{"id":87554,"date":"2025-06-06T13:09:25","date_gmt":"2025-06-06T18:09:25","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/?p=87554"},"modified":"2025-06-06T13:09:25","modified_gmt":"2025-06-06T18:09:25","slug":"why-are-be-baptized-in-different-voices-in-acts-238-and-acts-2216","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/why-are-be-baptized-in-different-voices-in-acts-238-and-acts-2216\/","title":{"rendered":"Why are &#8220;be baptized&#8221; in different voices in Acts 2:38 and Acts 22:16?"},"content":{"rendered":"\n\n\t<h2>Question:<\/h2>\n<p>I would love your thoughts on this.<\/p>\n<p>In Acts 2:38, &#8220;be baptized&#8221; is a third-person verb in the passive voice, unlike the second-person verbs of &#8220;repent&#8221; and &#8220;hear&#8221; (Acts 2:22). This confirms that baptism is less of a work for the sinner to perform and more a work for the sinner to submit to.<\/p>\n<p>In Acts 22:16, however, when Ananias commanded Saul to be baptized, &#8220;be baptized&#8221; is a second-person verb in the middle voice. In this tense, the subject is both the actor and recipient of the action. So, was Paul told to baptize himself?<\/p>\n\t<h2>Answer:<\/h2>\n<p>In the active voice, the subject acts on the object: &#8220;Joe hit the ball.&#8221; In the passive voice, the object receives the action: &#8220;The ball was hit by Joe.&#8221; The Greek language has a middle voice where the action affects both the subject and the object.<\/p>\n<p>By being in the middle voice, Ananias is telling Paul to submit to baptism, but in doing so, he also will receive a benefit: his sins will be washed away. &#8220;The convert in &#8216;getting baptised&#8217; was conceived as doing something for himself, not merely as receiving something&#8221; [Expositor&#8217;s Greek New Testament]. Another way to phrase this is that Paul is choosing to submit himself to baptism. It is an action that Paul takes, which is also done to him.<\/p>\n<p>In Acts 2:38, a person is to repent (active voice) and be baptized (passive voice), gaining forgiveness of sin and receiving (middle voice) the gift of the Holy Spirit.\u00a0The Greek word\u00a0<em>lepsesthe<\/em>\u00a0(you will receive) is grammatically a second-person, indicative, future, middle verb.<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Indicative means that this is an assertion, which is why it is translated as <em>will<\/em>\u00a0receive.<\/li>\n<li>Future means that we are talking about something that has not happened yet.<\/li>\n<li>Middle means that the subject (you) has a vested interest in the action. The emphasis is on the subject rather than the action.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>At the time Peter spoke these words, his audience had not yet been baptized. Thus, what they will receive is in their future. Peter is emphasizing that they have a vested interest in receiving the gift. This gift comes in response to their action (repenting) and submission (being baptized). It is not just a gift given to them (that would require a passive voice). It is not something they are earning (that would require an active voice).<\/p>\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Question: I would love your thoughts on this. In Acts 2:38, &#8220;be baptized&#8221; is a third-person verb in the passive voice, unlike the second-person verbs of &#8220;repent&#8221; and &#8220;hear&#8221; (Acts 2:22). This confirms that baptism is less of a work for the sinner to perform and more a work for the sinner to submit to.&hellip;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"advanced_seo_description":"","jetpack_seo_html_title":"","jetpack_seo_noindex":false,"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[20],"tags":[52,1098,1574],"class_list":["post-87554","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-answer","tag-baptism","tag-grammar","tag-greek-language"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":46147,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/does-the-grammar-of-acts-238-mean-that-the-gift-of-the-holy-spirit-cant-be-salvation\/","url_meta":{"origin":87554,"position":0},"title":"Does the grammar of Acts 2:38 mean that the gift of the Holy Spirit can&#8217;t be salvation?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"April 10, 2022","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: I believe the gift and promise of the Holy Spirit is salvation, but a brother in Christ has told me it cannot be, due to the Greek grammar of \"shall receive\" in verse 38 having \"middle voice future tense\". He believes salvation cannot be the gift since the gift\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Answer&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":22032,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/how-can-a-person-living-in-an-adulterous-marriage-still-be-in-sin-after-baptism\/","url_meta":{"origin":87554,"position":1},"title":"How can a person living in an adulterous marriage still be in sin after baptism?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"February 19, 2010","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: I don't understand how a non-believer, who divorced their spouse for reasons other than fornication and remarries, if they are born again, are living in sin. I thought when you are baptized all of your sins were forgiven according to Acts 2:38. Are only certain sins forgivable? Can you\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Answer&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":94715,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/acts-2216\/","url_meta":{"origin":87554,"position":2},"title":"Acts 22:16","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"March 20, 2026","format":false,"excerpt":"by Terry Wane Benton Acts 22:16 Links Baptism and Calling Together with Washing The grammar of Acts 22:16 strongly links baptism and the washing away of sins as simultaneous actions, both carried out while calling on the name of the Lord. The Greek Structure of Acts 22:16 The verse reads:\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Article&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Article","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/article\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":9039,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/what-about-the-argument-that-for-the-remission-of-your-sins-is-plural-and-refers-back-to-repentance-in-acts-238\/","url_meta":{"origin":87554,"position":3},"title":"What about the argument that &#8220;for the remission of your sins&#8221; is plural and refers back to repentance in Acts 2:38?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"March 17, 2007","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: Hello again. An argument that I have addressed with my friend, but I thought you might like, is about baptism. The argument is that if it says in Acts 2:38 \"for the remission of your sins\" instead of \"for the remission of sins\" then it is personal and it\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Answer&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":8008,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/calling-on-the-name-of-the-lord\/","url_meta":{"origin":87554,"position":4},"title":"Calling on the Name of the Lord (Hamilton)","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"August 22, 2019","format":false,"excerpt":"by Jeffrey W. Hamilton Text: Acts 2:14-21 \u00a0 I.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Most linguist will tell you that one difficulty in translating between two languages is dealing with idioms \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0A.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0An idiom is a phrase that doesn\u2019t mean what is literally said, but native speakers understand them without much thought \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0B.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Examples from English are\u201d \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a01.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Audio&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Audio","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/audio\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":33826,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/does-it-make-a-difference-that-the-preposition-used-for-in-the-name-of-is-different-in-various-verses\/","url_meta":{"origin":87554,"position":5},"title":"Does it make a difference that the preposition used for &#8220;in the name of&#8221; is different in various verses?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"March 30, 2021","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: I have often tried to tell people that \"in the name of\" in Acts 2:38, means or is \"by the authority of.\" When I was looking at the Greek, it has the word \"epi\" in Acts 2:38 for the word \"in\" which means \"on, upon\", and the usage is\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Answer&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/87554","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=87554"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/87554\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=87554"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=87554"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=87554"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}