Category Archives: Using the Bible

Multiple Types of the Christ: A Branch

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Soon after David’s days things began falling apart. These are of course common things in the political world. Because of Solomon’s sins the kingdom of Israel was split, with David’s heirs getting only a minor share of the split kingdom.

Soon the prophets were forecasting the fall
of David’s kingdom.

All of this was in the face of clear prophecies of David’s kingdom that “your throne shall be established forever,” 2Sam 7:16. It was clear that the Davidic kingdom was slipping. So where were the promises of everlasting rule? Were these false prophecies?

Then came predictions of a revival
of David’s kingdom.

Isaiah talked first of a branch of the Lord.

“In that day, Yahweh’s branch will be beautiful and glorious, and the fruit of the land will be the beauty and glory of the survivors of Israel.”
Isa 4:2 WEB

Jeremiah spoke of a “branch” seemingly from the house of David.

“Behold, the days come, says Yahweh, that I will raise to David a righteous Branch, and he shall reign as king and deal wisely, and shall execute justice and righteousness in the land.”
Jer 23:5 WEB

Further prophecies spoke of this branch coming as seemingly a tender shoot from the stock (should we say, the stump?) of David, or as stated, from David’s father Jesse.

“There shall come forth a shoot out of the stock of Jesse, and a branch out of his roots shall bear fruit.”
Isa 11:1 WEB

Or a few verses later it speaks of if as from the root of the tree itself, as if soon nothing much will be showing above ground.

“It shall happen in that day, that the root of Jesse, who stands for an ensign of the peoples, to him shall the nations seek; and his resting-place shall be glorious.”
Isa 11:10 WEB

But when this root takes hold, it will prosper.

“In days to come shall Jacob take root; Israel shall blossom and bud; and they shall fill the surface of the world with fruit.
Isa 27:6 WEB

And it will bring prosperity to Judah.

“The remnant that is escaped of the house of Judah shall again take root downward, and bear fruit upward.”
Isa 37:31 WEB

It must be commented that Jesus, that branch, has not meant prosperity for Judah so far! Still the prophet says it will come, and it will. This root, this shoot of David, of Jesse, will not be a beautiful or handsome thing after the flesh according to Isaiah.

“For he grew up before him as a tender plant, and as a root out of a dry ground: he has no form nor comeliness; and when we see him, there is no beauty that we should desire him.”
Isa 53:2 WEB

And he is symbolically called “Joshua”

A high priest named Joshua of Zechariah’s time and his assistants “… are men who are a sign: for, behold, I will bring forth my servant, the Branch.” Zech 3:8 WEB. And of course, when the branch came, His name in Hebrew was “Yehoshuah,” or in English, Joshua, or from the Greek, Jesus.

WEB is the World English Bible, a copyright free revision
of the original ASV American Standard Version 1901

Multiple Types of the Christ: Ezekiel

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“Son of man” is frequently found phrase in Scripture for any man, any human being.

“God is not a man, that he should lie,
Neither the son of man, that he should repent: …”
Num 23:19 WEB

However the one and only son of God did become a man. He did have “the form (morph?) of God,” Phil 2:6 WEB, and also took on “the form of a servant,” Phil 2:7 WEB (also morph?). He was fully God, and fully man. So he was indeed a “son of man.” So it came to be that one of Jesus favorite descriptions of Himself was as “the Son of Man,” and such is recorded in all four gospels, a total of 84 times.

Ezekiel was, it seems, a forerunner
of “the Son of Man.”

When Ezekiel is called he first sees a glorious vision of God and His covering angels in Ezekiel chapter one. Then the Lord spoke to him.

“He said to me, Son of man, stand on your feet, and I will speak with you.”
Ezel 2:1 WEB

In fact, Ezekiel is addressed as a “Son of man” 93 times in the book of Ezekiel, a phrase that does not seem to be applied to any other prophet. Ezekiel sometimes seems to miss the list of types of the Christ.

Nonetheless, there are many parallels between
Ezekiel and Jesus.

Ezekiel was a prophet, and of course Jesus was a prophet. In fact Jesus was the great prophet like Moses of Deuteronomy 18.

Ezekiel was a priest, and Jesus, though he was no priest on earth, became the ultimate high priest of all heaven and earth, Heb 3:1.

Ezekiel was serving as priest and prophet “away from his home,” we might say. He was in exile in Babylon. So Jesus came to serve as a prophet away from His home in heaven.

Both men came to serve as watchmen and as shepherds to the lost sheep of Israel. Both men served in times when Israel defiantly did not want to listen, to heed, to change. Ezekiel was warned that they were a rebellious house, and to not fear them.

“You, son of man, don’t be afraid of them, neither be afraid of their words, though briers and thorns are with you, and you do dwell among scorpions: don’t be afraid of their words, nor be dismayed at their looks, though they are a rebellious house.”
Ezek 2:6 WEB

It took stern measures both in Ezekiel’s time and in Jesus’ to get even a few of the Jews to listen.

Both men warned of the fall of Jerusalem.

Ezekiel of Jerusalem’s fall in 586 BC. Jesus of the second scattering the Jews prophesied by Zechariah in Zech 10:9, in 70 AD.

Both pointed to gruesome trials to come, Gog and Magog for Ezekiel, and the abomination of desolation and the end of the world for Jesus.

And both gave us majestic pictures of a new heavens
and a new earth to come.

Yes! All in all, a very profound type of the Christ.

WEB is the World English Bible, a copyright free revision
of the original ASV American Standard Version 1901

Multiple Types of the beast: Pharaoh of the Exodus

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The oppression of Israel began out of fear.

Political fear of these “outsiders” taking over their country, or siding with their enemies. So the Pharaoh said,

“Behold, the people of the children of Israel are more and mightier than we.”
Ex 1:9 WEB

So a Egypt far less populous that even in later ancient times, oppressed God’s people and “set taskmasters over them to afflict them with their burdens,” Ex 1:11 WEB. The purpose was not just to use them for labor, but indeed to ruin them with hard labor and oppression. Often in history political fears drive religious oppressions, with genocidal results. Then God sent Moses to secure their release.

It has been briefly discussed in posts on Identifying Types, that the wilderness wanderings are typical (symbolic) of the Christian life, with the Red Sea finally separating Israel from the Egypt of this world. That means: that Egypt is symbolic of this world, and then the Pharaoh is symbolic of the “god of this world,” 2Cor 4:4.

The beast in Revelation 13 is trying to unite a one-world government, with a single religious focus on himself, as the true god of this world! Christians then become obstacles to the political unification of this world. This is indeed like the ancient Caesars as “gods,” but what is pictured in Revelation is far more complete and thorough than anything done in ancient times, and “All who dwell on earth will worship him,” Rev 13:8, even all who are not written in the book of life. The phony man/god will make war on the saints and overcome them, Rev 13:7. However neither ancient Rome nor the caesars ever overcame the church.

Similarly, Pharaoh did overcome and enslave Israel in ancient Egypt.

God’s people are to have their spokesmen.

It was Moses in ancient Egypt. It is the two witnesses in Revelation 11. It seems an attempt is made in both cases to bring this arrogant king to reason. The pattern seen over and over again, is that Moses bargains for freedom for Israel, the Pharaoh responds with greater oppressions, and God responds with increasingly harsh strokes on the beast and his kingdom.

Moses turns the waters of the Nile into blood. The two witnesses “have power over the waters, to turn them to blood,” Rev 11:6. “A great mountain burning with fire” is thrown into the sea and turns it to blood in Rev 8:8 WEB.

Repeatedly the Pharaoh ALMOST relents.

Pharaoh’s servants repeatedly plea “How long will this man be a snare to us? Let the men go, that they may serve Yahweh,” Ex 10:7. There was frogs, darkness, locusts, hail, and boils on all the people. All of these things have their equivalent in Revelation. At one point the Pharaoh even says,

… “I have sinned this time. Yahweh is righteous, and I and my people are wicked.”
Ex 9:27 WEB

But the Pharaoh of Egypt will never let
repentance stick.

So in the end he has to be broken and destroyed, when he goes to fight directly against God.

WEB is the World English Bible, a copyright free revision
of the original ASV American Standard Version 1901

Identifying Some Types, Part 9 of 9

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Ancient Israel has a huge “exodus” from the
Egypt of this world

They had been in bondage in Egypt, a bondage directed by the Pharaoh as a type of the god of this world (2Cor 4:4). Then God personally delivered them from Egypt and bondage, and put a separation between them and the Egypt of this world, and led them into the promised land.

A new “god” of this world will come.

“he who opposes and exalts himself against all that is called God or that is worshiped; so that he sits as God in the temple of God, setting himself up as God.”
2Thes 2:4 WEB

This man has the entire world worship him.

“All who dwell on the earth will worship him …”
Rev 13:8 WEB

This has obviously NOT happened yet! No one man has been worshipped by “all,” yet! He will be destroyed by Christ’ second coming, 2Thes 2:8, Rev 19:20.

This man will overcome the church.

“It was given to him to make war with the saints, and to overcome them.”
Rev 13:7 WEB

I am sorry to tell you this folks. Rome and the caesars did NOT overcome the church. Instead the church overcame Rome and the caesars! But this beast will overcome the church.

And one more time the true church will be forced
out into the wilderness.

The church is pictured as the faithful woman.

“The woman fled into the wilderness, where she has a place prepared by God, that there they may nourish her one thousand two hundred sixty days.”
Rev 12:6 WEB

Hosea speaks of the future of what God “will” do.

““Therefore, behold, I will allure her,
And bring her into the wilderness,
And speak tenderly to her.”
Hos 2:14 WEB

For the days that this vicious beast rules (1,260), the church will be protected in the wilderness (Rev 12:6 above).

God will send plagues on the beast and his kingdom
like the plagues of Egypt.

Read of those plagues in Revelation chapters 15 and 16, and other places in Revelation and the rest of Scripture. They are very much like the plagues God sent on Egypt in 15th century BC, including waters turning to blood, darkness, and hail and all the rest.

Then will come Greater Exodus to Come

Ancient Israel came out of Egypt, into the wilderness, an into a this world promised land. The saints will have an exodus, The Great Exodus into the wilderness, and then into the new heavens and new earth where righteousness dwells, 2Pe 3:13.

“16 For the Lord himself will descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with God’s trumpet. The dead in Christ will rise first, 17 then we who are alive, who are left, will be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air. So we will be with the Lord forever.”
1The 4:16-17 WEB

The Greater Exodus into the Greater Promised land.

Understanding types is essential for understanding prophecy. This has been some practice.

WEB is the World English Bible, a copyright free revision
of the original ASV American Standard Version 1901

Identifying Some Types, Part 8 of 9

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How sin or righteousness may affect our lives.

Many of God’s commands may affect our lives, including how long or how well we may do in this life.

“When a man’s ways please Yahweh,
He makes even his enemies to be at peace with him. ”
Prov 16:7 WEB

We have promises related to good conduct, such as,

“Honor your father and your mother, that your days may be long in the land which Yahweh your God gives you.”
Ex 20:12 WEB

Paul in Eph 6:1-3 said this was “the first commandment with a promise.” Actually there are many. For instance.

“He who believes and is baptized will be saved; …”
Mk 16:16 WEB

Despise such prophetic instruction at your own risk.

So how might sin affect our lives?

If we look at the symbolism is 1 Corinthians 10 and at the history to which it refers, we see more than one way that sin may affect our lives. One of the ways mentioned specifically in this text is that we may die as a direct result of our sins. Paul mentions.

“Neither let us commit sexual immorality, as some of them committed, and in one day twenty-three thousand fell.”
1Cor 10:8 WEB

Some say, well God doesn’t act that way today. I would ask, where did you get that? The Bible says “For I, Yahweh, don’t change,” Mal 3:6 WEB, or

“Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today, and forever.”
Heb 13:8 WEB

None of that sounds like a God who has changed! In fact, almost every day we hear of people who die as a direct result of their sins, in committing robbery, drug abuse, food abuse, etc. I am not talking about so-called miracles, merely God working in history, as He does everyday. It happens everyday! Often we see these things on the evening news. We just don’t connect the dots.

We can also just waste away as a result of our sins.

Just as Israel did in the wilderness. The Lord said that all of those men who saw His glory and His signs would ever enter the promised land, but would have to waste away in the desert until they all died, Num 14:22-23, 33. In other words, sometimes part of our just punishment for our sins is to not die suddenly and soon, but to just waste away in our wickedness. David says the same of many of the wicked,

“Don’t kill them, or my people may forget.
Scatter them by your power, and bring them down, Lord our shield.”
Psa 59:11 WEB

And so it is with many of our age.

“Now all these things happened to them
by way of example,

“and they were written for our admonition, on whom the ends of the ages have come.”
1Cor 10:11 WEB

This is rich material for preaching if we use it correctly, and good preparation for dealing with types in prophecy. If fact, some of this IS prophecy, both of the world to come, and the Christian age, and you and I.

WEB is the World English Bible, a copyright free revision
of the original ASV American Standard Version 1901

Identifying Some Types, Part 7 of 9

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Some practice with types.

Rivers are indeed substantial barriers to ready crossing, especially to armies on the move. If you have a great river like the Mississippi, bridges are few and far between. Sometimes great landmarks in our lives here on earth are such barriers. Death is the ultimate one of these. It is at intellectually known, often dreaded or feared. As it is written, Jesus came that he,

“and might deliver all of them who through fear of death were all their lifetime subject to bondage.”
Heb 2:15 WEB

So what is the last river we cross before we
enter the true promised land?

For us as Christians it is obviously the river of death, that dreaded of all obstacles. And the last obstacle the children of Israel had to pass before the promised land was the river Jordan. It is thus a fitting symbol of our death before entering heaven.

Our songbooks are full of testimony to
Jordan as the river of death.

“On Jordan’s stormy banks I stand and cast a wishful eye,
to Canaan’s fair and happy land, where my possessions lie.”

“One more river, and that wide river is Jordan …”

And so on. These songs and sentiments are not out of place. It is implicitly part the imagery of Canaan as the promised land of heaven, and rising to take possession of it.

And when we finally come to the river of death?

What happened when Israel finally came to the Jordan? The priests led the way bearing the ark of the covenant. They were to stop when their feet were in the water, and the waters stopped flowing, “and rose up in one heap, a great way off.” The people of the land upstream were drowned by the waters, and the children of Israel passed over on dry ground.

So it is that the children of God cross over the river of death on dry ground, but the wicked are drowned by these same waters.

As it is written,

“… he who has part in the first resurrection. Over these, the second death has no power, …”
Rev 20:6 WEB

One of the shortcoming of the modern church
is ignorance, or the ignoring, of types.

The so called “scholarly” often treat such as unintended impositions on the text. They sometimes view these as things invented to cover for failed prophecies. They ignore the direct statement of types as evidence, and there is much of that. For instance, “a prophet … like you,” and “circumcise your heart, ” and so on. Or David writing in the first person in Psalm 22 of things which never happened to him! This was clearly intentional. Psalm 22 is a very clear prophecy of the crucifixion of the Christ. We should asking question like the Ethiopian Eunuch in Acts 8:34:

“Who is the prophet talking about? About himself, or about someone else?” WEB

Incredibly, many act as if God could not/would not possibly be that sophisticated! This is a huge blind spot in much of our preaching. We have let the unbelief of some, influence the preaching of many believers.

WEB is the World English Bible, a copyright free revision
of the original ASV American Standard Version 1901

Identifying Some Types, Part 6 of 9

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Some practice with types.

Canaan as symbolic of heaven

It is called the land of promise in Heb 11:9. It was a land that was promised to Abraham, Gen 12:1, etc.

The first occupants of that land, were to lose it
because of sin.

And Abraham was promised that his descendants would get this land in later times. This was a prophecy.

“In the fourth generation they will come here again, for the iniquity of the Amorite is not yet full.”
Gen 15:16 WEB

Abraham could have said, “What??? That’s a long way off. Oh well, I guess we’ll see?” Instead, of Abraham it is written,

“He believed in Yahweh; and he reckoned it to him for righteousness.”
Gen 15:16 WEB

Abraham was counted righteous BECAUSE he BELIEVED the prophecies of the Lord!

Israel inherited a country they did not build.

“10… to give you, great and goodly cities, which you didn’t build, 11 and houses full of all good things, which you didn’t fill, and cisterns dug out, which you didn’t dig, vineyards and olive trees, which you didn’t plant, and you shall eat and be full;”
Deut 6:10-11

Joshua repeats these promises in Josh 24:13.

Many inhabitants of heaven were unfaithful.

The angels that sinned were cast out of heaven in Revelation 12:7-9. Man is made to rule. He is made for a little while, “a little lower than the angels,” Heb 2:7 WEB. But that will change in the world to come.

“ You make him ruler over the works of your hands.
You have put all things under his feet:”
Psa 8:6 WEB

“2 Don’t you know that the saints will judge the world? … 3 Don’t you know that we will judge angels? …”
1Cor 6:2-3 WEB

And we will inherit a land we did not build.

And we will inherit houses we did not build.

“2 In my Father’s house are many mansions. If it weren’t so, I would have told you. I am going to prepare a place for you. 3 If I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again, and will receive you to myself; that where I am, you may be there also.”
Jn 14:2-3 WEB

And Abraham himself was NOT just seeking an
earthly home.

“But now they desire a better country, that is, a heavenly one. Therefore God is not ashamed of them, to be called their God, for he has prepared a city for them.”
Heb 11:16 WEB

And so we sing of heaven:

“To Canaan’s land I’m on my way, where the soul of man never dies,” and many other songs of Canaan and the promised land, as symbolic of heaven.

Some cautions on types.

What then are the proper limits to be observed? I would suggest that as a start, we not try to make symbolism to say anything plainly contrary to the open statements of Scripture. If used properly it will generally supplement and enforce what we should already know.

WEB is the World English Bible, a copyright free revision
of the original ASV American Standard Version 1901

Identifying Some Types, Part 5 of 9

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Israel was passing out of the Egypt of this world,
through desolate places, to a
promised land.

Implied in 1Cor 10:1-12 is that the promised land they were headed to was symbolic of heaven. That symbolism is much more explicit in the book of Hebrews. Previous posts have also discussed “The Wilderness Wanderings as a Type.”

Now God had promised them “rest”
in the promised land.

But Israel often focused on their immediate problems rather than the “land” that they were to inherit “forever.” So an entire generation perished in the wilderness, rather than reach the promised land.

Some rebelled against God’s authority
in the wilderness.

God did and does have authority to put whoever He wants in charge. He did put Moses in overall charge of the people, and He put Aaron and his sons as priests to approach God in behalf of the people. So much authority was centralized and it was male dominated (as also had been the family, even since the beginning).

A true prophetess, in Exodus 15 Miriam led the women in a public celebration of the victory over Pharaoh’s army in the Red Sea. You may remember some of the words of this song.

“Sing to Yahweh, for he has triumphed gloriously:
The horse and his rider he has thrown into the sea.”
Ex 15:21 WEB

But in Numbers 12 Aaron and Miriam wanted
the same authority as Moses.

“They said, Has Yahweh indeed spoken only with Moses? Hasn’t he spoken also with us? Yahweh heard it.”
Num 12:2 WEB

The Lord Himself answered for Moses, and temporarily struck Miriam with leprosy.

Today we have problems with those who do not like God’s order of things in the world, in society and in the church, and would put aside the ordinances of Christ’s Law, to order things as they please. Christ is the great prophet of whom God said, if they don’t listen Christ, “I will require it of him.” That is still pertinent today.

Then Korah organized a democratic style rebellion
against what God had set in place.

They said,

“… You take too much on you, seeing all the congregation are holy, everyone of them, and Yahweh is among them: why then lift yourselves up above the assembly of Yahweh?”
Num 16:3 WEB

Partly true, but also God Himself had put Moses in charge. The end of it was that the earth itself opened up, and Korah went down alive into Sheol.

“So they, and all that appertained to them, went down alive into Sheol: and the earth closed on them, and they perished from among the assembly.”
Num 16:33 WEB

Korah tried to take Moses role, and Moses was a type of the Christ. Korah is evidently a type of later rebels (the beast and the false prophet), at the end of time, who will try to take Christ’s place, of whom it says they “were thrown alive into the lake of fire that burns with sulfur.” Rev 19:20 WEB

Understanding types is essential for understanding prophecy. This is some practice.

WEB is the World English Bible, a copyright free revision
of the original ASV American Standard Version 1901

Identifying Some Types, Part 4 of 9

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Some practice with types.

In 1Cor 10:1-12 Paul points out that the experience of Israel in coming out of Egypt has parallels to the Christian life. As has been discussed, passing through the Red Sea is a type or our being baptized into Jesus Christ, 1Cor 10:1-4.

The experience in the wilderness then is symbolic
of the Christian life in this world!

We are now separated from Egypt, but have not yet reached the promised land.

Egypt civilization advanced for that day. At the time of the exodus from Egypt there was no parallel to the level of civilization in Egypt. Their expertise in mathematics, architecture, astronomy, and so on, was unparalleled.

But the Sinai peninsula, where Israel came into,
was literally a desert … a desolation.

Israel now had very little meat to eat. God was feeding them with a wafer sort of thing which settled on the earth, and which they could eat. But this was nothing compared to luxurious eating in Egypt, even for a slave! The Israelites complained,

“5 We remember the fish, which we ate in Egypt for nothing; the cucumbers, and the melons, and the leeks, and the onions, and the garlic: 6 but now our soul is dried away; there is nothing at all save this manna to look on.”
Num 11:5 WEB

They were missing the fact that now they were free from a very harsh slavery in Egypt, which they had called out to God for deliverance (Ex 3:7). And they were forgetting that they were being promised a very rich “promised land,” a land of milk and honey.

We as new Christians are increasingly isolated from
the pleasures and riches of this world.

We are warned,

“Don’t love the world, neither the things that are in the world. If anyone loves the world, the Father’s love isn’t in him.”
1Jn 2:15 WEB

If you are used to partying, drunkenness, drugs, abundant sexual pleasures without restraint, it is quite a shift. It is like a shift from the riches of Egypt (with some bondage, yes!), all the way to the desolation of a desert, with food yes, but not all the pleasures of excess and indulgence.

It is a situation where we may be tempted to
rebel against the training with
which God attempts to
reform us.

“He humbled you and let you be hungry, and fed you with manna which you did not know, nor did your fathers know, that He might make you understand that man does not live by bread alone, but man lives by everything that proceeds out of the mouth of the LORD. ”
Deut 8:3 WEB

There is no promised land in Egypt

And no promised land for us unless we submit under the Lord’s hand, and do not rebel against the commands which are designed to deliver us.

It is ironic that sometimes “scholarly” men can teach and instruct on the Exodus and miss so many of the rich spiritual lessons.

WEB is the World English Bible, a copyright free revision
of the original ASV American Standard Version 1901

Identifying Some Types, Part 3 of 9

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The examples in 1 Corinthians 10 reach much further than what Paul explicitly outlined. For instance, if the passage through the Red Sea represents baptism, it would seem that bondage in Egypt represents our bondage to sin before we came to Jesus the Christ. The entire analogy is rich with lessons for the Christian.

The Red Sea was a very physical separation from Egyptian slavery. The fact that baptism “seems” physical, “seems” something that “we” “do,” can obscure the spiritual nature of baptism.

But the key to baptism is the work of
the Holy Spirit.

Paul says,

“For by one Spirit are we all baptized into one body, …”
1Cor 12:13 KJV

That would make the key to true Christian baptism, not who baptized us, or where, or all the details of what we were thinking, but the actions of God’s Spirit on our spirit in the act of baptism. Similarly, Paul compares baptism to one of the signs of the Old Covenant, circumcision.

“11 in whom you were also circumcised with a circumcision not made with hands, in the putting off of the body of the sins of the flesh, in the circumcision of Christ; 12 having been buried with him in baptism, in which you were also raised with him through faith in the working of God, who raised him from the dead.”
Col 2:11-12 WEB

Once again, baptism is not something you do, but something done to you. In this case it is described as something “not made with hands.” You and I do NOT “do” baptism (the One Spirit does), rather we “are baptized” by someone else: the Spirit of God. Baptism, true baptism (not just a dunking) then is not a work of man, but a work of God on the spirit/soul of man.

This also parallels the passage through the Red Sea. Israel did not baptize herself “under the cloud, and all passed through the sea,” but God who baptized them through the sea and under the cloud.

This is not contrary to grace, this is grace!

So if the Red Sea separated Israel from
Egyptian bondage,

then that would imply that our being baptized into Jesus is what separates us from bondage to sin. So after Paul came to believe in Jesus on the road to Damascus, he was told, “But rise up, and enter into the city, and you will be told what you must do.” Acts 9:6 WEB. And what was he told?

“’Now why do you wait? Arise, be baptized, and wash away your sins, calling on the name of the Lord.’”
Acts 22:16 WEB

That would imply Peter was right, that we need to,

“… “Repent, and be baptized, everyone of you, in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of sins, …”
Acts 2:38 WEB

It is shameful how some belittle the work of God in baptism. Others have called baptism our initial test of faith.. God is the only one who can truly separate us from our sins, and that is grace.

KJV is the King James Version, 1611.

WEB is the World English Bible, a copyright free revision
of the original ASV American Standard Version 1901