IS BAPTISM ABOUT DEDICATION?
Why was Jesus baptized?
To know Jehovah is to love him. He is everything we could imagine our father and best friend to be like. As you become better acquainted with him you will come to the point where you want to do something about your love for him. But what? We feel so inadequate. What can we actually give to God? How can we show in a positive way just how much we love him? If you had someone help you come to know Jehovah through a study of the Bible you will soon be told that you must dedicate yourself to God. Ah, isn't that a positive way of demonstrating your love for your Creator? Once you have made a dedication of yourself to God you are then instructed to symbolize that dedication by water baptism. But first you are required to review what you have learned with a couple of elders in your congregation, for they want to discern if you are ready for the commitment that dedication to God entails. You must also be already busy in the witnessing work. Once they are satisfied of your qualification you are ready to be baptized at the next assembly. All those presenting themselves to be baptized will be asked two questions:
1. On the basis of the
sacrifice of Jesus Christ, have you repented of your sins and dedicated
yourself to Jehovah to do his will?
2. Do you understand that
your dedication and baptism identify you as one of Jehovah’s Witnesses in
association with God’s spirit-directed organization?
From then on you will be
expected to live up to your dedication and all the responsibilities that
go with it that you willingly accepted, and by doing so you understand
that God will bless you with everlasting life.
Says The Watchtower of 1956, July 1, page 399, paragraph 14, under the
study article, "What Dedication
Means to Me":
“It is true that dedication places a heavy load of responsibility upon one. And
faithfulness in
carrying that load is mandatory!”
And as you carry that heavy load you believe that you are following the example
that Jesus set for us.
There are those, however, who have studied the
Bible and have come to know and love Jehovah, but feel they are
not in a position to take on such a "heavy load of responsibility" that comes with making a
dedication. (compare Matthew 11:28-30) I have met quite a number over the years who have been
faithful meeting attenders for as long as twenty years or more without
taking the step of baptism. They feel that it is better not to make
a vow than to make one and break it. ―Ecclesiastes
5:5.
How different this was in the first century. Those who
listened to Peter at Pentecost and "embraced his words heartily were
baptized," as many as three thousand on that one occasion. (Acts 2:41)
There was no delaying. Consider some other examples:
But when they believed Philip, who was declaring the good news of the
kingdom of God and of the name of Jesus Christ, they proceeded to be baptized, both men and women.
―Acts
8:12.
In answer the eunuch said to Philip: "I
beg you, About whom does the prophet say this? About himself or about some
other man?" Philip opened his mouth and, starting with this Scripture, he
declared to him the good news about Jesus. Now as they were going over the
road, they came to a certain body of water, and the eunuch said: "Look! A
body of water; what prevents me from getting baptized?"
―Acts
8:34-36.
And a certain woman
named Lydia, a seller of purple, of the city of Thyatira and a worshiper
of God, was listening, and Jehovah opened her heart wide to pay attention
to the things being spoken by Paul. Now when she and her household got
baptized, she said with entreaty: "If YOU men have judged me to be
faithful to Jehovah, enter into my house and stay." And she just made us
come.
―Acts
16:14-15.
And he brought them outside and said: "Sirs, what
must I do to get saved?" They said: "Believe on the Lord Jesus and you
will get saved, you and your household." And they spoke the word of
Jehovah to him together with all those in his house. And he took them
along in that hour of the night and bathed their stripes; and, one and
all, he and his were baptized without delay. And he brought them into his
house and set a table before them, and he rejoiced greatly with all his
household now that he had believed God.
―Acts
16:30-34.
Do you notice in the above scriptural examples that the believers were baptized without delay? Do you see any mention of them having to "dedicate" themselves first to God and having to weigh the responsibilities that go with such a dedication? Is water baptism about dedication? What does the Bible say on this matter?
SIN-CLEANSING WATER
Let us consider a few scriptures on how water was used in connection with the sin offering in the law covenant.
“And Jehovah spoke
further to Moses, saying: “Take the Levites from among the
sons of
"‘And
a clean man must gather up the ashes of the cow and deposit them outside
the camp in a clean place; and they must serve the assembly of the sons of
Israel as something to be kept for the water for cleansing. It
is a sin offering...
13 Everyone touching a corpse, the soul of whatever man may die,
and who will not purify himself, has defiled Jehovah’s tabernacle, and
that soul must be cut off from Israel. Because the water for cleansing
has not been sprinkled upon him, he continues unclean. His uncleanness is
still upon him.
16 And everyone who on the open field may touch someone
slain with the sword or a corpse or a bone of a man or a burial place will
be unclean seven days.
17 And they must take for the
unclean one some of the dust of the burning of the sin offering and put
running water upon it in a vessel.
18 Then a clean
man must take hyssop and dip it into the water and spatter it upon the
tent and all the vessels and the souls that happened to be there and upon
the one who touched the bone or the slain one or the corpse or the burial
place.
19 And the clean person must spatter it upon
the unclean one on the third day and on the seventh day and must
purify him from sin on the seventh day; and he must wash his garments and
bathe in water, and he must be clean in the evening.
20 "‘But the man who may be unclean and who will not purify
himself, well, that soul must be cut off from the midst of the
congregation, because it is Jehovah’s sanctuary that he has defiled. The
water for cleansing was not sprinkled upon him. He is unclean.
21 "‘And it must serve as a statute to time indefinite for
them, that the one spattering the water for cleansing should wash his
garments, also the one touching the water for cleansing. He will be
unclean until the evening.
(Numbers
19:9, 13,
16-21)
Why did Jehovah require such an elaborate ceremonial cleansing with water?
We are told that the law was only “a shadow of the good things to come, but
not the very substance of the things," for "the reality belongs to the
Christ.” (Col. 2:17;
Heb. 10:1)
Did you note in the above scriptures that the "sin-cleansing water" was
meant to make a person clean in God's eyes? That it was a clean man who
was used to administer the sin-cleansing water upon the unclean person
and thus the unclean man became purified? Note also the part the "sin offering" played in this.
In view of the above, can we see why Saul, who became the apostle Paul, was
told by Ananias: "And now why are you delaying? Rise,
get
baptized and wash your sins away by calling upon his name." ―Acts 22:16.
Consider another scripture that shows how Jehovah viewed the use of water
as cleansing his wayward people.
Isaiah 1:16, 18:
"Wash
yourselves; make yourselves clean; remove the badness of your dealings
from in front of my eyes; cease to do bad. . . 'Come, now, you people,
and let us set matters straight between us,' says Jehovah. 'Though the
sins of you people should prove to be as scarlet, they will be made
white just like snow.'"
The figurative "washing" of themselves
symbolized their removing "the badness of their dealings," "ceasing to do
bad," and
would result in their sins being forgiven and being viewed as clean in
God's eyes. This is further illustrated in
Revelation 7:14 where the great crowd, that comes out of the great
tribulation, is pictured as having washed their robes and made them
white ("just like snow') in the blood of the Lamb, thus having their
sins forgiven and enjoying an acceptable and clean standing before God.
Jesus also illustrated how water cleanses the person when he washed the feet of his
disciples as a lesson in humility.
"And so he came
to Simon Peter. He said to him: 'Lord, are you washing my feet?' In
answer Jesus said to him: 'What I am doing you do not understand at
present, but you will understand after these things.' Peter said to
him: 'You will certainly never wash my feet.' Jesus answered him:
'Unless I wash you, you have no part with me.' Simon Peter said to him:
'Lord, not my feet only, but also my hands and my head.' Jesus said to
him: 'He that has bathed does not need to have more than his feet
washed, but is wholly clean. And you men are clean, but not all.' He
knew, indeed, the man betraying him. This is why he said: 'Not all of
you are clean.'" ―John 13:6-11.
Here Jesus was not
talking about them having had a bath, but rather to the baptism they had
by John the Baptist, who
“appeared in the wilderness (desert), preaching a baptism [obligating]
repentance (a change of one's mind for the better, heartily amending one's
ways, with abhorrence of his past sins) in order to obtain forgiveness of
and release from sins.”
(Mark 1:4,5; Amplified Bible). To Jehovah they were clean because
of their repentance and baptism, but not
all, as Jesus said, referring to Judas. Judas had been baptized also but
he was no longer clean as he had become a thief and was about to betray
Jesus.
―see
Exodus
40:30-32.
Concerning John the Baptist we are told that he
"came preaching
in the wilderness
of Judea, saying: 'REPENT, for the kingdom of the heavens has drawn
near.' Then Jerusalem and all Judea and all the country around the
Jordan made their way out to him, and people were baptized by him in the
Jordan River, openly confessing their sins." To the Pharisees and
Sadducees who came to him, he said, "YOU offspring
of vipers, who has intimated to YOU to flee from the coming wrath? So then
produce fruit that befits repentance . . . I, for my part, baptize YOU
with water because of YOUR repentance. . ."
―Matthew
3:1-2, 5-8, 11.
Please note, John's baptism was for repentance of sins, not for the
forgiveness of them. Repentance comes before forgiveness. Indeed, without
repentance there is no forgiveness. (Luke 13:3, 5;
2 Peter 3:9) That is why
John the Baptist was sent by Jehovah to prepare the way, to have a
cleansed repentant people whose sins would be forgiven once the
ransom was paid by the blood of God's own Son, and their
exercising faith in that blood. (Mark 1:2-4;
Acts 13:24;
Heb. 9:11-14;
10:21-22) After Jesus' death, baptism was no longer just for repentance of
sins but also for forgiveness of them. That is why John's baptism was no
longer valid after Jesus' death. Those who had been
baptized by John did not need to get baptized again as Jehovah accepted
their repentance and viewed them as clean, as symbolized by the water, and
forgave their sins upon the death of his Son. Baptism since
Jesus' death is for repentance and forgiveness of one's sins. (Acts 2:38;
19:3-5;
Heb. 9:22)
So, we see that water baptism is an appropriate symbol of our
heartfelt repentance and being cleansed of our
sins. It is true that we gain forgiveness of our sins only by exercising
faith in Jesus’ ransom sacrifice (washing our robes in "the blood of
the Lamb," Rev. 7:14), but it is at the moment of our baptism that the benefits of
the ransom are applied to us. Water baptism is a requirement from God.
Submitting to it demonstrates obedience, humility, faith and the desire to
have a clean conscience toward our Creator. (Hebrews
10:19-22) Without baptism there is no
cleansing and thus no forgiveness
of sins. (see
Numbers 19:20)
"Peter [said] to them:
"Repent, and let each one of YOU be baptized in the name of Jesus
Christ for forgiveness of YOUR sins..." —Acts 2:38.
Hence the command to baptize and be
baptized. (Matthew 28:19)
"That which corresponds to this is also now saving YOU,
namely, baptism, (not the putting away of the filth of the flesh, but
the request made to God for a good conscience,) through the
resurrection of Jesus Christ." ―1 Peter 3:21.
Baptism is not about dedication. Dedication is not mentioned, nor
defined, anywhere in the Scriptures.
WHY WAS JESUS BAPTIZED?
But, you may wonder, if baptism
is about forgiveness of sins, then why was Jesus baptized since he committed
no sins? We might similarly ask: we know that we all die because of
our inherited sin from Adam, so why did Jesus die, seeing that he had no
sin?
The apostle Peter tells us,
"In fact, to this [course] YOU were called, because
even Christ suffered for YOU, leaving YOU a model for YOU to follow his
steps closely. . . He committed no sin, nor was deception found in his
mouth. . . He himself bore our sins in his own body upon the stake,
in order that we might be done with sins and live to righteousness. And
'by his stripes YOU were healed.'"
―1 Peter 2:21-24.
Yes, since "Christ died for our sins";
he suffered for our sins; he also
was baptized for our sins; which, as Peter explains, he "bore in his own body." (Isaiah
53:2-12;
1 Corinthians 15:3,
22)
This fulfilled all the requirements of the Law according to the covenant. The Tabernacle, the anointed high priest, the
sacrifices at the temple and all the necessary requirements regarding the offering
of the sacrifices, including their being cleansed with water, were "our
tutor leading to Christ." (Galatians
3:19, 24-25;
Hebrews 8:1-6;
9:6-14) Does it seem reasonable that his
baptism, at which time he was anointed and became the Messiah, and with
which he started his ministry and the fulfilling of the law, was not
foreshadowed anywhere in the Law? Jesus' baptism prepared him for the
sacrifice of his perfect human body, the sin offering on behalf of
mankind.
Another point to consider:
When we are baptized, should the emphasis not be on God's love for us, and
the love of his Son, and the ransom provision
whereby we gain forgiveness of sins and a relationship with our heavenly
father; rather than emphasizing our love for God and what we are doing, and
will be doing, as is the case with Dedication. As The Message
Bible (MSG) so aptly puts
Galatians 3:11: "Doing things for God is the
opposite of entering into what God does for you."