Wednesday, June 26, 2019

Answering Ken Lenz on Acts 2:38, 1 Corinthians 1:17, and Baptismal Regeneration



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)

 Attempting to explain away Acts 2:38, one defender of a symbolic understanding of water baptism wrote the following:

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)

 To see why Lenz is simply wrong in his (pathetic, frankly) attempt to downplay the salvific role of water baptism, see the following where one will find a detailed exegesis of Acts 2:38 and 1 Cor 1:17, including a discussion of the preposition εις ("for"/"into"):


As for Cornelius and his household, such is not problematic for water baptism being salvific; see: