Tom’s Newsletter
by
Thomas J. McNearny
As I was reviewing some of my papers the other day, I was amazed at how much vital information has been amassed on the subject of water baptism, which I now humbly submit for your review and consideration:
We have three scriptures which pertain to the Great Commission given by Jesus Christ. Notice that all three make reference to a singular name-
And Jesus came and spake unto them, saying, All power is given unto me in heaven and in earth. Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in 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. Amen (Matthew 28:18-20)
And he said unto them, 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. And these signs shall follow them that believe; In my name shall they cast out devils; they shall speak with new tongues; (Mark 16:15-17)
And said unto them, Thus it is written, and thus it behoved Christ to suffer, and to rise from the dead the third day; And that repentance and remission of sins should be preached in his name among all nations, beginning at Jerusalem. (Luke 24:46-47)
So what is this name that is being referred to? We can find that out by seeing how the men that were hand-picked by Jesus carried out the command to baptize. First we can see how the apostle Peter said we should baptize by looking at Acts 2:38-
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.
Next we should look at examples of people being baptized in the New Testament to see how the disciples of Jesus carried out his command to baptize:
For as yet he was fallen upon none of them: only they were baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus. (Acts 8:16)
And he commanded them to be baptized in the name of the Lord. Then prayed they him to tarry certain days. (Acts 10:48)
When they heard this, they were baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus. (Acts 19:5)
So from the above examples we can see that the apostles who were chosen and empowered by Jesus to carry on after He ascended into heaven baptized in the name of Jesus. They understood the command of Jesus which stated that they should baptize in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit and they did just that. They baptized in the name of Jesus. This is the way we should baptize.
The following is a list of scriptures that show us the importance of the name of Jesus:
John 20:31- Life through his name
Colossians 3:17- Do all in the name of the Lord Jesus.
I Corinthians 1:13- Were ye baptized in the name of Paul?
I Corinthians 6:11- Washed, sanctified, justified in the name of Jesus.
Ephesians 3:14 and 15- Whole family of heaven and earth has this name.
Philippians 2:9 and 10- Jesus is the highest name.
Acts 22:16- Call on his name.
Looking at the following verses can help us answer this question:
First of all, Jesus said you must be born of water and Spirit-
Jesus answered, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born of water and of the Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God. (John 3:5)
Then Jesus directly linked baptism to eternal salvation-
He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved; but he that believeth not shall be damned. (Mark 16:16)
Next the apostle Peter stated directly the necessity of being baptized during the first sermon preached by the New Testament church after Jesus ascended into heaven-
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.
Romans 6:4 and Colossians 2:12 say that we are buried with him in baptism.
Acts 8:58 says that they went down both into the water.
In John 3:23 we see that John baptized at a certain location because there was much water.
In Matthew 3:16 when Jesus was baptized He went straightway out of the water.
All of the previous verses indicate immersion.
Consider the following pertinent facts about water baptism- The word for baptize in the Greek language is baptizo- which means to immerse. The word for sprinkle in Greek is Rantizo. The word Rantizo is never used in reference to baptism and there is no Bible evidence whatsoever to sprinkling being used in baptism.
The book of Matthew was written in approximately 62 A.D. after an estimated half million converts were baptized in the name of Jesus. Matthew was with Peter on the day of Pentecost when the first message of New Testament salvation was preached in Acts chapter two. Matthew made no attempt to correct Peter’s words when he preached to those that were pricked in their hearts and asked Peter the question-
Now when they heard this, they were pricked in their heart, and said unto Peter and to the rest of the apostles, Men and brethren, what shall we do?
Peter went on to tell them to be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ and they would receive the gift of the Holy Ghost. Why do most churches refuse to baptize in the wonderful name of Jesus?
The blood of Jesus is applied at water baptism. Hebrews 9:22 tells us that without shedding of blood is no remission of sin. We identify with the death of Christ (where the blood was shed) in repentance and baptism.(I Peter 2:24 and Romans 6:4) Acts 10:43 says that through his name whosoever believes in him shall receive remission of sins and we are baptized for the remission of sins. (Acts 2:38)
Luke 24:47 happened after Matthew 28:19. In Matthew 28 Jesus and his disciples were in Galilee. In Luke 24:33 they had by this time returned to Jerusalem. In Luke 24:45 He opened their understanding and in verse 49 He told the disciples to tarry in Jerusalem and in verse 51 He ascended into heaven. No ascension is mentioned in Matthew 28 for Jesus was not yet in Bethany. Therefore, just before Jesus ascended into heaven He made this statement in Luke 24:47-
And that repentance and remission of sins should be preached in his name among all nations, beginning at Jerusalem.
This command the apostles carried out and so should we.
Water baptism is part of the New Covenant of circumcision. Circumcision was first established in Genesis chapter 17, verses 9 through 12-
And God said unto Abraham, Thou shalt keep my covenant therefore, thou, and thy seed after thee in their generations. This is my covenant, which ye shall keep, between me and you and thy seed after thee; Every man child among you shall be circumcised. And ye shall circumcise the flesh of your foreskin; and it shall be a token of the covenant betwixt me and you. And he that is eight days old shall be circumcised among you, every man child in your generations, he that is born in the house, or bought with money of any stranger, which is not of thy seed. He that is born in thy house, and he that is bought with thy money, must needs be circumcised: and my covenant shall be in your flesh for an everlasting covenant.
This necessity of circumcision was established before the Law was given to Moses at Mt. Sinai and did not pass away when the ordinances of the Law were nailed to the cross of Jesus Christ as the following New Testament verses demonstrate:
For he is not a Jew, which is one outwardly; neither is that circumcision, which is outward in the flesh: But he is a Jew, which is one inwardly; and circumcision is that of the heart, in the spirit, and not in the letter; whose praise is not of men, but of God. (Romans 2:28-29)
And ye are complete in him, which is the head of all principality and power: In whom also ye are circumcised with the circumcision made without hands, in putting off the body of the sins of the flesh by the circumcision of Christ: Buried with him in baptism, wherein also ye are risen with him through the faith of the operation of God, who hath raised him from the dead. (Colossians 2:10-12)
1. Encyclopedia of Religion and Ethics
Edited by James Hastings‘‘The formula used was ‘in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ’ or some synonymous phrase; there is no evidence for the use of the trine name.’’
2. Encyclopedia of Religion and Ethics by T.N.T. Clark Edinburg, published 1924, Vol. 1 page 380. Christian baptism when connected with the use of a formula is alluded to four times in the New Testament. In Acts 2:38, 8:16, 10:48 and 19:5 and the formula is never that of Matthew 28:19, but twice in the Name of Jesus Christ (Acts 2:38 and 10:48) and twice in the name of the Lord Jesus (Acts 8:16 and 19:5) that this was the usual formula of Christian baptism is supported by the Pauline Epistles, which speak of being baptized only into Christ (Gal. 3:27) or into Christ Jesus (Romans 6:3-4). Is it possible to reconcile these facts with the belief that Christ commanded the disciples to baptize in the Triune Name? The obvious explanation of the silence of the New Testament on the triune name and the use of another formula in Acts is that the other formula was the earlier and that the triune formula was a later addition. It would require very strong argument to controvert this presumption and none seems to exist.
3. A history of Christianity in the apostolic age, by A.C. McKifford in 1901, page 61 of the trinitarian formula in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Ghost. We have trace evidence in the New Testament except in the single passage of Matthew 28:19. It is difficult to suppose that it was employed in the early days with which we are here concerned. For it involves a conception of the nature of the right, which was entirely foreign to the thought of these primitive Christians and indeed no less foreign to the thought of Paul. When and how the formula arose we do not know.
4. The International Standard Bible Encyclopedia Vol. 1, page 392, 393 and 396. ‘‘The formula for Christian baptism in the mode which prevailed is given in Matthew 28:19, I baptize thee in the Name of the Father and of the son and of the Holy Ghost, but it is curious that these words are not repeated in any description of Christian baptism until the time of Justin Martyr (100 A.D.); and there they are not repeated exactly but in a slightly extended form. In every account of the performance of the right in apostolic days, it was in the name of Jesus Christ (Acts 2:38), and the same formula was used at the baptism of Cornelius with those that were with him (Acts 10:48). Indeed for St. Paul’s question to the Corinthians it appears to have been the usual one. ‘‘Were ye baptized in the name of Paul?’’ (I Cor.1:13). The Samaritans were baptized into the name of the Lord Jesus (Acts 8:16), and the same formula was used in the case of the disciples at Ephesus (Acts 19:5). The shorter formula was in use even in the fifth and sixth centuries at all events in the east. The baptisms recorded in the New Testament after the day of Pentecost are given in the name of Jesus Christ, or the Lord Jesus. This difficulty was considered by the fathers.
5. Crises in the Early Church by John Falkner, page 13-14. The only real stumbling block is the fact that baptism is always given in the name of Christ in the New Testament, not in the name of the trinity. There is not the least doubt that the baptisms in the Acts were in the name of Jesus only.
6. Christianity in the Apostolic Age, by George Gilbert, published by the University of Chicago Press, 1906, page 25. Baptism into the name of the Lord Jesus is the only form mentioned in the Book of Acts and New Testament Epistles.
7. The Dictionary of the Bible by James Hastings, published 1925, page 83. The Primitive Church always baptized in the name of Jesus Christ or Lord Jesus. A Dictionary of the Bible, by James Hastings, Volume 1, page 241, 1906 edition. ‘‘Moreover, there is no mention in the New Testament of any one being baptized into the name of the Trinity.’’
8. Epotts in the Life of Paul, by A.T. Robertson, baker 1974, page 181. The essential name for Christian baptism was that of Jesus.
9. A Dictionary of the Bible, by Grant and Raley, published 1924, page 88. In the Primitive Community the right marked the admission of the New Convert, who in the very reception of the baptism was aware of his surrender made to and accepted by Jesus the Lord, whom he confessed and whose name was pronounced over him. Those who pronounce the name of Jesus over the person receiving baptism are acting for the real purchaser Jesus Christ, whose name has a virtue able to possess and protect the person over whom his name is pronounced.
10. a.The Encyclopedia Britannica, Volume 3, pages 365 and 368, 1910 edition under The Baptismal Formula, page 365. ‘‘The trinitarian formula and trine immersion were not uniformly used from the beginning nor did they always go together.’’
b.under Origin of Christian Baptism, page 368 ‘‘We gather from Acts 19:4 that John had merely baptized in the name of the coming Messiah, without identifying him with Jesus of Nazareth. The apostolic age supplied this identification, and the normal use during it seems to have been ‘into Christ Jesus,’ or ‘in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ’ simply, or ‘of the Lord Jesus Christ.’ ’’
11. A History of the Christian Church, by Willisten Walker, page 87, 1959 edition ‘‘With the early disciples generally baptism was ‘in the name of Jesus Christ.’ ’’
12. Encyclopedia Biblica, Volume 1, page 473, 1899 edition, under Formula- ‘‘In the name of Jesus Christ or of the Lord Jesus. The former expression is used in Acts 2:38 and 10:48. The latter is used in Acts 8:16 and 19:5. See also Acts 22:16. . . From these passages, and from Paul’s words in I Corinthians 1:13 (‘Was Paul crucified for you, or were ye baptized in the name of Paul?’), it is natural to conclude that baptism was administered in the earliest times ‘in the name of Jesus Christ,’ or in that ‘of the Lord Jesus.’ This view is confirmed by the fact that the earliest forms of the baptismal confession appear to have been single- not triple, as was the later creed.’’
13. Britannica Encyclopedia, 11th edition, Volume 3, page 365- Baptism was changed from the name of Jesus to the words Father, Son, and Holy Ghost in the 2nd Century.
14. Canney Encyclopedia of Religion, page 53- The early church baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus until the second century.
15. Hastings Encyclopedia of Religion, Volume 2- Christian baptism was administered using the words, ‘‘in the name of Jesus.’’ page 377. Baptism was always in the name of Jesus until the time of Justin Martyr, page 389.
16. Catholic Encyclopedia, Volume 2, page 263- Here the authors acknowledged that the baptismal formula was changed by their church.
17. Hastings Dictionary of the Bible, page 88- It must be acknowledged that the three fold name of Matthew 28:19 does not appear to have been used by the primitive church, but rather in the name of Jesus, Jesus Christ or Lord Jesus.
If you are interested in more information, we have booklets that may be of help to you. The titles are: One Faith and Seven Dispensations, The Ministry of Laying on of Hands, The Glory of Holiness, The Pure Oneness of God, God’s Plan of Salvation for TODAY, and Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and You Shall Be Saved?- True or False
Also, if you are interested in receiving a deeper experience in God or would like to sit with Pastor Kruger and discuss the scriptures, please contact us at www.newlifechristianchapel.org or call us at 619-222-1224. Thursday nights are usually available for this purpose at the church.
Come and worship with us expecting a miracle for your life.
New Life Christian Chapel