Does The Baptizor Impute The Name Of Jesus?

[Esaias]

Originally Posted by votivesoul

... it nonetheless means that Jesus of Nazareth, the only begotten Son of God, must be verbally invoked, called upon, and invited to draw near in the baptism, since and because the whole family in heaven and on earth is surnamed after the Lord Jesus Christ (Ephesians 3:14:15).

Yes, but the question is WHO is call upon that name? The person being baptised? The person doing the baptism? Both?

Peter in Acts 2 said 'whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved.' Prompting a question - 'what shall we do?' The answer was 'repent and be baptised each of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins.' Thus, calling upon the name of the Lord for salvation and being baptised in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins are connected.

Paul taught 'if you confess with the mouth the Lord Jesus you shall be saved' because 'whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved'. This clearly identifies the person who wishes to be saved, is the one who is to call upon the name of the Lord.

Acts 22:16 reinforces this, and ties this personal, vocal calling upon the name of the Lord for salvation with being baptised and washing away one's sins.

Taken altogether, it seems that to be baptised in the name of the Lord for the remission of sins means to be baptised, with the one being baptised calling vocally and 'out loud' upon Jesus to save them.

The only possible indication that the person performing the baptism is to say anything, is found in James 2:7 where the phrase 'by which ye are called' in reference to the name of the Lord may be possibly translated as 'which was called upon you'. However, it is not certain that James here is referring to baptism, but is instead using an idion familiar to any Hebrew or Jew, that is, the 'name which is called upon you' or 'invoked upon you' is a phrase which means that you belong to the one who's name you bear. The phrase appears several times in the Old Testament but does not necessarily indicate a formal vocalising of the 'name' upon or over someone in any kind of ceremony. ?It is therefore doubtful that it means that here in James.

If anything, then, it is clear that the one being baptised is to call upon the Lord for salvation. It may be thought necessary for the baptiser (one performing the baptism) to make some sort of declaration such as '?i baptise you in the name of Jesus Christ' but the more I look at it the less this seems to be demanded by Scripture, and not rather by tradition or expediency to establish a distinction between Christian baptism, and trinitarian baptism (or some other baptism.)