«　WEEK 6　DAY 1　»

　　Matt. 28:19 Go therefore and disciple all the nations, baptizing them into the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.

　　Rom. 6:3 …All of us who have been baptized into Christ Jesus have been baptized into His death.

　　1 Cor. 12:13 For also in one Spirit we were all baptized into one Body, whether Jews or Greeks, whether slaves or free…

　　The Lord… in Matthew 28:19… speaks clearly of the three persons—the Father, the Son, and the Spirit. But when He speaks here of the name of the Father, the Son, and the Spirit, the name is in the singular number in the original text. This means that though the Father, the Son, and the Spirit are three, yet the name is one. It is really mysterious—one name for three persons. This, of course, is what is meant by the expression three-in-one, or triune….This name includes the three—the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit—and tells us that God is three-in-one. Although God is only one, yet there is the matter of the three persons—the Father, the Son, and the Spirit. (CWWL, 1970, vol. 3, “Concerning the Triune God—the Father, the Son, and the Spirit,” pp. 289-290)

　　At the conclusion of the Gospel of Matthew, the gospel of the kingdom, the Lord revealed that we have been baptized into the name [the person] of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit (28:19)….The name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit in this verse is the sum total of the Divine Being, equivalent to His person. To baptize people into the name of the Triune God is to bring them into the person of the Triune God that they may have an organic union with this divine person. Our organic union with the Triune God brings us into a deep enjoyment and a rich experience of the Triune God. (CWWL, 1988, vol. 1, “Living in and with the Divine Trinity,” p. 381)

　　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 so that they may become kingdom people…. After the Lord Jesus 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…. Not long after the Lord charged the disciples with this baptism, He baptized them and the entire church in the Holy Spirit (1 Cor. 12:13) on the day of Pentecost (Acts 1:5; 2:4) and in the house of Cornelius (Acts 11:15-17). Then, based upon this, the disciples baptized the new converts (Acts 2:38), not only visibly into water but also invisibly into the death of Christ (Rom. 6:3-4), into Christ Himself (Gal. 3:27), into the Triune God (Matt. 28:19), and into the Body of Christ (1 Cor. 12:13). The water, signifying the death of Christ with His burial, may be considered a tomb to terminate the history of the baptized ones. Since the death of Christ is included in Christ, since Christ is the embodiment of the Triune God, and since the Triune God is one with the Body of Christ, to baptize new believers into the death of Christ, into Christ Himself, into the Triune God, and into the Body of Christ is to do one thing: on the negative side to terminate their old life and on the positive side to germinate them with a new life, the eternal life of the Triune God, for the Body of Christ. Hence, the baptism ordained by the Lord Jesus in Matthew 28:19 is to baptize people out of their life into the Body life for the kingdom of the heavens.

　　The word into in 28:19 indicates union, as in Romans 6:3, Galatians 3:27, and 1 Corinthians 12:13….To baptize people into the name of the Triune God is to baptize them into spiritual and mystical union with Him….To baptize believers into the name of the Trinity is to immerse them into all the Triune God is. (The Conclusion of the New Testament, pp. 1322-1323)

　　Further Reading: CWWL, 1988, vol. 1, “Living in and with the Divine Trinity,” ch. 13; Life-study of Matthew, msg. 72