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A Little Q & A For Your Thursday
Viewed: 1560
Date: Mar 03 2016 7:14 PM
Hey Everybody,
I hope you are gearing up for a great weekend. I know I am! Here is a little Q & A for your day.
The Question:
Dear Sir: I witnessed a baptism recently, and the preacher doing the baptizing said, 'I baptize you in the name of the Father, the Son and Holy Spirit.' This doesn't follow the pattern of Acts 2:38, 'In the name of Jesus Christ.' And shouldn't he have said the phrase, 'For the forgiveness of your sins' when he baptized him?
The Answer:
This idea is not new. First of all, there is not one line in the Bible that tells us what to SAY when baptizing a person. If there is such an example, or command, I wish someone would cite it. We know what people were told to do (Acts2:38; 22:16; etc.), but we are not told what was said by those doing the baptizing. We know what Jesus told them to do: "Baptizing them into the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit" (Matt. 28:19). But the Lord never told the disciples to SAY anything at all while doing that!
The people on Pentecost who asked, “What shall we do?” (Acts 2) were told, "Repent, and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of your sins" (v. 38). But we are not told what Peter, or any other apostle, SAID before, during or after they were doing the baptizing. The truth is, we do not have any information from the Scriptures as to what should be said at baptism, or whether anything at all should be said at baptism.
Generally, when I witness or perform a baptism, I usually hear something like, "You are being baptized in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit for the remission of your sins." But I believe this is normally done as a means of informing the audience, and reminding the one being baptized, as to the purpose of baptism. It would be just as scriptural to baptize the person without saying a word.
It is interesting that the querist insists on the phrase, "For the forgiveness of your sins," from Acts 2:38, but omits the rest of that verse, and the rest of that chapter. Why not also say, "And you shall receive the gift of the Holy Spirit" (same verse!)? And why stop at the end of that verse? Why not also insist on quoting verse 42, "And they continued steadfastly in the apostles' teaching and fellowship, in the breaking of bread and in prayers" (Acts 2:42)?
Too many confuse what "in the name of” really means. That expression means, "By the authority of." The apostle Paul writes, "Whatever you do in word or deed, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus" (Col. 3:17). Now, read that again, carefully. Everything we do is to be done in the name of the Lord Jesus. Does that mean we must SAY that we are doing it the name of Jesus in order to be scriptural? If so, connect that verse with the preceding verse, and you must say "in the name of the Lord Jesus" before you sing a psalm, hymn or spiritual song. Or maybe even before, during and after each verse of the song?!
But note that “Whatever you do” is to be done "in the name of the Lord Jesus." That means our teaching, benevolence, encouraging, etc. That would mean that, before every point in a lesson, that point would have to be prefaced by saying, "In the name of the Lord Jesus." If that phrase is a "formula" that we must say when we baptize someone, then it is also a formula we would have to say before we hold a door open for someone, before we shake hands with a brother, before we give a cup of water to someone, before we give food to a hungry person, encourage a weak brother, etc., etc. All of that is ridiculous, of course. But the reason it is ridiculous is because some insist on the use of a "formula" to be said, when the Lord never gave any such formula.
When one is baptized "in the name of the Father, and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit," he IS being baptized "in the name of the Lord Jesus," whether anything is said, or not! And don't try to array the authority of Jesus against the Godhead. Remember that it was Jesus who said, "All authority has been given unto me, both in heaven and on earth" (Matt. 28:18). The authority which was given Jesus by the Godhead is the authority of "the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit." Jesus is not in competition with the Father and the Holy Spirit!
It is important that we not quibble about things the Scriptures do not say, and simply do what He says.
I hope this helps.
Mitch Robison
Enon Church of Christ
1366 Enon Road
Webb, AL 36376
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