Great Commission: Baptism

When we read the Great Commission we come to the pinnacle, or what I lovingly call the meat and potatoes of the scripture: "baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit." When we read this passage, we stop and think, 'what does this mean to the individual or the congregation?' We wonder what it means to be baptized according the Bible. Indeed, most of us have experienced a baptismal service—whether we were being baptized or watching friend or family participate in the act of baptism.


We notice in the Church of God, Baptism is usually done by submerging a person in the water, and to best translate from the original language; baptism in its simplest form means to be immersed. In the books of the law, we learn that some of the cleansing purification rituals for the Israelites who sinned were to immerse themselves in water. Later, we learn of John the Baptist immersing people in the Jordan River (Matt. 3:1-11) and telling those who journeyed to be baptized, "Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is near."


Now before we get ahead of ourselves and start dunking any random person in a puddle, let us look at what Jesus was telling us in the meat and potato section of the Great Commission. He tells us before his ascension, "Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I commanded you." (Matt 28:19-20) The baptism that he was talking about was an immersion of and in the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.


What does the immersion of Father, Son, and Holy Spirit look like? On the individual level, this immersion takes the form of perfecting-love and obedience during the discipling and consistent studying of God's Word. This process of being immersed does not last for but a single moment, but is a life-long journey. If the people that make up a local church immerse themselves in Christ, then the processing 'going out' and 'making disciples' can effectively be carried out into the neighborhoods, communities, states, nations, and the entire world. The church, however, cannot began to reach the lost without first being immersed in Christ. Make it your priority to be daily immersed in the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.