Repent and be…

One of the major stumbling blocks for advocates of credobaptism, that baptism may only follow an individual’s credible profession of faith, is the formula and pattern found in Acts 2:38: “Then Peter said unto them, Repent, and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins, and ye shall receive the gift of the Holy Ghost.” In the baptistic view, Peter commands first repentance, then baptism, and so that is the essential chronological order of the actions. The rest of the baptisms in the book of Acts are read in those terms. There’s no reason to read Peter’s instruction as saying some singular act of repentance must precede baptism, however. In fact, to take it that way is to misunderstand the nature of repentance and baptism both.

On the baptistic view, repentance in this context is taken to be a singular point of decision, almost a crisis moment. You repent, and then you move on to other things. I won’t deny there’s sense in which repentance can be like that, but it’s not the typical biblical idea of repentance. And it’s not how our theologians have explained repentance. For example, John the Baptizer says, “Therefore bear fruit in keeping with repentance.” To him, repentance is more like the fruiting of a vine or fig tree: it’s a long, slow work in the same direction. It takes time. It’s a way of life. It’s not a one-and-done deal. The Heidelberg Catechism explains repentance on Lord’s Day 33:

88. In how many things does true repentance or conversion consist? 
In two things: the dying of the old man, and the quickening of the new.

89. What is the dying of the old man? 
Heartfelt sorrow for sin; causing us to hate and turn from it always more and more.

90. What is the quickening of the new man? 
Heartfelt joy in God; causing us to take delight in living according to the will of God in all good works.

91. But what are good works? 
Those only which are done from true faith, according to the Law of God, for His glory; and not such as rest on our own opinion, or the commandments of men.

So true repentance is two-parted: there’s a dying and a coming to life. The dying of the old man is hating and turning from sin. The coming to life of the new man is delighting in and living according to God’s law, that is, doing good works in faith for God’s glory. Note the dying is always and more and more. It’s not a one-off event. It’s something we do as habit, just as we live. Living is something done over time. You don’t live for just a moment!

Even though we don’t strictly equate true repentance with doing good works, we can see here that the man who truly repents is the man who does good works, and the man who does good works is the man who truly repents. A call to doing good is a call to repentance, and vice versa. “Turn from your wickedness!” implies “Be righteous!” “Be fruitful! implies “Cast out the evil thing from among you!” The positive and negative aspects are never separated, even if only one of them is explicitly named in a text. (This is called “synecdoche.”) This biblical understanding of repentance opens up our understanding of baptism and it’s historical predecessors.

Take, in the first place, Noah. Peter says that Noah’s salvation through the Flood with his household is a type of baptism. We should expect, then, that all the major aspects of Christian baptism are addressed in the narrative of the Flood. Repentance no less than water or salvation or the recipients. If you take the baptistic understanding of repentance, do you find that in the Flood story? I don’t really think you do. But if you take it in the Reformed sense, you certainly do. Consider first our introduction to Noah: “Noah was a just man and perfect in his generations, and Noah walked with God.” This is a penitent man. In keeping with what we’ve said, to walk with God is to leave the paths of the wicked. Noah lives his life dying to the old man, and so God blesses him and his whole household with the baptism of the Ark. They are brought safely through the waters of cleansing and judgment. On the other side, God further establishes his covenant with Noah and his children by repeating the blessing of Adam: “Go forth of the ark, thou, and thy wife, and thy sons, and thy sons’ wives with thee…and be fruitful, and multiply upon the earth.” Again, this is the positive side of saying “go forth and repent!” Fruitfulness is the mark of repentance. The fruitful man is the penitent man, and vice versa. This is why, again, John the Baptizer says, “therefore bear fruit in keeping with repentance.” Bearing fruit, and thus repentance, is a condition of Noah’s covenant no less than any other.

Those “baptized” with Noah all had a duty to repent, just as he repented. But we know that Ham was unrepentant and chose to die to the new life promised by God. He returned to the old way of living, the wicked paths which led to the judgment in the first place. Yet, God still baptized him and told Noah to include him in the blessings and duties given to Noah’s family. Here was a baptism both preceded and followed by a call to repentance, and baptism given to a whole household where not all the children have necessarily repented individually.

Take another example, our father Abraham. God says to him at the outset, “Get thee out of thy country…” We know from the book of Joshua that his country, even his father’s house, was a place of idolatry. So telling him to leave it is a command to repent, to leave behind the old man, and to walk with God in newness of life. His very literal, geographical “turning away” corresponded to a spiritual turn and new orientation. An even more interesting part of his story, and one more relevant to the topic of baptism, is at the institution of the circumcision rite. We can make some real hay here. God begins his address with “I am the Almighty God; walk before me, and be thou perfect. And I will make my covenant between me and thee, and will multiply thee exceedingly.” We have a tie back to Noah; God is going to fulfill the command to multiply in Abraham’s family. He also calls Abraham quite clearly to repentance: “walk before Me (like Noah!) and be thou perfect” As we’ve established already, this is the positive aspect of true repentance, the coming alive of the new man, the loving and joyful keeping of God’s law. It is the same as what Peter lays on his audience on the day of Pentecost.

The sign of this covenantal obligation in Abraham’s day, however, was to be circumcision. After calling Abraham to repent and walk with Him, God gives him the sacrament of circumcision as God’s mark of ownership on his body – and the bodies of all in his house. Thus, God effectively preaches, “Repent, and be circumcised in the name of Jehovah, and ye shall receive the gift of the Holy Ghost.” (See Gal. 3:14 for why we should see a reference to the Holy Ghost here.) How similar that sounds to Peter’s cry at Pentecost! And yet, Abraham is to give the sacrament to his infant sons in their generations. We can’t, therefore, take the formula, “repent and be…” as a chronological order. Rather, it’s instruction as to the duties laid upon us whom bear the mark of God’s covenant in our flesh. The sacrament calls us to believe, and to repent, and to obey. It’s not much different than preaching or reading the Word in this respect. It’s different mainly in that it is a physical, tangible Word.

The baptists are wrong to think the sacrament of baptism requires conscious repentance before receiving it. The same command is given to our father Abraham, and his household were all circumcised, infants included. The sacrament does call us to live repentant lives, however. By the Spirit of Christ it is even a mystical help to that end. It is a witness, as the old heaps of stones were witnesses, to our obligations in the great Covenant. Let us keep our obligations. Let us remember our baptisms, and repent…