To quote Dr. John R. Rice, a noted scholar, from his book, Filled With the Spirit, The Book of Acts, A Verse-by-Verse Commentary: "The King James translation of Acts 2:38 '...be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins...' is unfortunate and inaccurate. The little Greek preposition eis, translated for, is an indefinite preposition of reference. It does not mean in order to. If Peter had commanded the people to be baptized in order to receive the remission of sins, he would have needed to use the Greek preposition hina, which means in order to. He did not use the Greek word.

This little preposition eis, used about 1,800 times in the New testament in Greek, is variously translated, for, at, toward, unto, into, etc. So it could be translated for, as here, only in the sense of 'on the basis of,' or 'on the ground of,' so Dr. A.T. Robertson explains.

Even in English the preposition for does not necessarily mean in order to. Often for means 'on the basis of,' or 'on the ground of.' Thus one is scolded for being late, or arrested for stealing, or praised for beauty, or rewarded for bravery, or paid for work. In that sense only is one 'baptized for the remission of sins,' i.e., baptized for remission of sins already obtained when one repented.

Acts 2:38 does not give a new plan of salvation. Acts 10:43 says, 'To him give all the prophets witness, that through his name whosoever believeth in him shall receive remission of sins.' So John 3:36 says, 'He that believeth on the Son hath everlasting life." So say many other Scriptures. One who trusts in Christ has, immediately, everlasting life."