Please read this as it may challenge you to rethink what you may believe

Matthew 3:15 And answering Jesus said to him, Allow it now, for it is becoming to us to fulfil all righteousness. Then he allowed Him. (MKJV)

Have you ever asked the question which righteous act was Jesus fulfilling?

Please allow me to explain the act righteousness Jesus was fulfilling. To gain righteousness in the Old Testament you would have had to live according to the Law of Moses. John’s baptism was under the Old Testament covenant as Jesus had not established the new covenant through His blood.

The Mosaic Law requires for a priest to be washed before entering into the Holy place, and the Holy of Holies to minister to God (Exodus 29:1-4, 29:18-21, 30:18-20, 30:30, 40:12-13, 40:30-32, Leviticus 8:6, 16:24, Numbers 8:5-7, 8:15, 8:21, 19:7, 2Chronicles 4:6, Nehemiah 13:29-30).

Rivkah Slanim states: “On Yom Kippur, the holiest of all days, the High Priest was allowed entrance into the Holy of Holies, the innermost chamber of the Temple, into which no other mortal could enter. This was the zenith of a day that involved an ascending order of services, each of which was preceded by immersion in the mikvah.”

The evidence here is the act of water immersion (tevilah-cum-mikvah) was for the purpose of service to God on behalf of the people.

It was also a public demonstration by Jesus to show whom He belonged to and whom He served. He was declaring to all that He was about to embark on His duty to minister as a Royal Priest on this earth.

Jesus is holy, therefore He did not go through water baptism to fulfil the act of righteousness for the cleansing of sin. He was showing the purpose of His calling into His earthly ministry; thus our baptism is for the same purpose, as we were made righteous at the cross by the cleansing of Jesus’ blood in our act of salvation.

Water baptism is essential for the Christian as a sign and identification of whom we belong to and that we have started our ministry (every believer ministry; not every believer as a pastor).

1Peter 2:9 But you are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for possession, so that you might speak of the praises of Him who has called you out of darkness into His marvellous light; (MKJV)

In the Old Testament and now in the New Testament, tevilah-cum-mikvah/water baptism is not required for salvation, thus we are not contradicting hermeneutic rules of investigation. We have found that it is Jesus’ blood that washes us clean of sin, as water does not have that power. Water baptism is a public demonstration showing to whom we belong and inaugurates our earthly ministry. We are left to conclude that the healthy, righteous Jesus was embarking upon His earthly ministry. Up to this point He had been subject to His earthly parents, but after this He started His ministry. If Jesus had refused to get water baptised, then He could not have fulfilled the ‘all righteousness’ that He had spoken about, because He would not have been obedient to the Mosaic Law’s requirements of a priest.