In Galatians 3:27 Paul says, “For as many as were baptized into Christ have put on Christ.” The Christ in Galatians 3:27 is equal to the Father, Son, and Spirit in Matthew 28:19. Therefore, to be baptized into Christ is to be baptized into the name of the Father, Son, and Spirit.
Many years ago a certain person tried to argue with me about baptism. Acknowledging that we respected the Bible and baptized people in water, he asked me in what name we baptize the believers. Was it in the name of the Father, Son, and Spirit, in the name of Christ Jesus, or in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ? He went on to say that the name makes a great difference. I asked him to explain the difference between Christ in Galatians 3:27 and the Father, Son, and Spirit in Matthew 28:19. He replied that Christ is merely the Son. Then I went on to say that instead of arguing, we should simply enjoy the Father, Son, and Spirit, Christ Jesus, and the Lord Jesus Christ. I said that Christ is all-inclusive, that He is not only the Son, but also the Father and the Spirit. I also told him that we may baptize one person into the name of the Father, Son, and Spirit; another, into Christ; and still another, into the Lord Jesus Christ or into Christ Jesus. There is nothing wrong with baptizing people in this way. When we compare Matthew 28:19 with Galatians 3:27, we see that to baptize people into Christ is to baptize them into the Father, Son, and Spirit. We do not care to argue over terminology; we care only for the living Person, for the all-inclusive, life-imparting, processed Triune God.
In Romans 6:3 Paul asks, “Are you ignorant that as many as have been baptized into Christ Jesus have been baptized into His death?” Have you ever wondered why Paul says that those who are baptized into Christ Jesus are baptized into His death? We have been baptized into a living Person. How then can we be baptized into His death? Why are we not baptized into His resurrection? If I had been the author of Romans 6:3, I would have said that those who are baptized into Christ are baptized into His resurrection. If you had a choice, would you not prefer to be baptized into resurrection instead of into death? But Paul says definitely that those who have been baptized into Christ have been baptized into His death.
The resurrected Christ still bears in Himself the effectiveness of His death. Otherwise we could not be baptized into His death by being baptized into Him. The fact that we are baptized into Christ and into His death indicates that Christ and His death are one. Drinking tea can be used as an illustration. When we drink tea, we drink both tea and water. Because the water and the tea are one, the water carries the element, the reality, of the tea. In like manner, the resurrection of Christ carries the element of His effective death. Thus, when a person is baptized into Christ, he is spontaneously baptized into the death of Christ. It is impossible to separate Christ’s death from Christ Himself. The being of the resurrected Christ includes the element of His effective death. The effectiveness of Christ’s death is one of the ingredients of His all-inclusive being. To be baptized into Christ is to be baptized into His death.
There is a tremendous difference between death in Adam and the death of Christ. I loathe death in Adam, but I appreciate the sweetness of Christ’s death. His death is dear and lovable, and I long to abide restfully in it. How wonderful that a believer baptized into the all-inclusive Christ is also placed into the death of Christ! In the words of a hymn written by A. B. Simpson, “Oh! it is so sweet to die with Christ!” Rest and victory are found in Christ’s death.
We have seen that to be baptized is to be placed into the Triune God, into Christ, and into the death of Christ. How is it possible for Christ to be the spiritual water in which we are immersed? Christ can be such water because in resurrection He was processed to become the pneuma, the life-giving Spirit. As the pneuma, Christ is the heavenly air. To baptize someone into such air is much easier than to baptize him into water. Everybody knows that water comes from rain and that rain comes from moisture in the air. Christ today is the spiritual air full of moisture. When we baptize people into Christ, we baptize them into Him as the heavenly pneuma, into the all-inclusive, life-giving, processed Triune God.
The way to get into Christ is to be baptized into Him. All believers should have the assurance that they have been baptized into the Triune God. We can boldly testify that because we have been baptized into Christ and into His death, we are now in Christ.