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To: Responsibility2nd

“You cannot have remission of sins without baptism.”

1. Remission of sins comes first when someone entrusted themselves to Christ.
2. Baptism is an act commanded to believers *because of* the remission of sins that already occurred.

That is what it means in Greek.


106 posted on 10/06/2015 1:48:19 PM PDT by aMorePerfectUnion ( "Forward lies the crown, and onward is the goal.")
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To: aMorePerfectUnion
That is what it means in Greek.

 

No it does not. Besides the valid points that negate your points in post 75, here are more.

For the Remission of Sins

Acts 2:38

Baptism is not an obscure Bible topic. It is featured very  prominently in the pages of the New Testament. We do not have to wonder what the  purpose for baptism is in God's mind because He has plainly indicated its  purpose already. We do not have to wonder who a proper subject for baptism is  because the Bible tells us. We do not have to guess about the proper mode of  baptism because the Bible reveals exactly what that is. Baptism is found in  numerous passages in the New Testament, and the teachings found there relating  to baptism are consistent.There is no excuse for not accepting what God has  revealed in His word about baptism. There is no good reason to deny what the  Scriptures say in favor of some religious creed that some church leaders  somewhere have egotistically legislated.The Holy Spirit revealed the purpose of  baptism during the very first gospel sermon preached following the ascension of  Jesus back into heaven. By the Spirit Peter answers the peoples' plea, "What  must we do?" He says, "Repent, and let each of you be baptized in the name of  Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins and you shall receive the gift of  the Holy Spirit." (ACTS 2:38).

THE DIFFICULT TASK AND THE SOLUTION
"...which the untaught and the unstable distort, as they do also the rest of the  Scriptures, to their own destruction." (II PETER 3:16). It is indeed a difficult  thing to read such a plain passage as ACTS 2:38 and then try to explain to  others why baptism is not necessary to be forgiven of one's sins. And yet, that  is exactly what the overwhelming majority of denominations teach in their  various creed books.Why take such an awkward view of baptism? Because they must  support the doctrine of salvation by faith alone. Rather than restudy "faith  alone" they simply explain away every passage in the New Testament which shows  the necessity of baptism in God's plan of redemption.Let me simply quote their  distortion of ACTS 2:38 in their attempt to make the passage say something other  than baptism in the name of Jesus Christ is for the forgiveness of sins. They  say that "This baptism would also be for (eis) the forgiveness of sins. 'Eis'  here means 'because of." Do you see what they are saying? They are contending  that one is not baptized "for" (i.e. in order to have) the remission of sins but  "for" (i.e. because of the fact) their sins have been forgiven; that they were  forgiven before baptism and were baptized because of forgiveness.

"FOR THE FORGIVENESS OF SINS"
"...this is My blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many for  forgiveness of sins" (MATTHEW 26:28). In determining the meaning of the phrase  "for the forgiveness of sins" we can look for the phrase in other places. In the  above verse, Jesus is speaking with His apostles at the last supper. The exact  same Greek phrase is used. Does Jesus mean to say that His blood is poured out  "because" sins have already been forgiven or that His blood is poured out "in  order that" our sins may be forgiven? Everyone understands that Jesus is saying  that His blood is being shed so that we may have our sins forgiven. So why is it  so easy to understand here and so difficult in ACTS 2:38?

WHAT THE TRANSLATIONS SAY
"Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of  the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit" (MATTHEW 28:18). Teaching the gospel  to all nations makes translating the Scriptures into various languages  necessary. We have English translations because we speak English. How do the  various English versions translate ACTS 2:38 from Greek to English? How many say  the Greek word "eis" (for) means "because of" or something similar? Which  translation do you use? What does it say?

"..and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the  remission of sins.." (King James).
"..let each of you be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness  of your sins.." (New American Standard).
"..let every one of you be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ, for the  remission of sins.." (New King James).
"..and be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ, so that your sins will be  forgiven.." (Today's English).
"..be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness  of your sins.." (Challoner-Rheims).
"..be baptized, every one of you, in the name of Jesus Christ so that your sins  may be forgiven.." (New International - 1978 edition).
"..be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ unto the remission  of your sins.." (American Standard).
"..be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness  of your sins.." (Revised Standard).
".. each one of you must be immersed by the authority of Jesus the Messiah, so  that your sins may be forgiven.." (Simple English Bible).


The version you use is probably listed above. None of them translate "eis" into  "because of". These constitute the major works of the best Greek scholars of the  past several centuries.

REPENTANCE AND BAPTISM ARE "FOR" THE SAME PURPOSE
"...Unless you repent you will all likewise perish" (LUKE 13:3). Very few would  say that one is forgiven of his sins even before he repents of them. They would  not say that one repents because his sins have already been forgiven. And they  are right because the Bible says one must repent in order to receive  forgiveness.

Interestingly enough, one of the verses of Scripture that teach this about  repentance is ACTS 2:38. Even more to the point, it mentions two prerequisites  to the remission of sins. One is repentance and the other is baptism! How can  one split the verse down the middle accepting that repentance is necessary but  not baptism? Maybe instead of playing such games we had better respect God  enough just to take Him at His word. Amen!

 

 

 

I repeat for emphasis.....

 


The version you use is probably listed above. None of them translate "eis" into  "because of". These constitute the major works of the best Greek scholars of the  past several centuries.


109 posted on 10/06/2015 1:57:44 PM PDT by Responsibility2nd (With Great Freedom comes Great Responsibility)
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