Whoever told you these things are WRONG on both counts. As we shall see, Christian baptism IS in the “name of the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit” and a person is “NOT damned to hell” for NOT being baptized in the name of Jesus alone. In fact, we shall see that baptism is NOT a requirement for being saved.

In Matthew 28:18-20 Jesus told His disciples, “All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth. Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all things that I have commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age” (NKJV).

Now let’s read Acts 2:38, “Then Peter said to them, ‘Repent, and let every one of you be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins; and you shall receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.”

The main question here is: Why would Jesus command baptism to be done in “the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit and Peter command his audience to be baptized in “the name of Jesus Christ?” The simple answer to this question is that Jesus was referring to the GENTILES in “all the nations” and Peter was speaking to his fellow JEWS. The Gentile nations, who didn’t have the knowledge of God (see Ephesians 2:11-12) would learn that the one true God was a “triune God” made up of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit and thus they would be baptized in their name. The Jews that Peter preached to already knew the truth of the one true God but they had rejected Jesus Christ for His claim to be the Son of God and wanted to have him killed for committing blasphemy (see John 5:16-27 with Matthew 26:57-66). Peter’s command to “repent, and be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ” was telling them to “change their mind about Jesus Christ and be willing to confess Him as the Son of God in baptism.” If there were willing to do that, it would prove they believed they were wrong in having Him crucified and that Jesus was truly the Son of God and part of the Triune God, along with the Father and the Holy Spirit. In conclusion, the proper baptism for all people today is “in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit” and thus you do NOT need to be baptized again.

Regarding you being told that you would be damned if you aren’t baptized again, there is not one scripture that teaches that baptism is necessary for salvation, and you are damned without it. There is one passage that is used to teach this error and that is Mark 16:15-16 where Jesus said, “Go into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature. He who believes and is baptized will be saved; but he who does not believe will be condemned.” Jesus did mention baptism because one should be “baptized AFTER they are saved to officially become His disciple (see again Matthew 28:18-20), but He went on to say “he who DOES NOT BELIEVE WILL BE DAMNED.” It is “the lack of faith in Christ” that will damn someone to hell, not the lack of baptism. Let us be clear as to this, the GOSPEL (i.e. good news of Jesus Christ) is that He “died for our sins according to the Scriptures, and that He was buried, and that He rose again the third day according to the Scriptures” (1 Corinthians 15:3-4) and the sinner is told to BELIEVE this to be saved (Acts 10:43; 13:38-39; and 16:31). I want to close by showing that the Apostle Paul taught that baptism is “NOT part of the gospel message that saves.” Paul said in 1 Corinthians 1:17-18, “For Christ DID NOT SEND ME TO BAPTIZE, BUT TO PREACH THE GOSPEL…for the message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God.” Those words should settle the matter for all who bow to the authority of the Word of God.  (DO)  (662.3)