Then he said, “The God of our fathers has chosen you that you should know His will, and see the Just One, and hear the voice of His mouth. For you will be His witness to all men of what you have seen and heard. And now why are you waiting? Arise and be baptized, and wash away your sins, calling on the name of the Lord.” (Acts 22:14-16)

Jesus Loves Me

One of the most popular Christian hymns is “Jesus Loves Me,” based on a poem by Anna Bartlett Warner (1827-1915). William Batchelder Bradbury (1862) created the familiar hymn known today. The poem appeared in a two-volume novel by Anna Warner and her sister, in which a young boy is at the brink of death and is being comforted by a Sunday school teacher who makes up a little song: “Jesus loves me, this I know, for the Bible tells me so.” It has become one of the most iconic and popular songs in Christian hymn writing.

The second verse of Warner’s poem reads, “Jesus loves me—he who died; Heaven’s gate to open wide; He will wash away my sin, Let his little child come in.” Converted to the Presbyterian faith and drawn into Methodist circles, Warner believed in an important Biblical commandment: sins are washed away. The song speaks about the love of God and the love Jesus had to die for all men. She writes that Heaven’s gates are open wide, and the Lord will wash away all sins. This washing is not done by faith alone or grace alone. Warner wrote in her song what the Bible teaches about how sin is removed.

When Ananias went to Saul of Tarsus to show him the way more perfectly, the disciple told the repentant Saul that he must “arise and be baptized, and wash away your sins, calling on the name of the Lord.” Baptism is where sins are washed away through the blood of Jesus Christ. Calling on the name of the Lord is obedience to the word of the Lord. Jesus told the eleven to make disciples from all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. Baptism and calling on the name of the Lord are actions of the heart and obedience to the will of God. Mark recorded the words of Jesus, in which the Savior said that those who believed and were baptized were saved, but those who refused to obey would be lost.

When the Lord began His work, He was baptized by John to fulfill all righteousness. Nicodemus came to Jesus seeking a greater understanding of Jesus’ ministry. Jesus told Nicodemus that a man must be born of the water and the Spirit to be saved. Every example of someone becoming a Christian included baptism. Both Paul and Peter affirmed the necessity of baptism. The most popular children’s song affirms what men have known for two thousand years. Sins are washed away in baptism.