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FAQ on the Christian Faith

Subject 1: Being born again of water and the Spirit

1-6. Can prayers of repentance wash our sins away?

Prayers of repentance can never wash our sins away because redemption can never come through our own works. Rather, in order to be completely and permanently washed of our sins, we have to believe in the baptism and blood of Jesus, and that Jesus is God. True redemption is given to those who believe Jesus washed away our sins by being baptized and bleeding on the Cross to give us new lives. 
Then can we wash away daily sins by offering prayers of repentance? No. All the sins we commit in our lives were already washed away almost 2,000 years ago, when Jesus took them away with His baptism. We were permanently cleansed of all our sins with the baptism of Jesus and the shedding of His blood on the Cross. He became the sacrificial Lamb for us believers, washed away all our sins, and paid for them all with His baptism and blood on the Cross. 
Even the sins we commit after believing in Jesus are washed away by faith in the spring of salvation of baptism, the truth of redemption; Jesus has already become our Savior and has taken away all the sins we commit until the day of our deaths. Jesus came to this world and was baptized “for thus” (Matthew 3:15), fulfilling all righteousness by taking away all our sins. The Son of God took charge of our sins by being baptized. 
The baptism of Jesus has the meaning of “to be washed.” Because all our sins were passed onto Jesus when He was baptized, we are completely washed of our sins and it has set us free from all our sins. 
Baptism also means ‘to be immersed, to be buried.’ Since all our sins were passed onto Jesus, He had to die for us sinners. Those who believe that all sins were passed onto Jesus through His baptism become sinless forever. 
True faith is to believe with all our hearts that all our sins, even the sins we commit now and in future, were passed onto Jesus about 2,000 years ago, when He received baptism from John, and ‘for thus’ fulfilled all the righteousness of God. 
If He had not already washed away our sins a long time ago with His baptism, there would now be no way for us to wash away our own sins. Remember that Jesus washed all our sins away a long time ago. 
True faith and spiritual salvation today means bringing our sins before Jesus to make sure that they have already been washed away, saying, ‘You have washed away these sins too, haven’t You?’ It also means to believe in Him and thank Him. That is why He came to earth, was baptized, died on the Cross and was then resurrected on the third day; thus becoming our Savior. 
Blessed are those who have washed away their sins by believing in the baptism of Jesus, which washed away all our sins. This is the truth of being washed of daily sins. True faith is to believe in Jesus, who took away all the sins of the world through His baptism.