太二八19　所以你们要去，使万民作我的门徒，将他们浸入父、子、圣灵的名里。

　　林前十二13　因为我们不拘是犹太人或希利尼人，是为奴的或自主的，都已经在一位灵里受浸，成了一个身体，且都得以喝一位灵。

　　施浸乃是带悔改的人脱离老旧的光景，进入新的境地；这是借着了结他们老旧的生命，并以基督的新生命重生他们，使他们成为国度的子民。施浸者约翰引荐的职事，开始于初步的水浸。如今，属天的王既已完成祂在地上的职事，经过死而复活的过程，并成了赐生命的灵，祂就吩咐门徒，将作祂门徒的人，浸入三一神里面。这浸有两面：看得见的一面是借着水，看不见的一面是借着圣灵（徒二38、41，十44~48）。前者是后者的彰显和见证，后者是前者的实际。没有看不见的灵浸，那看得见的水浸就是徒然的；没有看得见的水浸，那看不见的灵浸就是抽象和无实行的（马太福音生命读经，九一六页）。

　　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.

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

　　Baptism is to bring the 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, that they may become the kingdom people. John the Baptist's recommending ministry began with the preliminary baptism by water only. Now, after the heavenly King 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. This baptism has two aspects: the visible aspect by water and the invisible aspect by the Holy Spirit (Acts 2:38, 41; 10:44-48). The visible aspect is the expression, the testimony, of the invisible aspect; whereas the invisible aspect is the reality of the visible aspect. Without the invisible aspect by the Spirit, the visible aspect by water is vain; and without the visible aspect by water, the invisible aspect by the Spirit is abstract and impractical. (Life-study of Matthew, p. 828)

　　主凭这浸吩咐门徒以后不久，就将他们和全召会都浸在圣灵里（林前十二13）—犹太部分在五旬节那天（徒一5，二4），外邦部分在哥尼流家里（十一15~17）。以后，基于这事实，门徒将新悔改的人（二38）不仅浸入水里，也浸入基督的死（罗六3~4）、基督自己（加三27）、三一神（太二八19）以及基督的身体里（林前十二13）。水，象征基督的死和埋葬，可以看作了结受浸者老旧历史的坟墓。因为基督的死包含在基督里面，又因为基督是三一神的具体化身（西二9），并且三一神最终与基督的身体是一；所以将初信的人浸入基督的死、基督自己、三一神并基督的身体里，乃是作一件事：在消极方面，了结他们老旧的生命；在积极方面，为着基督的身体，用新生命，就是三一神永远的生命重生他们。因此，这里主所命定的浸，乃是为着诸天的国，把人从自己的生命浸出来，而浸入基督身体的生命里。

　　马太二十八章十九节的“入”字指明联合，……将人浸入三一神的名里，就是将人带进与三一神属灵、奥秘的联合里。……这里，神圣三一的名是单数的。这名乃是那神圣者的总称，等于祂的人位。将人浸入三一神的名里，就是将人浸入三一神一切的所是里。

　　马太福音，为着国度的构成，以父、子、灵三者的一个名，揭示了神圣三一的实际。在一章，圣灵（18）、基督（子—18）和神（父—23），为着产生那人耶稣（21），都在现场；祂这位耶和华救主，神与我们同在，乃是三一神的具体化身。在三章，马太给我们一幅图画，子站在受浸的水中，天开了，那灵仿佛鸽子降在子身上，并且父从天上对子说话（16~17）。在十二章，子以人的身位凭着那灵赶鬼，带进父神的国（28）。……在结束的一章，基督这末后的亚当，经过钉十字架的过程，进入复活的境地，成了赐生命的灵；以后祂回到门徒中间，在复活的气氛和实际里，吩咐他们去，将外邦人浸入神圣三一的名，就是祂的人位，也就是祂的实际里，使他们成为国度的子民（马太福音生命读经，九一六至九一八页）。

　　参读：马太福音生命读经，第七十二篇；国度，第二十章。

　　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 as a tomb to terminate the old history of the baptized ones. Since the death of Christ is included in Christ, since Christ is the very embodiment of the Triune God, and since the Triune God is one with the Body of Christ, so 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 just 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 here is to baptize people out of their life into the Body life for the kingdom of the heavens.

　　The word into in Matthew 28:19 indicates union....To baptize people into the name of the Triune God is to bring them into spiritual and mystical union with Him.

　　There is one name for the Trinity. The name is the sum total of the Divine Being, equivalent to His person. To baptize anyone into the name of the Trinity is to immerse him into all the Triune God is.

　　Matthew discloses the reality of the Trinity in the one name for all three, for the constitution of the kingdom. In the opening chapter of Matthew, the Holy Spirit (v. 18), Christ (the Son—v. 18), and God (the Father—v. 23) are upon the scene for the producing of the man Jesus (v. 21), who, as Jehovah the Savior and God with us, is the very embodiment of the Triune God. In chapter 3 Matthew presents a picture of the Son standing in the water of baptism under the open heaven, the Spirit as a dove descending upon the Son, and the Father out of the heavens speaking to the Son (vv. 16-17). In chapter 12, the Son, in the person of man, cast out demons by the Spirit to bring in the kingdom of God the Father (v. 28)....In the closing chapter, after Christ, as the last Adam, had passed through the process of crucifixion, entered into the realm of resurrection, and become the life-giving Spirit, He came back to His disciples, in the atmosphere and reality of His resurrection, to charge them to cause the heathen to become the kingdom people by baptizing them into the name, the person, the reality, of the Trinity. (Life-study of Matthew, pp. 828-830)

　　Further Reading: Life-study of Matthew, msg. 72; CWWL, 1972, vol. 2, “The Kingdom,” ch. 20