And when they heard that, they were baptised to the name of the Lord Jesus.
At Ephesus, Paul told a group of men that John the Baptist had pointed them forward to Jesus. They responded at once. The verse raises two questions. Why did men who were already baptized need baptizing again? And what does baptism "in the name of the Lord Jesus" commit a person to?
These men had believed, but their baptism showed how far short they stood. One writer draws the line:
This raised a further question: "Into what then were you baptized?" The answer was, "Into John's baptism." So they were not even standing on the ground of Christian profession. As the apostle concluded, John's was "a baptism of repentance, telling the people to believe in the one who was to come after him, that is, Jesus." Christian baptism assumes that He is dead and risen, that the work of redemption is finished, and that eternal life and forgiveness of sins are proclaimed in His name. They were believers, and the Holy Spirit had worked in their souls so that the word of God had entered; but they fell wholly short even of the privileges that faith in the gospel enjoys at once.
Commentators describe them differently. Kelly counts them as believers who lacked Christian privilege. Another writer says they did not yet know the Lord Jesus.
The second baptism proves the two were not the same thing:
It pointed to the end of the old order and to a new position. It was not the familiar routine that traditionalists would make of it. Scripture is just as plain that it is quite distinct from Christian baptism. Disciples who had been baptized with John's baptism had to be baptized to Christ when they received the full truth of the gospel (Acts 19)... Confessing a coming Messiah is very different from confessing His death and resurrection.
John's baptism looked for a Messiah to be welcomed, not killed:
John's baptism was so far from being a symbol of Christ's death that, as far as people received it, Christ would not be put to death at all, but received by faith. So (Acts 19) those who had received it had to be baptized over again.
One writer reads the phrase as baptism "unto the name." He explains it by comparing how Israel was baptized to Moses:
There can be little question that to be baptized unto Moses means bringing the people into association with Moses, under his authority. In the same way, baptism unto the name of the Lord Jesus brought people onto the ground where His authority was supreme. It brought them into the company of those who owned that authority... Its meaning is the absolute authority of Christ as Lord, and the responsibility of those who are baptized to confess it.
That authority reaches everything. It is why Jews, who already carried God's name through circumcision, still had to own Jesus as Lord:
The whole administration of the ways of God is in His hands. All ministry and power is there; God has made all authority and rule subject to Him. So Jews, who were already connected with the name of Jehovah by circumcision, had to own Him whom God had made Lord and Christ. "In the name of Jesus Christ," or "the Lord Jesus," connects baptism, I think, with the power and authority of that name. "Unto the name" would mean confessing His name as Lord, and this must be confessed and owned to the glory of God the Father.
The verse opens with hearing. Paul's word came first, and the men answered it:
Not knowing the Lord Jesus, they were ignorant of the Pentecostal gift of the Holy Spirit. The men believed the word of Paul, and showed the sincerity of their confession in that they were baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus.
Some read this passage as a pattern for believers now. Commentators resist that. What was missing here was John's message, not something missing in the gospel:
There is no ground in this case for saying that there are true believers on Christ today who have not received the Spirit at all; for it is Christ who is preached now, and not the baptism of John; that is, where the gospel is really preached.
- Heard — Paul preached Jesus as the One John pointed to. The men believed his word, and their baptism proved the hearing was real.
- Short — confessing a coming Messiah left them outside Christian ground. Christian baptism confesses a Christ already dead and risen, with forgiveness proclaimed in His name.
- Repeated — their second baptism settles it. John's baptism and Christian baptism are two different things, not one practice under two names.
- Unto — baptism unto the name puts a person under the supreme authority of Christ as Lord. That confession carries real responsibility.
- Today — the gap here was John's message, not the gospel. Where Christ is preached, no believer is left without the Spirit.
And Paul having laid [his] hands on them, the Holy Spirit came upon them, and they spoke with tongues and prophesied.
Commentary for this verse has not been generated yet.