True repentance means confessing ones sinful nature, admitting that one is destined for hell and receiving the remission of sins by faith in the baptism and crucifixion of the Lord. (Psalm 51:5, Mark 7:20-23, Leviticus 16:21, Matthew 3:15)
Those who went to John the Baptist to be baptized by him in the Jordan River, went, because they heard and believed his words and wanted to repent confessing their sins. (Matthew 3:1-6)
They repented and believed in the laying on of hands baptism that John the Baptist performed on Jesus Christ whereby all their sins and the sins of all humankind were passed onto Jesus.
The two go hand in hand; true repentance and believing in the baptism and blood of Jesus Christ. That's why God tells us that it is THROUGH John the Baptist that we must believe in Jesus.
(John 1:6-7)
"There was a man sent from God, whose name was John.
This man came for a witness, to bear witness of the Light, that all through him might believe"
CROSS REFERENCE:
(Acts 20:27)
"For I have not shunned to declare to you the whole counsel of God"
Therefore, without the knowledge of and belief in the role and witness of John the Baptist about the true Light, Jesus Christ, a person's faith and preaching will be incomplete. It will be like half a bridge, useless. Ultimately, without believing in Jesus Christ through John the Baptist, one has not truly repented nor has truly been born again; saved from their sins by believing in Jesus' baptism and blood.
We must thank God for sending John the Baptist to this world to officiate as the earthly high priest and representative of all human beings who laid his hands on Jesus to pass all our sins onto Him submerging Him into the water and coming up out of the water. This is when and why, God said in that moment of all righteousness being fulfilled according to Scripture, "This is My beloved Son in whom I am well pleased".
For us to also please God, we must believe in His beloved Son correctly according to the Scriptures; through John the Baptist, by truly repenting and truly believing that he passed all our sins onto Jesus when he baptized Him.
Only then can we believe in the whole counsel of God and also preach the whole counsel of God.
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