ACTS 2:38: AN EXPOSITION

Must One Be Water Baptized to be Saved?

by Ron Merryman, ã 1998

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 Spirit."

- Acts 2:38, KJV

The seeds of baptismal regeneration sown in the late second century come to fruition in the third and fourth. By then, Church prelates who succumbed to the concept that water somehow mysteriously washed away sins had most of their proof texts in line. Of these, Acts 2:38 was prominent. From then until now, not much has changed with sects and denominations that propagate baptismal regeneration. For example, today in the Church of Christ, one is apt to hear more of Acts 2:38 than of John 3:16!

What does Acts 2:38 actually teach? Must one be baptized to be saved? Does water wash away sins?

The purpose of this article is to closely examine this verse for its true meaning, then to see if that meaning is supported elsewhere in Scripture, particularly in Acts itself. It is the contention herein that the key to understanding Acts 2:38 lies in the use of the preposition "epi" (epi) in connection with "the name of Jesus Christ."

"Repent"

I. THE COMMAND: "You (plural), all of you, must repent." The verb is second person plural, active voice, imperative mode from metanoeo (metanoew) which simply means, "to change one’s mind." "All of you," in this case Jewish listeners, "must change your minds," says Peter. Relative to what? The context makes it abundantly clear, you must change you minds about Jesus of Nazareth, who he is, and what God has accomplished through him. Permit me to highlight the contextual relationship.

II. THE CONTEXTUAL RELATIONSHIP OF THE COMMAND: The command to repent follows Peter’s message to a large crowd of Jews assembled in Jerusalem for the Feast of Pentecost. His message (2:24-36) runs like this:

• v. 22 "Jesus of Nazareth was approved of God among you by signs and wonders. He performed miraculous wonders that proved God was with him, and he did these not privately, nor secretly, but right in your midst."
• v. 23 "Jesus of Nazareth was delivered by God’s foreknowledge and wisdom into your midst and you crucified him. Though God foreknew the outcome, he nevertheless gave Jesus into your wicked hands."
• v. 24 "Jesus of Nazareth was raised-up, resurrected from the dead, by God. Your sentence of death upon him was reversed by a higher power, our God."
• v. 36 After substantiating the resurrection of Jesus, the Messiah, by references to Davidic prophecy, Peter concludes, "Let all the house of Israel know assuredly that God has made this same Jesus whom you (emphatic) crucified both Lord and Christ (Messiah)."
• v. 37 Pricked in their hearts, the Jews respond, "Men and brethren, what shall we do?" It is to this response that Peter replies, "Repent, all of you… ."

III. THE MEANING OF THE COMMAND: Come to an immediate and conclusive change of mind abut Jesus of Nazareth, about who He is, and about what God has accomplished through him.

"Repent and BE BAPTIZED everyone of you"

They were not only to repent about Jesus, the Christ, but everyone that did was then to be baptized (immersed). Peter now uses a third person, singular, aorist tense, passive voice, imperative mode verb to impress upon each his responsibility. But the issue is "Why?" "Why be baptized?"

The answer lies not in the significance of water baptism, neither in the ritual nor in any way connected with the water. The significance is in the fact that they were to do this "UPON THE NAME of Jesus Christ."

"Be baptized UPON THE NAME of Jesus Christ"

The preposition is epi (epi), not "in" as per the King James Version.¹ Epi means "upon," "resting upon," or "upon the ground of," or "upon the authority of." All reputable Greek scholars acknowledge this.² A. T. Robertson, considered by many to be the Dean of American biblical-Greek scholars, says of the "ground-meaning" (his words), "It is ’upon’… epi implies a real resting upon… ."³

HEREIN LIES THE KEY TO UNDERSTANDING ACTS 2:38: as individuals, they were to repent, then be baptized resting upon the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of sins.

This understanding is consistent and in total harmony with the customary uses of epi and the name of Jesus Christ in the Book of Acts, as we will demonstrate.

The Preposition epi in Acts: Salvation Passages

Let us look first of all at epi as it is used in salvation passages in this book.

• Acts 2:21 Peter quoting Joel 2:32 says, "Whosoever shall call upon (epi prefixes the verb) the name of the Lord shall be saved." That is, salvation rests upon the significance of the name of the Lord.
• Acts 9:42 "And it (Peter’s raising of Tabitha) was known throughout all Joppa; and many believed in (epi) the Lord." Their trust, stimulated and encouraged by the miracle, rested upon the Lord.
• Acts 11:17 In relaying to the Jerusalem believers how the house of Cornelius received the salvation message, Peter says, "Forasmuch then as God gave them the like gift as he did unto us who believed on (epi) the Lord Jesus Christ; what was I that I could withstand God?" "Our belief as saved Jews," Peter says, "rested upon the Lord Jesus Christ." This is another very clear use of epi in conjunction with faith and salvation.
• Acts 16:31 Paul and Silas in response to the question "What must I do to be saved?" reply, "Believe on (epi) the Lord Jesus Christ and you shall be saved… ." Rest upon, rely upon, place your faith in the Lord for salvation. Could Paul have made it any clearer!
• Acts 22:19 In recounting his persecution of Christians, Paul states, "And I said, Lord, they know that I imprisoned and beat in every synagogue them that believed on (epi) thee." 

As in these passages, so with epi in Acts 2:38. The direction of the believer’s confidence for the forgiveness of sins is not in, toward, or upon the waters of baptism, but upon the name, the person of the Lord Jesus Christ! Water, ritual, rites, or baptism have nothing to do with the forgiveness of sins, but resting upon the name of the Lord Jesus Christ has everything to do with it.

The "Name of Jesus Christ" in Acts:⁴

Salvation Passages

In the very context of Acts 2:38, Peter states that "whosoever shall call upon the NAME of the Lord shall be saved" (2:21). He goes on to explain that "… this same Jesus, that is, Jesus of Nazareth, is made by God both Lord and Christ" (2:22 and 36), meaning: to call upon the NAME of the Lord is to call upon none other than the Lord Jesus Christ. No baptism here for salvation!

Moreover, our same spokesman, Peter, tells the Sanhedrin: "for there is none other NAME under heaven given among men whereby we must be saved." No baptism here! Or did Peter simply forget to tell them that "water baptism washed away sins"? The answer is obvious; sins are forgiven totally and only through the person and work of the Lord Jesus Christ at Calvary. Peter knew that; he states it in Acts 2:38 by the use of the preposition epi in connection with "the NAME of Jesus Christ." Then he reaffirms the same truth in Acts 4:12.

Let one other passage in Acts speak to this issue: Acts 10:43. It is not an accident that the person speaking is Peter, who, in telling the house of Cornelius "words whereby he and his house could be saved" (11:14), states, "to him (Jesus Christ) give all the prophets witness that through his NAME whosoever believeth in him shall receive remission of sins." 

What? No water baptism? Peter are you certain? Absolutely, no water baptism; moreover, no circumcision, no law keeping, no ritual, no rite… nothing, except faith in HIS NAME brings remission of sins. Proof: the very moment he spake these words, the Holy Spirit fell upon Cornelius and his household because Peter had told them all the information necessary to be saved and they believed it. The Holy Spirit instantly indwelt them. And not one word to this point was said about baptism! 

Involved in the "name of Jesus Christ" is the idea of his full identity. He is the Lord Jesus Christ, the unique Son of God. Subsumed in his name is his work at Calvary. As Jesus, the Messiah, "the Christ, the Anointed One," the one prophesied in the Old Testament, he died substitutionally for the sins of mankind, for your sins and for mine. Faith in that NAME, confidence in his full identity and mission as it is clarified in his cross and subsequent resurrection, brings immediate, absolute, and total judicial forgiveness of sins.

Conclusion

Acts 2:38 encourages the hearers to "rest upon (epi) the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of sins." Once they had done this, they were to be "baptized in water." Water baptism is not part of, nor in anyway related to, forgiveness of sins. It is, as Peter will later state, "the answer of a good conscience toward God" (I Peter 3:21b). Since this is true, baptismal regeneration is not only a perversion; it is a heresy of the first order.

Five Strengths of this Exposition

1. It is based upon the normal use of the preposition epi (epi).

2. It is consistent and congruent with other statements by Peter in Acts on the subject of forgiveness. We could support this argument with clear statements from the Pauline letters, but in this article, I am trying show that Peter is consistent as is all of Acts on this subject.

3. It maintains the normal usage of the preposition eis ("for"), i.e., "resting upon the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins." Some good Bible teachers have sought to show that eis (eiV ) is causal here; i.e., "be baptized in the name… because of the forgiveness of sins."⁵ Good hermeneutics always seek normative usage.

4. It is consistent with the normal use of "the name of Jesus Christ" in Acts.

5. It is consistent with the salvation of the thief on the cross! ¢

Footnotes

Only two manuscripts of any value have the preposition en (en) here: Codices B and D. The vast majority read epi (epi). The King James reading most likely came from D (Codex Bezae).

² For use of epi (epi) with the Dative Case, see Daniel B. Wallace, Greek Grammar Beyond the Basics, Zondervan, 1996, p. 376; A. T. Robertson, A Grammar of the Greek New Testament in Light of Historical Research, Broadman Press, 1934, p. 600; or H. E. Dana and Julius R. Mantey, A Manual Grammar of the Greek New Testament; Macmillan and Co., 1927, p. 106.

³ Robertson, A. T., op cit., p. 600.

⁴ "The name of Jesus," "the name of Jesus Christ," etc., or simply "the name" as it refers to Christ, is used 31 times in Acts; 2:21, 38; 3:6, 16; 4:7, 10, 12, 17, 18, 30; 5:28, 40, 41; 8:12, 16; 9:14, 15, 16, 21, 27, 29; 10:43, 48; 15:26; 16:18; 19:5, 13, 17; 21:13; 22:16; 26:9.

⁵ See Daniel B. Wallace, op cit., pp. 369-370 for a discussion of the causal use of eiV ; he makes reference to Dana and Mantey. Interestingly, Wallace makes no comment on the significance of epi as used in Acts 2:38 and elsewhere in Acts!