While John the Baptist was the last prophet of the
old covenant as well as the first prophet of the New Covenant, he was
more than a prophet for he was a special messenger sent to prepare the
way for Christ (Matthew 11:9-13). However, even though there was no
prophet greater than him, he freely admitted that he was not even
worthy to take off Jesus' sandals. [Luke 3:4, Isaiah 40:1-5, Matthew
21:32, Luke 16:16, John 1:23, Mark 1:1-5, Luke 7:26-28.]
In regard to theology, he clearly taught faith in
the Triune God, for he spoke of the Father as the One who sent Him to
baptize (John 1:33), the Son as the One who existed before him (John
1:30), and the Holy Ghost as proceeding from both the Father and the
Son. (Matthew 3:11, Mark 1:8&17, Luke 3:16, John 3:31,34, John
1:33).
He not only believed that Jesus was the Christ (the
Messiah), but also believed that Jesus was God (John 3:28, John
1:36&41). In that regard, he not only called Jesus the “Son of God”
— which, according to the Jewish way of thinking was the same as saying
that He was Divine, John 1:34 — but also told his disciples that Jesus
had come down from heaven, was above all, was mightier than he, and was
the one who baptized with the Holy Spirit (John 3:31, John 1:30, Mark
1:7, John 1:27,33, Luke 3:16, Matthew 3:11). Furthermore, the passage
that John quoted in reference to Jesus, “Make straight the way of the
Lord” says in the Hebrew, “Prepare ye the way of Jehovah, make straight
in the desert a highway for our God” (John 1:23, Isaiah 40:3).
John’s claim that he was not even worthy to take off
Jesus' sandal, testifies to the fact that he regarded Jesus as God
(Mark 1:7). And, because He is God, the Spirit is His without measure
(John 3:34, John 3:31, Luke 7:28).
In regard to salvation, John the Baptist made it
clear that Christ was the source of forgiveness, and that eternal life
is ours only through faith in Him. In reference to forgiveness, he
identified Christ as “the Lamb of God, which taketh away the sin of the
world,” and told his disciples that Christ would “baptize” (wash) them
“with the Holy Ghost” (John 1:29,36, Mark 1:8). In reference to faith,
he said, “He that believeth on the Son hath everlasting life; and he
that believeth not the Son shall not see life; but the wrath of God
abideth on him” (John 3:36).
John was sent by God to call the nation to
repentance, and John carried out that work by preaching the baptism of
repentance for the remission of sins, and by baptizing all who
confessed their sins (Mark 1:4-5, Luke 3:3). At the same time, he
rebuked certain of the Pharisees and Sadducees who came to him, and
warned them to stop thinking that they were safe just because they were
descended from Abraham and to show by their actions that they were
truly repentant (Matthew 3:7-11, Luke 3:7-8,16.).
John the Baptist had to deal with people who not
only sought assurance of salvation in works, but also derived a false
assurance of salvation from the fact that they were descendants of
Abraham, or from their wealth (assuming that any wealth they had was
evidence of God's favor). At the same time, he had to deal with people
who had a poor understanding of repentance. For that reason, John used
baptism to associate repentance with forgiveness, while giving all who
confessed their sin the same message that Nathan gave to David when he
repented, “The Lord also hath put away thy sin, thou shalt not die”
(2Samuel 12:13, Acts 22:16).
By using baptism to convey God’s promise of
forgiveness in Christ, John gave those who repented the assurance of
forgiveness that they needed if they were to trust in God's mercy
(Psalm 13:5). At the same time, by making it clear that Christ was the
source of that mercy, John led them to trust in Him (Acts 19:4, Mark
1:8, John 1:29, Mark 1:8, Luke 3:16, Psalm 51-1-2). Because Christ was
the one John held up as the source of spiritual cleansing/baptism, his
baptism was more than a mere symbol (Matthew 3:11, Luke 3:16). It was
the means that God used to give people His promise of forgiveness in
Christ, and all who looked to Christ for forgiveness received what was
promised (Galatians 3:22, 2Corinthians 1:20, Romans 5:2).
People who read Acts 19:1-7 often assume that Paul
rebaptized men who had originally been baptized by John the Baptist.
However, that assumption conflicts with the fact that Christ continued
the work of John (John 4:1-2), and that none of the apostles [or
Apollos] that had been baptized by John were ever rebaptized.
Furthermore, John the Baptist referred to the Holy Ghost in his
teaching, and these men had not even heard of the Holy Ghost (Mark
1:8). John also baptized “unto repentance,” not “unto John's baptism”
(compare verse 3 with Matthew 3:11). Therefore, these men may have been
baptized by an imitator of John the Baptist, rather than by John
himself. For, not all of John’s followers accepted Christ, and one
group of them still exists in the Middle East, where they are known as
Mandeans.
The message of John is the message of the Christian
church, the baptism of John is the baptism of the Christian Church, and
the theology of John is the theology of the Christian church. John
began the work of baptism, Jesus and His disciples carried on that
work, and the call to baptism given by Peter on the day of Pentecost is
essentially the same as that given by John. [compare Acts 2:38 with
Luke 3:3, see John 3:22-23, John 4:1-2.] Instead of teaching his
disciples to seek righteousness by the law, John taught them to look to
Christ for forgiveness. He made it clear that works were the fruit of
salvation, not what saves us, and he taught those who repented to do
that which is honest, good and right apart from the law (Luke 3:10-14,
Matthew 3:8).
Bibliography: Matthew 3:1-17, Mark 1:1-11, Luke 3:1-23, John 1:15-40,
John 3:5,22-26, Matthew 11:7-14, Luke 7:19-35, Luke 7:20, Luke 9:9,
Mark 6:14, Matthew 17:13, Isaiah 40:1-3, Matthew 4:2, Mark 1:14, Luke
16:16, Mark 6:20, John 4:1-3, John 5:33-36, John 10:41, Acts 1:5, Acts
13:24-25, Acts 19:1-7, Matthew 21:32. Only those who have the theology
of John have a right to the name “Baptist.”