Acts 2:36-41 “Therefore let all Israel be assured of this: God has made this Jesus, whom you crucified, both Lord and Christ.”

When the people heard this, they were cut to the heart and said to Peter and the other apostles, “Brothers, what shall we do?”

Peter replied, “Repent and be baptized, every one of you, in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins. And you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. The promise is for you and your children and for all who are far off–for all whom the Lord our God will call.”

With many other words he warned them; and he pleaded with them, “Save yourselves from this corrupt generation.” Those who accepted his message were baptized, and about three thousand were added to their number that day.

The Complete Plan of Salvation

When we survey this scripture, we see the complete plan of salvation played out in glorious detail. It’s all here! These people hear the word, they accept it, they are cut to the heart and decide to change or repent, they make Jesus Lord by obeying the message and are baptized for the forgiveness of their sins and then receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.

Why doesn’t the modern evangelical world just preach the plan of salvation like Peter preached it? When someone comes to the point in their lives where they realize their need for the savior and they humbly ask us, “What must I do?” Why don’t we tell them, “Repent and be baptized for the forgiveness of your sins and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit?” Instead, we ask them to say a prayer, invite Jesus into their heart or accept Christ as their personal savior. What’s wrong with using Peter’s prescription? It’s baffling that such a Biblically sound and simple instruction is rarely mentioned in churches today. This salvation instruction, uttered by Peter two thousand years ago, has never changed. It is a promise for all generations and it is so clear, a child can understand it. It would take a Greek scholar to get things confused. And here is exactly what a greek scholar will tell you. They say; and I’m loosely quoting here…

The Greek Scholar

“When Peter uses the word “for” as in “for the forgiveness of your sins,” that word is the Greek word ‘ies.' This Greek word, ‘eis’ may also be translated ‘because of’, or ‘since.’ Therefore Acts 2:38 could read, ‘Repent and be baptized everyone of you since your sins have been forgiven or because your sins have been forgiven.’” End quote.

They conclude: baptism is not necessary for salvation since sins are already forgiven. Our featured article at GotQuestions.Org discusses this issue in detail.

The evangelical world’s position historically argues the Greek word “eis” means “since” or “because.” They even use a common illustration to help us understand this word use. They say, “If I told you to ‘take an aspirin for your headache,’ everyone understands you are taking an aspirin because you have a headache. You are not taking the aspirin to receive or get a headache’ That’s how the word ‘eis’ is used. It means, ‘be baptized because you already have the forgiveness of your sins. It does not mean be baptized to get the forgiveness of your sins.’”

Take an Aspirin for your Headache!

This sounds like a pretty good illustration until we begin to ask some questions about the analogy.

What does the aspirin do? Hopefully, it relieves my headache. So, everyone understands the purpose of taking the aspirin? We take an aspirin "so that" our headache will go away not for the benefit of the headache itself. When an evangelical uses this aspirin illustration to explain the use of the word ‘for,’ they neglect to frame out the entire illustration. I don’t take an aspirin for my headache, I take and aspirin for the relief of my headache. And, I am baptized for the relief of my sins. The use of the word “for” speaks to the purpose of taking the aspirin, not the desire to get a headache!