Acts 13v24

When John had first preached before his coming the baptism of repentance to all the people of Israel.

Paul here is ministering in the synagogue in Antioch. In the previous verse we find that Paul is talking about Jesus, the Saviour of Israel (v23). In this current verse we can see again, as in so many other verses, that baptism and repentance are closely intertwined and effectively inseparable. It is not possible to be baptised correctly without repentance from past sins, and turning back towards God and His ways.

Paul concludes this message by saying that through Jesus we can receive forgiveness of all sins, and can be justified above that which the law of Moses could provide (v38-39) – the means of obtaining this is through belief in Jesus: “And by him (Jesus) all that believe are justified from all things, from which ye could not be justified by the law of Moses.” (v39).