Single Immersion

From the formula given by Jesus “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) some have inferred that a threefold action is necessary; one immersion in the name of the Father, one in the name of the Son, and one in the name of the Holy Ghost. But in the Acts of the Apostles this threefold formula is never employed: the people were simply baptized “in the name of Jesus Christ,” or “in the name of the Lord Jesus,”* (Acts 2:38; 8:16; 10:48; 19:5) which shows that the apostles did not understand that it was necessary to perform a triple action. The Father, Son, and Holy Ghost are one; therefore one action is sufficient.

Furthermore, the object and design of baptism precludes the idea of repetition. It is the outward sign of an inward work; it represents our salvation from sin. Now, this salvation is represented as the work of God (2 Timothy 1:8-9), as the work of Christ (Matthew 1:21), and as the work of the Holy Spirit (John 3:5); yet it is a single act, and therefore can be appropriately represented only by a single immersion; and this single immersion is in the threefold name just as truly as the single conversion is the work of the divine Trinity. If we were converted three times, once by each person of the Trinity, then triple immersion in three separate names would properly represent it. So also the symbolic reference baptism bears to the burial and resurrection of Christ necessitates the single action. Christ was buried once and raised once; and we are “buried with him [once] in baptism, wherein also we are risen [once] with him”* (Colossians 2:12); yea, we arise to “walk in newness of life.”* (Romans 6:4)