Rich Responds To Tony's Article On Baptism

Rich responds to the recent "Doctrine Matters" on the necessity of water baptism:Mr. Donahue, Please look at Acts 9:15. Please interpret the word (for) in this verse. It has the same idea as because. Just as in Acts 2:38.Thanks for the good query Rich.The word "for" in Acts 9:15 would carry the idea of "because of," but is not translated from the same Greek word "eis" that is found in Acts 2:38.Our English word "for" can go either way, for example:- the team got six points "for" (because of) a touchdown- the team threw a long pass "for" (in order to obtain) a touchdownBut the Greek word "eis" is in the new testament 345 times, and it never points back to something that has already happened. Remember the following quotes from the Greek language experts?:· "I do not know of any Greek Lexicon which gives to 'eis' the meaning of 'because of.'" (Carl H. Morgan, Dean, Eastern Baptist Theological Seminary)· "Normally 'eis' looks forward, and I know of no case in the New Testament where it looks back." (D.A. Penick, Professor of Classical Languages, University of Texas)So water baptism in Acts 2:38 is for/eis (in order to obtain) the remission of sins.It turns out Acts 2:38 means exactly what it says after all.For a debate on the subject of "Salvation By Faith Only" with fair representation from both sides, go to:http://98.131.169.180/Debates/Written/CockrellDonahue/index.htm