εἰς ἄφεσιν ἁμαρτιῶν
εἰς ἄφεσιν ἁμαρτιῶν
Have a look at the two Greek phrases above. Do you notice any differences? Both of these sentences mean exactly the same, “for the forgiveness of sins”. Now what if I was to tell you that the first one is from Matthew 26:28 where Jesus introducing the Lord’s Supper says, “This is my blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins”. Knowing this, would it make any sense to change the translation to, “This is the blood of the covenant, which is poured out because sins are already forgiven”? No, that wouldn’t make sense. Jesus had to pour out His blood for (in order to obtain) forgiveness of sins. If this is the case why do many Christian based groups tell us that in Acts 2:38, which has the same Greek rendering as Matthew 26:28 “for the forgiveness of sins”, that the word “for” should really be translated “because”. Meaning you need to be baptized because your sins have already been forgiven. By telling us we need to translate Acts 2:38 differently from Matthew 26:28 they reveal they are reading these passages in a biased way to fit their belief that baptism isn’t a necessary part of salvation. Now let’s be clear, baptism isn’t a work that earns salvation. No one is saying that. However, it is a necessary step that links us by faith to the death, burial and resurrection of Jesus. It is in this moment of baptism that God chooses to cleanse us from our sin.
“And now what are you waiting for? Get up, be baptized and wash your sins away, calling on his name” Acts 22:16
