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Why We Must Be Baptized in the Name of the
FATHER, SON, AND HOLY GHOST
"Go ye therefore, and teach all
nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father,
and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost
" (Matthew 28:19).
The Bible commands water baptism for the New
Testament church, and it is our responsibility to obey this teaching. One
day each of us will account for our actions during our lives. Since we have
God’s Word, ignorance will not be an acceptable excuse on that day.
THE NECESSITY OF WATER BAPTISM
Is water baptism a necessary part of the
salvation experience of the New Testament? People have various ideas about
water baptism, but we cannot always trust what others think. The sure way to
know the truth and to please God is to depend upon the Bible as our source
of instruction. Jesus gave us some insight as to the importance of water
baptism in John 3:5: "Jesus answered, Verily, verily, I say unto
thee, Except a man be born of water and of the Spirit, he cannot enter into
the kingdom of God." Both the context of that statement and the
subsequent practice of the New Testament church indicate that He was
speaking of water baptism and the baptism of the Holy Spirit. In Matthew
28:19, Jesus gave the apostles and us a direct command to go, teach, and
baptize converts. Since He gave this command, baptism is important and
necessary.
THE NAME OF THE FATHER, SON, AND HOLY
GHOST
Jesus instructed us to baptize "in
the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost." In
other words, He told us to baptize in the name (singular) that fully reveals
God in His redemptive manifestations and work.
What is this name? The name given to the Son
of God was Jesus. "And she shall bring forth a son, and thou shalt
call his name JESUS: for he shall save his people from their sins" (Matthew
1:21). Jesus was a genuine human being, born by the miraculous work of
God’s Spirit in the womb of a virgin, and thus He was literally the Son of
God (Luke 1:35). He was more than a man, however, He was actually the one
God manifested in the flesh (Colosians 2:9; 1 Timothy 3:16). He was the
visible image of the invisible God (Colosians 1:15). As such Jesus declared,
"I am come in my Father’s name, and ye receive me not: if another
shall come in his own name, him ye will receive" (John 5:43). In
other words, the Father is made known to us by the name of Jesus. The
Father, the one true invisible God, gave His name to the son (the
manifestation of God in flesh); thus the Son received His name by
inheritance (Hebrews 1:4).
The name Jesus literally means
"Jehovah-Savior." Jehovah was the unique name by which the one
true God identified Himself to Israel in the Old Testament. The name Jesus
describes the one God of the Old Testament coming in the flesh to be our
Savior. Thus the name of Jesus reveals both the Father and the Son.
What about the Holy Ghost? What name reveals
God in His Spiritual essence and action? Jesus said, "but the
Comforter, which is the Holy Ghost, whom the Father will send in my name, he
shall teach you all things, and bring all things to your remembrance,
whatsoever I have said unto you" (John 14:26). In other words, the
Holy Spirit comes to us in the name of Jesus. The Holy Spirit does not come
to us with a separate identity but is the Spirit of Jesus—Jesus Himself
coming to dwell within us spiritually (John 14:!6-18; Colosians 1:27). In
short, the supreme name that reveals God—the name by which we know the
Father, Son, and Holy Ghost—is Jesus. By invoking the name of Jesus, then,
we fulfill the command of Matthew 28:19.
THE IMPORTANCE OF THE NAME OF JESUS
Many passages of Scripture emphasize the
importance and supremacy of the name of Jesus.
 | "Neither is there salvation in any
other for there is none other name under heaven given among men, whereby
we must be saved" (Acts 4:12).
| "Repentance and remission of sins
should be preach in his name among all nations, beginning at
Jerusalem" (Luke 24:47).
| "To him give all the prophets
witness, that through his name whosoever believeth in him shall receive
remission of sins" (Acts 10:43).
| "Being made so much better than the
angels, as he hath by inheritance obtained a more excellent name than
they" (Hebrews 1:4).
| "Wherefore God also hath highly
exalted him, and given him a name which is above every name: that at the
name of Jesus every knee should bow, of things in heaven, and things in
earth, and things under the earth; and that every tongue should confess
that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father"(Philippians
2:9-11).
| "And whatsoever ye do in word or
deed, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God and the
Father by him" (Colosians 3:17).
THE PRACTICE OF THE EARLY CHURCH
How did the apostles obey the command
Jesus gave to them in Matthew 28:19?
On the Day of Pentecost, sinners asked the
question, "Men and brethren, what shall we?" (Acts 2:37).
The apostle Peter gave them the answer: "Repent,
and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the
remission of sins, and ye shall receive the gift of the Holy Ghost" (Acts
2:38).
This verse reveals that the apostles
baptized in the name of Jesus Christ and that baptism is for the remission
of sins. When Saul, later, known as Paul, repented Ananias instructed him,
"And now why tarriest thou? Arise and be baptized, and wash away thy
sins, calling on the name of the Lord." What is the name of the Lord?
Just a few days earlier, Paul had asked the same question: "Who art
thou, Lord? And the Lord said, I am Jesus whom
thou persecutest" (Acts 9:5). Paul later wrote, "No
man can say that Jesus is the Lord, but by the Holy Ghost" (2
Corinthians 12:3). Jesus revealed Himself to Paul as the Lord. Paul knew
about the Lord God of the Old Testament, but at that time he did no serve
the Jesus of the New Testament. But he learned that the Lord of the Old
Testament was the same Lord of the New Testament, and to his amazement the
one Lord was Jesus.
When Philip preached the gospel in Samaria
those who believed "were baptized in the name of the Lord
Jesus" (Acts 8:16). When a group of Gentiles received the Holy
Spirit, Peter asked, "Can any man forbid water, that these should
not be baptized, which have received the Holy Ghost as well as we? And he
commanded them to be baptized in the name of the Lord" (Acts
1:47-48). As we have just seen, the name of the Lord is Jesus. Moreover,
as translations such as the Amplified Bible and the New International
Version indicate, the oldest Greek manuscripts we now have actually state
here, "In the name of Jesus Christ."
Paul rebaptized the disciples of John at
Ephesus in the name of Jesus. "He said unto them, Unto what then were
ye baptized? And they said, Unto John’s baptism. Then said Paul, John
verily baptized with the baptism of repentance, saying unto the people,
that they should believe on him which should come after him, that is on
Christ Jesus. When they heard this, they were baptized in the name of the
Lord Jesus" (Acts 19:3-5).
THE COMMAND OF MATTHEW 28:19
Clearly the early church baptized everyone
Jews, Samaritans, and Gentiles—in the name of Jesus. How does this
practice harmonize with Matthew 28:19? First, Matthew 28:19 says "in
the name" not "in the names" or "in the titles or
offices of God." The name that Matthew 28:!9 describes is Jesus. So
the apostles correctly understood and obeyed Christ’s command by
baptizing all converts in the name of Jesus. The Bible does not tell us
that we have life through the titles of Father, Son, and Holy Ghost, but
it tells us we have life through the name of Jesus. "But these are
written, that ye might believe that believing ye might have life through
His name" (John 20:31). The name of Jesus encompasses all the
fullness of God, including His redemptive roles as Father (God in parental
relationship), Son (God in flesh), and Holy Spirit (God in spiritual
action). "For in him [Jesus] dwelleth all the fulness of the
Godhead bodily" (Colosians 2:9).
CONCLUSION
Shortly before His ascension Jesus gave the
baptismal command found in Matthew 28:19 to the apostles. According to
Luke 24:45, He also opened their understanding. A few days after His
ascension, He baptized 120 waiting disciples with His Holy Spirit on the
Day of Pentecost. On this occasion, the apostles proclaimed to the
multitude that everyone should be baptized in the name of Jesus (Acts
2:38). The apostles understood that Jesus was the redemptive name of the
Father, Son, and Holy Ghost. They did not merely repeat those three
titles, but they invoked the name to which those titles referred. The
other preachers in the New Testament church, as Philip, Ananias, and Paul,
adhered to the same baptismal formula. There
are no contradictions in the Word of God. The New Testament teaches that
we must be baptized "in the name" of the Father, Son, and Holy
Ghost, and that name we are to invoke at baptism is JESUS.
Copied from: FDS Tract No. 6156
World Aflame Press
by: United Pentecostal Church, Baguio
City Philippines
e-mail: upcbc@mozcom.com
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