Baptism ~ Page 2
Compiled by PTTW Staff
Some selected readings on the subject of Baptism.
When one is baptized into the name of the Trinity, he professes to acknowledge and appropriate God in all that He is and in all that He does for man. He recognizes and depends upon God the Father as his Creator and Preserver; receives Jesus Christ as his only Mediator and Redeemer, and his pattern of life; and confesses the Holy Spirit as his Sanctifier and Comforter.
Snipped from Vincent's Word Studies on St. Matthew 28:19 by Marvin R. Vincent, D.D., Baldwin Professor of Sacred Literature - Union Theological Seminary NY. Published 1886 and now in the Public Domain.
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To be baptized ''unto'' anyone is publicly to receive and adopt him as a religious teacher or lawgiver; to receive his system of religion. Thus, the Jews were baptized ''unto Moses,'' 1 Corinthians 10:2. That is, they received the system that he taught; they acknowledged him as their lawgiver and teacher. So Paul asks 1 Corinthians 1:13, ''Were ye baptized in the name of Paul?'' - that is, Were you devoted to Paul by this rite? Did you bind yourselves to ''him,'' and give yourselves away to ''him,'' or to God? So to be baptized in the name of the Father, or unto the Father, means publicly, by a significant rite, to receive His system of religion; to bind the soul to obey His laws; to be devoted to Him; to receive, as the guide and comforter of the life, His instructions, and to trust to His promises. To be baptized unto the Son, in like manner, is to receive Him as the Messiah - our Prophet, Priest, and King - to submit to His laws, and to receive Him as a Saviour. To be baptized unto the Holy Spirit is to receive Him publicly as the Sanctifier, Comforter, and Guide of the soul. The meaning, then, may be thus expressed: Baptizing them unto the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit by a solemn profession of the only true religion, and by a solemn consecration to the service of the sacred Trinity.
The union of these three names in the form of baptism proves that the Son and Holy Spirit are equal with the Father. Nothing would be more absurd or blasphemous than to unite the name of a creature - a man or an angel - with the name of the ever-living God in this solemn rite. If Jesus was a mere man or an angel, as is held by many who deny His divinity, and if the Holy Spirit was a mere ''attribute'' of God, then it would have been the height of absurdity to use a form like this, or to direct the apostles to baptize people under them. How absurd would be the direction - nay, how blasphemous - to have said, ''Baptize them unto God, and unto Paul, and unto the 'wisdom or power' of God!'' Can we believe that our Saviour would have given a direction so absurd as this? Yet, unless He Himself is divine, and the Holy Spirit is divine, Jesus gave a direction substantially the same as this. The form of baptism, therefore, has been always regarded as an unbreakable argument for the doctrine of the Trinity, or that the Son and Holy Spirit are equal with the Father.
Snipped from Albert Barnes' Notes on the Bible on St. Matthew 28:19 by Albert Barnes [1798-1870], which is now in the Public Domain.
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Our consent to a covenant-relation to God, the Father, Son, and Holy Ghost. Baptism is a sacrament, that is, it is an oath; super sacramentum dicere, is to say upon oath. It is an oath of abjuration, by which we renounce the world and the flesh, as rivals with God for the throne in our hearts; and an oath of allegiance, by which we resign and give up ourselves to God, to be His, our own selves, our whole selves, body, soul, and spirit, to be governed by His will, and made happy in His favour; we become His men, so the form of homage in our law runs. Therefore baptism is applied to the person, as livery and seisin is given of the premises, because it is the person that is dedicated to God. [1.] It is into the name of the Father, believing Him to be the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ (for that is principally intended here), by eternal generation, and our Father, as our Creator, Preserver, and Benefactor, to whom therefore we resign ourselves, as our absolute owner and proprietor, to actuate us, and dispose of us; as our supreme rector and governor, to rule us, as free agents, by His law; and as our chief good, and highest end. [2.] It is into the name of the Son, the Lord Jesus Christ, the Son of God, and correlate to the Father. Baptism was in a particular manner administered in the name of the Lord Jesus, Acts 8:16; Acts 19:5. In baptism we assent, as Peter did, Thou art Christ, the Son of the living God (St. Matthew 16:16), and consent, as Thomas did, My Lord, and my God, St. John 20:28. We take Christ to be our Prophet, Priest, and King, and give up ourselves to be taught, and saved, and ruled, by Him. [3.] It is into the name of the Holy Ghost. Believing the Godhead of the Holy Spirit, and His agency in carrying on our redemption, we give up ourselves to His conduct and operation, as our sanctifier, teacher, guide, and comforter.
Thirdly, Those that are thus baptized, and enrolled among the disciples of Christ, must be taught (St. Matthew 28:20); Teaching them to observe all thing, whatsoever I have commanded you. This denotes two things.
1. The duty of disciples, of all baptized Christians; they must observe all things whatsoever Christ has commanded, and, in order to that, must submit to the teaching of those whom He sends. Our admission into the visible church is in order to something further; when Christ hath discipled us, He hath not done with us; He enlists soldiers that He may train them up for His service.
All that are baptized, are thereby obliged, (1.) To make the command of Christ their rule. There is a law of faith, and we are said to be under the law to Christ; we are by baptism bound, and must obey. (2.) To observe what Christ has commanded. Due obedience to the commands of Christ requires a diligent observation; we are in danger of missing, if we take not good heed: and in all our obedience, we must have an eye to the command, and do what we do as unto the Lord. (3.) To observe all things, that He has commanded, without exception; all the moral duties, and all the instituted ordinances. Our obedience to the laws of Christ is not sincere, if it be not universal; we must stand complete in His whole will. (4.) To confine themselves to the commands of Christ, and as not to diminish from them, so not to add to them. (5.) To learn their duty according to the law of Christ, from those whom He has appointed to be teachers in His school, for therefore we were entered into His school.
Snipped from Matthew Henry's Commentary on the Whole Bible on St. Matthew 28:16-20 by Matthew Henry [1662-1714], which is now in the Public Domain.
