{"id":94715,"date":"2026-03-20T10:27:13","date_gmt":"2026-03-20T15:27:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/?p=94715"},"modified":"2026-03-20T10:27:13","modified_gmt":"2026-03-20T15:27:13","slug":"acts-2216","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/acts-2216\/","title":{"rendered":"Acts 22:16"},"content":{"rendered":"\n\n\t<p>by Terry Wane Benton<\/p>\n<h2>Acts 22:16 Links Baptism and Calling Together with Washing<\/h2>\n<p>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.<\/p>\n<h2>The Greek Structure of Acts 22:16<\/h2>\n<p>The verse reads: &#8220;<em>Anastas baptisai kai apolousai tas hamartias sou, epikalesamenos to onoma autou<\/em>.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>Here&#8217;s the structure:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>\u1f00\u03bd\u03ac\u03c3\u03c4\u03b7\u03b8\u03b9 &#8211; &#8220;Get up&#8221; (aorist imperative)<\/li>\n<li>\u03b2\u03b1\u03c0\u03c4\u03af\u03c3\u03b1\u03b9 &#8211; &#8220;be baptized&#8221; (aorist middle imperative)<\/li>\n<li>\u1f00\u03c0\u03cc\u03bb\u03bf\u03c5\u03c3\u03b1\u03b9 &#8211; &#8220;wash away [your] sins&#8221; (aorist middle imperative)<\/li>\n<li>\u1f10\u03c0\u03b9\u03ba\u03b1\u03bb\u03b5\u03c3\u03ac\u03bc\u03b5\u03bd\u03bf\u03c2 &#8211; &#8220;calling on&#8221; (aorist middle participle of manner)<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>The key is that &#8220;be baptized&#8221; and &#8220;wash away your sins&#8221; are:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Both are aorist imperatives<\/li>\n<li>Both are in the middle voice<\/li>\n<li>They are joined by the conjunction <em>kai<\/em> (&#8220;and&#8221;)<\/li>\n<li>Both are modified by the same participle &#8220;calling on His name.&#8221;<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>This means they are grammatically parallel actions, performed together, in the same moment, and in the same manner.<\/p>\n<h2>What the Grammar Does Show<\/h2>\n<ol>\n<li>Baptism and washing away sins are grammatically linked. The two imperatives form a unit. Luke does not separate them into different time frames.<\/li>\n<li>The participle &#8220;<em>calling on His name<\/em>&#8221; modifies both actions. This means:\n<ul>\n<li>The manner of being baptized and the manner of washing away sins is calling on the name of the Lord.<\/li>\n<li>This is exactly how Joel 2:32 and Acts 2:21 function:\n<ul>\n<li>Calling on the Lord is the appeal for salvation-and baptism is the moment that appeal is expressed (cf. I Peter 3:21).<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<li>The aorist tense does not indicate sequence. Aorist imperatives simply command an action, not the order of actions. So the grammar does not say:\n<ul>\n<li>&#8220;Be baptized after your sins are washed away,&#8221; nor &#8220;Wash away your sins after baptism.&#8221;<\/li>\n<li>It simply commands both together.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<h2>What the Grammar Does Not Show<\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li>It does not prove that sins are washed away before baptism.<\/li>\n<li>There is no grammatical marker of prior action (no perfect tense, no temporal participle like &#8220;having been forgiven&#8221;). It does not prove that sins are washed away after baptism.<\/li>\n<li>There is no &#8220;then,&#8221; no sequential participle, no temporal adverb.<\/li>\n<li>It does not separate the two actions. The conjunction <em>kai<\/em> (&#8220;and&#8221;) binds them tightly.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2>Scholarly Consensus (Across Traditions)<\/h2>\n<p>Even scholars who disagree on baptism&#8217;s role agree on the grammar:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Baptism-as-salvation scholars (e.g., A.T. Robertson, J.W. McGarvey, Apologetics Press):\n<ul>\n<li>Emphasize the causative middle voice<\/li>\n<li>Note that the grammar ties baptism to the washing of sins<\/li>\n<li>See the actions as simultaneous<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<li>Baptism-not-for-salvation scholars (e.g., Daniel Wallace, F.F. Bruce):\n<ul>\n<li>Admit the grammar links the actions<\/li>\n<li>But argue that the theology of Acts as a whole should interpret the verse<\/li>\n<li>Still, acknowledge that the grammar does not separate the actions<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<li>Both sides agree: The grammar itself does not create a time gap.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2>So What Does Acts 22:16 Actually Teach?<\/h2>\n<p>A fair, text\u2011only conclusion:<\/p>\n<p>Paul is commanded to:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Rise<\/li>\n<li>Be baptized<\/li>\n<li>Wash away his sins<\/li>\n<li>By calling on the name of the Lord<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>All of this is presented as one unified response to the gospel.<\/p>\n<p>The grammar does not allow you to place the washing of sins before baptism, nor after it. It presents them as concurrent, with baptism as the moment when Paul calls on the Lord for cleansing. (Copilot).<\/p>\n<p>So, the conclusion is that washing away of sins is not before baptism nor apart from baptism, but <b>in <\/b>a baptism where one is calling on the name of the Lord for His pardoning mercy. That is also the moment when Paul said that God performs the circumcision of sins (Colossians 2:12-13). Baptism is the moment of calling upon the Lord and the moment when God cuts away our sins; it is also the moment when we exercise our faith in Him. Saul was already praying in faith, but his sins were not yet washed away until he arose and was baptized, calling on the name of the Lord. It can be no different in our case either (I Corinthians 12:13). By one Spirit are <strong>we all<\/strong>\u00a0baptized into one body.<\/p>\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>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: &#8220;Anastas baptisai kai apolousai tas&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":[27],"tags":[52,960,1906],"class_list":["post-94715","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-article","tag-baptism","tag-calling","tag-wash"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":8008,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/calling-on-the-name-of-the-lord\/","url_meta":{"origin":94715,"position":0},"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":35825,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/does-the-fact-that-blasphemed-is-in-the-aorist-tense-make-a-difference\/","url_meta":{"origin":94715,"position":1},"title":"Does the fact that &#8220;blasphemed&#8221; is in the aorist tense make a difference?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"November 14, 2012","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: Hello, I have looked at Luke 12:10 in Greek. I have been trouble by this because \"blasphemed\" appears to be in that past tense in English and in Young's Literal Translation of the Bible. In Greek, the tense is Aorist participle. I am not sure exactly what that means.\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":68708,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/baptismal-regeneration\/","url_meta":{"origin":94715,"position":2},"title":"Baptismal Regeneration?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"July 3, 2024","format":false,"excerpt":"by Terry Wane Benton Some teach and believe that the water of baptism is in no way tied to regeneration or salvation. They think it is something you do after salvation as just a symbol of what already happened in your heart. We see no proof of that view in\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":79303,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/is-baptism-a-symbol\/","url_meta":{"origin":94715,"position":3},"title":"Is Baptism a Symbol?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"November 20, 2024","format":false,"excerpt":"by Terry Wane Benton \"Jesus's blood saves us. It has nothing to do with baptism. Water baptism is symbolic of what happens to us when our sins are washed away by His blood.\" Answer: Why do we need a symbol? If the real thing happened, it happened. How does baptism\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":88910,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/baptism-and-jesus-blood\/","url_meta":{"origin":94715,"position":4},"title":"Baptism and Jesus Blood","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"July 24, 2025","format":false,"excerpt":"by Dub McClish Despite the most explicit statements of Scripture to the contrary, most Protestant denominations deny that baptism is a condition of God's forgiveness of our sins. Some reason that acceptance of such would equal salvation by one's own works. Others reject the necessity of baptism because of their\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":69774,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/dead-and-raised\/","url_meta":{"origin":94715,"position":5},"title":"Dead and Raised","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"September 12, 2024","format":false,"excerpt":"by Terry Wane Benton Paul describes our pre-conversion state as \"dead in trespasses and sin\" (Ephesians 2:1). We walked like others in the world, but we were spiritually dead toward God. But from our dead state, He \"made us alive together with Christ\" (Ephesians 2:5). We were \"raised up together\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":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/94715","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=94715"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/94715\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=94715"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=94715"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=94715"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}