There are two parts to John s message. The first is in verse 4. John came preaching a baptism of repentance . The answer is yes. Yes, because that s how God forgives us.
Forgiveness always has two movements.
Somehow we have the idea that we should only forgive people when they come and apologize to us. If we can get the person who s done something wrong to admit their failure and apologize to us - then we can forgive them. But God doesn t treat us that way. God forgives us before we re even aware we need His forgiveness. The prodigal son returns home.