~ A place to find answers to gnawing spiritual questions ~
Question: I have been involved in a great little church in Tampa, Florida. I have been accepted into leadership, but now the pastor, who has been influenced by the United Pentecostal Church is insisting that I be baptized in the Name of Jesus. I believe my Trinitarian baptism is valid, but I have been challenged to find scripture to back up my Trinitarian baptism. My pastor says that the baptism mentioned by Christ in the Great Commission was for a short period of time, and that is the only place where you see a baptism in the Name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. My question is two-fold: Should I submit to my pastor in this? Why is this "Trinitarian baptism" not mentioned anywhere else in scripture?Answer: Let me begin by saying that there is nothing in the Bible to indicate that the baptismal formula given by Jesus in the Great Commission was only for a short time. The context of the passage conveys the opposite idea - that this is the formula to be used throughout the world. The fact that it is mentioned only once neither weakens nor strengthens the Trinitarian position. The baptismal formula isn't the issue that would concern me at this point. I would be more interested in finding out if your pastor believes in the Trinity of God. It appears that he is leaning in the direction of the Oneness theology which is certainly an erroneous doctrine.
Some technical information related to baptism follows: When Peter uses the words, "in the name of Jesus" and "in the name of the Lord," the Greek equivalent to that is, "in the authority of" and "the ground" on which people are to be baptized and has more to do with the basis for baptism and not the formula itself. When Jesus uses the words, "In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Ghost" (Matthew 28:19), the Greek reading signifies, "the object or result" of baptism is to bring the candidate into a relationship with the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Ghost.
Copyright © 2009 - The Lorain County Free-Net Chapel
North Central Ohio, U.S.A.
Home of David Wilkerson's Times Square Church Pulpit Series Multilingual Web Site
http://www.tscpulpitseries.org
Webmaster
This page was last updated January 2, 2009.
Why Revival Tarries/ "Help!"/ What's Here/ Bookstore/ Statement of Faith/ Bible Study/ Around the Piano/ Bulletin Board/ Library/ Home