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." (Acts 2:38 NASB)
For Christ did not send me to baptize, but to
preach the gospel, not in cleverness of speech, so that the cross of Christ
would not be made void. (1 Cor 1:17 NASB)
For those who believe that water baptism is
necessary for the forgiveness of sins, this verse appears to serve as a convincing
proof text. For those who understand the broader context of Scripture as
teaching that water baptism is not required for the remission of
sins or for salvation as a whole, there is a plausible explanation of this
verse. In the phrase, “for the remission of sins,” the word “for” is a
translation of the Greek word “eis,”
which can be understood as “because of,” rendering the meaning of the verse as
exhorting repentance, and then being baptized “because of the
forgiveness of sins” already granted on the basis of that repentance, and as a
testimony to it.
An illustration of this rendering could be
seen even from the English usage of the word “for” in the following example. If
someone were to say, “Take two aspirin tablets ‘for’ a headache,” you could
interpret that as meaning either to take two aspirins to receive a headache or “because
of” already having a headache. In a similar way, it is believed that this verse
means that these Jews were exhorted to be baptized “[because of] the remission
of sins” they would have already received—and to demonstrate the sincerity of
their repentance and faith.
Actually, the Greek word “eis” (whose primary meaning is “into”)
is translated several ways in the New Testament, depending on the context. In
Matthew 12:41 we see the word as follows: “The men of Nineveh will rise up in
the judgment with this generation and condemn it, because they repented at [Gk.:
eis] the preaching Jonah; and indeed
a greater than Jonah is here.” The clear understanding is that the Ninevites
repented “because of” the preaching of Jonah. (Notice, too, the emphasis on
repentance; also, of course, there was no requirement of baptism.) Dr. Warren
Wiersbe wrote in his commentary:
It is unfortunate that the translation of
Acts 2:38 in the King James Version suggests that people must be baptized in
order to be saved, because this is not what the Bible teaches. The Greek word eis (which is translated “for” in the
phrase “for the remission of sins”) can mean “on account of” or “on the basis
of.” In Matthew 3:11, John the Baptist baptized on the basis that people had
repented. Acts 2:38 should not be used to teach salvation by baptism. If
baptism is essential to salvation, it seems strange that Peter said nothing
about it in his other sermons (Acts 3:12-26; 5:29-32; 10:34-43). In fact, the
people in the home of Cornelius received the Holy Spirit before they were baptized
(Acts 10:44-48)! (Wiersbe, vol. 1, p. 410); emphasis in original)
We could also note that the Greek grammar suggests
that the word “repent” (being in the second person, plural) is more closely
associated with the phrase “and you will receive the gift of the
Holy Spirit” (“you” being also in the second person, plural); while (literally)
“be baptized each of you” is in the singular form, as is
also the phrase “[because of] the remission of [your] sins.” Those who
have repentant faith in Christ are to be baptized, each one, because of having
already been forgiven, individually! (Ken Lenz, Water Baptism and Spirit Baptism: As Taught in the Scriptures [Bloomington,
Ind.: Xlibris, 2017] 119-20, emphasis in original; note that the author is
forced to admit that the primary meaning of εις in “into” on p. 120)
Elsewhere,
on 1 Cor 1:17, the same apologist wrote:
What is most noteworthy about I Corinthian
1:10-17 in regard to water baptism is (1) the relatively few people that the
Apostle Paul baptized, (2) the relative unimportance Paul placed upon it, (3)
the emphasis on Paul’s calling to “preach the gospel,” and (4) the divisiveness
and misuse of baptism that had so soon emerged.
As with many churches today, the misuse of
baptism in Corinth was based on both the elevated importance assigned to it and
the veneration of humans arising out of it. Paul opposed such perversions,
bringing the focus back onto Christ and His crucifixion, and to the preaching
of the gospel. Many denominations and even branches of Christianity assign to
water baptism the significance of being a means through which God’s grace is
bestowed; however, such a doctrine is not taught in Scripture, nor is it
seen in the example given in Scripture. Then too, entire branches of
Christianity venerate certain “saints,” while the Scriptures teach that we are not to
exalt others, and that actually all believers are “saints” (e.g., Acts 26:10;
Rom. 1:7; 8:27; I Cor. 1:2; II Cor. 1:1; Eph. 1:1; 4:12; etc.)
The Apostle mentioned those whom he baptized,
merely to serve as an illustration of the relative unimportance of this
religious rite when compared to salvation through the gospel of Jesus Christ.
He went so far as to state, “I thank God that I baptized none of you except . .
.” and then he named only a couple of individuals. Would he have expressed such
a perspective (under the inspiration of God) if baptism were a means through
which God dispenses His grace—either saving grace or sanctifying grace? After mentioning
a few names (including one as an after-thought, as if to further imply its
relative unimportance), Paul then stated, “Besides [these], I do not know
whether I baptized any other” (1:16).
The point is not that Paul had a poor memory,
but that water baptism is not to be regarded as essential to one’s faith or
spiritual development, or to one’s ministry (i.e., service to others). If it
were, Paul would not have written of it in such a manner. He goes so far as to
write, “For Christ did not send me to baptize, but to preach the gospel”
(1:17). It is through the preaching of the gospel that men, women, boys and
girls come to faith in Christ. This is what brings salvation and
spiritual growth. (Ibid., 188-89, emphasis in original)
As for Cornelius and his household, such is not problematic for water baptism being salvific; see:
Acts 10:47, Cornelius, and Baptismal Regeneration; Does Cornelius Help Refute Baptismal Regeneration?; Was Cornelius Converted Before Acts 10?; and Ernst Käsemann on Baptism and the Spirit in Acts 8 and 10