The Gift of the Holy Spirit

By Carl O. Cooper

Acts 2:38-39 (NKJV)

38 Then Peter said to them, “Repent, and let every one of you be baptized in the name of Jesus   Christ for (eis) the remission of sins; and you shall receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.

39 For (Gar) the promise is to you and to your children, and to all who are afar off, as many   as the Lord our God will call.”

            Notice that the word “for” is used 2 times in these 2 verses. And although our English word “for” is used 2 times it was not so with the original Greek. In the original Greek 2 separate words were used with 2 totally separate meanings. In the original Greek the words “eis” and “gar” were used.

            The use of the word “for” in these 2 verses has been a stumbling block for religious people for hundreds of years. You see, the English word “for” carries more than 1 meaning. “For” can mean “in order to receive” or it can mean “because”.

            In this sentence, ““Repent, and let every one of you be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for (eis) the remission of sins” the definition of “eis” is clear. This Greek word carries the definition of “into”, toward”, “in order to”, and “in order to receive”. This clearly makes baptism necessary and required “in order to” receive remission of sins. Now this creates a major hurdle for many denominational groups who have, for many years, taught that a person is saved by “faith alone” without the need of baptism. How can you explain Acts 2:38 and teach that baptism is not required for the remission of sins. Well, you can’t do it if “for (eis)” is properly translated “into”. So a well designed “trick” was introduced to change the meaning of all that is being said here by Peter. If we craftily ignore the definitions of the Greek word “eis” and use the many definitions of the English word “for”, we can choose a meaning that suits our false doctrine of “salvation by faith alone”. Another meaning for the English word “for” is “because”. If we ignore the proper meaning of the Greek and use the English definition of the word “for” we now can cause this sentence to read, “Repent and be baptized because your sins are forgiven”.

          This is “sleight of hand and trickery”. Notice that there are two things mentioned that are require for remission of sins. The text says “repent and be baptized”. Would anyone be bold enough to say that we could be saved without repentance?  No, I think not. A sinner is required to repent to have his sins forgiven. It would be one thing to say, “Be baptized because your sins are already forgiven” but quite another to try to justify a statement that would say, “Repent because your sins are already forgiven”. No, the trick falls apart at this point.

          Also, the Greek word “eis” is used 3 times in Romans 6:3-4 (KJV)

3. Know ye not, that so many of us as were baptized into (eis) Jesus Christ were baptized into (eis) his death? 4 Therefore we are buried with him by baptism into (eis) death:  

            Notice here that every time the Greek word “eis” is used it is translated “into”. This is the proper translation of the word “eis” from Greek into English. There are many other Scriptures where “eis” is used and properly translated. Such as Acts 3:19, Romans 10:10, Matt. 26:28 and many others.

            Now let’s look at the word “for” in this verse. Acts 2:39 (NKJV)  

For (Gar) the promise is to you and to your children, and to all who are afar off, as many as the Lord our God will call.”  

            Peter had just told the crowd of Jews in Jerusalem (there for the celebration of Pentecost) that they needed to be baptized “into” (eis) salvation. He goes on to tell them that those who would consent to being baptized would receive the “gift of the Holy Spirit”. He explains that they would receive this gift “because” (gar) the promise (the promise God made to Abraham) is to you and your children (the Jews) and to all them who are afar off. (Meaning the Gentiles)  

          So to explain and paraphrase acts 2:38-39, Peter tells the Jews that they needed to “repent and be baptized” in order to have their sins forgiven. And he tells them that all who would do this would receive the gift (to them) from the Holy Spirit. That gift is eternal salvation. And he says that this salvation was the promise that had been prophesied (all the way back to Abraham). The promise was that all nations of the earth would be blessed. It would be for the Jews and their children as well as all those who were afar off. (That was a reference to the Gentiles as well as the Jews).

            There are good, sound, highly intelligent brethren in the church who have a different explanation as to what is meant by “the gift of the Holy Spirit”. I feel I am correct, but I do not treat lightly or depreciate what they have to say.

Carl O. Cooper