Christian baptism
The way of righteousness, life, and salvation Jesus taught to His apostles to preach and to teach to the world was to be accompanied by baptism in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost. The English word "Trinity" is from a Latin word that means "three in one." It refers to the way the Bible speaks of these three—the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost—as each being God, even though the Bible is also clear that there is but one true God. The Bible tells us how God has worked as Father, Son, and Holy Spirit to save us from the eternal death we all deserve because of our sins and our unrighteousness, that is, because of the way we frequently violate God's laws in spite of our best intentions even as we seek to please him in various ways through our own efforts. The more familiar we become with God's laws, the more we realize it's impossible as humans to keep His laws perfectly and to become righteous enough to stand in His presence.
But Jesus revealed that the Father, knowing our plight and loving us in spite of it, sent His Son into the world as a perfect man to suffer and die for us, taking the punishment for sin that we ourselves deserve. The Father, out of pure grace, accepted His Son's death as payment for the sins of all mankind, and at the same time the Father credits the Son's perfect righteousness in keeping the Law as true righteousness to all who hear and believe this message of what He has done by His grace. This messsage is known as the "gospel," which is from a Greek word meaning "good news." Repentance for sin and faith in this gospel of God's grace is worked unseen in the hearts of men by the Holy Ghost through the Word of God concerning Christ and His love for us, His work on our behalf, and the forgiveness of sins found in Him alone. This faith in Jesus Christ, created and maintained in our hearts by the Holy Spirit through the Word of God, is the only way we can be truly righteous and, as a result, have access to God and enter eternal life.
Matthew 28:18-20: "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."
When the apostles later said they baptized in the name of Jesus, they didn't mean that was an alternate, better, or more clear formula they used when baptizing. Rather, they meant they baptized by Jesus' authority, the authority given when He told them, in the words recorded in Matthew 28:19, to baptize in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost. They of course taught as Jesus taught them regarding the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost and the way they worked together, and still work together, to impart righteousness, life, and salvation to us:
2 Corinthians 13:14: [Paul writing to the Corinthian church,] "The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of God, and the communion of the Holy Ghost, be with you all. Amen."
Ephesians 2:17-18, 4:4-6: [Paul writing to the Ephesian church,] "For through him [Jesus] we both have access by one Spirit unto the Father....
"There is one body, and one Spirit, even as ye are called in one hope of your calling; one Lord, one faith, one baptism, One God and Father of all, who is above all, and through all, and in you all."
1 Peter 1:1-2: "Peter, an apostle of Jesus Christ, to the strangers scattered throughout Pontus, Galatia, Cappadocia, Asia, and Bithynia, elect according to the foreknowledge of God the Father, through sanctification of the Spirit, unto obedience and sprinkling of the blood of Jesus Christ: Grace unto you, and peace, be multiplied."
The nature of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost
Because the Father, Son, and Holy Ghost are presented by the Christ of Scripture as central to our baptism into Him and His church, it is critically important to know who the Scriptures show them to be and what their relationship is to each other and to us.
1. The Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost are persons distinct from one another.
a. Each is described by Scripture as "another" (Greek allos) in relation to the others:
i. The Father is described as "another" than Jesus, John 5:32, 37: "[Jesus said,] There is another that beareth witness of me; and I know that the witness which he witnesseth of me is true....the Father himself, which hath sent me, hath borne witness of me."
ii. The Holy Ghost is described as "another" than both the Father and the Son, John 14:16-17: "[Jesus said]...I will pray the Father, and he shall give you another Comforter, that he may abide with you for ever, even the Spirit of truth; whom the world cannot receive..."
b. Personal actions, such as knowing, willing, teaching, reproving, speaking, are ascribed to each of the three:
i. The Father and the Son 'know' (Grk. ginoskein), Matthew 11:27: "...no man knoweth the Son, but the Father; neither knoweth any man the Father, save the Son..."
ii. The Son 'declares' (Grk. exegeisthai), John 1:18: "No man hath seen God at any time; the only begotten Son, which is in the bosom of the Father, he hath declared him."
iii. The Son 'wills' (Grk. thelein), John 17:24: "[Jesus said,] Father, I will that they also, whom thou hast given me, be with me where I am; that they may behold my glory." Luke 22:42: "[Jesus said,] Father, if thou be willing, remove this cup from me: nevertheless not my will, but thine, be done."
iv. The Holy Ghost 'teaches' (Grk. didaskein), John 14:26: "[Jesus said]...the Comforter, which is the Holy Ghost, whom the Father will send in my name, he shall teach you all things, and bring all things to your remembrance, whatsoever I have said unto you."
v. The Holy Ghost 'reproves' (Grk. elegkein), John 16:7-8: "[Jesus said]...if I go not away, the Comforter will not come unto you; but if I depart, I will send him unto you. And when he is come, he will reprove the world of sin, and of righteousness, and of judgment..."
vi. The Holy Ghost 'speaks' (Grk. lalein), Acts 28:25: "Well spake the Holy Ghost by Esaias the prophet unto our fathers..."
2. The Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost are each the one God.
a. The Father is God:
1 Corinthians 8:6 "...there is but one God, the Father, of whom are all things, and we in him..."
b. The Son is God:
John 1:1,14: "In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God....And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us, (and we beheld his glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father,) full of grace and truth."
John 10:30: "[Jesus said,] I and my Father are one."
John 20:26-28: "And after eight days again his disciples were within, and Thomas with them: then came Jesus, the doors being shut, and stood in the midst, and said, Peace be unto you. Then saith he to Thomas, Reach hither thy finger, and behold my hands; and reach hither thy hand, and thrust it into my side: and be not faithless, but believing.And Thomas answered and said unto him, My Lord and my God. Jesus saith unto him, Thomas, because thou hast seen me, thou hast believed: blessed are they that have not seen, and yet have believed."
Colossians 2:9-10: "...in him [Christ] dwelleth all the fulness of the Godhead bodily. And ye are complete in him, which is the head of all principality and power..."
Hebrews 1:5-8: "For unto which of the angels said he [God] at any time, Thou art my Son, this day have I begotten thee? And again, I will be to him a Father, and he shall be to me a Son? And again, when he bringeth in the firstbegotten into the world, he saith, And let all the angels of God worship him. And of the angels he saith, Who maketh his angels spirits, and his ministers a flame of fire. But unto the Son he saith, Thy throne, O God, is for ever and ever: a sceptre of righteousness is the sceptre of thy kingdom."
Titus 2:13-14: "Looking for that blessed hope, and the glorious appearing of the great God and our Saviour Jesus Christ, who gave himself for us, that he might redeem us from all iniquity, and purify unto himself a peculiar people, zealous of good works..."
1 John 5:20: "And we know that the Son of God is come, and hath given us an understanding, that we may know him that is true, and we are in him that is true, even in his Son Jesus Christ. This is the true God, and eternal life."
c. The Holy Spirit is God:
Acts 5:3-4: "But Peter said, Ananias, why hath Satan filled thine heart to lie to the Holy Ghost, and to keep back part of the price of the land? Whiles it remained, was it not thine own? and after it was sold, was it not in thine own power? why hast thou conceived this thing in thine heart? thou hast not lied unto men, but unto God."
3. The Son was sent from heaven by the Father to become man that he might be our Savior.
John 1:1-2, 14-18: "In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. The same was in the beginning with God....
"And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us, (and we beheld his glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father,) full of grace and truth. John bare witness of him, and cried, saying, This was he of whom I spake,He that cometh after me is preferred before me: for he was before me. And of his fulness have all we received, and grace for grace. For the law was given by Moses, but grace and truth came by Jesus Christ. No man hath seen God at any time; the only begotten Son, which is in the bosom of the Father, he hath declared him."
John 3:13: "And no man hath ascended up to heaven, but he that came down from heaven, even the Son of man which is in heaven."
John 6:38-40: "[Jesus said,] For I came down from heaven, not to do mine own will, but the will of him that sent me. And this is the Father's will which hath sent me, that of all which he hath given me I should lose nothing, but should raise it up again at the last day. And this is the will of him that sent me, that every one which seeth the Son, and believeth on him, may have everlasting life: and I will raise him up at the last day."
John 8:42: "Jesus said unto them, If God were your Father, ye would love me: for I proceeded forth and came from God; neither came I of myself, but he sent me."
Galatians 4:4-5: "But when the fulness of the time was come, God sent forth his Son, made of a woman, made under the law, to redeem them that were under the law, that we might receive the adoption of sons."
Philippians 2:5-11: "Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus, Who, being in the form of God, thought it not robbery to be equal with God, but made himself of no reputation, and took upon him the form of a servant, and was made in the likeness of men. And being found in fashion as a man, he humbled himself, and became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross. Wherefore God also hath highly exalted him, and given him a name which is above every name; that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of things in heaven, and things in earth, and things under the earth; and that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father."
4. This Son and Savior is also the Messiah (Hebrew for "anointed one," as "Christ" means in Greek too), promised by God through Moses and the Hebrew psalmists and prophets (whose writings comprise the Christian "Old Testament").
Numbers 24:15-19: "And he took up his parable, and said, Balaam the son of Beor hath said, and the man whose eyes are open hath said: He hath said, which heard the words of God, and knew the knowledge of the most High, which saw the vision of the Almighty, falling into a trance, but having his eyes open: 'I shall see him, but not now: I shall behold him, but not nigh: there shall come a Star out of Jacob, and a Sceptre shall rise out of Israel, and shall smite the corners of Moab, and destroy all the children of Sheth. And Edom shall be a possession, Seir also shall be a possession for his enemies; and Israel shall do valiantly. Out of Jacob shall come he that shall have dominion, and shall destroy him that remaineth of the city.'"
Isaiah 35:4-8:
4Say to them that are of a fearful heart, Be strong, fear not: behold, your God will come with vengeance, even God with a recompence; he will come and save you.
5Then the eyes of the blind shall be opened, and the ears of the deaf shall be unstopped.
6Then shall the lame man leap as an hart, and the tongue of the dumb sing: for in the wilderness shall waters break out, and streams in the desert.
7And the parched ground shall become a pool, and the thirsty land springs of water: in the habitation of dragons, where each lay, shall be grass with reeds and rushes.
8And an highway shall be there, and a way, and it shall be called The way of holiness; the unclean shall not pass over it; but it shall be for those: the wayfaring men, though fools, shall not err therein.
Psalm 2:
1Why do the heathen rage, and the people imagine a vain thing?
2The kings of the earth set themselves, and the rulers take counsel together, against the Lord, and against his anointed, saying,
3Let us break their bands asunder, and cast away their cords from us.
4He that sitteth in the heavens shall laugh: the Lord shall have them in derision.
5Then shall he speak unto them in his wrath, and vex them in his sore displeasure.
6Yet have I set my king upon my holy hill of Zion.
7I will declare the decree: the Lord hath said unto me, "Thou art my Son; this day have I begotten thee.
8Ask of me, and I shall give thee the heathen for thine inheritance, and the uttermost parts of the earth for thy possession.
9Thou shalt break them with a rod of iron; thou shalt dash them in pieces like a potter's vessel."
10Be wise now therefore, O ye kings: be instructed, ye judges of the earth.
11Serve the Lord with fear, and rejoice with trembling.
12Kiss the Son, lest he be angry, and ye perish from the way, when his wrath is kindled but a little. Blessed are all they that put their trust in him.
Isaiah 52-53:
1Awake, awake; put on thy strength, O Zion; put on thy beautiful garments, O Jerusalem, the holy city: for henceforth there shall no more come into thee the uncircumcised and the unclean.
2Shake thyself from the dust; arise, and sit down, O Jerusalem: loose thyself from the bands of thy neck, O captive daughter of Zion.
3For thus saith the Lord, Ye have sold yourselves for nought; and ye shall be redeemed without money.
4For thus saith the Lord God, My people went down aforetime into Egypt to sojourn there; and the Assyrian oppressed them without cause.
5Now therefore, what have I here, saith the Lord, that my people is taken away for nought? they that rule over them make them to howl, saith the Lord; and my name continually every day is blasphemed.
6Therefore my people shall know my name: therefore they shall know in that day that I am he that doth speak: behold, it is I.
7How beautiful upon the mountains are the feet of him that bringeth good tidings, that publisheth peace; that bringeth good tidings of good, that publisheth salvation; that saith unto Zion, Thy God reigneth!
8Thy watchmen shall lift up the voice; with the voice together shall they sing: for they shall see eye to eye, when the Lord shall bring again Zion.
9Break forth into joy, sing together, ye waste places of Jerusalem: for the Lord hath comforted his people, he hath redeemed Jerusalem.
10The Lord hath made bare his holy arm in the eyes of all the nations; and all the ends of the earth shall see the salvation of our God.
11Depart ye, depart ye, go ye out from thence, touch no unclean thing; go ye out of the midst of her; be ye clean, that bear the vessels of the Lord.
12For ye shall not go out with haste, nor go by flight: for the Lord will go before you; and the God of Israel will be your rearward.
13Behold, my servant shall deal prudently, he shall be exalted and extolled, and be very high.
14As many were astonied at thee; his visage was so marred more than any man, and his form more than the sons of men:
15So shall he sprinkle many nations; the kings shall shut their mouths at him: for that which had not been told them shall they see; and that which they had not heard shall they consider.
[Chapter 53]
1Who hath believed our report? and to whom is the arm of the Lord revealed?
2For he shall grow up before him as a tender plant, and as a root out of a dry ground: he hath no form nor comeliness; and when we shall see him, there is no beauty that we should desire him.
3He is despised and rejected of men; a man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief: and we hid as it were our faces from him; he was despised, and we esteemed him not.
4Surely he hath borne our griefs, and carried our sorrows: yet we did esteem him stricken, smitten of God, and afflicted.
5But he was wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities: the chastisement of our peace was upon him; and with his stripes we are healed.
6All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned every one to his own way; and the Lord hath laid on him the iniquity of us all.
7He was oppressed, and he was afflicted, yet he opened not his mouth: he is brought as a lamb to the slaughter, and as a sheep before her shearers is dumb, so he openeth not hismouth.
8He was taken from prison and from judgment: and who shall declare his generation? for he was cut off out of the land of the living: for the transgression of my people was he stricken.
9And he made his grave with the wicked, and with the rich in his death; because he had done no violence, neither was any deceit in his mouth.
10Yet it pleased the Lord to bruise him; he hath put him to grief: when thou shalt make his soul an offering for sin, he shall see his seed, he shall prolong his days, and the pleasure of the Lord shall prosper in his hand.
11He shall see of the travail of his soul, and shall be satisfied: by his knowledge shall my righteous servant justify many; for he shall bear their iniquities.
12Therefore will I divide him a portion with the great, and he shall divide the spoil with the strong; because he hath poured out his soul unto death: and he was numbered with the transgressors; and he bare the sin of many, and made intercession for the transgressors.
Luke 4:16-21: "And he came to Nazareth, where he had been brought up: and, as his custom was, he went into the synagogue on the sabbath day, and stood up for to read. And there was delivered unto him the book of the prophet Esaias. And when he had opened the book, he found the place where it was written,
'The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he hath anointed me to preach the gospel to the poor; he hath sent me to heal the brokenhearted, to preach deliverance to the captives, and recovering of sight to the blind, to set at liberty them that are bruised, to preach the acceptable year of the Lord.'
"And he closed the book, and he gave it again to the minister, and sat down. And the eyes of all them that were in the synagogue were fastened on him. And he began to say unto them, This day is this scripture fulfilled in your ears."
John 4:25-26: "The woman saith unto him, 'I know that Messias cometh, which is called Christ: when he is come, he will tell us all things.' Jesus saith unto her, 'I that speak unto thee am he.'"
5. Jesus is not only God but is also truly man.
a. He is explicitly called a man and "the Son of Man" by the Scriptures:
1 Timothy 2:5: "For there is one God, and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus..."
John 8:40: "[Jesus said to the Pharisees,] But now ye seek to kill me, a man that hath told you the truth, which I have heard of God..."
Matthew 8:20: "And Jesus saith unto him, The foxes have holes, and the birds of the air have nests; but the Son of man hath not where to lay his head."
b. The Scriptures show him to be descended naturally from a human lineage by human birth:
Genesis 22:18 with Galatians 3:16: "[God said to Abraham,] And in thy seed shall all the nations of the earth be blessed; because thou hast obeyed my voice."
"Now to Abraham and his seed were the promises made. He saith not, And to seeds, as of many; but as of one, And to thy seed, which is Christ."'
Luke 1:41-42: "And it came to pass, that, when Elisabeth heard the salutation of Mary, the babe [Elisabeth's child, who was to be John the Baptist] leaped in her womb; and Elisabeth was filled with the Holy Ghost; and she spake out with a loud voice, and said, Blessed art thou among women, and blessed is the fruit of thy womb."
Luke 2:7: "And she [Mary] brought forth her firstborn son, and wrapped him in swaddling clothes, and laid him in a manger; because there was no room for them in the inn."
c. The Scriptures show him to be subject to physical human needs:
John 19:28-29: He thirsted: "After this, Jesus knowing that all things were now accomplished, that the scripture might be fulfilled, saith, I thirst. Now there was set a vessel full of vinegar: and they filled a spunge with vinegar, and put it upon hyssop, and put it to his mouth."
John 4:6: He was made weary by travel: "Now Jacob's well was there. Jesus therefore, being wearied with his journey, sat thus on the well: and it was about the sixth hour."
Mark 4:38: He slept: "And he was in the hinder part of the ship, asleep on a pillow: and they awake him, and say unto him, Master, carest thou not that we perish?"
6. Though we can easily understand the fact that the Scriptures teach there is but one God and yet also that the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit are each this one God, we cannot expect to understand, fully and completely, how this can be. God's nature and the way He has brought us salvation surpass human thought. He exists beyond space and time and is therefore beyond the ability of human reason to grasp fully and human language to describe fully to those limited by human existence and experience; it is therefore natural that the Scriptures speak of the working of God as Father, Son, and Holy Spirit as mysteries of the faith, and it is evident that this is a completely acceptable way for us to speak also.
1 Corinthians 4:1: [Paul, writing to the Corinthian church,] "Let a man so account of us, as of the ministers of Christ, and stewards of the mysteries of God."
Ephesians 3:8-11: [Paul, writing to the Ephesian church,] "Unto me, who am less than the least of all saints, is this grace given, that I should preach among the Gentiles the unsearchable riches of Christ; and to make all men see what is the fellowship of the mystery, which from the beginning of the world hath been hid in God, who created all things by Jesus Christ: to the intent that now unto the principalities and powers in heavenly places might be known by the church the manifold wisdom of God, according to the eternal purpose which he purposed in Christ Jesus our Lord..."
Colossians 1:25-27: [Paul, writing to the Colossian church,] "Whereof I am made a minister, according to the dispensation of God which is given to me for you, to fulfil the word of God; even the mystery which hath been hid from ages and from generations, but now is made manifest to his saints: to whom God would make known what is the riches of the glory of this mystery among the Gentiles; which is Christ in you, the hope of glory..."
Colossian 2:1-3: "For I would that ye knew what great conflict I have for you, and for them at Laodicea, and for as many as have not seen my face in the flesh; That their hearts might be comforted, being knit together in love, and unto all riches of the full assurance of understanding, to the acknowledgement of the mystery of God, and of the Father, and of Christ; In whom are hid all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge."
1 Timothy 3:8-9: [Paul, writing to Timothy,] "Likewise must the deacons be grave, not doubletongued, not given to much wine, not greedy of filthy lucre; holding the mystery of the faith in a pure conscience."
1 Timothy 3:14-16: "These things write I unto thee, hoping to come unto thee shortly: But if I tarry long, that thou mayest know how thou oughtest to behave thyself in the house of God, which is the church of the living God, the pillar and ground of the truth. And without controversy great is the mystery of godliness: God was manifest in the flesh, justified in the Spirit, seen of angels, preached unto the Gentiles, believed on in the world, received up into glory."