Buy essay on THE SCRIPTURAL RECORD

My heart is troubled for those who really love the Lord, but whom through the lack knowledge or fear are being cheated out of their inheritance. Will you not examine the Scriptures to see whether these things are true or not and earnestly ask God to baptize you with the Holy Ghost? These are the days of the “latter rain”, which God is sending to develop the grain for the harvest. Soon He will come to catch away those who have the Spirit dwelling in them that raised up Jesus from the dead. Now is the time to examine yourself to see whether or not you are in the faith of the apostles.
Every time the Bible records the name or formula associated with an actual baptism in the New Testament church, it describes the name Jesus. All five such accounts occur in the Book of Acts, the history book of the early church. It records that the following people were baptized in Jesus’ name:
The Jews: “Then Peter said unto them, Repent and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins, and ye shall receive the gift of the Holy Ghost” (Acts 2:38).
The Samaritians, “They were baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus” (Acts 8:16).
The Gentiles, “And he commanded them to be baptized in the name of the Lord “ (Acts 10:48). (The earliest Greek manuscripts that we have said, “In the name of Jesus Christ”, as do most versions today.)
The disciples of John (rebaptized). “They were baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus” (Acts 19:5).
The Apostle Paul. “Arise and be baptized, and wash away thy sins, calling on the name of the Lord “. (Acts 22:16).
Moreover, the Epistles contain a number of references or allusions to baptize in Jesus’ name. See Romans 6:3-4; 1 Corinthians 1:13, 6, 11; Galatians 3:27; Colossians 2:12; James 2:7.
The only verse of Scriptures that anyone could petition to in support of a threefold baptismal formula is Matthew 28:19, in which Jesus commanded baptism “in the name of the Father, and the Son, and of the Holy Ghost”. The word name in this verse is singular, however, indicating that the phrase depicts one supreme name by which the one God is revealed, not three names of three distinct persons.
The apostles understood Christ’s words as description of His own name, for they fulfilled His command by baptizing in the name of Jesus. There is only one God (Deuteronomy 6:4), and He has one supreme name today (Zechariah 14:9). Jesus is the incarnation of all the fullness of the Godhead (Colossians 2:9). Jesus is the name of the Son (Matthew 1:21), Jesus is the name by which the Father is revealed to us (John 5:43; 10:30; 14:-11), and Jesus is the name in which the Holy Spirit comes (John 14:16-18, 26). Luke 24:47 is a parallel verse to Matthew 29:19, and it describes Jesus as saying that repentance and remission of sins – and baptism is for the remission of sins (acts 2:38) – would be preached “in his name”. Jesus is the only saving name, the name which we received remission of sins, the highest name known to us, and the name in which we say and do all things (Acts 4:12; 10:43; Philippians2:9-11; Colossians 3:17). Thus, the one supreme saving name of Matthew 28:19 is Jesus. We are to fulfill the command of that verse as the early church did, by invoking the name Jesus at baptism.

THE HISTORICAL RECORD
Respected historical sources, verify that the early Christian church did not use the threefold baptismal formula but invoked the name Jesus in baptism well into the second and third centuries.
Encyclopedia of Religion and Ethics (1951), ll. 384, 389: “The formula used was “in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ” or some synonymous phrase; there is no evidence for the use of the trine name…The earliest form, represented in the Acts, was simple immersion in water, the use of the name of the Lord, and the laying on of hands. To these were added, at various times and places which cannot be safely identified, (a) the trine name (Justin….).
Interpreter’s Dictionary of the Bible (1962), 351: “The evidence suggested that baptism in early Christianity was administered, not in the threefold name but “ in the name of Jesus Christ’ or in the name of the Lord Jesus’”.
Hasting’s Dictionary of the Bible (1898), 1, 241. : “One explanation is that the original form of words was “ into the name of Jesus Christ’ or “the name of the Lord Jesus: Baptism into the name of the Trinity was a later development”.
Canney’s Encyclopedia of Religions (1970), page 53: “Persons were baptized at first “in the name of Jesus Christ” or “ in the name of the Lord”. Afterwards, with the developments of the doctrine of the Trinity, they were baptized “in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Ghost”.
Encyclopedia Britannica, 11th ed. (1910), 11 365. “The trinitarian formula and trine immersion were not uniformly used in the beginning. Bapti(ism) into the name of the Lord (was) the normal formula of the New Testament, In the 3rd century baptism in the name of Christ was still so widespread that Pope Stephen, in opposition to Cyprian of Carthage, declared it to be valid”.
Christians today should use the biblical baptismal formula as found in the New Testament. Everyone should be baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ for the remission of sins. We cannot but draw from this history the inference that in Christian baptism there was a deeper spiritual significance.