A Bible History of Baptism

Section XC. – “Baptizing them into the Name.”

“And Jesus came and spake unto them and said, All power is given unto me, in heaven and in earth. Go ye, therefore, and (mathēteusate) disciple all nations, baptizing them (eis) into the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost; teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you; and lo, I am with you alway even unto the end of the world.” – Matt. xxviii, 18-20.

Here are two things to be considered: – (1) The phrase, “into the name;” (2) “The name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost.”

1. “Into the name.” The phrase, “in the name,” as found in the common English version, represents three distinct forms of expression, in the original, which are essentially different in their meaning, and should, therefore, be carefully discriminated. They are “(en) in the name;” “(epi) for the name,” and “(eis) into the name.” The essential idea expressed by the first of these is, representative union, as a person who speaks or acts “in the name” of another, identifies himself with that other. Thus, – “Whatsoever ye shall ask in my name.” – John xiv, 13, 14, 26; xv, 16, etc. “Ye are justified in the name of the Lord Jesus.” – 1 Cor. vi, 11. “Giving thanks in the name of the Lord Jesus.” – Eph. v, 20. “Do all in the name of the Lord Jesus.” – Col. iii, 17. Hence the use of the expression, as signifying, “by the authority of.” Thus, “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 v, 43. “In the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, rise up and walk.” – Acts iii, 6. “I command thee, in the name of Jesus Christ, come out of her.” – Ib. xvi, 18. There is but one passage in which this form of expression is used in connection with baptizo. Acts x, 48, – “He commanded them to be baptized, in the name of the Lord.” The analogy of the phrase elsewhere, would require us to understand it here as meaning, “by the authority of the Lord.” The codex Sinaiticus reads, – “He commanded them (en to ‘onomati Ju Xu baptisthēnai), in the name of Jesus Christ to be baptized.” Cyril of Jerusalem quotes the passage in the same order.121 Not only does the form of the phrase in itself call for this rendering, but the connection is equally clear, in the same direction. The case was the baptism of the house of Cornelius. Peter demands, – “Can any man forbid the water, that these should not be baptized, which have received the Holy Ghost, as well as we?” The point at issue was the admission of the Gentile world to a part in the salvation of Christ. Peter had on the day of Pentecost testified that it was the Lord Jesus by whom the Holy Ghost had been poured out. He had been admonished by Jesus in a vision that the Gentiles were not to be excluded from the blessings of the gospel. He now calls the attention of his six Jewish companions (Acts xi, 12), to the fact that the house of Cornelius was baptized by the Lord Jesus himself, with the same Spirit which had been poured upon the Jews on Pentecost; and with an emphatic pause, challenges objection. There being none, the apostle, then, in the name and by the authority of Christ, proclaims the doors of salvation thrown open to the world. He “in the name of the Lord Jesus, commanded them to be baptized;” and afterward vindicated the action by the demand, “What was I, that I should withstand God.” – Acts xi, 17.

Epi, in this connection, has the general meaning of, because of, – on account of, – with reference to, —for; and the phrase as thus constructed means, “for the sake of.” Thus, “Whoso shall receive one such little child (epi ‘onomati mou), for my name’s sake.” – Matt. xviii, 5; Mark ix, 37. “They called him Zacharias (epi), for the sake of his father’s name.” – Luke i, 59. “That repentance and remission of sins should be preached (epi) for his name’s sake.” – Luke xxiv, 47. “That they speak henceforth to no man (epi) for the sake of the name.” – Acts iv, 17. From these illustrations, it will be seen that in connection with baptism, the rendering, of epi, – “in the name,” – altogether misses the idea of the sacred writer. It occurs but once. On the day of Pentecost, Peter, in reply to the cry, – “What shall we do?” answered, – “Repent and be baptized every one of you (epi), for the sake of the name of Jesus Christ (eis), unto the remission of sins.” – Acts ii, 38. Jesus had said, “He that believeth and is baptized, shall be saved.” Peter, therefore, tells the multitude, “Repent and be baptized. Do this, in honor of the Lord Jesus; and unto the remission of sins; since repentance, and obedience shown by receiving baptism, are pledges of remission.”

In the text of Matthew, which stands at the head of this section, the word is, eis, – “Baptizing them (eis), into the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Ghost.” This is the preposition ordinarily used with relation to baptism, both real and ritual. In connection with the baptism of the Spirit, its signification is so fully explained and illustrated as to admit of no doubt or question. They that are “baptized (eis) into Christ” (Gal. iii, 27; Rom. vi, 3), are united to him, – “by one Spirit baptized (eis) into one body,” “the body of Christ.” – 1 Cor. xii, 13, 27. Those who are “baptized (eis) into his death,” are thereby “dead with him.” – Rom. vi, 3, 8. So, it is said of the children of Israel that they were “baptized (eis) into Moses, in the cloud and in the sea,” as the passage of the Red Sea, the destruction of the Egyptians and the deliverance of Israel by the hand of Moses released them finally and forever from the Egyptian yoke, and united them to Moses in subordination to his mediatorial authority. “They believed the Lord and his servant Moses.” – Ex. xiv, 31. This is viewed by the apostle as a figure of the work of grace by which the people of Christ are released from Satan’s bondage and brought under his saving scepter; and he, therefore, uses the same form of expression, “Baptized into Christ,” “Baptized into Moses.”

The style in which the real baptism is thus spoken of is a key to the meaning of the Lord Jesus, in his language concerning the ritual ordinance. The visible church is the representative and type of that invisible body of Christ, the members of which are incorporated therein by the baptism of the Spirit. Baptism with water is a symbol, merely, of that spiritual grace. The recipient may be truly united to the Lord Jesus. But such union is not produced by the ritual ordinance. The effect can ascend no higher than the cause. A symbolic baptism can accomplish no more than a symbolic union, a union in outward semblance and name. Its ground is profession of the name of Christ, and the characteristic designation of those who have received it is, – that they “have named the name of Christ” – (2 Tim. ii, 19), that is, they have professed to take hold of his covenant, and have thereupon had his name named upon them. They are Christ’s. If, therefore, baptism “into Christ,” by the Spirit, means spiritual union with Christ, and with his invisible body, then, manifestly, baptism with water “into the name of Christ,” can mean nothing else but ritual identification with his name, and with that visible body which is known by his name, and embraced by profession in the bonds of his covenant. To effect such union is all that Christ’s ministers can do. It is what they are commissioned to do. The rest remains with the Great Baptizer himself. Intimately related to this subject is that remarkable word of God which instructed Aaron and his sons to bless Israel with that threefold benediction which is believed to refer to the doctrine of the glorious Trinity. “The Lord bless thee and keep thee. The Lord make his face shine upon thee, and be gracious unto thee. The Lord lift up his countenance upon thee, and give thee peace,” – and then adds, – “And they shall put my name upon the children of Israel, and I will bless them.” – Num. vi, 23-27.

The form of expression used by the Lord Jesus, – “baptizing them into the name,” is a perpetual rebuke of every doctrine or pretense which would attribute to the rite, in itself, any higher or other efficacy than that of changing the outward and professed relation of the baptized to Christ and the Godhead. The view here presented is further involved in the relation between baptism and discipleship, intimated in the words of Jesus, – “Disciple all nations, baptizing them into the name.” Christ came as the revealer of the Godhead, the Prophet of Israel, as well as her royal Priest. The preaching of the gospel is the fulfillment of his prophetic function, and those whether Jews or Gentiles, who accept it are to be enrolled as disciples of Christ, by being baptized into the name or profession of the faith of the triune Godhead, as revealed by him, in the gospel. It will thus be seen that the translation invariably given to the phrase in question, in our common English version, entirely fails of exhibiting a true idea of the meaning of the original. See Matt, xxviii, 19; Acts viii, 16; xix, 5; 1 Cor. i, 13, 15. Baptizing “in the name,” can only mean, dispensing the rite by the authority of the Persons named. The command is, to “baptize into the name.”

2. “The name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost.” In other places, baptism is said to be “into the name of the Lord Jesus.” – Acts ii, 38; viii, 16; xix, 5. Nor are the other Persons of the Godhead ever mentioned in such connection with the real baptism. That is always described as being into Jesus Christ. Rom. vi, 3; 1 Cor. xii, 13, 27; Gal. iii, 27. How is this diversity of expression to be explained? It is abundantly plain, as respects the real baptism. In it, each Person is signally present, in appropriate relation. In it, Christ, the Royal Administrator, by whom the Spirit is poured out, is also the Head into which by that one Spirit all are baptized as members. The Spirit appears as the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus, the Renewer and Sanctifier. And as to the Father, “Ye are all the children of God, by faith in Christ Jesus; for as many of you as have been baptized into Christ have put on Christ.” – Gal. iii, 26, 27. “As many as received him to them gave he power to become the sons of God, even to them that believed on his name.” – Joh. i, 12. In a word, thus is fulfilled the petition of Jesus. “As thou Father art in me and I in thee, that they also may be one in us… I in them and thou in me, that they may be made perfect in one.” – John xvii, 21, 23. By the real baptism, therefore, the believer is united to each Person of the Godhead, – a fact, nevertheless, expressed by baptism into one, Jesus Christ.

The same principle governs the forms of expression used with reference to ritual baptism. Jesus Christ is the Word of God, and can not be truly apprehended except in that relation. “No man hath seen God at any time. The only begotten Son which is in the bosom of the Father, he hath declared Him.” – John i, 18. He came to make known the Father. He returned to impart the Spirit. And, as he was thus apprehended by the apostles, a baptism into his name was a baptism into the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Spirit. It only ceases to be so, when Jesus ceases to be appreciated as him in whom “dwelleth all the fullness of the Godhead bodily.” – Col. ii, 9.

It is an illustration of the essential deficiency of the theory of immersion that it has no explanation for the diversity of expression here considered.

Section XCI. – “He that believeth and is baptized.”

In the great commission, as recorded by Mark, Jesus said to his disciples, “Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature. He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved, but he that believeth not shall be damned.” – Mark xvi, 15, 16. Dr. Dale denies that ritual baptism is here referred to. – “We accept the real baptism by the Holy Spirit as the sole baptism directly contemplated by the passage; in general, because it meets in the most absolute and unlimited manner, as a condition of salvation, the obvious requirement on the face of the passage, having the same breadth with belief, and universally present in every case of salvation.”122 To this view the objections are obvious and conclusive. (1.) The clause which the author has emphasized with Italics, is inaccurate. The baptism with the Holy Ghost is not “a condition of salvation;” but is the very salvation itself. It is the casket in which are bestowed repentance, faith, remission of sins, justification, adoption, sanctification, the resurrection and eternal life. (2.) The interpretation would not only make this baptism a condition of salvation, but puts it in the position of a co-ordinate but secondary condition with faith. – “He that believeth and is baptized.” Whereas faith, as just remarked, is one of the immediate phenomena of this baptism. (3.) The text as thus explained represents the Lord Jesus as commissioning his ministers to offer salvation to sinners upon conditions one of which is to be performed by them; but the other belongs to his own peculiar prerogative, to which, in no circumstances, can they assume an efficient relation. It interprets the message to be preached thus: “Whoever believeth shall be saved; provided I, Jesus, shall see fit to baptize him!”

The text is a statement to the apostles, and through them to the ministry in all ages, of their duties and the results of their labors. With baptism as a ritual ordinance of the gospel they had been familiar from the beginning of John’s ministry, and of Christ’s in coincidence with it. They had been fully instructed, as to the baptism of the Spirit, which Christ was about to dispense, and which they were to await; and as to the typical relation to it which the ritual ordinance sustained. They are now commanded to go forth and preach that gospel; not, as heretofore, to Israel, only, but to every creature, in all the world; and whereas, until now, none could be baptized, – none could receive the token of the covenant, except those who were, by circumcision, identified with Israel after the flesh, – he indicates the removal of that restriction, – “Go teach all nations, baptizing them.” Baptizing them with water, which, only, they could administer; and in token of that profession of faith, of which only they could take cognizance. It is in view of these things, that the declaration is made, “He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved; but he that believeth not shall be damned.” The repetition shows that the emphasis of the passage rests on believing. “You are to preach, and baptize those who profess to believe. But let all, both preachers and hearers, beware of trusting in the baptismal shadow. He that believeth and is baptized, shall be saved. But he that believeth not, – his baptism will not avail, – He shall be damned.” Assuredly, had the Lord Jesus been stating conditions of salvation, as concerning baptism, he knew how to set it on both sides of the alternative.

Section XCII. —The Formula of Baptism

It is proper and necessary that such words be used in the administration of Baptism, as shall give an intelligent announcement of the nature and intent of the ordinance. For this purpose nothing can be more appropriate than the formula in universal use, in all the churches. But the question arises whether the words thus employed were given to be uttered as a formula necessary to the rite.

1. There is nothing whatever in the language of the Lord Jesus, on the subject, to give countenance to the suggestion in question. “Go ye, and disciple all nations, baptizing them into the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost; teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you.” We have already seen that “baptizing into the name” means, not the utterance in the baptism of any words or formula; but instruction and consecration to the faith and service of the Triune God, identified with the baptismal rite and signified by it. But if such be the meaning of our Savior’s words, it excludes the idea in question. “Baptizing them into the name,” then, means something very different from “uttering the name.” In fact, the more carefully the language in question is examined, in itself, in its immediate connection, and in its relation to the general scope of the gospel and its history, the more evident will it appear that it was not words that were present to the mind of Jesus, or by him put into the mouths of his ministry, but the great doctrine of baptism, in which the whole gospel is summed, – that doctrine which was heralded by the baptist, and expounded by the Lord Jesus in his discourse and prayer at the supper. One who should teach that the Holy Spirit is not a coequal Person of the Godhead, or that the Lord Jesus is not the eternal and coequal Son, might administer the rite, in the use of the formula. Yet would it not be baptism in the intent of Jesus as here set forth.

2. The silence of all of the evangelists except Matthew as to the words in question, is wholly inconsistent with the supposition that they were given as a formula. The importance of the rite is of common agreement. And resting as it does as an obligation on every soul that hears the gospel, it is the first and foremost of all the practical duties of those who receive it. If, therefore, the formula was now given as an element in the administration of the ordinance, it is of the first and universal moment. How then is it possible for three of the evangelists to have ignored it, in their several versions of the gospel. Evidently they attached to it no such significance as obtains with those who hold it as of the essence of baptism.

3. The fact that it is not once used or alluded to, in the whole subsequent history and epistles, is conclusive. Those records are a testimony; – as much by silence, often, as by utterance. But, on this subject, they are not silent. On the day of Pentecost, Peter calls upon the inquirers to be baptized “(epi) for the name’s sake of Jesus Christ.” – Acts ii, 38. The Samaritans and the twelve disciples of John at Ephesus were baptized “into the name of the Lord Jesus.” – Acts viii, 16; xix, 5. And Paul distinctly implies that the Corinthians were baptized into the same name. “Is Christ divided? was Paul crucified for you? or, were ye baptized into the name of Paul?” – 1 Cor. i, 13. How these facts are consistent with obedience to Christ’s command we have already seen. The only interpretation which will harmonize the record is deduced from that doctrine of baptism which has been unfolded in these pages. He that is spiritually baptized into Jesus Christ, thereby receives the Spirit and is united in Christ to the Father. He is baptized into the Three.

Here, the doctrine of immersion is radically defective. The form may be administered with the utterance of the names of the Trinity. But its doctrine contains no testimony to the Triune, nor recognition of any Person of the Godhead. It relates altogether to the humanity of Christ, whose burial it represents.

Section XCIII. —The Administration on Pentecost

On the day of Pentecost, in reply to the cry of the repentant multitude, – “What shall we do?” Peter said, “Repent and be baptized every one of you (epi to ‘onomati), for the name’s sake of Jesus Christ (eis) unto the remission of sins; and ye shall receive the gift of the Holy Ghost. For the promise is to you, and to your children, and to all that are afar off, even as many as the Lord our God shall call… Then, they that gladly received his word were baptized; and the same day there were added unto them about three thousand souls.” – Acts ii, 37-41. Dr. Dale denies this baptism to have been ritual, and demands, – “Was there a visible Christian church in existence at Pentecost? Was there any one competent to organize a Christian church before Pentecost? Did not the divine Head of the church himself furnish the materials for a church organization, officers, and members, ‘that day?’ Was there a Christian organization effected, as well as a tri-millenary baptism administered ‘that day?’ Were they organized and then baptized, or baptized and then organized?”123 These questions, coming with the authority of the learned writer, are entitled to respectful consideration. And although they have, in effect, been answered, already, a few words will here be added, in direct response. The Jewish church, as organized, according to the law of Moses, under the ministry of the elders, was the Christian church, on the day of Pentecost. But as that church had become largely corrupt and apostate, and its rulers had betrayed and crucified the Lord Jesus, her King, a separation had become necessary, and the preaching and baptism of the apostles was the means appointed by Him for eliminating the apostate elements. The one hundred and twenty who remained together in Jerusalem after the ascension were but a small part of believing Israel, even then; for the Lord Jesus was seen of above five hundred brethren at once, after his resurrection. (1 Cor. xv, 6.) But they, or the apostles alone, or one of them, would have been abundantly sufficient as a center for gathering the believing from among the apostate. They stood precisely as did Moses in the midst of the congregation of Israel, at the time of the apostasy of the golden calf, saying, – “Who is on the Lord’s side? Let him come unto me.” – Ex. xxxii, 26. Hence the style in which the historian of the Acts writes of the converts of Pentecost. “Then they that gladly received his word, were baptized; and the same day there were added about three thousand souls.” – Acts ii, 41. They are not said to have been “added to the church;” for they were the church, obeying the call of her Head, – “Come out from among them, and be ye separate, saith the Lord, and touch not the unclean thing.” – 2 Cor. vi, 17. They are, therefore, said to have been “added (to them),” – that is, to the apostles; or more literally “associated together,” – joined in one body. By that act, they stood forth, the church of Jerusalem, divested of the unbelieving elements. Accordingly, we read, immediately after, that “the Lord added to the church daily such as should be saved.” – Vs. 47. For all the purposes of the occasion, on the day of Pentecost, there was no farther organization necessary than that which existed in the sanhedrim of the apostles, men inspired of the Holy Ghost, and endowed by the Lord Jesus with authority for presiding over his church in this transition period of her history.

The baptism of the Spirit on the day of Pentecost has been already illustrated fully. That there was also a ritual baptism, with water, I venture to regard as equally certain. (1.) We have just seen that the apostolic commission contained a command to baptize the disciples. Peter, therefore, in inviting his hearers to repent and be baptized, was simply following the literal terms of his instructions. And had he omitted baptism, – that ritual baptism which alone the apostles could administer – he would have been acting in direct violation of his commission. (2.) In his exhortation, the baptism is secondary to repentance. This is the proper order of ritual baptism, which is predicated on profession of repentance. But it is the reverse as to the real baptism, which precedes repentance and is its cause. (3.) The language used in describing the result of the exhortation is conclusive. – “Then they that gladly received his word were baptized.” The glad reception of the word is stated as the antecedent ground of receiving the baptism; the reverse, again, of the order in real baptism. (4.) In the case of Cornelius and his house, Peter based their baptizing with water upon the fact that the spiritual phenomena were identical with those of the day of Pentecost. “The Holy Ghost fell on them as on us at the beginning.” – “Can any man forbid the water, that these should not be baptized, which have received the Holy Ghost, as well as we?” – Acts x, 47; xi, 15. This argument would have been wholly inappropriate had there been no water baptism on Pentecost.