A Different View of Baptism and the Trinity (the word trinity is not in the Bible)

"yet to us there is one God, the Father, of whom are all things, and we for him; and one Lord, Jesus Christ, through whom are all things, and we live through him." (1 Corinthians 8:6 WEB)

Isn't it interesting how we take many things for granted as fact, because this is how we have been taught? We may not even realise we do this.

Take the example of baptism. I have fleetingly wondered before about the way in which Christian baptism is undertaken. Jesus said, "Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost:" (Matthew 28:19 KJV) Many Bible translations word this verse slightly differently, and say to make disciples of all nations. When I hear the word disciple, I think of someone who follows Jesus and who actively evangelises the gospel, and this may be what is meant by teach. Are all people who are Christian therefore disciples? That is debatable. Christians do follow Jesus and Christian denominations do teach Christians to spread the gospel, but whether each Christian is a disciple, which I see as a rigorous discipline, or not, I am not sure.

Then I began researching churches that do not believe in the trinity, because I read that nowhere in the Bible is the trinity expressly stated as such, though we may often think of Father, Son and Holy Spirit as being a trinity, which means one God, three persons, all equal and eternal making up one God, as we know these names are mentioned in the Bible, and we use them together. I discovered that there are Christian churches that do not believe in the trinity, but that they are few in number. And then I found one church, the United Pentecostal Church International, that baptises people in the name of Jesus Christ only. I was about to dismiss this out of hand, because after all I thought, baptisms are always done in the name of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit. But then I began reading a few verses that were listed to substantiate these beliefs. For example Acts 2:38 (KJV) says, "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." What, I thought, in the name of Jesus Christ only?! And there were a few more examples of verses like this, for example, "For as many of you as have been baptized into Christ have put on Christ." (Galatians 3:27 KJV).

It felt as if I was on the point of breakthrough, but not quite understanding, akin to something being on the tip of one's tongue, just out of reach of thought. Hmmm, so perhaps baptisms may be done in Jesus' name only, and not in the name of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit, I thought. And maybe the latter type of baptism is reserved for evangelising the gospel, I wondered.

Then I happened across this verse, which really made me ponder: "And were all baptized unto Moses in the cloud and in the sea;" (1 Corinthians 10:2 KJV) I read some commentary about these verses, which said, of course these verses do not mean water baptism, as, if one looks at the context, the verse means bringing under Moses' authority, as people travelled through the sea and under a cloud in their journey with Moses, who lead the way.

So I wondered, when baptism is referred to, does this mean water baptism, or does it mean Spirit baptism--authority as it were? And does one then need water baptism? Of course, water baptism is a symbol of Spiritual baptism, and is an outward expression of one's faith journey. In my reading I also came across this verse, "And there are three that bear witness in earth, the spirit, and the water, and the blood: and these three agree in one." (1 John 5:8 KJV) I thought perhaps this means that here on earth, one believes in Jesus, and therefore receives a Spirit baptism, and this is confirmed through water, via water baptism, as well as by blood, which is partaking in Jesus' blood by partaking in communion, and blood also symbolises His death and resurrection.

The verse preceding this says, "For there are three that bear record in heaven, the Father, the Word, and the Holy Ghost: and these three are one." Ah, you say, back to the trinity. Yes, I agree, three names are mentioned as attesting to bearing record in Heaven. Interesting for me is that here the name the Word is used to denote Jesus, the Son. The Bible says, "And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us, (and we beheld his glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father,) full of grace and truth." (John 1:14 KJV), so the Word became the Son of God, and the Bible also says, "In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. The same was in the beginning with God. All things were made by him; and without him was not any thing made that was made." (John 1:1-3 KJV) 

I presume when the Bible says these three are one, this means a unity of divine Persons (Gods?) as opposed to one physically, and I presume when one God is mentioned, as the first verse in this article shows, this means we must worship God the Father only, because the Bible says all things come from the Father, and Jesus is our Lord and Saviour, the Son of God, and is heir to the throne and He has been appointed King of Kings by the Father. I see the Father, Son and Holy Spirit as a jointly ruling Godhead, as Father, Son and Holy Spirit. Jesus says to follow Him (as opposed to worship Him) as He is the way to the Father: "Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me." (John 14:6 KJV) Jesus also said, "Ye have heard how I said unto you, I go away, and come again unto you. If ye loved me, ye would rejoice, because I said, I go unto the Father: for my Father is greater than I." This tells me it is the Father we are to worship, and Jesus and the Holy Spirit work in accordance with Him and do His will. The trinity doctrine on the other hand also comprises these three, but says they are equal, and we have just seen a verse where Jesus says this is not so.

The following verses say, "In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth. And the earth was without form, and void; and darkness was upon the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters. The First Day: Light And God said, Let there be light: and there was light." (Genesis 1:1-3 KJV) God spoke! He gave voice to creation. When God spoke, was He speaking via His Word? To Christians, Jesus is known as the Word, and we see in the first verse mentioned in this article, that all things were made through Jesus. The verse says, and the Spirit was moving over the waters, and this implies to me that Father, Word and Holy Spirit were there together in the beginning.

The word Elohim is used to refer to God in some translations of the Bible, and this is plural. In addition, God is referred to as us in verses in Genesis. This plurality is the same as the trinity in a way, but also very different in concept. Genesis 1:26-27 (KJV) says: "And God said, Let us make man in our image, after our likeness: and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth. So God created man in his own image, in the image of God created he him; male and female created he them." I found a church called the Unification Church, founded by Reverend Sun Myung Moon in 1954 in South Korea. This church believes God is both male and female, and I see the Bible verse mentions male and female aspects. The Unification Church believes that Jesus appeared to the founder when he was 15 and told him to complete Jesus' mission here on earth.

I am not endorsing the churches mentioned and I don't necessarily think all of their beliefs gel with my own beliefs. I do believe it is important to base Christian beliefs on the Bible, as well as to search for your own truth. I am not a minister, I am a person searching for my own answers, and the above may not be correct, but it is part of my journey and where I am at today.

Truth sometimes seems relative to individual journey. I hope these thoughts help someone else find his or her own truth. You are welcome to leave comments on this blog, as I would love to know what people think themselves.

Links:
Related blog article: Elohim (God): Does Begotten Son Imply an Infant Baby Born in Heaven?
Beliefs and Practices of the United Penecostal Church International
The Unificiation Church, founded by Rev. Sun Myung Moon