Acts 22:36

Acts 22:16
"And now why tarriest thou? arise and be baptized, and wash away thy sins, calling on the name of the Lord."

If a person were to open their Bible and read this one verse; one could only conclude that baptism was essential for salvation.  Should a person desire to prove that the Bible says "There is no God," one could locate such a statement; BUT, should one desire the truth of what God has said, the whole verse or context should be read.  In this case, Psalms 53:1 reveals something to the contrary of just reading one line from the verse.

"The fool hath said in his heart, There is no God.  Corrupt are they, and have done abominable iniquity: there is none that doeth good."

How important it is to examine the context; which will always reveal the truth of a subject to the person who will be honest with himself. The subject matter in question, of which Acts 22:16 is a part, begins back in Acts 21:15 where Paul goes to Jerusalem. It is here in the Temple that the people apprehended Paul ...

"And all the city was moved, and the people ran together: and they took Paul, and drew him out of the temple: and forthwith the doors were shut." - Acts 21:30

Paul was not in the inner sanctuary (ho naos), but only in the outer court (to hieron).  They were beating Paul when he was saved by the chief captain and soldiers (Acts 21:32).  As they were leading him to the barracks of the Roman soldiers ("castle" Acts 21:37), Paul asked the chief captain for permission to speak to the people (Acts 21:39-40).  His testimony is recorded in Acts 22:1-21 (The same account is recorded by Dr. Luke 9, with more details.)

Prior to Ananias' instructing Paul to be baptized, we find that Paul was already saved.  As Paul was approaching Damascus, the Lord intervened and challenged Paul with these words...

"...Saul, Saul, why persecutest thou me? ... I am Jesus of Nazareth, whom thou persecutest... (Acts 9:4-5) “And I (Paul) said, What shall I do, Lord?" - (Acts 22:10 a)

Paul's salvation is evidenced by his acknowledgement of Christ as his Lord, or Savior (Acts 22:7-8; Acts 22:10).  It should also be noticed that Ananias called Saul a "BROTHER" in Acts 22:13.

(Ananias) "Came unto me, and stood, and said unto me, BROTHER Saul, receive thy sight.  And the same hour I looked up upon him."

Only the saved are spiritual brothers and sisters in Christ, and such was Saul.  Since Paul was already saved and addressed as a brother in Christ by Ananias, what did Ananias mean by telling Paul to "...be baptized and wash away thy sins, calling on the name of the Lord." (Acts 22:16)?  One must remember, there is a judicial justification and a practical justification of sin.  When Paul was saved, he received remission for all his sins, judicially i.e., the Cross bore the eternal payment for Paul's sins.

"Being justified (declared absolutely righteous) freely by his grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus: (24) Whom God hath set forth to be a propitiation (payment) through faith in his blood, to declare his righteousness for the remission of sins that are past, through the forbearance of God," - Romans 3:24-25

Ananias was instructing Saul as to how to deal with his past sins, practically, and publicly.  Every Jew and Gentile knew of Paul's commitment and reputation concerning his persecution of Christians.

"And Saul, yet breathing out threatenings and slaughter against the disciples of the Lord,..." - Acts 9:1

"...I imprisoned and beat in every synagogue them that believed on thee (Christ): and when the blood of thy martyr Stephen was shed, I also was standing by, and consenting unto his death, and kept the raiment of them that slew him." - Acts 22:19-20

Now that Paul is a Christian, his public profession of Christ is of the utmost importance.  His baptism would be a public testimony of his faith in the death, burial, and Resurrection of Jesus Christ.  With his baptism, he was now publicly identifying himself with those Christians he once persecuted.  The sins Paul was going to wash away were his acts of persecution against Christians, prior to being saved.

Judicially, Paul's sins were judged on Calvary; now they would be "washed away," PUBLICLY, in the eyes of the Christians who knew of his conversion (made public by his baptism).  You can rest assured, Paul gave his testimony at his baptism by calling on the name of the Lord.  The sins of Paul's persecutions against Christians would never be repeated again!  His PUBLIC profession, from this time on, "washed away" any doubt of those sins ever being repeated.

God had taken a murderer and made him a missionary, turned a persecutor into a preacher, and used him to write 14 of the 27 Books of the New Testament.  Yes, judicially, Paul's sins were accounted "paid in full" at the Cross; PUBLICLY, they were "washed away," as there remained no doubt in people's minds as to where he stood; remaining faithful to his Lord, until his death.