Baptism Is for the Remission of Sins
by James W. Farris

    People of the religious arena have debated the command for baptism for hundreds of years, contending over interpretations of essential passages such as Acts 2:38. "Then Peter said unto them, 'Repent, and let every one of you be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins; and you shall receive the gift of the Holy Spirit' " (NKJV).

    As if the issue is not clear by a simple reading of the text, man has imposed confusing opinions such as these two possibilities. First, a person enacts the remission of sins when he is obedient to the command of Christ for baptism. Second, baptism is an outward sign that the remission of sins has already taken place, suggesting that baptism is not an absolute requirement.

    Let's begin by looking at the original word meaning, context and intent of the author, while taking into consideration the overall teaching of the Bible pertaining to the requirements for remission of sins.

    The word "for" or "eis" has sparked some controversy over the suggestion that baptism is "because of" remission of sins. Those espousing this idea suggest that baptism is only an outward expression of faith showing that remission of sins has already taken place. Others contend that baptism is necessary in order to accomplish remission of sins. So which definition is applicable?

    Thayer states that the word "eis" denotes the end to which a thing reaches or attains; also the end to which a thing is adapted to attain. Arndt and Gingrich say that "eis" means to "denote purpose, in order to; for the forgiveness or so that sins might be forgiven."

    Another passage where "eis" is used is Matthew 26:28: "For this is My blood of the new covenant which is shed for many for the remission of sins." In this passage, the blood was shed to make remission of sins possible. Jesus was not shedding His blood in the future because He had already accomplished the remission of sins. In this sense, the word "eis" looked ahead. A.T. Robertson says, "This is the same idea pointed out in Matthew 26:28. Christ was shedding his blood 'for, toward, unto' remission of sins."

    Luke 3:3 states, "And he [John] went into all the region around Jordan, preaching a baptism of repentance for the remission of sins." The baptism of repentance was for the remission of sins and was not the case that remission of sins had already been imposed on the hearers of John's message.

    In Luke 24:47 Jesus said to His apostles "that repentance and remission of sins should be preached in His name to all nations, beginning at Jerusalem." In Acts 2:38, Peter was obedient to the command of Luke 24:47 when he says, "Repent and let every one of you be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins." The definitions given by various scholars and by the similar language in Matthew 26:28 and Luke 3:3 furnish the rules that apply to our understanding of the word "for."

    Barry Anderson, Ph.D., said of Acts 2:38, "Eis always denotes motion towards and never motion 'because of.' If Luke had wished for something else to be the case, he would have used the word 'dia' which could be translated 'on account of.'" From what we have seen thus far, "eis" is always prospective and not retrospective, as some would have us to believe.

    No translation has been located by this author where Acts 2:38 was ever translated "because of" or "on account of." Matthew 26:28 states the ground or basis for remission of sins while Acts 2:38 states the conditions which cause or bring about the remission of sins.

    Acts 22:16 is a benchmark passage making obvious the necessity of baptism for salvation. Paul recounts his own conversion when he was informed by Ananias to "[a]rise and be baptized, and wash away your sins, calling on the name of the Lord." One must understand that the Jewish crowd did not know anything about our present denominational dogmas and hence would have understood Paul's words just as Paul spoke them. The very idea that baptism is an outward sign of an inner grace plainly fails when considering a simple reading of this passage. Any truthful student can recognize the command of submitting to the rite of baptism to gain the blessings mentioned in the command. The remission or taking away of our sins is attached to the act of baptism.

    Perfect unity exists in the New Testament teaching concerning baptism. Whether it is Matthew 28:19-20; Mark 16:15-16; Acts 2:38; Romans 6:1-6; Galatians 3:26-28; or 1 Peter 3:21, a common thread confirms the necessity of baptism. For the word "eis" or "for" in Acts 2:38 to mean "because of," would cause a contradiction in Acts 22:16 where it is clearly stated that baptism is the place and time where remission of sins is enacted. It would also create an assumption of salvation among many even prior to their being "in," "buried with" or "risen with" Christ.

This item originally appeared at Gospel Advocate (May 2002)