Matthew 28:19 | Exposing the False Trinity Doctrine

The King James Version (KJV) is mostly used in these lessons. Click here to access the KJV online.

And Yahushua came and said to them, "All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Go therefore and disciple all nations baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe everything I have commanded you. (Matthew 28:19)

SPECIAL NOTE: Eusebius quotes this verse several times in his writings and none of these quotations say, "in the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit." Rather, his quotations of this verse indicate that all disciples are made in the name of Yahushua. This evidence is very important since Yahushua had just said all authority had been given to "ME" in the previous verse and then he says, "Go therefore..." If all authority had been given to Yahushua, we would then expect him to instruct his disciples to therefore go and make disciples in HIS name. Not only so, every other related verse of Scripture points to repentance in Yahushua's name or baptism in Yahushua's name. These internal facts further suggest Eusebius' quotations of this verse are the authentic version. On the other hand, this particular problem is difficult since there are several early Christian writings which suggest the "Father, Son, Holy Spirit" reading may be authentic. But yet again, that particular tradition may have been inserted into Matthew's Gospel.  

Due to the above, some of the details has been removed and interested readers can visit the links at the end of the study below.

Trinitarian Claim

Trinitarians claim that Matthew 28:19 is identifying the three persons of their Triune G-d. This claim is often made by making a further claim that the word "name" in the singular means that we are to understand these three are the one Triune G-d who has one name.

Matthew 28:19 is often used as a beginning tutorial verse to teach people the Trinity.

The Claim vs. The Facts

The Scriptural facts show us that Trinitarians are not only disregarding the immediate context, they are imagining their doctrine into the text.

The Problem with the Claim

1. Eisegetical Interpretation [Definition of eisegesis: the interpretation of a text (as of the Bible) by reading into it one's own ideas]

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Analysis of the Facts

1. The Flow of the Immediate Context

Let us carefully and honestly regard the flow of the immediate context. Yahushua first says all authority is given to "me." He then says to go and baptize in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Why would he indicate all authority has been give to "me" but then say, "Therefore" go and baptize in the name of three? Honestly regard this singularity. If the Trinitarian mindset and flow of thought really made any sense, it should follow that since all authority had been given to Yahushua then the disciples should baptize in the name of Yahushua and be careful to observe everything Yahushua had commanded them and that Yahushua would be with them to the end of the age. But this is not what it says. The question is "why?"

2. Baptism Confusion

Trinitarians are often very confused by the fact that here the disciples are commanded to baptize in the name of "the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit," but when these Trinitarians come to the book of Acts, they see that every single occurrence of baptism shows the disciples baptized "in the name of Yahushua." The very fact that Trinitarians are confused about this situation betrays their complete lack of understanding and their corresponding misinterpretation of this passage, not to mention the significance of the resurrection of Yahushua with respect to his authority. Trinitarians often suppose Yahushua is giving his apostles a "baptism formula," that is he is telling them what to say when they baptized people. But if we understand Yahushua properly, the reader of the Bible is left completely without any such confusion when he comes to those passages in Acts which describe people being baptized "in the name of Yahushua." In fact, Peter tells us that there is no other name by which we can be saved but the name of Yahushua. And indeed, Yahushua said all authority had been given to him so one would expect that baptism would be into his name if by the word "name" he meant what you were supposed to say when you baptized someone. But that is not what he meant. Yahushua was not giving the disciples some words to say when they baptized.

What Yahushua was saying in Matthew 28:18 is that the Father has given him, the Son, all authority. We must ask how that occurred. This authority is administered by the Holy Spirit in the disciples who baptize all nations. The reason Father, Son, are mentioned together here is because we have just been told all authority has been given by the Father to the Son. The reason Father, Son, and Holy Spirit are mentioned altogether is because this authority given to Yahushua is administered by his servants via the Holy Spirit. There is absolutely no reason to suppose we have a three person G-d on our hands.

So when we come to the book of Acts and see them baptize in the name of Yahushua we should not see this as contradicting Yahushua's instructions in Matthew. Baptizing them in the name of Father, Son, and Holy Spirit was not something they were suppposed to say out loud when they were baptizing. Yahushua was explaining on what terms they would be doing this baptizing. Since Yahushua had been given all authority he would now send out these disciples in HIS name because HE had been given that authority by the Father. And Yahushua sent them out by filling them with the Holy Spirit (John 20:22).

Conclusion

To try and claim this passage indicates that that all men should be baptized into a three person G-d ignores the facts for the sake of personal imaginations. Counting, "one, two, three" amounts to three not a three in one G-d. To insist that "name" here is a proper name of the "Father, Son and Holy Spirit" is an hermeneutic violation of the immediate context ignoring the fact that all (singular) authority had been given to Yahushua alone. This occurred when Yahuwah raised him from the dead and seated him at His right hand. The one thing which the singular "name" is pertaining to, is not the identity of a Triune G-d, but the one authority of G-d the Father [Yahuwah] through Yahuwah's Son in Yahuwah's Holy Spirit. The disciples are to do these things in the name of the authority of the Father, given to the Son, by the Holy Spirit. And this is why Yahushua commanded his disciples to do nothing until they had received the Holy Spirit from on High (Luke 24:49; Acts 1:4-5,8; 2:33,36). The interpretation presented here is demanded not only by the ancient concept of a "name" but the force of the immediate context and the consistent testimony of the Scriptures. As such, the word "name" is not a reference to one identity, but to one plan and purpose of authority.

The Trinitarian interpretation essentially ignores the context for the sake of reading their doctrine into the text. There is absolutely no reason to resort to mental gymnastics and identify all three as G-d [Yahuwah] since G-d [Yahuwah] is one of the aforementioned three.

• https://www.worldslastchance.com/topical-biblical-studies/anti-trinitarian-studies
• https://www.angelfire.com/space/thegospeltruth/TTD/verses/matthew28_19.html