The Bulletin
of the
Church of Christ at
New Georgia
Tim Johnson, editor
August 4, 2002
In
This Issue:
Can
Baptism for the Wrong Reason Be "In the Name of Jesus?"
By
Steve Klein
Can Baptism for the Wrong Reason Be
"In the Name of Jesus"?
In Acts 2:38, when men wanted to know what they should do to be saved, Peter said, "Repent, and let every one of you be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins..." Plainly, to receive remission of sins, we must "be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ." But what does that involve?
There are those who claim that any person who believes in Jesus, and has been baptized based on that belief, has been baptized "in the name of Jesus." According to this reasoning, it doesn't matter whether or not that person knows the meaning and pur-pose of baptism. Apparently, a person could be baptized not for the remission of sins (Acts 2:28), not to get into Christ (Galatians 3:27), not to have his sins washed away (Acts 22:16) and still have been baptized "in the name of Jesus." I think folks that think like this need to think some more about what it means to do something "in the name of Jesus"!
Jesus makes it abundantly clear in Matthew 7:22-23 that just because people claim to have done something in His name, does not mean that they have. Here were people who called Jesus "Lord." They claimed to prophesy in Jesus name, but the reality was that Jesus never even knew them! Obviously, to do something in Jesus name requires more than just believing in Jesus.
To do something in the name of Jesus involves do-ing what He has empowered, permitted, authorized, or asked us to do for the reason and purpose that He has assigned. If we do not do what He has asked, for the reason He has asked, He doesn't accept it. How do we know this is true? Consider some other things we are to do "in Jesus name."
1. Charity. In Mark 9:41, Jesus said that if someone "gives you a cup of cold water in My name, because you belong to Christ...he will by no means lose his reward." But if someone does that same chari-table deed "before men, to be seen by them" he will receive "no reward" from the Father in heaven (Matthew 6:1). The reason the charitable deed is done determines whether or not one receives a reward. If the deed was done in Jesus' name, it was done for the right reason and will be rewarded.
2. Church Withdrawal. When a church withdraws fellowship from a sinful member "in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ" the reason they are to do it is so "that his spirit may be saved in the day of judgment" (1 Corinthians 5:4-5; cf. 2 Thessalonians 3:6). But, if a church withdraws from someone because it is following the lead of a bully (like Diotrophes) who wants to control everything (3 John 9-10), that church has not practiced withdrawal "in the name of Jesus," no matter what it may claim.
3. Prayer. To pray "in the name of Jesus" (Ephesians 5:20) "is not merely to add to one's prayers a meaningless formula, but it is to ask something from God as Christ's representatives on earth, in his mission and stead, in his spirit and with His aim."1 If I pray selfishly or not according to the will of God, I am not praying in Jesus name, even if I believe in Jesus and say "in Jesus' name, Amen" at the end of my prayer (see James 4:3; 1 John 5:14).
Yes, baptism in the name of Jesus requires that the one baptized "believes" on Jesus Christ (Acts 19:5; 8:37), but it also requires that the one baptized do so "for the remission of sins" (Acts 2:38), to "wash away your sins" (Acts 22:16), and to "put on Christ" (Galatians 3:27). One who has failed to be baptized for these reasons has simply failed to be baptized in Jesus name.
by Steve Klein
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FOOTNOTE
1 G.F. Hawthorne,
"Name," International Standard Bible Encyclopedia
(Vol. 3, 483; 1988).