Acts 19:3,4 - A baptism of repentance

19:3

Paul then asked “what baptism did you receive?”. Note the implication that he expected any believer to be baptised. Baptism was not an optional extra, but a key part of becoming a disciple. “John’s baptism”, was their reply. So in some ways they were like Apollos. There are some interesting points to note. One is that awareness of John the Baptist had spread far and wide, and remember that he had been dead for a few years by this point. The second is that his teaching had also spread, and had attracted some to serious devotion to it. The teaching that had spread clearly had deficiencies, but must have retained some mention of Jesus.

19:4

Paul then goes on to explain where John’s teaching was leading. Of course, we have only the briefest summary here, but this does contain the key points. John’s baptism was a baptism of repentance. This was a key first step, and repentance is part of the gospel. We need to admit our sinfulness if the gospel and Jesus are going to make any sense to us at all. But John the Baptist pointed the way to Jesus, He was the one they should believe in. The early chapters of John’s gospel make this abundantly clear.