"All power is given unto me in heaven and in earth. Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost..."
Well, my church people likes to ask: "Matthew28:19, what does it really mean?" FYI, in TJ the baptismal formula is immersion in water, in Jesus' name, not "in the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit."
Why? Because we believe that Father, Son and Holy Spirit are different manifestations of the same God, who is fully revealed in the name Jesus. An illustration would be this: if a man signs a cheque with his name, say "Thomas Henry", of course there would be no problem cashing the cheque. But what if the man only writes his roles in society as his signature, "father, brother, husband, friend"? Of course the cheque would not be valid because what the teller is looking for is a NAME, and not mere ROLES / MANIFESTATIONS.
One point of contention is that if the verse meant three names instead of just one, then it should have read "the NAMES of the Father,..." instead of "the NAME of the Father..." Well this can be followed by another long line of argument..but I'll just explain what I personally believe in: baptism in Jesus' name.
"Be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ." (Acts2:38)
"They were baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus." (Acts8:16)
"...When they heard this, they were baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus." (Acts19:5)
"Neither is there salvation in any other, for there is none other name under heaven given among men whereby we must be saved." (Acts4:12)
"Through His name whosoever believeth in Him shall receive remission of sins." (Acts10:43)
"Wherefore God also hath highly exalted Him and given Him a name which is above every name, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of things in heaven, and things in earth, and things under the earth; and that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father." (Phil2:9-11)
The name of the Father
There is one Father and Jesus is the name of that one Father.
"I am come in My Father's name..." (John5:43)
"I and My Father are one" (John 10:30)
"God,who at various times and in different ways spoke in time past to the fathers by the prophets has in these last days spoken to us by His Son (meaning taken as Son = "God's manifestation in the flesh")... having become so much better than the angels, as He has by inheritance obtained a more excellent name than they.." (Hebrews 1:1,4)
The name of the Son
Again, the term Son of God refers to God as manifested in the flesh in the person Jesus Christ. The name of the son is Jesus. (Matt1:21) We do not believe the Father is the Son, since the term Son can only be used in relation to humanity. So we can say the Son died, but not the Father died. We believe that the Father is in the son, as deity. Since Jesus is the name of the Son of God, both with respect to His deity and humanity, it is the name of both the Father and the Son.
The name of the Holy Spirit
"But the comforter, which is the Holy Ghost, whom the Father will send in My name.." (John14:26)
The Holy Spirit is simply God. He is holy, and He is a spirit. Why the need for another term to refer to God? The term Holy Spirit emphasizes a particular aspect of God, namely His works among men. When we speak of the Holy Spirit we are reminding ourselves of God's invisible work among men and of His ability to anoint, baptize, fill and indwell human lives, i.e. God in activity.
Well, I hope that explains the Oneness people's understanding of Matthew28:19.
2 comments:
very nice argument :)
maybe, just maybe, the verse only use "name" instead of "names" to refer to unity of Father, Son & Holy Spirit.
how to explain Matt 4:16-17, Matt 24:36, John 8:16-18, John 12:27-28, John 17?
in most of Paul's letters, he begins with greetings: Grace and Peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ - which means there are two separate Persons mentioned. agree or disagree?
hahahaha alright i will write another post on the verses.
regarding Paul's greeting, again my understanding is that Father and Son are roles, a bit similar if you start a letter with "Signed, your lover and friend.." which refers to the same person.
hm..but before that...i'm kinda confused regarding what the trinitarians believe actually...so the Father, Son and Holy Spirit are in unity, and yet..how come there are separate Persons? Well every trinitarian I've come across has had the same answer: "It's a mystery." Do you also?
Another thing..and this I ask not for the sake of argument but of curiosity..there will only be one throne and only one sitting on that throne...so...what kind of God do you envision? Because in my understanding to envision three separate persons sitting will be outright tritheism.
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