Baptism – Should it be in the ‘Name of Jesus’ or

in the ‘Name of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit’.

Apart from the Salvation Army Church who are not opposed to baptism but do not practice baptism, Christians all over the world believe the sacrament or ordinance of baptism was instituted by Jesus Christ himself. Baptism has thus been part and parcel of the Christian religion worldwide. Depending on denominations, baptism can be done by immersion or sprinkling or in infancy or in adulthood. The focus of this piece is not to address any of the issues above but to look at baptism “in the name of Jesus” and baptism “in the name of the father, the son and the Holy Spirit”.

The church today has been guided by the early church in the Acts of the Apostles in the past and continues to be guided in our time by the good deeds of the disciples in Acts. Many of the things done by the early church in Acts have been a reference point to Christendom with regards to addressing problems in the church (Acts 15), choosing leaders (Acts 6:1-7), dealing with external problems (Acts12:1-5), church growth (Acts 2:42-47) etc.

The critical question I want us all to address our minds to, is whether people should be baptised in the name of ‘the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit’ or in the name of Jesus. Baptism follows salvation which is accepting Christ as ones Lord and personal Saviour. From the perspective of most Pentecostals, ‘Water Baptism is an ordinance, a symbolic ritual used to witness to having accepted Christ as personal Saviour. Romans 10:9-10 “If you declare with your mouth, “Jesus is Lord,” and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. 10 For it is with your heart that you believe and are justified, and it is with your mouth that you profess your faith and are saved”.

Matthew 28:18-19

18 Then Jesus came to them and said, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. 19 Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptising them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. The above scripture in Matthew 28:19 seems to be the only verse in the bible where Jesus himself instructed His disciples to baptise in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.

Comparing the instructions given by our Lord Jesus Christ in Matthew 28:19 and how the disciples (Peter, Paul and others) baptised people in Acts 2:39, Acts 10:48, Acts 8:16 and Acts 19:5, one could see a clear departure. Let us look at the following scriptures below;

Acts 2:38-39 38 Peter replied, “Repent and be baptized, every one of you, in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins. And you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. 39 The promise is for you and your children and for all who are far off—for all whom the Lord our God will call.”

Acts 10:47-48 Then Peter said, 47 “Surely no one can stand in the way of their being baptized with water. They have received the Holy Spirit just as we have.” 48 So he ordered that they be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ.

Acts 8:16 16 because the Holy Spirit had not yet come on any of them; they had simply been baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus.

Acts 19:4-5 4Paul said, “John’s baptism was a baptism of repentance. He told the people to believe in the one coming after him, that is, in Jesus.” 5 On hearing this, they were baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus.

Romans 6:3-4 3 Don’t you know that all of us who were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death? 4 We were therefore buried with him through baptism into death in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, we too may live a new life.

Acts 19:1-6 - While Apollos was at Corinth, Paul took the road through the interior and arrived at Ephesus. There he found some disciples 2 and asked them, “Did you receive the Holy Spirit when you believed?” They answered, “No, we have not even heard that there is a Holy Spirit.” 3 So Paul asked, “Then what baptism did you receive?” “John’s baptism,” they replied. 4 Paul said, “John’s baptism was a baptism of repentance. He told the people to believe in the one coming after him, that is, in Jesus.” 5 On hearing this, they were baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus. 6 When Paul placed his hands on them, the Holy Spirit came on them, and they spoke in tongues and prophesied.

Luke 3:15-16 - The people were waiting expectantly and were all wondering in their hearts if John might possibly be the Messiah. 16 John answered them all, “I baptize you with water. But one who is more powerful than I will come, the straps of whose sandals I am not worthy to untie. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire.

John 4:1-3 - Now Jesus learned that the Pharisees had heard that he was gaining and baptizing more disciples than John— 2 although in fact it was not Jesus who baptized, but his disciples. 3 So he left Judea and went back once more to Galilee.

John 3:22-26 - After this, Jesus and his disciples went out into the Judean countryside, where he spent some time with them, and baptized. 23 Now John also was baptizing at Aenon near Salim, because there was plenty of water, and people were coming and being baptized. 24 (This was before John was put in prison.) 25 An argument developed between some of John’s disciples and a certain Jew over the matter of ceremonial washing. 26 They came to John and said to him, “Rabbi, that man who was with you on the other side of the Jordan—the one you testified about—look, he is baptizing, and everyone is going to him.”

The usual practice of most churches today has been baptising converts in the name of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit. I am yet to find out a church that baptises their converts in the name of Jesus Christ as was done in the book of Acts. In addressing this issue, I want us to critically look at the questions below;

Why are we (the church) today baptising people in the name of ‘the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit’ instead of baptising in the name of ‘Jesus’ in accordance with the apostles/disciples who were part and parcel Christ’s earthly ministry?

1. If salvation is through Jesus Christ, why is baptism (a symbolic ritual of ones salvation) done in the name of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit and not in the name of Jesus Christ?

2. Can baptism in the name of ‘the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit’ be equated to baptism in the name of Jesus?

3. Jesus was baptized by John the Baptist and according to the bible, a dove descended on Him and a voice from heaven proclaimed “this is my beloved son in whom I am well pleased” (Matthew 3:16). This means that Jesus’ baptism by John the Baptist, one sent by God to prepare the way for the Messiah in Matthew 3:1-3 was accepted by God. If that is the case; a. why were some disciples of John baptized the second time in the name of Jesus by Apostle Paul in Acts 19:5? b. If John’s baptism was not accepted and people who were baptised by him had to be re-baptised by Paul in the name of the Lord Jesus, how sure are we that our baptism today is acceptable?

4. On what basis is the church today baptising its members “in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit” when in actual fact the early church in Acts of the Apostles baptised their converts “in the name of Jesus”. Would one be right based on the way baptism is done today, in saying the early church did a wrong thing by baptising “in the name of Jesus”?

5. Apart from John’s disciples who later became Jesus’ disciples (John 1:35-37) and others who were later re-baptised by Apostle Paul (Acts 19:5), I am yet to come across any scripture in the bible that shows that any of the twelve disciples or apostles chosen by Jesus Christ was baptised. However, his (Jesus) disciples baptised other people but Jesus never baptised anyone (John 4:1-3). While John was preaching repentance and baptising people Jesus just called his disciples to follow Him.

a. If Jesus indeed never baptised anyone, why is it said in Luke 3:16 that Jesus will baptize with Holy Spirit and fire.

b. Jesus himself was baptised by John, why is that we do not have any baptismal record about the twelve disciples either by themselves or by other people.

I believe Jesus will not say one thing and watch His disciples do another thing in his presence. I do not also think that the disciples changed overnight after the death of Christ and started doing things anyhow. As evidence in the books of Acts, the disciples promoted everything about Jesus Christ (His Teachings, Death and Resurrection). No evidence also exists to suggest the disciples or the early Christians were divided on the way baptism should be done. The non existence of any disagreement on baptism in the early church clearly shows that they had not deviated from what Jesus Christ taught them. Christ has been focal point and will continue to be the focal of the Christian religion. It thus makes sense to me that we do everything in the name of Jesus Christ. If our salvation is through Jesus, our prayers starts and ends with the name of Jesus, deliverance is also done using the name of Jesus, why should baptism be different. It is my humble opinion that we find out why Christ taught his disciples to baptise people in the Name of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit and why they decided to baptise in the Name Jesus. Hope will join in finding answers to all the why questions raised.

God Richly Bless you

John Awotwe (awotwejohn@hotmail.com)