Why is repentance required before baptism, given verses like Mark 1:14-15?
A viewer, a recent revert from Protestantism, says he still struggles with repentance being required prior to baptism and points to verses like Mark 1:14-15.
Answer
I am not clear why you would struggle with that. In Acts 2:38, at Pentecost, Peter says, repent and be baptized, every one of you; there it is, repentance before baptism. There has to be an acknowledgment by the recipient of baptism that his sins are his and that he wants them washed away. If you repent of them, you are acknowledging a higher power that will get rid of these sins, and that happens by baptism, so it is only logical that repentance, which acknowledges the sins, comes first, and then baptism washes them away. I do not know of any verse that says baptism has to come prior to repentance; if you have one, let us see it and we can talk about it. Mark simply says John came baptizing a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins, and the people went out confessing their sins and were baptized, which is repentance leading to baptism.