Originally posted by Badwater
I did read it, and have many times, and I'm not seeing an interpretation differently in this passage. Baptism is to become a disciple; that's what Jesus is saying. Jesus says nothing of the remission of sins.
You said 'baptism is primarily to confer holy authority and become a disciple of Jesus'. While Jesus does instruct his apostles to make disciples of all nations, he does not say that baptism 'confers holy authority'. I really have no idea where you read that. As for the fact that Jesus says nothing about the remission of sin, this is not surprising. Jesus does not provide a theological tract. However, in Acts and in the epistles, the idea that baptism remits sin is explicit:
Peter (said) to them, "Repent and be baptized, 7 every one of you, in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins; and you will receive the gift of the holy Spirit. (Acts 3: 38)
And also,
Or are you unaware that we who were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death?
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We were indeed buried with him through baptism into death, so that, just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, we too might live in newness of life.
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For if we have grown into union with him through a death like his, we shall also be united with him in the resurrection.
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We know that our old self was crucified with him, so that our sinful body might be done away with, that we might no longer be in slavery to sin.
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For a dead person has been absolved from sin. (Romans 6: 3-7)
And also,
In it he also went to preach to the spirits in prison, 6
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who had once been disobedient while God patiently waited in the days of Noah during the building of the ark, in which a few persons, eight in all, were saved through water.
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This prefigured baptism, which saves you now. It is not a removal of dirt from the body but an appeal to God 7 for a clear conscience, through the resurrection of Jesus Christ,
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who has gone into heaven and is at the right hand of God, with angels, authorities, and powers subject to him. (1 Peter 2:20-22)
The argument which both St. Paul and St. Peter use is that through baptism, the individual shares in the death and resurrection of Jesus and thus is delivered from sin.