4 And so John the Baptist appeared in the wilderness
, preaching a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins. 5 The whole Judean countryside and all the people of Jerusalem went out to him.
Confessing their sins, they were baptized by him in the Jordan River. 6 John wore clothing made of camel’s hair, with a leather belt around his waist, and he ate locusts and wild honey. 7 And this was his message: “After me comes the one more powerful than I, the straps of whose sandals I am not worthy to stoop down and untie. 8 I baptize you with water, but he will baptize you with the Holy Spirit.”
NIV version...First notice that John is preaching a baptism of repentance....okay in most of our versions this means that baptism is part of the repentance of our sins, in your version the forgiveness of sin comes first.
Quick question before we look at the clarifications given in the text...how can one repent of something that doesn't exist? Scripture tells us that Psalms 103:11-12 and Hebrew 8:12....both of which and other passage tell us that once it is forgiven they no longer exist as per God, so how then can we repent of something that doesn't exist, if your interpretation is right? Oh well, back to task, not common sense but context.
Look then at verse 5 they confessed then were baptized...the confession came first...if the baptism of repentance comes before the forgiveness then we just proved you wrong from the standpoint of context.
Now let's see if we find the same thing in the Lexicon...from strong's site...according to Thayers the word that is translated for should mean
into, unto, to, towards, for, among. Here is more explanation from Thayers
εἰς, a preposition governing the accusative, and denoting entrance into, or direction and limit: into, to, toward, for, among. It is used:
A. Properly
I. of place, after verbs of going, coming, sailing, flying, falling, living, leading, carrying, throwing, sending, etc.;
1. of a place entered, or of entrance into a place, into; and a. it stands before nouns designating an open place, a hollow thing, or one in which an object can be hidden: as εἰς (τήν) πόλιν, Matthew 26:18; Matthew 28:11; Mark 1:45, and often; εἰς τόν οἶκον, Matthew 9:7; συναγωγήν, Acts 17:10; πλοῖον, Matthew 8:23;