Then Peter said unto them, 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).
Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name
of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost (Matt. 28:19).
Q.
“Is it correct to baptize in the name of Jesus (Acts 2:38) or in the name of
the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit (Matt. 28:19)?”
Prof. Herman C. Hanko:
“The answer to this
question is: Baptism must always be in the name of the Father, Son, and Holy
Spirit. So the Lord has commanded us, and so the church has done from the
beginning of her history to the present.
But that answer does not
explain the passage in Acts which seems to indicate that Peter, in his sermon
on Pentecost, commanded the multitudes to be baptized in the name of Jesus
Christ.
Calvin considered this
question in his commentary. He writes: ‘But here ariseth a question, Whether it
were lawful for Peter to change the form prescribed by Christ? … I deny that
Peter doth speak in this place of the form of baptism; but he doth simply
declare that the whole strength (i.e., virtue or efficacy) of baptism is
contained in Christ; although Christ cannot be laid hold on by faith without
the Father by whom he was given us, and the Spirit by the which he reneweth and
sanctifieth us. The answer consisteth wholly in this, that he intreateth not in
this place of the certain form of baptizing, but the faithful are called back
unto Christ, in whom alone we have whatsoever baptism doth refigure unto us.’
Calvin is saying that we
do not have in Acts 2:38 a statement of the form to be used in baptism;
we have rather a statement of the fact that baptism signifies and seals the
fullness of salvation in Christ alone.
Calvin’s view is
supported by several considerations. In the first place, it is quite striking
that, although this is not obvious from the English translation, different
prepositions are used in the two passages.
In Matthew 28:19, a
preposition is used which means ‘into.’ We are baptized into the name of
the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. That is, baptism is a sign
and seal of our spiritual incorporation into the fellowship of the triune
God.
In Acts 2:38, a preposition
is used which means ‘upon.’ Peter speaks of the fact that those who repent must
be baptized upon their confession of the Lord Jesus. F.F. Bruce writes that this refers to the fact
that ‘the person being baptized confessed or invoked Jesus as Messiah.’
This is common in the book
of Acts. In Acts 22:16, Ananias is
quoted as saying to Paul: ‘And now why tarriest thou? Arise, and be baptized,
and wash away thy sins, calling on the name of the Lord.’ (see also Acts 8:12;
15:17).
Further, as Calvin
suggests, the triune God, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, is fully and completely
revealed in our Lord Jesus Christ as the God of our salvation. Jesus Christ is the eternal Son of God in whom
the triune God dwells in all the fullness of divine perfection (Col. 2:9).
But baptism is a sign and
seal of incorporation into Jesus Christ—into His death and resurrection (Rom.
6:1-9). When we are incorporated into Christ, we have fellowship with Christ.
When we have fellowship with Christ, we have fellowship with the triune God,
for we enter into fellowship with God only through Jesus Christ.
Fellowship with Christ,
signified and sealed in baptism, is worked by the Holy Spirit of Christ, whom Christ
pours out upon the church. By the Spirit we are made one with Christ. And so,
by the Spirit we are made one with God—through Jesus Christ.
And so the church has
been correct in obeying the words of Christ in Matthew 28:19. I know that in
some churches ministers feel free to do as they please in the worship services
and in the use of the sacraments. But this is a great desecration of the
sacraments which will bring down the wrath of God.
Christ has instituted the
sacraments in the church. He has told us how He wants these sacraments to be administered.
We must, to receive the blessing of the sacraments, obey Him.”
(Source: “Covenant Reformed Fellowship News,” vol. 3, no. 23)
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