Matthew 28:19 says “Go therefore and disciple all the nations, baptizing them into the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.” This charge was given by the Lord Jesus after He had entered into resurrection, which was the consummation of the process of the Triune God. The Triune God has passed through a process that began with incarnation, included human living and crucifixion, and consummated with resurrection. In resurrection Christ, the embodiment of the Triune God, became the life-giving Spirit. Now this Spirit is the consummation of the Triune God for the believers to be baptized into the divine Trinity.
The clearest revelation of the divine Trinity is in Matthew 28:19. On the one hand, this verse speaks of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit; on the other hand, in this verse there is only one name, the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. This is the completion of the process of the Triune God, a process that ends in resurrection. After the completion of this process, the resurrected Christ came to the disciples and charged them to go forth with His authority to disciple the nations and baptize them into the name, the person, of the Triune God that they may have an organic union with the divine Trinity and be brought into the enjoyment of the Trinity for the church life.
Baptism is to bring repentant people out of their old state into a new one, by terminating their old life and germinating them with the new life of Christ that they may become members of the Body. After Christ accomplished His ministry on earth, passed through the process of death and resurrection, and became the life-giving Spirit, He charged His disciples to baptize the discipled people into the Triune God. This baptism has two aspects: the visible aspect by water and the invisible aspect by the Holy Spirit (Acts 2:38, 41; 10:44-48). The visible aspect is the expression, the testimony, of the invisible aspect, whereas the invisible aspect is the reality of the visible aspect. Without the invisible aspect by the Spirit, the visible aspect by water is vain; and without the visible aspect by water, the invisible aspect by the Spirit is abstract and impractical. Both are needed.
The word “into” in Matthew 28:19 indicates union, as in Romans 6:3; Galatians 3:27; and 1 Corinthians 12:13. The same Greek word is used in Acts 8:16; 19:3, 5; and 1 Corinthians 1:13, 15. To baptize the believers into the name of the Triune God is to bring them into a spiritual and mystical union with Him.
According to Matthew 28:19, there is one name for the Trinity. The name is the sum total of the divine Being, equivalent to His person. To baptize a believer into the name of the Trinity is to immerse him into all that the Triune God is. To be baptized into the person of the Triune God is to be baptized in the all-inclusive, consummated Spirit who is the ultimate consummation of the processed Triune God. This is to be baptized into the riches of the Father, into the riches of the Son, and into the riches of the Spirit. After believing into the Lord Jesus, we were baptized into the Father, the Son, and the Spirit. Now, as baptized ones, we are in an organic union with the Triune God. Therefore, whatever the Father has, whatever the Son has, and whatever the Spirit receives become ours.
In Matthew 28:19 to be baptized is to be baptized into the Triune God. But in Acts to be baptized is to be baptized into the Lord Jesus (Acts 8:16; 19:5). This indicates clearly that the Lord Jesus is the embodiment of the Triune God, the aggregate of the Father, the Son, and the Spirit. Furthermore, in the Epistles Paul says that to be baptized is to be baptized in the Spirit (1 Cor. 12:13). Therefore, the New Testament reveals that we are baptized into the Triune God, into the Lord Jesus, and in the Spirit. This indicates that the Lord Jesus is the totality of the Triune God and that the Spirit is the realization of the Lord Jesus. We have been baptized in the Spirit, and this is to be baptized into the Lord Jesus, which is to be baptized into the Father, the Son, and the Spirit-the Triune God. As a result, we are one with the Triune God, and whatever He is and has is ours in the organic union with Him. This enjoyment of the divine Trinity through the Spirit as the consummation of the Triune God is for the church life.
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