Direct Answer
Acts 2:38 means that Peter called the convicted hearers at Pentecost to repent and be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ so that they might receive the remission, or forgiveness, of sins, together with the promised gift of the Holy Spirit.
That is the straightforward reading reflected in the sources supplied here. Peter’s answer is not presented as, “Be baptized because your sins have already been remitted,” but as a command joined to a promise: repent, be baptized, and receive forgiveness and the gift of the Holy Spirit. John Chrysostom, commenting directly on Acts 2:38, summarizes Peter’s words this way: “Let each of you be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ, for the remission of sins,” and then asks, “If you are to receive a gift, if baptism conveys remission, why delay?”
The early Christian writers cited below consistently read the phrase in that same way. They associated Christian baptism with the washing away, cancellation, or remission of past sins, while still insisting that repentance, faith in Christ, and the name of Jesus are essential. They did not treat the water as a magical act detached from repentance and Christ; rather, baptism was the appointed Christian response of repentant faith to the gospel.
What Scripture Says
The central text is Peter’s reply after his hearers were pierced by the apostolic preaching.
Acts 2:37 is supplied as the immediate context. The people, having heard Peter’s proclamation, ask, “Men and brothers, what shall we do?” Chrysostom comments on this moment by saying that they “confessed that they were in extreme peril and without any hope of salvation.” They do not merely ask for information. They surrender themselves to apostolic direction.
Peter’s answer, as quoted repeatedly in the supplied materials, is:
“Repent, and let every one of you be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins, and you shall receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.”
A related lesson on baptism cites Acts 2:38 and observes:
“He says, ‘Let each of you be baptized for the remission of sins.’ … remission or forgiveness of sins was connected with baptism there.”
Another Q&A segment makes the same point from the wording of the verse:
“Acts 2:38, the first Christian baptism. It says, ‘Then Peter said to them, “Repent, and let every one of you be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins, or forgiveness of sins, and you shall receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.”’ So, that’s why they believed in baptism for the remission or forgiveness of sins, is because of what is said there.”
Several features of Acts 2:38 matter.
First, Peter’s command begins with repentance. The remission promised is not separated from turning from sin. Peter is answering people who have been convicted by the message about Jesus.
Second, Peter commands baptism “in the name of Jesus Christ.” The remission of sins is not attached to a nameless ritual. The baptism is explicitly Christian baptism, done in relation to Jesus Christ.
Third, Peter says this baptism is “for the remission of sins.” The supplied sources repeatedly explain “remission” as “forgiveness.” The question, then, is not whether remission means forgiveness; the sources directly equate them. The issue is whether baptism is being connected to receiving forgiveness. The supplied evidence answers yes.
Fourth, Peter adds, “and you shall receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.” In the related Q&A, the speaker notes that the early Christians understood sins to be forgiven in baptism and the Holy Spirit to be received through the laying on of hands, because they “took the Scriptures very literally.” The same answer cites Acts 2:38 as the beginning point for that understanding.
The wider supplied Scripture references help clarify another distinction: John’s baptism and Christian baptism are not identical.
Mark 1:4 and Luke 3:3 are supplied as passages about John preaching “a baptism of repentance for the remission of sins.” Acts 19:4 is also supplied, where Paul explains John’s baptism as a baptism of repentance, pointing people to believe in the One coming after him, Christ Jesus. The early Christian comments below repeatedly use these passages to say that John prepared the way, but the full remission and Spirit-gift belong to Christ’s baptism.
The supplied excerpt from Chrysostom on Matthew says:
“Luke say[s] that John ‘came into the country around the Jordan, preaching a baptism of repentance for the remission of sins’ … And yet it did not give remission of sins, because that gift belonged to the baptism given later. For in this baptism we are buried with Him, and our old self was then crucified with Him. Before the cross, remission of sins does not appear anywhere. Everywhere, it is credited to His blood.”
He then cites Paul’s language:
“Paul also says, ‘But you were washed, but you were sanctified,’ not by the baptism of John, but ‘in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, and by the Spirit of our God.’”
The supplied Scripture reference is 1 Corinthians 6:11. The excerpt’s point is that Christian washing, sanctification, and justification are in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and by the Spirit of God—not merely John’s preparatory baptism.
So, within the supplied evidence, Acts 2:38 is read as the apostolic answer to convicted sinners: repent, be baptized in Jesus’ name, receive forgiveness of sins, and receive the promised Holy Spirit.
What the Early Christian Writers Say
The early Christian evidence is unusually direct on this question. Several writers either comment on Acts 2:38 itself or speak of baptism as the place where past sins are remitted.
John Chrysostom on Acts 2:38
Chrysostom’s Homily 7 on Acts comments directly on the scene:
“Those words were enough to bring them to faith. But these words show what the believer ought to do. And he did not say, ‘In the Cross,’ but, ‘Let every one of you be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ.’ Acts 2:38. And he does not keep putting them in mind of the Cross, so that he may not seem to reproach them. He says simply, ‘Repent.’ And why? So that we may be punished? No. ‘Let each of you be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ, for the remission of sins.’”
Chrysostom then explains the gospel reversal:
“In the case of the Gospel proclamation, when the offender has confessed, then he is saved.”
And he connects the remission of sins with the promised Spirit:
“He also states the conditions, and adds, ‘You shall receive the gift of the Holy Spirit,’ an assertion accredited by the fact that the Apostles themselves had received that gift.”
Another paragraph from the same homily is even more explicit:
“Here again Peter, though the question is put to all, is the one who answers. ‘Repent,’ he says, ‘and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ.’ Acts 2:38 He does not yet say, ‘Believe,’ but, ‘Be baptized every one of you.’ For this they received in baptism. Then he speaks of the gain: ‘For the remission of sins, and you shall receive the gift of the Holy Ghost.’ If you are to receive a gift, if baptism conveys remission, why delay?”
For Chrysostom, “for the remission of sins” is not merely symbolic language. He says “this they received in baptism,” and he explicitly says “baptism conveys remission.” That is a direct early interpretation of the phrase in Acts 2:38.
Justin Martyr on obtaining remission in the water
Justin Martyr, in the First Apology, describes Christian baptism and says the church learned its reason from the apostles:
“And for this [rite] we have learned this reason from the apostles. Since at birth we were born without our own knowledge or choice … so that we may not remain children of necessity and ignorance, but may become children of choice and knowledge, and may obtain in the water the remission of sins previously committed, the name of God the Father and Lord of the universe is pronounced over the one who chooses to be born again and has repented of sins.”
Justin’s wording is important. He says baptism is for those who “choose to be born again” and have “repented of sins.” He does not describe remission as detached from repentance. But he also says the person may “obtain in the water the remission of sins previously committed.”
He continues:
“This washing is called illumination because those who learn these things are enlightened in their understanding. And in the name of Jesus Christ, who was crucified under Pontius Pilate, and in the name of the Holy Ghost … the one who is enlightened is washed.”
Justin therefore links Christian baptism with repentance, new birth, the name of God, the name of Jesus Christ, the Holy Spirit, and remission of previously committed sins. That fits the same pattern as Acts 2:38: repentance, baptism in Christ’s name, remission, and the Spirit.
Tertullian on John’s baptism and future remission in Christ
Tertullian’s On Baptism distinguishes John’s baptism from Christian baptism. He says that in Acts, those who had John’s baptism had not received the Holy Spirit, and that John’s baptism was preparatory:
“And so the baptism of repentance, Acts 19:4, was treated as if it were a candidate for the remission and sanctification soon about to follow in Christ.”
He then comments on Mark 1:4:
“For when John used to preach baptism for the remission of sins, Mark 1:4, the declaration was made with reference to future remission. For it is true, as it is, that repentance is first, remission follows after; and this is preparing the way, Luke 1:76. But he who prepares does not himself perfect. He procures for another to perfect.”
This helps answer a possible confusion. If John also preached “baptism for the remission of sins,” does that mean Christian baptism in Acts 2:38 is no different? Tertullian says no. John’s baptism was a “baptism of repentance” preparing for the remission and sanctification that would follow “in Christ.” John prepares; Christ perfects.
That distinction is also made by Chrysostom, who says John’s baptism “did not give remission of sins, because that gift belonged to the baptism given later.”
Chrysostom on John’s baptism versus Christian remission
In Homilies on Matthew, Chrysostom addresses Luke 3:3:
“And if that were the only reason, how does Luke say that John ‘came into the country around the Jordan, preaching a baptism of repentance for the remission of sins’? Luke 3:3 And yet it did not give remission of sins, because that gift belonged to the baptism given later.”
He grounds this in Christ’s death and the gift of the Spirit:
“Before the cross, remission of sins does not appear anywhere. Everywhere, it is credited to His blood. Paul also says, ‘But you were washed, but you were sanctified,’ not by the baptism of John, but ‘in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, and by the Spirit of our God.’ 1 Corinthians 6:11.”
Then he cites Acts 19:4:
“John truly preached a baptism of repentance,” he does not say, “of remission,” “that they should believe in Him who would come after him.” Acts 19:4
Chrysostom’s concern is not to weaken Acts 2:38. Rather, he strengthens the distinction between John’s preparatory baptism and Christian baptism after Christ’s death and resurrection. The remission in Christian baptism is credited to Christ’s blood and given in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and by the Spirit of God.
Cyprian on baptism, forgiveness, and the Church
Cyprian’s letters, while often arguing about heretical baptism, show how naturally early Christians associated baptism with the forgiveness of sins.
In Epistle 69, Cyprian says the baptismal question itself witnessed to this belief:
“For when we say, ‘Do you believe in eternal life and the forgiveness of sins through the holy Church?’ we mean that the forgiveness of sins is not given except in the Church, and that among heretics, where there is no Church, sins cannot be taken away.”
In Epistle 72, he writes:
“When they know that there is no baptism outside, and that no forgiveness of sins can be given outside the Church, they hurry to us more eagerly and readily, and beg for the gifts and benefits of the Church our Mother.”
Cyprian also directly quotes Peter’s words from Acts:
“Peter tells them in the Acts of the Apostles, saying, ‘Repent, and be baptized every one of you in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ, for the remission of sins, and you shall receive the gift of the Holy Ghost.’”
Cyprian’s controversy is not the main question here, and the supplied sources do not require adopting every part of his argument about rebaptism. But his use of Acts 2:38 is significant: he assumes that baptism, rightly received in the Christian faith, is connected with the forgiveness of sins.
The Apostolic Constitutions on one baptism and remission
The Apostolic Constitutions also speak of baptism in relation to remission:
“Likewise, be satisfied with one baptism only, the one into the death of the Lord … in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit.”
It then warns against polluted baptism from the ungodly:
“Nor are those baptized by them truly initiated; rather, they are polluted, receiving not the remission of sins, but the bond of impiety.”
Again, the controversy concerns valid and invalid baptism, but the assumption is clear: true Christian baptism is expected to be associated with “the remission of sins.”
Treatise on Re-Baptism on the name of Jesus in baptism
The Treatise on Re-Baptism connects apostolic baptism in the name of Jesus with salvation:
“Nor, as I think, was it for any other reason that the apostles charged those whom they addressed in the Holy Spirit to be baptized in the name of Christ Jesus, except that the power of the name of Jesus, invoked upon any man in baptism, might give no small advantage toward obtaining salvation for the one being baptized.”
The writer then cites Acts 4:12:
“For there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved.”
This source does not quote Acts 2:38 in the excerpt, but it helps explain why “in the name of Jesus Christ” matters in Acts 2:38. The remission is not attributed to water alone, but to baptism in the saving name of Jesus.
What Is Explicitly Stated
Several things are explicit in the supplied sources.
- Acts 2:38 says repentance and baptism in Jesus’ name are connected with remission of sins. The verse is repeatedly quoted: “Repent, and let every one of you be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins.”
- “Remission” means forgiveness. The related Q&A explicitly says “for the remission of sins, or forgiveness of sins.” Other lessons likewise speak of “remission or forgiveness of sins.”
- The early Christian writers understood baptism as joined to the forgiveness of past sins. Justin says the repentant person may “obtain in the water the remission of sins previously committed.” Chrysostom says, “if baptism conveys remission, why delay?”
- This forgiveness is not separated from repentance and Christ. Acts 2:38 begins, “Repent.” Justin speaks of the one who “chooses to be born again and has repented of sins.” The baptism is “in the name of Jesus Christ.”
- John’s baptism is treated as preparatory, not as the full Christian baptism of Acts 2:38. Tertullian says John’s baptism was “a candidate for the remission and sanctification soon about to follow in Christ.” Chrysostom says John’s baptism “did not give remission of sins, because that gift belonged to the baptism given later.”
- The gift of the Holy Spirit is part of Peter’s promise. Acts 2:38 says, “and you shall receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.” Chrysostom says Peter “states the conditions” and then adds this promise.
What Is Strongly Implied
The supplied evidence strongly implies that “for the remission of sins” should be read as unto, toward, or for the receiving of forgiveness, not as “because forgiveness has already happened before baptism.” The sources do not present Acts 2:38 as a mere public sign of an already completed remission. Instead, Chrysostom says “this they received in baptism,” and Justin says the repentant are washed so they “may obtain in the water the remission of sins previously committed.”
It is also strongly implied that baptism is not an isolated mechanical act. In every major witness, baptism is bound up with repentance, faith, the name of Jesus, and the work of the Holy Spirit. Peter speaks to people cut to the heart. Justin speaks of those who choose knowingly and repent. Tertullian and Chrysostom distinguish Christian baptism from John’s baptism precisely because remission belongs to Christ’s completed work and the Spirit’s gift.
A further implication is that the early Christians saw Acts 2:38 as part of a larger biblical pattern. The supplied lesson “Chapter 8: What Baptism Meant to the Early Christians” lists Acts 22:16, Titus 3:5, 1 Peter 3:21, and Acts 2:38 together, and says early Christians associated water baptism with “remission of sins,” believing it “canceled all past sins.” The same lesson adds that this was “completely independent of any merit on the baptized person’s part,” and that baptism was therefore often referred to as grace.
What These Sources Do Not Address
These sources do not give a detailed Greek grammatical study of the word translated “for” in Acts 2:38. The answer above is therefore not based on a separate lexical argument from Greek grammar. It is based on how the supplied Scripture quotations, early Christian comments, and related lessons interpret the phrase.
These sources also do not answer every later theological question about baptism. They do not, in the excerpts supplied here, fully define the relation between baptism and faith in every possible case, nor do they give a systematic account of exceptions, delayed baptism, or pastoral edge cases. They do, however, directly answer the meaning of the phrase in Acts 2:38 as it was read by the cited early Christian witnesses.
Finally, the early Christian writers are not being used as equal authorities with Scripture. Peter’s apostolic command in Acts 2:38 is the primary evidence. Justin, Tertullian, Chrysostom, Cyprian, and the other witnesses show how early Christians understood and practiced that apostolic teaching.
Summary
Acts 2:38 means that Peter told convicted hearers to repent and be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission—that is, forgiveness—of sins, with the promise that they would receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.
The supplied sources consistently read the phrase this way. Chrysostom, commenting directly on Acts 2:38, says Peter speaks of the “gain” of baptism: “for the remission of sins,” and then adds, “if baptism conveys remission, why delay?” Justin Martyr says repentant converts were washed so they might “obtain in the water the remission of sins previously committed.” Tertullian and Chrysostom both distinguish John’s baptism from Christian baptism, saying John prepared the way, while true remission belonged to Christ and the baptism given after His saving work.
So the best answer from these sources is: “For the remission of sins” in Acts 2:38 means that repentant believers are baptized in Jesus’ name in order to receive the forgiveness of sins promised in the gospel—not as a work of merit, and not apart from Christ, but as the apostolic response of repentance and faith to Jesus Christ.
