Baptized Into, In, and On the Name

There are three pronouns used in scripture to describe the relationship between baptism and the divine name, and each of them means something slightly different. This difference is obscured by the fact that most English translations render all three using the phrase "in the name." The most common of the three is baptized "into the name." Paul uses the pronoun eis ("into") in 1 Corinthians 1:13 where he asks the Corinthians if they were baptized into the name of Paul. Of course, they were not, so why were they saying "I am of Paul," or, as some translations render it, "I belong to Paul"? To be baptized into the name of someone means that the baptized person belongs to the one into whose name they were baptized. Sometimes Christians argue about which name is used in baptism. Some are baptized into the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit; others are baptized into the name of Jesus Christ. Instead of arguing about the wording, we need to look at the meaning. There is no real difference between saying that a person now belongs to Christ and saying that a person now belongs to all of God: Father, Son, and Spirit. 1 John 2:23 says that the one who confesses the Son has the Father also. The other two pronouns are used less often. In Acts 2:38 we find Peter commanding the crowd to repent and be baptized "on" the name of Jesus Christ. The Greek scholar F. F. Bruce has suggested that the use of epi ("on") here refers to the idea of being baptized "on the basis of" one's faith in Christ Jesus. The final pronoun en ("in") is used in Acts 10:48. There Peter commanded Cornelius and his family and friends to be baptized "in" the name of Jesus Christ. This seems to mean "by the authority of" Jesus. He commanded that disciples should be baptized (Matthew 28:19; Mark 16:16). So these phrases are not at odds with one another. When people are baptized, they belong to Christ, that is, to God (Father, Son, and Holy Spirit); they are baptized on the basis of their faith in the name of Jesus to save them; and they are baptized by the authority of Jesus who commanded baptism. It is a command to be obeyed, not argued about.