The Text:
Act 2:38 Then Peter said unto them, Repent, and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins, and ye shall receive the gift of the Holy Ghost. (KJV)
Act 2:38 and Peter said unto them, `Reform, and be baptized each of you on the name of Jesus Christ, to remission of sins, and ye shall receive the gift of the Holy Spirit, (YLT, Young’s Literal Translation)
Act 2:38 Peter said to them, “You must repent — and, as an expression of it, let every one of you be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ — that you may have your sins forgiven; and then you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit, (Williams NT)
The Challenge:
- Acts 2:38 (Pentecostals vs. Baptists): “Repent and be baptized, 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.” Pentecostals emphasize baptism in the Holy Spirit with the evidence of speaking in tongues, whereas Baptists emphasize baptism as a symbol of professing faith.
My Response:
Both the Pentecostals and the Baptists (though to a far less degree) are mistaken about the meaning of Acts 2:38 if they emphasize what is claimed in The Challenge.
Differences of opinion as to the correct meaning of Acts 2:38 can be resolved by a careful appeal to the grammar involved in this text, an example of my Rule of Interpretation 10. Interpret a passage according to the grammar of the original language text, Hebrew or Greek.
You may not agree with my analysis. My analysis steps on many toes! Don’t let your feelings be hurt. Read to learn, not criticize based on what you think you know already. If you disagree, leave a comment!
Our witness for Christ is greatly hampered if we are not teaching the truth about what the Bible teaches. When you do real Bible study, be prepared to learn something new. The challenge above was presented to me by a well-informed Muslim who may know more about what the Bible teaches than many Christians do. This is an example of doing careful apologetics (1 Peter 3:15) and defending the faith “once for all delivered unto the saints” (Jude 3). If you don’t like these kinds of discussions, that is a good sign that you need to grow in your faith (2 Peter 3:18) and progress beyond the first stages of your Christian life (Hebrews 5:11, 12, 13) by taking time to understand the Bible more accurately.
My Evidence:
I have provided evidence that properly explains Acts 2:38 in both my book, The New Treasury of Scripture Knowledge and my digital expansion of that resource, The Ultimate Cross Reference Treasury, from which the following information is taken:
Acts 2:38
Then Peter said. Act 1:13, Mar 1:17.
Repent. The English text does not adequately convey the grammar of this verse. When the grammar is understood, the verse no longer can be used to support any view of baptismal regeneration or baptismal remission of sin.
A. The underlying Greek grammar
The phrase “every one of you” is mistakenly understood to be the subject of the verbs “repent” and “be baptized,” with the phrase “for the remission of sins” modifying this alleged compound predicate.
There are three clauses in this verse:
(1) Ye: understood subject, second person, plural number. repent: verb, aorist tense, active voice, imperative mood, second person, plural number.
(2) every one of you: subject, third person, singular number. be baptized: verb, aorist tense, passive voice, imperative mood, third person, singular number. for the remission of sins. modifying phrase, expressing the ground or basis of the baptism commanded (if understood of ritual water baptism), or the result (if understood of real baptism) of the baptism received.
(3) ye. subject, second person, plural number. shall receive. verb, future tense, indicative mood, passive voice, second person, plural number. the gift of the Holy Ghost. direct object of the verb.
Note particularly in the above analysis that the first and third clauses agree with each other in that both are in the second person and plural number for their subject and verb.
The second clause does not agree in person and number of its subject and verb with the preceding or following clause.
This makes it impossible to make “every one of you,” which is third person singular, the subject of both “repent” (second person plural) and “be baptized” (third person singular), for subjects and verbs must agree in person and number. A. T. Robertson observes that this change in person and number “marks a break in the thought here that the English translation does not preserve” (Word Pictures, vol. 3, p. 34).
Peter thus commanded all in his audience to repent. Upon repentance, each individual was then to be baptized on the basis that the specific individual’s sin had been remitted upon their placing faith upon the name of Jesus Christ. Since the first and third clauses agree in person and number, the thought is that reception of the Holy Spirit is the consequence of faith upon the name of Christ, not ritual water baptism. +*Act 3:19; *Act 5:31; Act 8:22; Act 8:37; *Act 17:30; *Act 20:21; Act 26:18; Act 26:20, +*Psa 51:3, 4, 5, Isa 59:20, Hos 12:6, *Mat 3:2; *Mat 3:6; *Mat 3:8; *Mat 3:9; *Mat 3:11; *Mat 4:17; Mat 7:13; Mat 9:13; *Mat 21:28, 29, 30, 31, 32, Mar 1:5; Mar 1:15; Mar 6:12, Luk 1:77; Luk 3:3; Luk 5:32; Luk 6:42; +*Luk 13:3; +*Luk 13:5; *Luk 15:1-32; Luk 17:3, 4; *Luk 24:47, 2Co 7:10, +*2Ti 2:25, Heb 6:1, 2, **1Jn 1:9.
and. The force of this conjunction is neglected or misunderstood by some interpreters. The word “and” marks the gracious relation of cause and effect, as in the grammatical parallel at Act 3:19, “Repent and be converted.” The Holy Spirit who gives repentance does, therewith, confer baptism for the remission of sins (J. W. Dale, Christic Baptism, p. 142). This of itself proves that the reference is to real, not ritual water, baptism.
be baptized. The traditional understanding of this command is that it refers to ritual water baptism. An alternate view is that this is a reference to real baptism by the Holy Spirit.
The correctness of the alternative view is established by the fact that
(1) water is not mentioned in the context.
(2) The baptism is not “into water” but, literally, upon the name of Jesus Christ.
(3) Believing upon Jesus Christ is the ground upon which remission of sins is received.
(4) Ritual water baptism is never in Scripture said to secure for us the remission of sins, only real baptism possesses such efficacy.
(5) This real baptism takes the penitent sinner out of a state of guilt and places him into (eis) a new state of remission. This placement is permanent, and can hardly be symbolized by a momentary dipping in water, for the relationship established is permanent (Col 2:12 note).
(6) Only real baptism by the Holy Spirit can produce the change in condition always marked by the term “baptize” (1Co 10:2 note) when the subject is spiritual baptism. Act 2:41, *Act 8:12; *Act 8:36, 37, 38; Act 9:18; +Act 13:24; *Act 16:15; *Act 16:31, 32, 33, 34; +*Act 22:16, +*Mat 3:11 note. *Mat 28:19 note. *+Mar 16:16, +*Joh 3:5; Joh 7:39, Gal 3:27, 28, Tit 3:5, +*Heb 10:22, *1Pe 3:21; *1Pe 3:22.
in. Gr. epi, lit. upon. With the dative case, as here, epi means “upon (ground, reason)” (Professor Harrison, Greek Prepositions, p. 266, cited by J. W. Dale, Christic Baptism, p. 138).
Eric Sauer states “Under the influence of a psalm and a prophecy which speak of the Messianic ’cornerstone’ and ’foundation’ (Psa 118:22, Isa 28:16), Christ is described as the foundation of our life of faith ’upon’ (Gr. epi) Whom we believe (1Pe 2:6, Rom 10:11)” (From Eternity to Eternity, p. 46).
Dale gives some additional instructive examples.
(1) From the apocryphal book of Judith (Jdt 12:7), epi occurs in conjunction with the verb baptize in the expression “baptized herself upon the fountain.” The preposition expresses that upon which Judith rested when she baptized herself. Every “fountain” has “a lip,” an edge, on which one can stand and be baptized (+*Dan 12:5 mg).
(2) Clement of Alexandria (I. 1352) says: “It is a custom of the Jews to be baptized upon (Gr. epi) a couch.” The preposition points out that upon which the Jew rested when he received baptism; he rested upon a couch.
(3) Mat 3:13. Jesus came from Galilee toward, more literally, upon, the Jordan, meaning that when he reached it he rested upon it (every river, like every fountain, has “a lip,” an edge, a bank, upon which one can stand) to be baptized (+*Dan 12:5 mg; Mat 3:13 note).
“These examples present a physical basis on which the baptized rested. The case under consideration (Act 2:38) exhibits the moral basis upon which the soul must rest in receiving the baptism into the remission of sins” (Christic Baptism, p. 145). Dale explains “the soul to be baptized out of guilt into the remission of sins must rest, not upon repentance (as any meritorious or ultimate ground), but must rest upon that NAME, ’which is the only name given under heaven whereby we must be saved,’ Jesus Christ,” and “every penitent sinner, resting upon Jesus Christ, as an atoning Redeemer, shall thereby be baptized into the remission of sins” (p. 145). Luk 24:47 Act 16:31 g. 1Co 3:11.
B. Why the Trinitarian formula is not stated here:
the name. The question often arises, why is not the Trinitarian formula of baptism given in Mat 28:19 utilized by the apostles in the book of Acts?
Of several answers which have been proposed, the best sees this shortened expression as the figure of speech FS171S11, Synecdoche of the Part, whereby a part is put for the whole, a shortened expression for the fuller expression.
It seems to be that the apostles indeed did use the full formula, but simply referred to the act of baptism by the shorter phrase “in the name of Jesus Christ” (Act 2:38), “in the name of the Lord Jesus” (Act 8:16; Act 19:5), or even shorter, “in the name of the Lord” (Act 10:48), in common with the wider practice of that day of being baptized “in the name” of one’s spiritual teacher, as John’s disciples were (Act 19:3), just as John, as well as Jesus, taught his disciples to pray, Luk 11:1, evidently in a distinct manner. Thus the expression pertains more to this distinctiveness than to the precise formula employed.
“As Waterland well puts it, ’The meaning is that the apostles baptized into the faith and religion of Christ, in that method and according to that form which our Lord Himself had prescribed’” (cited in Thomas Walker, Commentary on Acts, p. 54. The citation is from Daniel Waterland, Works, vol. 2, Sermon viii, “Christ’s Divinity Proved from the Form of Baptism,” p. 173).
Waterland continues, “The Apostles administered Christ’s, not John’s baptism; that baptism which Christ had appointed; St. Luke expresses it briefly by baptizing ‘in the name of Christ;’ not because it ran in his name only, but because it was instituted by his authority. Thus the practice of the Apostles is reconciled with the commission given them” (p. 173).
Other answers which have been proposed are less satisfactory. Some suggest that the Trinitarian formula was never used, but this would appear to place the disciples in direct disobedience to what our Lord commanded. To escape this difficulty, some (often in the name of “right division” of Scripture: 2Ti 2:15, 1Th 4:2 note) would refer the practice of baptism within narrow dispensational limits—the time of the establishment of Jewish Christian churches in the early part of Acts—suspending the validity of baptism for the church age (a view refuted at Mat 28:19 note), reserving it to the millennial kingdom, a view totally out of harmony with the general practice of Bible believing Christians throughout church history.
This view depends upon artificially dividing Scripture (1Th 4:2 note. 2Ti 2:15 note) in a manner unauthorized by its own content, by principles undiscoverable by the proverbial independent Bible reader on a desert island with no denominational “helps” to guide him, a quite sound rule for determining whether a teaching is truly Biblical (+*Isa 8:20 note. Act 17:11).
Such a view contradicts the Bible doctrine of the perpetuity of the ordinance establishing ritual baptism (Mat 28:19 note).
Still further astray is the “Jesus only” viewpoint, which suggests there is one God, “Jesus,” who is the Father and the Holy Spirit, into whose single name we are to be baptized. While maintaining the deity of Christ, this view is faulty by denying the existence of three distinct persons in the Godhead. Attempting to prove Jesus and the Father are one and the same person, some misapply such Scripture as Joh 10:30; Joh 14:7; Joh 14:9, for Christ’s own appeal to the Father as a witness distinct from Himself is fatal to this view (Joh 5:36, 37, 38). Act 3:6; Act 3:16; Act 4:10; **Act 4:12; Act 4:17, 18; Act 4:30; *Act 8:12; *+Act 8:16; Act 10:48; *Act 19:4; *Act 19:5, Gen 12:8, +**Mat 28:19, Rom 6:3, 1Co 1:13, 14, 15, 16, 17, Gal 3:27.
C. Multiple meanings of the preposition “for”
for. Gr. eis. Some would make this expression equivalent to the expression in Mat 26:28, where the same words “for the remission of sins” are found.
This assumes that the preposition “for” (Gr. eis) possesses the same meaning wherever it occurs.
(1) Here eis expresses either the “ground or basis” for the baptism, namely, the remission of sins consequent upon repentance and believing upon the name of Christ, or far better, the result of the real (not ritual) baptism attending true repentance and faith upon Christ.
(2) In Mat 26:28, eis expresses the aim or purpose of the death of Christ. When eis expresses purpose (as Mat 26:28), grammarians term this the telic use of eis.
Key Point:
J. W. Dale asserts “The telic use of eis with baptidzō (baptize) may, very confidently, be declared to have no existence, whether in the Scriptures or out of the Scriptures” (Christic Baptism, p. 144).
In other words, Dale asserts that the preposition eis is never used to express purpose in conjunction with the verb “baptize” in either Classical or Biblical (Koine) Greek.
Dale cites a passage from Clement of Alexandria (II. 1212), “they baptize out of (ek) chastity into (eis) fornication,” commenting “Who would think of translating this phrase, “They baptize out of temperance unto, for, in order to, fornication’?” (Christic Baptism, p. 144).
Dale asserts “it is impossible for eis to reach over baptized and receive a telic character from Repent exclusively” (p. 139). Thus the grammar forbids the notion that repentance is “in order to the remission of your sins.”
D. Neither Truth nor the Meaning of “for” is decided by a majority vote!
The preposition eis in this verse (Act 2:38) is one of the most debated prepositions in all the Word of God. But merely compiling long lists of scholars who translate or explain this preposition in a particular manner to defend the mistaken assertion that eis can only mean “unto” (or “in order to,” “with a view to,” “to the end that,” “for,” etc.) is not sound linguistic practice.
A list of scholars is no more valid than the validity of logic and evidence which they marshal to support their position (2Sa 5:23 note): the honor of the names cited or their number have no bearing on the strength of their case.
The scholars cited do not necessarily affirm that this must be the rendering here, particularly if they are not discussing the doctrinal implications which such a translation supports.
The preposition eis may mean “because of,” as at Mat 12:41, It may also mean “as a sign or profession of,” as at +*Mat 3:11 note. Mat 28:19, 1Co 1:13; 1Co 10:2.
Notice that in the last four passages cited, the preposition eis occurs in the same grammatical construction and with reference to the same subject, baptism. The preposition eis may be understood here to mean “the ground or basis of” (as in Mat 10:41; *Mat 12:41. See related notes at Mat 26:28 note. +*Mar 1:4 note), or it may legitimately be understood to indicate the result of believing upon the name of Jesus Christ. Each of these alternatives is certainly to be preferred to the view that we are baptized in order to receive remission of sins, a viewpoint contrary to the rest of the Word of God, and incompatible with Greek grammar, for eis never possesses a telic sense (expressing purpose, as when rendered “for”) in conjunction with the verb baptize.
E. Some individual Hebrew or Greek words cannot properly always be translated by the same English word at every occurrence
It is a fallacy, if not absurdity, to hold that a word in Greek or Hebrew must in every occurrence be translated by the same English word, or to suggest that at every occurrence of a word it always possesses exactly the same meaning. A reference to the classifications of the words “soul” and “spirit” (+Mat 2:20 note. +Mat 8:16 note) will demonstrate that single words may have numerous and quite different meanings.
This holds true for every part of speech. When translating from one language to another no word in one language possesses precisely the same range of meaning, connotation, and denotation as a single usually equivalent word of the other language, neither does it function with precisely the same or equivalent idioms (+*Act 8:39 note. Act 10:11 note. 1Jn 2:19 note).
This text (Acts 2:38) is a favorite of those who teach the mistaken doctrine of baptismal regeneration (along with Mar 16:16, Joh 3:5, Act 22:16, Gal 3:27, 1Pe 3:21).
Lewis Sperry Chafer’s remark regarding the tendency to build a whole system of belief upon one text applies equally well to those who build such a system upon several chosen texts of Scripture: “A certain type of mind seems able to construct all its confidence on an erroneous interpretation of one passage and to be uninfluenced by the overwhelming body of Scripture which contradicts that interpretation” (Systematic Theology, vol. 3, p. 380). %Mat 26:28 note. +Mar 1:4 note. Luk 3:3.
remission of sins. +Act 10:43; Act 13:38; Act 26:18, Lev 23:27, Luk 1:77; +Luk 7:48, Joh 20:23 note. Rom 6:3, 4; *Rom 10:9, Eph 1:7, Col 1:14, Heb 10:18.
and ye shall receive. Act 2:16, 17, 18, Act 8:15, 16, 17; *Act 10:44; *Act 10:45, Isa 32:15; Isa 44:3, 4; Isa 59:21, +*Eze 36:25, 26, 27; Eze 39:29, +*Joe 2:28; +*Joe 2:29, +*Zec 12:10, Joh 20:22, **Gal 3:2; **Gal 3:14.
the gift. or, free gift. Gr. dōrea. Always used of divine gifts. The word dōron is always used of man’s gifts, except in Eph 2:8 (CB). Act 5:32; Act 8:15; Act 8:20; Act 10:45; Act 11:17, *Joh 4:10; +Joh 7:39, Heb 6:4.
Ghost. Gr. pneuma, +Mat 3:16, Act 2:33, Act 19:2, Eph 1:13.
- Acts 2:38 (Pentecostals vs. Baptists): “Repent and be baptized, 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.” Pentecostals emphasize baptism in the Holy Spirit with the evidence of speaking in tongues, whereas Baptists emphasize baptism as a symbol of professing faith.