"Crucible" index

"Jesse James wanted for robbery"

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In Acts 2:38 "For the forgiveness of sins" means "For the forgiveness of sins" !

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Then Peter said to them, "Repent, and be baptized¹, every one of you, in the name of Jesus Christ, for the forgiveness of sins and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit."

petroV de efh proV autouV metanohsate kai baptisqhtw¹ ekastoV umwn epi tw onomati ihsou cristou eiV afesin amartiwn kai lhqesqe thn dwrean tou agiou pneumatoV

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Many attempts have been made to explain away the obvious meaning of these words, which is that repentant believers were to be immersed in water for their sins to be forgiven. One of the latest is found in the 'On Line Bible' CD, Greek Lexicon's explanation of the word "for" [reference eiV. Strong's number 1519] in the phrase "for the forgiveness of sins" It reads:-

"For" (as used in Ac 2:38 "for the forgiveness...") could have two meanings. If you saw a poster saying "Jesse James wanted for robbery", "for" could mean Jesse is wanted so he can commit a robbery, or is wanted because he has committed a robbery. The later sense is the correct one. So too in this passage, the word "for" signifies an action in the past. Otherwise, it would violate the entire tenor of the NT teaching on salvation by grace and not by works.

The foregoing explanation is misleading for two reason, 1}because"Jesse James wanted for robbery" might be good colloquial English but it is bad New Testament Greek. 2) the word "for" [eiV ] is never used in the sense of "because you have committed."

If in Acts 2:38 the word "for" meant the same as "because you have committed" then we could substitute like with like without altering the meaning. So replacing "for" with "because you have committed" it reads "Repent, and be baptized, every one of you, in the name of Jesus Christ, because you have committed the forgiveness of sins and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit." To say that they had to repent and be baptised because they had committed the forgiveness of sins, is absolute nonsense.

Why then have we been presented with another futile attempt to sidestep the plain meaning of this passage? The key is in this statement by the lexicographer:-

"Otherwise, it would violate the entire tenor of the NT teaching on salvation by grace and not by works."

Apparently Paul's teaching on grace has been misunderstood. Submission to baptism has falsely been interpreted as being a meritorious work preformed by the candidate. Baptism is not done by the candidate. It is done to the candidate. The lexicographer has let his theological fixation dictate his interpretation, instead of allowing the obvious meaning of the passage determine his theology.

The candidate is not doing a meritorious work by submitting to baptism. It is the repentant believer's submission to God's will for the forgiveness of sins, graciously granted by Almighty God.

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NOTE 1. "immersion/submersion" is the proper meaning of the Greek word which is usually transliterated "baptism".

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