Sermons on Acts 22:16
The various sermons below converge on a tight set of convictions about Acts 22:16: baptism belongs intimately with “calling on his name” and the verse’s grammar is decisive for how we talk about forgiveness. Preachers use the same exegetical tools—close syntactic attention to the Greek, cross‑references to Acts 2:38, Colossians 2:11–12 and 1 Peter 3:21, and word‑study on baptizo—to locate baptism at the intersection of forgiveness, public identity, and the Spirit’s reception. From that shared starting point several nuanced moves recur: some insist the clause “wash your sins away” syntactically modifies the act of calling (so baptism is the visible sign of a forgiveness already received), others read the calling as operative within the baptismal event itself (so the rite effects remission and incorporation), and a third camp carefully distinguishes faith as the instrument of justification while holding baptism as the indispensable public seal. Pastoral emphases echo those interpretive choices—arguments for believer’s baptism and immediate response, warnings against routine infant baptism, and sermons that push baptism as the initiation of lifelong cruciform obedience rather than merely a one‑time token.
The contrasts are stark in practice as well as theory: at one pole a name‑centered, apostolic‑pattern reading makes baptism the decisive means of entrance into the new covenant, adoption, and reception of the Spirit; at the other pole baptism is the normative public expression of a prior saving faith and “saves” only in a corresponding/signifying sense. Those exegetical differences cascade into church life—who must be baptized before welcome at the table, whether a pastor urges immediate immersion as part of conversion, how strongly immersion language and burial‑resurrection imagery are pressed, and whether baptism is read as sacramental and constitutive, symbolic but spiritually significant, or chiefly the launch of an ongoing, daily dying to self. Which way you lean will shape your sermon invitations, admission practice, discipline, and discipleship strategies—whether you treat baptism as the moment forgiveness is applied, the public attestation of a faith already effectual, or the beginning of a costly, continual surrender
Acts 22:16 Interpretation:
"Sermon title: Embracing Baptism: A Declaration of Faith"(Arrows Church) reads Acts 22:16 with a close attention to how the clause is structured and offers the distinctive interpretive claim that “wash your sins away” is not identifying baptism itself as the agent of forgiveness but rather is syntactically modifying “calling on his name,” so that the verse pictures baptism as the visible sign of a forgiveness already accomplished when one calls on Jesus; the sermon pairs that grammatical claim with a practical-sense reading (baptism as symbol but “hardly only symbolic”), a sacramental/symbolic tension, and a linguistic note about the Greek baptizo meaning “to dip/submerge,” using the word study to reinforce why immersion pictures burial and resurrection while insisting the water is the sign not the efficient cause of forgiveness.
"Sermon title: Calling on the Lord: The Power of Baptism"(Abundant Life Church Alabaster) offers a strongly sacramental, name-centered interpretation of Acts 22:16, arguing that the verse must be taken together with Acts 2:38 and related apostolic practice to mean that calling on the name of Jesus in the act of baptism effects remission of sins and incorporation into the covenant family; the preacher reads “calling on the name” as operative within the baptismal event (baptism in Jesus’ name = forgiveness) and treats Acts 22:16 as part of a New Testament pattern that ties forgiveness, reception of the Holy Spirit, and entrance into the new covenant name together in the baptismal formula.
"Sermon title: Understanding Baptism's Role in Salvation and Faith"(Desiring God) presents a carefully qualified interpretation that distinguishes the decisive instrument of justification (faith) from the sign and public expression of that union (baptism), arguing from Colossians 2:11–12, 1 Peter 3:21 and a cluster of Pauline and Johannine texts that Acts 22:16 should be read as baptism outwardly expressing a prior heart-act of calling on the Lord; the sermon insists baptism “saves” only in a corresponding/signifying way (not “as removal of dirt from the body”) and presses the grammatical reading that the washing language attaches to the calling on God rather than to the mere wetting of the body.
Acts 22:16 Theological Themes:
"Sermon title: Embracing Baptism: A Declaration of Faith"(Arrows Church) develops the theological theme that baptism is simultaneously a symbolic public act and a spiritually significant sacrament-like moment: it symbolizes cleansing effected by Christ when a person calls on his name, marks putting off the old self and putting on the new, and ought to follow a genuine personal decision (hence the pastor presses believer’s baptism and questions the biblical basis for routine infant baptism).
"Sermon title: Calling on the Lord: The Power of Baptism"(Abundant Life Church Alabaster) emphasizes the theological theme that baptism in Jesus’ name is constitutive of New Testament covenant identity — it effects adoption into God’s family, the receiving of the new “name” and the remission of sins — and therefore baptism is not merely an ordinance but an essential link in the application of salvation in the apostolic pattern.
"Sermon title: Understanding Baptism's Role in Salvation and Faith"(Desiring God) advances the theological theme that justification and union with Christ are effected at the moment of saving faith (faith as the sole instrument) while baptism remains the normative, theologically necessary public expression and sign of that union; the sermon frames “saved/salvation” as a multi‑stage biblical usage (already/being/will be) so that baptism’s saving language must be read in light of faith’s decisive role.
"Sermon title: Going All In: Surrendering to Jesus Daily"(Resonate Life Church) presses a pastoral-theological theme drawn from Acts 22:16: that the verse’s “And now what are you waiting for?” is an urgent summons to immediate, daily crucifying of the old self (baptism as emblematic of a continuing “die to self” discipleship), so baptism is treated as both a decisive step and the beginning of an ongoing, costly obedience rather than a one-time token.
Acts 22:16 Historical and Contextual Insights:
"Sermon title: Embracing Baptism: A Declaration of Faith"(Arrows Church) supplies historical context by recounting early‑Reformation controversy and martyrdom (Felix Manz and the 1520s Anabaptist struggle) to show that believer’s baptism was contested and costly in church history, and also gives a cultural-linguistic note that the Greek baptizo was a common secular verb meaning to dip or immerse (used of ships sinking, drowning), so the New Testament usage imports everyday imagery of submersion into the baptismal symbolism.
"Sermon title: Calling on the Lord: The Power of Baptism"(Abundant Life Church Alabaster) situates Acts 22:16 in the historical context of the apostolic era by recounting Peter’s Pentecost sermon and Joel’s prophecy (Joel 2) as the background for the first gospel proclamation to sinners, arguing that Peter’s sermon was an inaugural, historically‑situated apostolic message to non‑believers and that Acts (chronologically prior to the epistles) should be read as the normative pattern for the early church.
"Sermon title: Understanding Baptism's Role in Salvation and Faith"(Desiring God) brings in historical/covenantal context by comparing Old Testament circumcision (the sign of the covenant) with New Testament baptism, treating circumcision as the precedent for baptism’s covenantal meaning, and by invoking historical literary parallels (Noah/ark and flood imagery in 1 Peter 3) to show how early Christians read baptism against Israel’s covenantal patterns and salvation history.
Acts 22:16 Cross-References in the Bible:
"Sermon title: Embracing Baptism: A Declaration of Faith"(Arrows Church) ties Acts 22:16 to Colossians 3:9 (putting off the old self) and Romans 6:4 (buried with Christ in baptism) to argue baptism symbolizes death and new life, appeals to Matthew 28 (the Great Commission) to insist Jesus modeled and commanded baptism, and contrasts Old Testament ritual washing and purity laws to show how the New Testament reframes washing as an inward heart-cleansing effected by Christ when one calls on his name.
"Sermon title: Calling on the Lord: The Power of Baptism"(Abundant Life Church Alabaster) groups Acts 22:16 with Acts 2:21 and Joel 2:28–32 (Peter’s quotation of Joel) to show that “calling on the name” is a prophetic promise of deliverance, cites Acts 2:37–38 to demonstrate the apostolic sequence (conviction → “What shall we do?” → repentance, baptism in Jesus’ name, reception of Spirit), and appeals to Matthew 7:21–23 as a caution that merely invoking the Lord verbally apart from obedient covenant discipleship is insufficient.
"Sermon title: Understanding Baptism's Role in Salvation and Faith"(Desiring God) marshals a broad cross‑section of Scripture to argue faith precedes baptism: Romans 3:28, 5:1 and 4:5 (justification by faith), John 3:16 (believing = eternal life), Acts 13:38 (forgiveness through Jesus and belief), Colossians 2:11–12 (burial/raising in baptism “through faith”), Romans 4:11 (circumcision as a sign/seal of prior righteousness), 1 Peter 3:21 (baptism corresponds to Noah’s rescue but “not as removal of dirt”), and Acts 2:38 (the apostolic sermon) — each is used to parse whether baptism effects justification or expresses the faith by which one is united to Christ.
"Sermon title: Going All In: Surrendering to Jesus Daily"(Resonate Life Church) connects Acts 22:16 to Acts 9 (Paul/Saul’s conversion narrative and Ananias’ charge), and to Galatians 2:20 (quoted as the dying-with-Christ motif), using those cross‑references to frame baptism as the fitting, immediate response to an encounter with Christ and as the sign that one has died to the old self and now lives by faith in the Son.
Acts 22:16 Christian References outside the Bible:
"Sermon title: Embracing Baptism: A Declaration of Faith"(Arrows Church) explicitly quotes Max Lucado ("baptism is what separates the tire kickers from the car buyers") and uses that modern pastoral aphorism to underscore the sermon's pastoral argument that baptism publicly distinguishes nominal interest from owning one’s faith; the Lucado citation functions as a pastoral heuristic to move congregants from private assent to public commitment.
Acts 22:16 Illustrations from Secular Sources:
"Sermon title: Embracing Baptism: A Declaration of Faith"(Arrows Church) uses multiple secular or broadly cultural analogies to illuminate Acts 22:16 and baptismal meaning: the preacher compares baptism’s symbolism to a wedding ring and wedding ceremony to stress that visible acts carry deep spiritual reality (ring/wedding = sign + real covenant), likens Scripture’s lack of procedural detail to IKEA assembly instructions to justify pastoral flexibility about mode and setting, references taking kids to Disney to explain timing and memorable milestones for baptism, and mentions non‑Christian cult practices and a military baptism anecdote to highlight cultural variety in how immersion has been practiced — each example is used to frame why baptism’s outward form matters visually but does not displace the inner reality of calling on Jesus.
"Sermon title: Calling on the Lord: The Power of Baptism"(Abundant Life Church Alabaster) peppers the theological case with grounded secular illustrations to make Acts 22:16 vivid: he tells a time‑zone/flight anecdote to show how accepted practical truths need not be re-proved constantly, a rural elevator story (man thinking an old woman becomes a young woman) to show how people accept transformations without knowing mechanics, a hotel evacuation/tornado anecdote to explain why one should heed urgent instructions, and a southern‑biscuits recipe story (measurements matter) to argue that when it comes to salvation practice one should follow the precise apostolic formula rather than a “close enough” attitude; each story is used to urge conformity to the apostolic baptismal pattern he finds in Acts.
"Sermon title: Understanding Baptism's Role in Salvation and Faith"(Desiring God) employs a concise secular analogy — the “train/hat” example — to explain Peter’s two‑command formulation in Acts 2:38 (repent and be baptized): the preacher likens the two imperatives to “grab your hat and run” when catching a leaving train, arguing that one imperative (repent/faith) is causative for getting on the train (salvation) and the other (baptism/hat) is an accompanying, important but non‑causative act that should still be heeded as the appropriate outward expression.