James Nisbet Commentary - Mark 1:4 - 1:4

Online Resource Library

Commentary Index | Return to PrayerRequest.com | Download

James Nisbet Commentary - Mark 1:4 - 1:4


(Show All Books | Show All Chapters)

This Chapter Verse Commentaries:

THE BAPTISM OF REPENTANCE

‘The baptism of repentance for the remission of sins.’

Mar_1:4

John ‘baptized with the baptism of repentance’; in other words, those who accepted his baptism declared thereby that they repented of their sins, and were willing to forsake them, and enter upon an entirely new life. But he ‘baptized with the baptism of repentance for the remission of sins.’ What do these words mean? Not that then and there they received ‘remission of sins’; but that it was a step towards it. That they confessed their need of forgiveness and their expectation that it was coming. ‘The baptism of repentance’ for that which was at hand; that which John foretold and heralded,—Christ coming; Christ dying; Christ atoning. It was all that the converts at Ephesus knew when St. Paul said unto them, ‘Have ye received the Holy Ghost since ye believed?’ (Acts 19.)

Now ‘the baptism of repentance’ is an expression which conveys several thoughts concerning penitence.

I. Is penitence a baptism?—Then there must be a Baptizer. That Baptizer can be none other than the Holy Ghost. To baptize with repentance belongs to no human power. Recognise that truth as your aim. Do you wish to repent of your sins? Ask the Holy Ghost to do it in you. Ask Him to baptize your soul with His sweet influence. It is His office and His prerogative to pour repentance into your soul. Do not dare to attempt to do it yourself without Him! Without the Holy Ghost you may be ashamed, you may feel sorry and afraid for sin, and sin’s consequence; but you will never feel the true nature and consequence of sin as grieving God and crucifying Christ! You will never be able to say, with David, ‘Against Thee, and Thee only, have I sinned, and done this evil in Thy sight!’

II. If repentance is a baptism, it must pervade the whole heart.—The cleansing, purifying power must touch every particle of the heart and life. There must not be a spot unwashed—unwashed by His grace and your tears! It must reach every affection, every thought, every, the smallest, word and act—alike the holiest and the commonest. What you have done, and what you have left undone—in your social life; in your family life; in your solitary life; in the mart; in the festive scene; in the church; in the closet—your whole being—‘body, soul, and spirit’—else, how could it be baptism?

III. There must be an effect at once.—Something must be the cleaner for it—as water does its work at once. If you are not the cleaner now, you will not be the cleaner presently! The meaning of ‘repentance’ is not sorrow, but change of mind. Therefore, not only be very minute, but be very practical. Measure your repentance by facts; facts that you can show. In what am I really different? To what can I appeal as evidence of repentance? What has my repentance done for me? What is washed out? What is white that once was black? Where is my baptism?

And what will this ‘baptism of repentance’ be? Salvation? pardon? peace? No; but it will be a step to Jesus.

Rev. James Vaughan.

Illustrations

(1) ‘It has been much disputed whether John’s baptism was a novelty. There seems, however, little doubt that the rite had been used by the Jews before this for the admission of Gentile proselytes. The question of the priests and Levites (Joh_1:25) clearly implies that they would not think it strange for the Messiah or Elias to baptize.’

(2) ‘It is very necessary for us to understand clearly what sin is, because sin is an idea which can hardly be found outside the Bible; it is something which God by His Holy Spirit taught the Jews. Other nations, of course, have had their ideas of right and wrong, but of an imperfect kind. The Romans felt that a man owed a duty to his country and his father; that he ought to be brave and to obey the laws. The Greeks felt that a man owed a duty to himself not to do foul or unseemly things. Some said that a man should try and develop all his powers as perfectly as possible, so that he might reach the highest ideal of perfection for himself. Some, no doubt, thought of a duty to the gods also; but in their notion of wrong there was something wanting which we have in our sense of sin. With sin all thought of wrong to ourselves, or our friends, or our relations, or our country, is lost sight of. We think of an act of sin only as something deliberately done which we know God has forbidden, or a thing deliberately neglected which we know God has ordered us to do. When we sin we feel that it is against God only we have sinned, and that we have done the wickedness in His sight.