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NASB | Acts 2:38 Peter said to them, "Repent, and each of you be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins; and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. |
AMPLIFIED 2015 | Acts 2:38 And Peter said to them, "Repent [change your old way of thinking, turn from your sinful ways, accept and follow Jesus as the Messiah] and be baptized, each of you, in the name of Jesus Christ because of the forgiveness of your sins; and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. |
Bible Question: Again, I ask WHY DID JESUS TELL THE APOSTLES TO BAPTIZE THE PEOPLE WHO BELIEVED IF IT IS NOT NECESSARY! Let's not Gest, give bible for the answer! Remember 1 Peter 3:21 this is the same Peter in the book of Acts 2:38, DID HE LIE AGAIN? |
Bible Answer: Greetings Grace and Truth! I have posted on Acts 2:38 several times, but I believe it is important to do so again. There are several reasons why Acts 2:38 can't be saying that both repentance and baptism result in forgiveness of sins. First of all, the verbs are different numbers. a) 'Repent' is an (Aorist, Active, Imperative, 2nd Person, Plural) verb. b) 'Be baptized' is an (Aorist, Passive, Imperative, 3rd Person, Singular) verb. c) The pronoun in the phrase 'for forgiveness of sins' is a Second Person, Plural pronoun. Therefore, the phrase 'for the forgiveness of sins' cannot be associated with the command to 'be baptized'. It is simply not gramatically possible. The best way to view the verse is the view the command to be baptized as a parenthetical statement: "Repent (plural) (and let each one be baptized (singular) in the Name of Jesus Christ) for the forgiveness of your (plural) sins and you (plural) will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit" Failure to account for the changes in number in this verses results in bad interpretation. Secondly, there is evidence to indicate that the phrase 'for the forgiveness of your sins' can also be understood as 'because of' or 'as a result' of the forgiveness of your sins. This same construction is used in Mt. 3:11 and 12:41. Mt. 3:11 - "‘‘I baptize you with water for repentance. But after me will come one who is more powerful than I, whose sandals I am not fit to carry. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and with fire." If you interpret the word 'eis' in Mt. 3:11 in the same way that you do in Acts 2:38, then baptism produces repentance. Therefore, Acts 2:38 should read: "Be baptized, which leads to repentance..." But, it is clear that Mt. 3:11 indicates that baptism is done as a result of or on the basis of a prior repentance. Mt. 12:41 - "The men of Nineveh will stand up at the judgment with this generation and condemn it; for they repented at the preaching of Jonah, and now one greater than Jonah is here." The same thing is clear in this verse as well. Jonah did not preach because of the repentance of Niveveh. Rather, Niveveh repented because of the preaching of Jonah. The same 'eis' contruction is used in both of these verses as is used in Acts 2:38. Therefore, there are two very sound grammatical reasons why Acts 2:38 cannot mean that baptism leads to forgiveness of sins. Combined with this are the countless number of verses which specify faith alone as the only condition of salvation. Between the two lines of evidence, it is very clear that baptism is not necessary for salvation, but is something which those who have already been saved are commanded to do. Your Brother in Christ, Tim Moran |