be washed away, but removing sins means completely and eternally eradicating them. Therefore, those under the law believe they must wash away their sins daily with the blood of Jesus. However, those who die with Jesus have their sins completely washed away, and thus are forgiven. God says that He does not punish sins by the law.

Hebrews 10:12-14 “But this man, after he had offered one sacrifice for sins forever, sat down at the right hand of God, from then on waiting until his enemies should be made a footstool for his feet. For by one offering he has made perfect forever those who are being made holy.”

Baptism is not the washing away of sin, but dying to sin and living for righteousness. Romans 6:3-4: "Do you not know that all of us who were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death? We were buried with him through baptism into death in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, we too might walk in newness of life."

Titus 3:5 "He saved us, not because of works of righteousness which we have done, but according to his mercy he saved us, by the washing (lutru λουτροῦ) of regeneration (palingenesias) and renewing by the Holy Spirit." Here, palingenesias is expressed as regeneration, but it means to live again. It is often expressed as being born again, but the correct expression is to be born from heaven.

Lutru (basic form: lutron) means "to be immersed in water." 

Because it is immersed in water, it is often thought of as washing, and thus expressed as "washing." However, immersion in water does not mean washing; it signifies death. The precise expression for the washing of rebirth is "death and rebirth." This signifies the death and resurrection of the cross.