“‘Then Jesus came from Galilee to the Jordan to be baptized by John. But John tried to deter him, saying, ‘I need to be baptized by you, and do you come to me?'”
“Jesus replied, ‘Let it be so now; it is proper for us to do this to fulfill all righteousness.’ Then John consented.” Matt 3:13-15 (NIV)
John had been preaching a baptism of repentance to prepare the way for Jesus. People came from Jerusalem and all Judea in order to be baptized by John in the Jordan (Mt. 3:5). When Jesus came to Galilee to be baptized, John was hesitant in that he did not feel worthy. Jesus acknowledged that the proper response to fulfill all righteousness was for John to baptize Him. John consented and Jesus brought honor to God.
God gives us the freedom to choose Christ or to reject Him. “Yet to all who received him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God–children born not of natural descent, nor of human decision or a husband’s will, but born of God”(John 1:12-13 NIV). As we choose to receive God’s gift of eternal life through our faith in the completed work of Jesus on the cross, our next proper response is to follow Jesus in believer’s baptism.
Have you made the proper response to God’s invitation for salvation? Have you made the proper response of obedience to follow the example of Jesus in believer’s baptism? If not, why not? What is keeping you from making the proper response?
Pursuing God,
Stephen Trammell
Executive Pastor
One reply on “Proper Response”
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