Does the Bible Contradict Itself?
A Baptist friend of mine once said to me, ” I would rather do what Jesus said, then what the Apostles said.”. This seems to be a round about way of expressing a belief that there are contradictions between Acts 2:38 and Matt. 28:19 and Christians must choose. Can there be a division in the teaching and application of baptism between Christ and his disciples? No, because Jesus taught a Kingdom divided against itself shall not stand. (Matt. 12:25) Now I ask, “Do you really believe that there was a division between Jesus and his Apostles?” I know that there was not, because the Apostles completed Jesus’ mandate to his full satisfaction.
Let’s take a closer look at the Great Commission:
20 Teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you: and, lo, I am with you alway, even unto the end of the world. Amen.
Jesus DID NOT say “repeat after me saying, I baptize you in the name of the Father the Son and the Holy Ghost”. Take a closer look at the mandate, it reveals a need for a singular name that identifies all three attributes of God, the Father, Son and Holy Ghost are not proper names, but titles. What is the singular name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost? There should be only one Name. The apostles believed that the name was Jesus Christ . They fulfilled the great commission by baptizing in the name of Jesus.
I choose to DO what Jesus said, rather than simply repeating what he said. I do this by calling the name of “Jesus” in Baptism.