THE PROCESSED GOD POSSESSING RICH INGREDIENTS
However, my main point is here: Before our Lord Jesus was incarnated, He was the perfect God in eternity. At that time He could not be eaten because He had neither been incarnated nor gone through death and resurrection. This means that He had not been processed. But after His incarnation, death, and resurrection, He could be eaten. In scriptural terminology, this Lord who can be eaten has become the life-giving Spirit, typified by the holy anointing ointment in the Old Testament. The holy anointing ointment was not merely oil; it was an ointment, and there were many ingredients in this ointment. After the Lord died and resurrected, He became the holy anointing ointment. In Him there are many elements: the elements of God, man, death, the effectiveness of death, resurrection, and the power of resurrection. He is the ointment.
We must know that after the Lord Jesus incarnated, died, and resurrected, God became fully mingled with man. The Lord accomplished His death to deal with sin, nullify death, destroy Satan, and get rid of every negative thing. He also uplifted humanity and entered into resurrection to become the all-inclusive Spirit. In this Spirit there are the Triune God, the uplifted humanity, the all-inclusive death with its effectiveness, and resurrection with its power. Everything is in this Spirit. This Spirit is the anointing Spirit, the life-giving Spirit. After everything had been accomplished, in Matthew 28 it is recorded that in resurrection the Lord came to the disciples and told them, “Go therefore and disciple all the nations, baptizing them into the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit” (v. 19).
BAPTIZED INTO THE RICHES OF THE TRIUNE GOD
Pitiful Christianity has made baptism a ritual. They talk about “baptizing people in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.” I also was baptized that way. After I attended the Sunday services for a period of time, the pastor decided to baptize me. One day I went to the chapel, and those of us who were to be baptized went and stood in the front. The pastor took a small bowl, and then he came to me and said, “I baptize you in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.” He then sprinkled a few drops of water on my head. After that baptism, I became a “church member.” Poor Christianity interprets Matthew 28:19 in this way.
Half a year following my baptism, I was genuinely saved. From that day I began to pray and read the Bible. When I read Matthew 28:19, I felt a little perplexed and did not understand what it really meant. Therefore, I looked into the Greek Interlinear Version and found that it is not “baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit,” but “baptizing them into the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.” The Greek preposition that was rendered in is actually equivalent to into in English. Thus, this verse should be translated, “Baptizing them into the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.”
At that time I understood the meaning of “baptizing into,” but I still could not understand the “name” in the phrase “the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.” I was not able to find out anything even after searching through reference books, and it was also difficult to explain from my own experience. One day I received a book entitled Word Studies in the New Testament by M. R. Vincent. When I read the word studies on Matthew 28:19, I found that what was written there totally corresponded with my experience. Vincent said that the “name” of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit denotes the reality of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. A person’s name is not an empty expression; rather, it denotes the reality of a person. When I call the name of a brother, I am calling that brother. If there is only a name but not the person, then the name is vain. Thus, the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit is not an empty name. This name is the reality of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. The Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit are the reality of this name.
Vincent further said that the preposition here is into, indicating a divine union of the baptized one with the Triune God. This is too great a matter. From that day on my eyes were opened. I realized that baptism is not an initiation rite or a religious ritual. Baptism is to immerse you, one who is outside of God, into God. “Go therefore and disciple all the nations, baptizing them into the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.” To be baptized into the name is to be baptized into the person. To be baptized into the name is to be baptized into the reality. From that day onward, I was clear that baptism is not a ritual but a real action. You have repented and believed, so now I immerse you into the Triune God.
(The Subjective Truths in the Holy Scriptures, Chapter 4, by Witness Lee)
