Mark Dever on “Unrepetant Sinners” (and Baptism)

In a previous post Mark Dever said:

“Jesus clearly commanded baptism and to disobey this command is sin [whether intentional or not]. To continue in such an unbaptized state is unrepentant sin [whether intentional or not].”

Abraham Piper took issue with this statement, noting that I John 3:8 associates being unrepentantly sinful with being of the devil.
Now, Mark Dever responds:

“I assume that all Christians continue to sin in this life. Our basic posture is to repent of those sins (according to I John & Romans 6 & Galatians 5) that we become aware of (though we will still struggle). There are always going to be other sins of which we are not aware…….I would only suggest that Christ’s teaching on baptism seems simple, straightforward and clear to me, so that I don’t understand that I have the option to set it aside. A good friend–let’s take Lig Duncan for instance–honestly agrees with me that I don’t have the option to set it aside, but does disagree with me on what the Bible teaches about baptism. He must act according to his own best understanding, and so must I. God will sort it out.”

Read the whole thing.