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Why We
Baptize In Jesus Name
The subject of water baptism has long been called a great
issue and no doubt has been made such by many church leaders
of the past and present. In our study of it, let us first
consider its importance, or the necessity of being baptized.
The Importance of Water Baptism
Christian water baptism is an ordinance instituted by Jesus
Christ. If it is not important in the plan of God, why did
Jesus command it in Matthew 28:19? And why did Peter follow
up by saying, "Be baptized every one of you," and by
commanding the Gentiles to be baptized (Acts 2:38; 10:48)?
We must remember two points about the importance of water
baptism. First, whatever Christ definitely established and
ordained cannot be unimportant, whether we understand its
significance or not. Second, Christ and the apostles showed
the importance of this ordinance by observing it. Jesus
walked many miles to be baptized, though He was without sin,
saying, "For thus it becometh us to fulfill all
righteousness" (See Matthew 3:13-16).
It is true that water itself does not contain any saving
virtue, but God has chosen to include it in His plan of
salvation. Peter explained, "Baptism doth also now save us
(not putting away of the filth of the flesh, but the answer
of of a good conscience toward God) by the resurrection of
Jesus Christ" (1 Peter 3:21). According to Luke 7:30, "the
Pharisees and lawyers rejected the counsel of God against
themselves, being not baptized."
The Mode of Baptism
According to the Scriptures, the proper mode of baptism is
immersion. "And Jesus, when he was baptized, went up
straightway out of the water" (Matthew 3:16). "And they went
down both into the water, both Philip and the eunuch; and he
baptized him" (Acts 8:38). "Therefore we are buried with him
by baptism into death" (Romans 6:4). A corpse is not buried
by placing it on top of the ground and sprinkling a little
soil on it, but by covering it completely.
According to the World Book Encyclopedia, "At first all
baptism was complete immersion" (vol. 1, p. 651). And the
Catholic Encyclopedia states, "In the early centuries, all
were baptized by immersion in streams, pools, and
baptisteries" (vol. 2, p. 263). Immersion was not convenient
after the Catholic church instituted infant baptism; thus
the mode was changed to sprinkling. (See Encyclopedia
Britannica, 11th ed., vol. 3, pp. 365-66).
Repentance identifies us with the death of Christ, and
baptism identifies us with His burial. Coming forth from the
watery grave of baptism and receiving new life in the Holy
Spirit identifies us with His resurrection.
The Formula for Baptism
Jesus commanded His disciples to "teach all nations,
baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son,
and of the Holy Ghost" (Matthew 28:19). He did not command
them to use these words as a formula, but He commanded them
to baptize in "the name." The word name is used here in the
singular, and it is the focal point of the baptismal
command. The titles Father, Son, and Holy Ghost describe
God's relationships to humanity and are not the supreme,
saving name described here, which is 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).
Jesus is the name in which the roles of Father, Son, and
Holy Ghost are revealed. The angel of the Lord instructed
Joseph, "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 said, "I am come in my Father's
name," and, "The Comforter, which is the Holy Ghost,...the
Father will send in my name" (John 5:43; 14:26). Thus by
baptizing in the name of Jesus, we honor the Godhead bodily"
(Colossians 2:9).
Luke 24:45-47 records that just before His ascension, Jesus
opened the disciple's understanding. It was necessary that
their understanding be opened, and many today need this same
operation in order to understand the Scriptures. Then Jesus
said to them, "Thus it is written, and thus it behooved
Christ to suffer, and to rise from the dead the third day."
The disciples had their understanding opened so that they
could grasp the vast importance of the death, burial, and
resurrection of Christ. Verse 47 describes the commission
that Jesus then gave: "And that repentance and remission of
sins should be preached in his name among all nations (Jews
and Gentiles), beginning at Jerusalem."
Peter was one of that number to whom Jesus had spoken and
whose understanding had been opened. After having listened
to these instructions, a few days later he was inspired by
the Holy Ghost to preach on the Day of Pentecost. The hearts
of the hearers were pierced and, feeling condemned, they
cried out to Peter and the other apostles, "Men and
brethren, what shall we do?" (Acts 2:37). Peter did not
hesitate but boldly answered, "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). "Then they that gladly received his word were
baptized, and the same day there were added unto them about
three thousand souls" (Acts 2:41).
Some say that Peter told them to be baptized in Jesus' name
because they were Jews and this baptism was to make them
acknowledge Jesus Christ. But let us go with Peter to the
house of Cornelius several years later. Cornelius and his
household were Gentiles, yet there again Peter "commanded
them to be baptized in the name of the Lord" (Acts 10:48).
(Most translations actually say, "In the name of Jesus
Christ.") If Peter was wrong on the Day of Pentecost, he
surely had ample time to be corrected before he went to the
house of Cornelius.
Was Peter wrong on the Day of Pentecost? When the hearers
were pricked in their hearts, they spoke to Peter and to the
rest of the apostles (Acts 2:37). This included Matthew, who
wrote Matthew 28:19. Moreover, when Peter preached, he stood
up with the eleven (Acts 2:14). Matthew was there, yet we
find no words of correction from him. He surely would have
spoken up if Peter had disobeyed the Lord. But all the
apostles understood and carried out the Lord's commission.
As Jesus said in prayer, "I have manifested thy name unto
men (the apostles) which thou gavest me out of the
world...and they have kept thy word" (John 17:6).
The Samaritans, who were not Jews, were also baptized in the
name of Jesus. "Then Philip went down to the city of
Samaria, and preached Christ unto them...But when they
believed Philip preaching the things concerning the kingdom
of God, and the name of Jesus Christ, they were baptized,
both men and women...They were baptized in the name of the
Lord Jesus" (Acts 8:5, 12,16).
Let us see how Paul, the apostle to the Gentiles, baptized.
He went to Ephesus many years after the Day of Pentecost and
found some disciples of John the Baptist there. 'He said
unto them, Have ye received the Holy Ghost since ye
believed? And they said unto him, We have not so much as
heard whether there be any Holy Ghost. And 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 19:2-5). Although these
disciples had already been baptized, the name of Jesus was
so important as to cause them to be rebaptized in His name.
We do not believe that Paul changed the formula or mode of
baptism when he baptized Lydia and her household (Acts
16:14-15) or the Philippian jailer. The latter came
trembling and fell down before Paul and Silas, saying "Sirs,
what must I do to be saved? And they said, Believe on the
Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved, and thy house.
And he took them the same hour of the night (shortly after
midnight), and washed their stripes; and was baptized, he
and all his, straightway" (Acts 16:30-33). How can we doubt
that Paul baptized these people using the same mode and
formula that he used elsewhere, that is, immersion in the
name of the Lord Jesus Christ?
Paul was not with the apostles when Jesus gave his final
instructions to them in Matthew 28:19 and Luke 24:47, yet
Paul baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus. How did he know
what to do? He said that his gospel was not a tradition of
men but a revelation from God. "I certify you, brethren,
that the gospel which was preached of me is not after man.
For I neither received it of man, neither was I taught it,
but by the revelation of Jesus Christ" (Galatians 1:11-12).
Paul was chosen to bear Jesus' name to the Gentiles, and he
wrote many divinely inspired epistles to the church. To this
apostle, God revealed the mystery of the church, "which in
other ages was not made known unto the sons of men, as it is
now revealed unto his holy apostles and prophets by the
Spirit" (Ephesians 3:5). Paul claimed to have divine
authority: "If any man think himself to be a prophet, or
spiritual, let him acknowledge that the things that I write
unto you are the commandments of the lord" (1 Corinthians
14:37). And Paul wrote, "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" (Colossians 3:17). Water baptism is
done in both word and deed. We cannot afford to overlook
this command to the church.
The church is "built upon the foundation of the apostles and
prophets, Jesus Christ himself being the chief cornerstone"
(Ephesians 2:20). The apostles not only preached baptism in
Jesus' name, but they practiced it. Nowhere can we find that
they baptized using the words "in the name of the Father,
and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost." Instead, we find
them baptizing the name of the Lord Jesus Christ. In
baptizing them in Jesus' name, they fulfilled the command of
the Lord in Matthew 28:19.
Paul said, "But though we, or an angel from heaven, preach
any other gospel unto you than that which we have preached
unto you, let him be accursed" (Galatians 1:8). Let this be
a solemn warning to us.
Some say that they will accept the words of Jesus in Matthew
28:19 but not those of Peter in Acts 2:38. But Peter spoke
on the Day of Pentecost under the anointing of the Holy
Ghost. Peter was one of those apostles, and to him had been
given the keys of the kingdom, so we have no right to
discredit his words.
In Mark 7:8 Jesus said, "Laying aside the commandment of
God, ye hold the tradition of men." History tells us that it
was not until many years after the apostles that the mode
and formula of baptism in the name of Jesus Christ were
changed. (See Hastings' Dictionary of the Bible, vol 1. p.
241.) Which means more to you, the command of the Lord or
the tradition of men?
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