1.       Q.: In Mt 28:19, Jesus, after resurrection, commanded his disciples to preach the gospel of salvation and to baptize the converts "in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit." What difference does it make if water baptism is performed in the name of Jesus Christ?

A. The primary point which needs to be clarified is that the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit are not names but titles.  According to the original Greek scripture, "the name" in Mt 28:19 is recorded in the singular form, which is also faithfully translated into English versions.  It unmistakably indicates that the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit all represent God, the one and only.  When Jesus was praying to the heavenly Father, He said, "While I was with them (disciples), I kept them in thy name, which thou has given me." (Jn 17:12) It attests to the fact that Jesus is the name given by God, which is also the name of God Himself. The apostles understood that Jesus was the Christ, Son of God (Acts 4:12, 5:29-32; Mt 16:16). They also understood that Jesus was the Word made into the flesh, embodiment of full divinity (Jn 1:1, 14; Col 1:15, 16).  To Jesus, as well as to His disciples, the name of the Father is Jesus, the name of the Son is Jesus, and the name of the Holy Spirit is also Jesus (Acts 16:7-1 Gal 4:4-7).  Therefore, the apostles performed water baptism for the remission of sins in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ (Acts 2:38, 10:43; 4:12; 8:14-16; 22:16; 10:44-48; 19:5).

2.      Q.: What are the correlations among the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit?

A.  This profound theological question must ' be expounded clearly in some details.  However ' three key concepts will somehow enable us to grasp the essence of Godhead.  We may start with the main theme of the Bible - salvation.  The Old Testament is the blueprint of salvation, while the New Testament is the fulfillment of this blueprint.  In order to carry out the redemptive plan, God manifested himself in the human form through divine conception of the Virgin Mary (Mt 1:20-21).  After Jesus' Ascension, as salvation has yet to be consummated, He has assumed the role of the mediator of all believers and interceded for them (Rom 8:34; Heb 7:24-25; I Jn 2:1) '. He bestowed the apostles with the Holy Spirit to establish the Church and to empower believers to lead a sanctified life in the heavenly course (2 Thess 2:13).  In the future, when salvation is finished, namely, the spiritual Kingdom of God is realized, and the material world is destroyed, and when eternal life and eternal damnation is decided at the Final Judgment, Jesus will no longer be our mediator.  Before Jesus was born, God had been the one True God, The period of salvation extends from the incarnation of Jesus, through our present time, to the consummation of ultimate salvation.  Jesus came in the flesh as a Son, and after His Ascension, He has come as the promised Holy Spirit.  There seem to be three "entities," but Jesus is the true God and the Holy Spirit Himself.  The worldly calculation and the human sense of time do not have any bearing on God's existence.  It would be erroneous to calculate, with our human concept of time, the "person" of God.  He is a Spirit.

Secondly, there are distinctions and categorizations in our material world, but they are absent in the spiritual realm.  The Spirit of God, the Spirit of Jehovah, the Spirit of Jesus, the Spirit of the Father, and the Spirit of the Son represent the different titles of the same Holy Spirit.  This is what we call "the unity in the Spirit." In this light, it is presumptive to use the term "Trinity," because it is derived from the misconception that God is restricted by the numerical material objects.  Jesus said that those who see Him in fact see the Father and that He is in the Father and the Father in Him (Jn 14:910).  Also, He said, "no one has ascended into heaven but he who descended from heaven, the Son of man who is in heaven " (Jn 3:13).This is another piece of evidence which supports the truism in "the unity in the Spirit."

Physically speaking, however, there is certainly disparity.  The Father and the Son are different.  This is why Jesus said, "The Father is greater, than I " (Jn 14:28).The status of the Father is higher than that of the son.  The Son is sent by the Father, and all the words Jesus spoke ought to conform to the instructions given by the Father (Jn 17.2; Acts 10:38).  The Son has to, from time to time, pray to the Father for greater spiritual strength (Lk 4:1, 14)

Furthermore, the Son has to glorify the Father, as the Father's work is manifested on earth (Jn 17:4, 9:3; 11:4, 10).  The Father's glory is greater than that of the Son.  The physical manifestation of the Word (God) in the flesh - Jesus - is the only way to carry out the divine plan on the cross.  The work of salvation is, in the final analysis, fulfilled by the same God.  In the Spirit, the Father and the Son are one.

Thirdly, we have to realize that the Holy Spirit transcends the limits of time and space.  Our common sense dictates us to exist in no more than one place.  This principle of physical dimension is not at all applicable to the Holy Spirit.  The Holy Spirit is able to occupy the entire universe at the same time.  He may assume the human form as manifested through Jesus himself.  He dwells within Jesus while simultaneously speaks to him from above (Mt 3:16-17).He can also descend to earth while remains in heaven. (Jn 3:13) This proves that the spirit of the Father in heaven is identical to that of the Son on earth.  By extension, if one hundred Christian believers receive the Holy Spirit in one hundred different places at the same time, it would be a mistake to construe that there exist one hundred "Holy Sprits.  " The Bible firmly states that there is only one Spirit, (I Cor 12:4; Eph 4:4) nor can we say that each of them receives one hundredth Spirit, because the spiritual gifts may vary it is exactly the same Spirit that distributes to His children different gifts (I Cor 12:8-11). Each of us receives Holy Spirit not in part nor fragment but in wholeness.  (I Cor 12:13) The theory of Trinity is built upon the basis of a worldly, human concept of physical forms.  From a spiritual perspective, the question of the correlations among the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit is indeed not a question at all.