Basic HTML Version
606
B. THE INSTITUTION OF CHRISTIAN BAPTISM.
1. IT WAS INSTITUTED WITH DIVINE AUTHORITY.
Baptism was instituted by Christ after He had
finished the work of reconciliation and this had received the approval of the Father in the
resurrection. It is worthy of notice that He prefaced the great commission with the words, “All
authority hath been given unto me in heaven and on earth.” Clothed with the fulness of that
mediatorial authority, He instituted Christian baptism and thus made it binding for all following
generations. The great commission is couched in the following words: “Go ye therefore (that is,
because all nations are made subject to Me), and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them
in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit: teaching them to observe
whatsoever I have commanded you.” Matt. 28:19,20. The complementary form in Mark
16:15,16 reads as follows: “Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel to the whole
creation. He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved; but he that disbelieveth shall be
condemned.” Thus the following elements are clearly indicated in this authoritative command:
(a) The disciples were to go out into the whole world and to preach the gospel to all nations, in
order to bring people to repentance and to the acknowledgment of Jesus as the promised
Saviour. (b) They who accepted Christ by faith were to be baptized in the name of the triune
God, as a sign and seal of the fact that they had entered into a new relation to God and as such
were obliged to live according to the laws of the Kingdom of God. (c) They were to be brought
under the ministry of the Word, not merely as a proclamation of the good news, but as an
exposition of the mysteries, the privileges, and the duties, of the new covenant. For the
encouragement of the disciples Jesus adds the words, “And lo, I (who am clothed with the
authority to give this commandment) am with you always, even unto the end of the world.”
2. THE BAPTISMAL FORMULA.
The apostles were specifically instructed to baptize eis to onoma
tou patros kai tou huiou kai tou hagiou pneumatos (into the name of the Father and of the Son
and of the Holy Spirit). The Vulgate rendered the first words “eis to onoma” by the Latin “in
nomine” (in the name), a rendering followed by Luther’s “im namen.” The words are thus made
to mean “on the authority of the triune God.” Robertson gives this as their meaning in his
Grammar of the Greek New Testament, p. 649, but fails to give any proof for it. The fact is that
this interpretation is exegetically untenable. The idea of “on the authority of” is expressed by
the phrase en toi onomati or the shorter one en onomati, Matt. 21:9; Mark 16:17; Luke 10:17;
John 14:26; Acts 3:6; 9:27, etc. The preposition eis (into) is indicative rather of an end, and may
therefore be interpreted to mean “in relation to,” or “into the profession of faith in one and
sincere obedience to one.” It is quite in harmony with this when Allen says in his commentary
on Matthew: “The person baptized was symbolically introduced ‘into the name of Christ,’ that
is, became His disciple, that is, entered into a state of allegiance to Him and fellowship with
Him.” This is the meaning given by Thayer, Robinson, and, substantially, also by Cremer-Koegel