Acts 2:38
The next section in our journey of the book of Acts brings us to Acts chapter 3, that is post-Pentecost. But before we find our place in the crowded streets of Jerusalem listening to the Apostles preach the Gospel and hearing the religious leaders gnashing their teeth is disdain, we must stop and discuss a crucial verse in the book of Acts. And one blog entry might not cover all that is needed to come to a better understand of this verse. Acts 2:38 is the verse I am talking about, and this will be the first of a few blog entries discussing the interpretation and as well as application of this verse.
Acts 2:38, along with a handful of other Scriptures, have been used to teach a person needs to be baptized before he can be saved. This view is termed as “baptismal regeneration.” The groups that espouse this view are as follows: Church of Christ, Christian Church, Disciples of Christ, Roman Catholics, Russian and Greek Orthodox, Mormons (LDS), Reorganized Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints (RLDS), Apostolics (Jesus Only or United Pentecostals), Oneness Pentecostals, Herbert Armstrong's Worldwide Church of God, Lutherans, and others which I am sure I missed. Of these different groups some have more extreme views that require a person to be baptized in one of their churches, by one of their ministers. So, in summary, a person who espouses baptismal regeneration says that believing in Christ and being baptized are what causes a person to become a believer (Christian). To them (those who hold this view) belief in Christ is not enough, baptism must be performed in order for a person to be truly saved.
At first glance of Acts 2:38, the plain language of the verse might be disturbing. It seems to say that a person is to repent and be baptized so that they can receive forgiveness of their sins (salvation). But lets not count all our chickens before they hatch, indeed we must look at this first with our microscopes, but we must also look at the bigger picture.
First, think about all the many verses in Scripture that do not require baptism for salvation. A case could be made for almost 100 verses that do not cite baptism as required for salvation; in fact these verses and passages in this section that we are discussing are the most often used verses for attempting to substantiate baptismal regeneration. So, only a handful of verses and passages are used in attempt to prove an important doctrine compared to the hundreds of verses that teach otherwise. It must be remembered that we are not to base an entire doctrine on such a small numbers of verses; this would be unwise. When formulating a doctrine there must be many verses that substantiate it. Many men and scholars can often give opinions on certain biblical teachings based on a few verses, but they are just opinions, they are not doctrine, especially doctrine that can affect the destiny of human life! We must consult the whole counsel of God as we develop our doctrine, and doctrines that are based upon a few verses will not hold up under the scrutiny of the rest of the Word of God.
Second, there is the issue of linguistics and semantics. The preposition "for" in the phrase for the forgiveness of your sins does signify a causal or basis meaning. However, the problem here is that the preposition "for" is used with the accusative case. Rarely does this happen in the New Testament Greek, and when it does, the idea conveyed is direction. The preposition can also mean "because of," or "in accordance with."[1] This would match up with what the rest of the Scriptures teaches and also make the verse a little less "controversial." So, using a different meaning for the preposition, the verse would sound something like this: "repent and be baptized everyone of you in the name of Jesus Christ because your sins have been forgiven, and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit."
Third, along with the second point, there are some grammatical issues in these verses that help explain it better. This is called the parenthetical view or the re-punctuation view. Basically, this view enables a person to see the importance of grammar by keeping the 2nd person phrases and the 3rd person phrases together. Whether in English or Greek, it’s a rule of grammar that the verbs agree with their subjects in person and number. Look at the diagram below to visually see the connections between the phrases in the verse:
Repent -------------and you will receive ----- the gift of the Holy Spirit
(2nd person) (2nd person) (2nd person)
Every one of you ----- be baptized ----- because of the forgiveness of sins
(3rd person) (3rd person) (3rd person)
This allows a better understand of what the verse is really saying and/or teaching in the original Greek language. Not only that, but it also proves that Spirit baptism (receiving the gift of the indwelling presence of the Holy Spirit) comes before water baptism. All in all, this verse, properly interpreted, gives us a clear and simple timeline for a person’s salvation experience. Belief (repentance) comes first, and then we receive the indwelling presence of the Holy Spirit after which we should follow the Lord’s command and be baptized to symbolize what Christ has done within us.
I have one more evidence that I will present; it’s the one I believe is most significant. It is evidence that deals with the context of the verse. Who is Peter talking to in this Pentecost sermon? And why does he give the command to repent when they ask him what they must do? Who is his audience? What has happened prior to Pentecost in the Upper Room? These questions and others will lead to understand the real truth behind this often misinterpreted verse –but that will be for the next blog post.
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One more thing: One of my favorite songs about baptism is sung by Third Day entitled, "Born Again." It might not be titled as such, but the words of the song speak to me about what happens when a person is baptized - how a person literally comes to life from being dead in sin when he is baptized and the very presence of the Holy Spirit takes up residence within his heart! Click on the link to take you to Youtube to watch the video Third Day "Born Again"
[1] The American Standard Version (1901) translates the phrase in question as, “unto the remission of your sins.”
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