There is no doubt that water baptism is an essential part of the Christian conversion. Unfortunately, many are divided as to which Scripture is the right instruction to use, that which the Lord Jesus Himself gave to His disciples, or the one that the apostle Peter proclaimed on the day of Pentecost.
To help us in this study, let’s tackle the texts one at a time.
Understanding Matthew 28.19
Go, therefore, and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit,
teaching them to follow all that I commanded you; and behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.”
Matthew 28.19-20
The first thing to notice here is to whom Jesus was giving the instruction: His disciples. More specifically, He was giving the instruction to those who will baptize.
Now, these men were not ignorant on this matter. From the early days of Christ’s ministry they have been giving this sacrament to the Lord’s disciples. John 3.22 says that Jesus and His disciples came into the land of Judea and were baptizing people. John 4.1 and 2 says Jesus was baptizing and making more disciples than John, although it was actually the disciples and not Him who were performing the baptism. Now, whether they used a name during that time or not, it was not mentioned in the texts.
The second thing to notice is the Name. The text calls for a singular name. But what follows are titles or common names. If the name that the Lord was referring here are the ones that immediately follow, He would have used the plural form the word, ‘names’. This tells us that Christ was pointing to a singular, proper name that is directly related to the common names of the Father, and (of) the Son, and (of) the Holy Spirit.
Understanding Acts 2.38
Peter said to them, “Repent, and each of you be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins; and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.
Acts 2.38
In this text, it is clear that Peter was addressing the crowd who wanted to know what they should do. (Acts 2.37) In other words, the instruction here is being given to those who will be baptized – the ones who will receive the baptism, not to those who will perform the baptism.
Does that make sense? It does. Generally, an instruction given to those will perform an act will be quite different from the instruction that will be given to those who will receive the act, even though both instructions describe the same act.
Now, with regards to the name, you will notice that it is in singular form, ‘name‘, and is directly followed by the proper name Jesus Christ. In Greek, it should simply read: “be baptized in the name (of) Jesus Christ…” The same thing can be noticed in Peter’s instruction to the house of Cornelius:
And he ordered them to be baptized in the name (of) Jesus Christ. Then they asked him to stay on for a few days.
Acts 10.48
One could hardly argue that the disciples obeyed the Lord’s instruction. Of course they did! And the proof was the coming of the Holy Spirit! In both instrances, the Holy Spirit was poured out upon those that were baptized. The same thing happened to Apollos and the disciples of John when “they were baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus.” (Acts 19.5-6)
There is no doubt that the Jesus was the name that is to be invoked (called upon) in the baptism of new converts. As Peter put in Acts 4.12:
“And there is salvation in no one else; for there is no other name under heaven that has been given among mankind by which we must be saved.”
Acts 4.12
There is only one baptism
To sum it up, there is only one biblical, apostolic baptism (Ephsians 4.5) and both references, Matthew 28.19 and Acts 2.38, speak of the same baptism. And it is clear that the way the apostles practiced baptism – in the name of Jesus Christ – is the right way of obeying and performing the Lord’s instruction. Amen.
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