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Baptism


Some people believe that our Lord's command recorded in 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") is not to be taken at face value, but must be understood by the examples of Acts, where baptism is often described as being in Jesus' name.

Inasmuch as they believe that Jesus is God's proper name, the words Father, Son and Holy Ghost, refer to titles, offices, roles or functions that Jesus has at different times in different relationships. As such, in their understanding, the words Father, Son and Holy Ghost function much the same way as the words king or savior do. In other words, God reveals himself to people through many analogies: he is like a mother hen who gathers her chicks under her wings (Luke 13:34); he is like a husband grieved at his wife's adultery (Hosea); he is like a warrior awakened from sleep and provoked by wine (Psalm 78:65). Understanding Father, Son and Spirit simply as roles of the one person Jesus, they believe that what he meant in Matthew 28:19 is that we must baptize using the words "in Jesus' name."

I have examined these issues in several short essays which are below. 

Is God's Name Jesus?

Does the Bible teach that God is both one and three?

What did Peter mean about baptism in Acts 2:38?

Why is there no uniform picture of formal worship in the New Testament?

Why are there discrepancies in the New Testament about how people were baptized?

Oneness Questions About the Trinity

Baptism and the Lord's Supper, Pathways to Jesus

If you prefer to read them in non-HTML, here they are as PDF files.  You will need to download the Adobe Acrobat Reader in order to access them.



Is God's Name Jesus?

Does the Bible teach that God is both one and three?

What did Peter mean about baptism in Acts 2:38?

Why is there no uniform picture of formal worship in the New Testament?

On the issue of whom should be baptized, Christians have often times disagreed. I think that this is true because the issue is not dogmatically clear in Scripture but is more a matter of weighing the evidence. Here are some things to consider in favor of baptizing the children of believers:

In HTML:  Infant Baptism and the New Testament Witness

A Biblical Response to John MacArthur, Jr.'s "A Scriptural Critique of Infant Baptism"

Raising our Children for God:  A View from over the Hill

As a PDF:  Infant Baptism and the New Testament Witness



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