To be baptized is also to be baptized into the name of the Lord Jesus (Acts 8:16; 19:5). In the Gospel of Matthew the Lord Jesus charged the disciples to baptize the believers into the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. In the book of Acts, however, when the apostles went out to practice this, they baptized the believers into the name of the Lord Jesus. This indicates that to baptize people into the name of the Lord Jesus is to baptize them into the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. Because the Lord Jesus is the embodiment of the processed Triune God—the Father, the Son, and the Spirit (Col. 2:9)—to baptize people into Him is to baptize them into the Triune God.
Acts 10:48 says, “And he charged them to be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ.” To be in the name of Jesus Christ is to be in the person of Jesus Christ, to be in Jesus Christ Himself. To be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ is to be baptized in the sphere of the person of Jesus Christ. When we baptize anyone, we do it with Jesus Christ as the sphere and element. Apparently, water is the sphere and element of our baptism; in reality, water signifies a person, an all-inclusive person— Jesus Christ. It is in Him as the sphere and element that we baptize people.
Acts 2:38 says, “Repent and be baptized, each one of you, upon the name of Jesus Christ.” To be baptized upon the name of Jesus Christ is to be baptized upon the ground of what the name of Jesus Christ stands for. It stands for all that the person of Jesus Christ is and all that He has accomplished, both of which constitute the faith (the contents) of God’s New Testament economy. The name of Jesus Christ is not only the sphere and element of baptism, but also the ground of baptism. It is on this ground, based upon this ground, that we baptize people. In other words, it is on the ground of the faith of God’s New Testament economy that we baptize the believers.
Just as to believe is to believe into Christ, so also to be baptized is to be baptized into Christ (Gal. 3:27; Rom. 6:3b). Both bring us into Christ. By believing and being baptized we have entered and have been immersed into Christ, we have put on Christ, and we have been brought into an organic union with Him. Through our believing we have been joined to Christ to partake of Him. In like manner, through our baptism we have also been identified with Christ to have a share in Him. Hence, faith and baptism bring us into Christ to become persons who are in Christ.
Therefore, to baptize anyone into the name of the Lord Jesus is to baptize him into the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, that is, to baptize him into Christ.
Since to be baptized is to be baptized into Christ, it is also to be baptized into His death (Rom. 6:3b). Moreover, since we have been brought into an organic union with Christ through baptism, we have also been identified with His all-inclusive death, and we have been buried together with Him and raised together with Him (Rom. 6:4; Col. 2:12). In His all-inclusive death all negative things in the universe were terminated once for all, including sin, sins (1 Pet. 2:24; Heb. 9:26, 28), and the flesh (i.e., the body of sin—Rom. 6:6b); the ancient serpent, which is the Devil (Heb. 2:14), and the world belonging to him (John 12:31); the old man and the old creation (Rom. 6:6a); and all separating ordinances and customs among men (Eph. 2:14-15). Furthermore, on the positive side, Christ’s divine life was released and imparted into us that we might become the many grains (John 12:24). In His burial we and our past were terminated, and in His resurrection we have received His life and have a new beginning in life. Hence, when we go into the water to be baptized, we walk into the death of Christ by faith, allowing ourselves and everything that belongs to and is related to us to be buried in the tomb of the water of baptism, in the burial of Christ. Then, by faith we walk out of the water, and in resurrection we allow the resurrected Christ to live in us that we may live by Him and with Him.
Therefore, through baptism we have been identified with Christ’s death, burial, and resurrection. His death and burial, on the negative side, terminated us and everything that is of us, that we may be delivered from the self, sin, the world, and everything that is of the old creation, everything that is of Satan, and everything that is outside of God. His resurrection, on the positive side, has made us a new creation to partake of God’s life and all its riches in Christ, and has brought us into a new realm of resurrection. In this new realm old things have passed away and have become new.