Hello everyone, Dr. Mason here with a question and then an answer from Liz Stapelberg on Quora, here is the question first. “If God isn't Trinity, then who was Jesus referring to when He said "Make disciples of all nations baptizing them in the name of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit"? Now here is her answer to the question, she said, “God is not a Name, it's a TITLE God The Father, God the Son and God the Holy Spirit is the Godhead. They are Three Persons in One Godhead.

That means that the Father is God, the Son is God and so is the Holy Spirit God.

John 1:1 In the beginning was the WORD and the WORD was with GOD and the WORD was GOD.. the Word is Jesus .

Mark 13: 31 Heaven and Earth will Pass away but MY Words by no means will Pass Away…

Isaiah 40:8 the grass withers the flowers fade, but the WORD of our GOD stands forever.

Kingdom means Reign and Rule, Scripture refers to a time when Christ will reign over the Earth , and a time when He will turn His reign over to His Father for the establishment of an Eternal Kingdom . 1 Corinthians 15:20-26. However, Jesus taught that “the Kingdom of God is in your midst” (Luke 17-21), so we see that while the Kingdom is future , it's also present.

Presently, the Kingdom, or Reign of our God is within the lives of those who have declared themselves to belong to His Kingdom.

This is a deep personal commitment, No one makes it for you. And No one gives it to you. You MUST Do It for yourself! (Romans 10:9-10)

Matthew 3:13-17 Then Jesus came from Galilee to John at the Jordan to be Baptized by him ¹³ and John tried to prevent Him, saying “ I need to be Baptized by You, and are You coming to me? But Jesus answered and said to him. Permit it to be so now, for thus it is fitting for us to fulfill all prophesies. Then he allowed Him….

Baptism in Christianity is having union with Christ acknowledging His Death burial and resurrection. See Matthew 28:19-20… We who are Baptized into Christ are dead to self and alive in Christ.”

Then I responded with, “I respect the seriousness of what you’re saying, and I want to answer it carefully from Scripture, not from church tradition.

I do not accept the Trinity as three distinct persons in one Godhead. I also do not hold a “Jesus-only” view that collapses everything into a single mode without distinction. I hold that God is one, and He reveals Himself in different ways, with Jesus Christ as the living Word of God made flesh.

Let me address your main point directly. When Jesus said in Matthew 28:19, “baptizing them in the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit,” I do not read that as three separate persons with three distinct names. The key word there is “name”—singular, not plural.

Scripture is consistent that God’s name is revealed fully in Jesus Christ.

Jesus said in John 5:43, “I have come in My Father’s name.”

He also said in John 14:26 that the Holy Spirit would come “in My name.”

So the Father’s name is revealed in the Son, and the Spirit comes in that same name. That points to one divine identity, not three separate persons.

Now, in the book of Acts, when the apostles actually carried out baptisms, they consistently baptized in the name of Jesus Christ (Acts 2:38, Acts 8:16, Acts 10:48, Acts 19:5). They did not repeat a three-part formula. They applied the name.

That matters. The apostles heard Matthew 28:19 directly. Their practice shows how they understood it.

Now let’s deal with your claim about “three persons.”

Scripture never uses the phrase “three persons in one Godhead.” That language comes later through councils and creeds. What Scripture does say is clear:

Deuteronomy 6:4 — “The Lord our God is one Lord.”

Isaiah 45:5 — “I am the Lord, and there is no other.”

When we come to Jesus, we are not seeing a second divine person alongside the Father. We are seeing God revealed.

John 1:1 says the Word was with God and was God.

Then John 1:14 says the Word became flesh.

I understand that as God expressing Himself—His own Word, His own mind, His own will—made visible in Christ. Not a second person beside Him, but God manifested.

Paul confirms this in Colossians 2:9: “In Him dwells all the fullness of the Godhead bodily.”

That is not partial. That is fullness.

Now, what about passages where Jesus speaks to the Father?

I take those seriously. Jesus is fully human and fully divine. As a man, He prays. As the Word made flesh, He expresses real dependence. That does not divide God into multiple beings. It shows the distinction between God as eternal Spirit and God revealed in human form.

1 Timothy 3:16 says, “God was manifested in the flesh.”

Not a second God. Not a separate person. God Himself revealed.

Now, about the Kingdom and salvation.

You said no one gives it to you and you must do it yourself. I agree that faith must be personal. No one can believe for you. But Scripture is just as clear that salvation is not earned by human effort.

Ephesians 2:8–9 says we are saved by grace through faith, not of works.

Romans 10:9–10 speaks of confession and belief, but that faith is a response to what God has already done.

Baptism matters. It is obedience. It is identification with Christ’s death, burial, and resurrection. But it is not a human achievement that earns salvation. It is a response to the finished work of Christ.

So here is where I stand, plainly.

God is one.

His Word is not a separate person but His own expression.

That Word became flesh in Jesus Christ.

The Father, Son, and Spirit are not three persons, but three ways God reveals Himself and works.

The name that carries that full revelation is Jesus.

That is why the apostles baptized in that name. That is why every promise of God finds its “yes” in Him.

I am not denying Scripture. I am taking all of it together without importing philosophical language into the text. Finally, it is by faith not works that we please God. So, if it is the three title or the Name, it most be done in faith, and faith alone.”