The Great Baptism Formula Debate: Matthew 28:19 or Acts 2:38

According to Richard Hollerman of TrueDiscipleship, “This traditional “triadic” formula is found in the second-century church manual of discipline known as the Didache (ca. AD 120-150). The unknown writer of this work directs those who would baptize a convert: “Concerning baptism, baptize in this way. After you have spoken all these things, ‘baptize in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit’ in running water” (7:1). Justin Martyr, writing in the mid-second century, also describes baptism as practiced in his day: “For at that time they obtain for themselves the washing in water in the name of God the Master of all and Father, and of our Savior Jesus Christ, and of the Holy Spirit.” It might be noted that Justin did not consider the exact wording of Matthew 28:19 essential as long as all three (God, Jesus, and the Holy Spirit) were recognized. Later in the same century, about AD 190, Irenaeus writes that “we have received baptism for the remission of sins in the name of God the Father, and in the name of Jesus Christ, the Son of God, who became incarnate and died and was raised, and in the Holy Spirit of God.” Tertullian, a few years later, writes substantially the same: “The ‘paths are made straight’ by the washing away of sins, which faith obtains, sealed in the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit.”

Check as well, the practice among historic denominations

The Episcopal Church: “As a sacrament Baptism is not valid unless it is administered ‘in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost,’ as commanded by the Lord himself in Matthew 28:19.”

The “Confession of Faith” of the Cumberland Presbyterian Church states: “The outward element to be used in this sacrament is water, wherewith the party is to be baptized in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit, by an ordained minister of the gospel.

The Baptist Faith and Message of the Southern Baptist Convention states: “Christian baptism is the immersion of a believer in water in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit.”

The “Statement of Faith” of the Pentecostal Church of God states that their members believe in “water baptism by immersion for believers only, which is a direct commandment of our Lord, in the Name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost.”(Hollerman, 2020).