Sophia, your catechism question
this week is number 128 in the children's. In whose name are
we baptized? The answer that is given is in
the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Ghost.
We could also say the name of the triune God. God, of course,
doesn't change. He is always triune in himself. He is Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.
from all eternity, but it is especially in the sending of
his son into the world to redeem us that he most fully and clearly
teaches us about his triune character, that he is three persons in one
God. And so, to be baptized into Jesus
Christ, or to be baptized into the name of Jesus Christ, is
to be baptized into the name of the triune God who has revealed
himself in Jesus Christ, who has given himself for us in Jesus
Christ, and most importantly and lastingly, who has given
himself to us in the Lord Jesus Christ. And so he teaches us
that he is triune, especially in this, that when Jesus tells
us in Matthew 28 to baptize in the name of the Father, the Son,
and the Holy Ghost, he doesn't use the plural. He doesn't say
the names of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Ghost,
but it's just one name. that is of the Father and of
the Son and of the Holy Ghost. And so it's very important when
we baptize someone as a new member of Christ's Church, when we baptize
someone in the name of Jesus or into the name of Jesus, that
we use the specific language that the Lord Jesus gave us,
because this is A significant revelation, an important and
profound revelation of God himself as Father, Son, and Holy Spirit,
one God, singular, in three persons. So the question, in his name
are we baptized, has as its answer, in the name of the Father and
of the Son and of the Holy Ghost.
The Singular, Triune Name into Which We Are Baptized
Pastor walks his children through Children's Catechism question 128—especially explaining how we are baptized into the singular Name of the triune God.
Q128. In Whose Name are we baptized? In the Name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost.
