There are some who claim that a work of man (in this case baptism by water)
is a requirement for salvation. Although there are over 200 places in the
Bible where faith in Jesus Christ is the SOLE requirement for salvation,
there are those who hold to the heresy of water baptism as a requirement for
salvation. One passage in particular, Acts 2:38, is clung to by many of
those heretics as their "security blanket" proof of water baptism as a
requirement for salvation. Problem is...they are forced to twist the meaning
of Acts 2:38 in order to support their heresy. Craig Branch addresses this
problem and refutes the heretical twisting of Acts 2:38 in a solid manner
albeit brief.

May God bless,
Carl
website -- http://www.nettally.com/saints/
blog -- http://www.anniemayhem.com/cgi-bin/wordpress/

Recently some have been using the weak argument that since the word
"trinity" does not appear in the Bible then the concept cannot be Biblically
true. Logically that is an erroneous debate tactic yet some people use it to
deny the Biblical concept of the Holy Trinity. Greg Koukl addresses this
argument tactic on the air and explains correctly why it's a bogus point.
The transcript is available online at
http://www.str.org/site/News2?page=NewsArticle&id=5309

May God bless,
Carl
website -- http://www.nettally.com/saints/
blog -- http://www.anniemayhem.com/cgi-bin/wordpress/

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Twisting Acts 2:38 - The Question of Baptism by Water for Salvation
by Craig Branch

One of the most common methods cult leaders use to establish their false
doctrine is to employ segmented text attention. That is, isolating verses
which on the surface seem to the novice Bible student, to affirm the cult's
doctrine.

The "doctrine of demons" (1 Timothy 4:1) seeks to undermine the Person and
work of Christ (i.e., a different Jesus and a different gospel, 2
Corinthians 11:3-4).
In line with the cult's false gospel of works as opposed to grace (Romans
11:6), in order to be justified (declared righteous) before God, many cults
teach that one of several necessary steps to becoming saved is to be
baptized in water. This inevitably removes the focus from Christ's finished
work and imputed righteousness to the individual (faith in Christ alone by
grace alone), and subtlety or overtly leads to the conclusion that
"official" baptism by and into the cult (the one and only true church)
actually will save.

Several groups teach baptismal salvation. Among them are Mormonism,
Jehovah's Witnesses, Armstrong's Worldwide Church of God, United
Pentecostals, and many Churches of Christ.

There are about eight main verses that the cults use as proof-texts for
their doctrine of baptismal regeneration, but the most popular is Acts 2:38,
"And Peter said to them, `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.'"
Notice that on the surface it seems to prove their point, but not when one
applies sound principles of interpretation. Remember the question to always
ask is, "What does the passage mean", not, "What does it say?". For
instance, Jesus seems to say in Luke 14:33 that one cannot be a disciple
(Christian) unless he first gives away all his possessions. Obviously we
have to interpret the verse in light of the context and in relation to the
rest of Scripture.

First is the historical context. Jesus and the Gentile converts to Judaism
were very familiar with the symbol of baptism for cleansing and separation.
It was normal practice (Unger's Bible Dictionary, p. 122; New Bible
Dictionary, Douglas, p. 131). John the Baptist continued the symbol of
baptismal cleansing of repentance, but noted there was a baptism which
superseded it -- that is baptism with the Holy Spirit (Mark 1:8).

The grammatical context is also important. A key word in Acts 2:38 for the
baptismal salvation proponents is "for"; "baptized... for the forgiveness of
sins." They insist that the meaning be interpreted "in order to obtain" the
forgiveness of sins. The problem with this insistence is that the word "for"
(eis, in Greek) has several connotations in New Testament Koine Greek.
Thayer's Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament says that eis is a
versatile word which primarily "denotes entrance into, or direction and
limit: into, to, toward, for, among," (p. 183).

In other words the symbol of baptism could either be pointing towards the
cleansing and forgiveness (with reference to), or could pointing to the
actual procuring of forgiveness (in order to).

Renowned Greek scholar A. T. Robertson states that not only does eis signify
"aim or purpose" (in order to) as in 1 Corinthians 2:7, it can just as well
mean "on the basis or ground of (with reference to), Matthew 10:41; 12:41.

He states that, "the illustrations of both usages are numerous in the New
Testament and the Koine (New Testament Greek) generally.

"One will decide the use here (Acts 2:38) according as he believes that
baptism is essential to the remission of sins or not. My view is decidedly
against the idea that Peter, Paul, or any one in the New Testament taught
baptism as essential to the remission of sins..." (Word Pictures of the New
Testament, pp. 35-36).

Why do the overwhelming percentage of Greek scholars agree with Robertson?
Because the rest of Scripture refutes baptismal regeneration. All one has to
do is read Acts 10, concerning the account of Peter taking the gospel (which
saves, Romans 1:16), to Cornelius and the Gentiles. As Peter proceeds
through the gospel message (vs. 34-43), the Scriptures relate that the gift
of the Holy Spirit was received upon believing by these Gentiles before they
were baptized in water (10:44-48; 11:17-18). Additionally, the Scripture
teaches that this is the same way all are saved (Acts 11:15-18, 15:7-11).