EXCHANGE WITH MR. E. CALVIN BEISNER PART 3 MR. BEISNER'S MATERIAL ACTS 2:38 Then Peter said unto them, Repent, and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins, and ye shall receive the gift of the Holy Ghost. This is one of the favorite verses of those who believe baptism is necessary for salvation. They point out simply that it says that we must be "baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins," and since remission of sins is necessary for salvation, baptism is therefore necessary for salvation. A careful study of the Greek grammar at this point shows that it is repentance, not baptism, which is "for remission of your sins," The Greek text reads: metanohsate kai baptisqhtw ekastos You (plural) repent and be baptized each one umwn epi to onomati Ihsou Cristou of you in the name of Jesus Christ eis afesin twn amartiwn umwn. for (the) remission (of the) sins of you (plural). This makes it clear that "remission of your (plural) sins" Is the result of "you (plural) repenting," not of "each one (singular) being baptized." The command to repent is given in the plural number and second person; the command to be baptized is given in the singular number and third person; the sins remitted belong to "you" in the plural number and second person. It is therefore improper to refer "remission of sins" to "baptism" as its cause, for this would mean that each one was baptized for the remission of the sins of all those present. To take "baptism" here as causing the remission of sins would be to make the text say, "Let him be baptized for the remission of all your sins," and "Let him (another) be baptized for the remission of all your sins," and "Let him (yet another) be baptized for the remission of all your sins," and so on to each person in the group, so that each one would be baptized for the remission of the sins of all the people in this group. But the grammar instead is quite clear. Remission is the result of repentance, not of baptism. You repent and your sins will be remitted. You all repent and the sins of all of you will be remitted. Acts 2:38, therefore, does not teach the necessity of baptism for salvation. REPLY TO MR. BEISNER'S MATERIAL ON ACTS 2:38 At the beginning of my review of Mr. Beisner's analysis of Acts 2:38, let me print it indelibly on your minds that he has, in essence, affirmed that the preposition "for" ("eis," Greek word) does mean "in order to" and involves design and purpose. He did so when he said, "Remission is the result of repentance, not of baptism. You repent and your sins will be remitted. -You all repent and the sins of all of you will be remitted." However, he connects the remission of sins with repentance only and denies that it can be connected to baptism. Such a premise is false but I do not want him to switch positions later in this discussion and argue that "for" means "because of." In the second place, the position taken by Mr. Beisner is not that taken by Mr. A.T. Robertson, who is a noted Greek grammarian and to whom Mr. Beisner frequently appeals in his booklet. While Mr. Robertson admits that "eis" (for) sometimes involves aim and purpose, his position on Acts 2:38, is that "for" means "because of" or "with a view toward;" therefore, it must modify be baptized but not repent (Word Pictures, pp. 35-36). Mr. Robertson must necessarily affirm that "for" modifies "be baptized" because if "for" means "because of" and modifies "repent ye" it would mean that these people were to repent "because their sins were already forgiven." (Note Robertson's Grammar Of The Greek New Testament, pp. 389, 592, 595). Therefore, Mr. Robertson sees no difficulty in the prepositional phrase "for the remission of your sins" which is plural, modifying "each of you be baptized," which is singular. His comments are: "Change of number from plural to singular and of person from second to third. This change marks a break in the thought here that the English translation does not preserve. The first thing to do is make a radical and complete change of heart and life. Then let each one be baptized after this change has taken place, and the act of baptism be performed 'in the name of Jesus Christ."' (Word Pictures, pp. 34-35). 1 have also consulted my college, Greek professor, bro. E.V. Srygley, Jr. (BA, MA) since he is much more knowledgeable in Greek than I am. He said: "There is absolutely no problem with 'repent ye' being second person plural, and 'be baptized every one' being third person singular. I have several critical (Greek text) commentaries and I have looked at several others in our library. Not one of them even alludes to a supposed problem with the grammar of Acts 2:38," (Letter dated February 26, 1983). Notice again Mr. Beisner's conclusion: "To take 'baptism' here as causing the remission of sin would be to make the text say, 'Let him be baptized for the remission of all your sins'...so that each one would be baptized for the remission of the sins of all the people in this group." That conclusion does not follow, either in the Greek or English. In order to make his position seem feasible, Mr. Beisner had to do two things. First, he had to overlook completely the plural "of you" which follows "each one." Second, he had to inject the word "all" into the prepositional phrase "for the remission of your sins." Notice that the "each one" (hekastos) is followed by "of you" (humon, plural); hence, "each one of you" (plural) is baptized for the sins "of you" (plural). Grammatically and sensibly, each person would understand that he was being baptized for the remission of his own sins. To illustrate the point, a teacher might say, "Students, arise ye and come forward, each one of you, for a copy of your test," and I doubt that if Mr. Beisner was in the class, that he would expect to get a copy of the test for the whole group. Everyone would understand that each student would have to arise and come forward for his own copy of the test. The above illustrates how we understand English but 1 Cor. 16:1-2, illustrates a parallel use of the singular imperative being connected to the plural imperative in Greek in the same way that Acts 2:38, is understood and I do not mean by the illustration that the two accounts are perfectly parallel in construction. "Now concerning the collection for the saints, as I have given order to the churches of Galatia, even so do ye. Upon the first day of the week let every one of you lay by him in store, as God hath prospered him, that there be no gatherings when I come." The "do ye" of v. 1, is second person, plural but in v. 2, the "every one" (hekastos, "each one", same as Acts 2:38) and "let him put" are third person singular but refer to the same group specified by the plural "do ye." By comparison "be baptized each one of you" refers to the same group addressed in "repent ye," (Acts 2:38). Another passage in which the singular "hekastos" is joined to a plural verb is Acts 11:29-30. "Then the disciples, every man according to his ability, determined to send relief unto the brethren which dwelt in Judaea: which also they did, and sent it to the elders by the hands of Barnabas and Saul." To this we can add the testimony of scholars in the Greek language. J.H. Thayer says, "Hekastos, when it denotes individually, every one of many, is often added appositively to nouns and pronouns and verbs in the plural number," (J.H. Thayer, A Greek-English Lexicon Of The New Testament, p. 192). Henry J. Cadbury, translator of the Revised Standard Version, says, "The grammar of the sentence in Acts 2:38 is perfectly regular and better Greek than if the author had kept the second person plural 'baptize' after using the singular 'each.' I have no doubt that another author would have written 'do ye repent,' and 'be baptized,' each of you. But the writer seems to have preferred the less loose construction. I think that there would be no essential difference in meaning." Mr. Beisner's position on the passage demands that it read thusly: "Repent ye for the remission of sins and be baptized each one of you..." While Mr. Beisner may be a student of the Greek to some degree, his scholarship does not compare to those men who work and have worked in the field of translation. In fact there are several errors in Mr. Beisner's Greek text which was photostated from his booklet for use in this installment. Search and see for yourself-no reliable, accepted translation by Greek scholars translates Acts 2:38, in the way Mr. Beisner does. Contrary to Mr. Beisner's efforts to set aside the connection between scriptural baptism and the forgiveness of sins, Acts 2:38, stands opposed to his doctrine. "Repent ye" and "be baptized" are connected by the coordinate conjunction "and" and are both related to the "forgiveness of sins." [Previous Article] [Next Article] [Debate Outline]

	Created on 12-Aug-98	Page last updated