Rebuttal #4: Baptism
#4 Objection: What does the scripture say regarding baptism? Baptism is a public symbol of repentance and dedication to follow Jesus Christ. There is no provision made with any mention of baptism that one should be or can only be baptized AFTER one knows the doctrine of a group of men. That is called a Doctrine of Man (Mark 7:7) and it is not from Christ. The argument “How can you be dedicated to serving Christ unless you know something about him and what your dedication would mean” is a fair question. So, then it makes sense that someone should know something about their God and his Christ before their dedication to serve them.
That knowledge great or small, once it moves a person to repentance and acceptance of the Lord Jesus Christ as savior, should be what leads them to baptism. If you are motivated to serve Christ, which I argue you will be once you come to true repentance, then you should begin your Christian journey to serve God right away. The baptism you receive ought to be according to scripture, not an affirmation that you have become a member in a religious order or a specific church. Acts 2:38, Matt 28:19
We have the example of the Ethiopian Eunuch in Acts 8:27-38. Phillip was directed by The Holy Spirit to go near the chariot the eunuch was traveling in and stay by it. He heard the Ethiopian reading from Isaiah regarding how the lamb was led to the slaughter all the while keeping silent and in his humiliation being deprived of justice. When asked by Phillip, do you know what that means? The Ethiopian responded how can one know unless someone will teach him? Phillip then told him the good news of Jesus Christ: the fulfillment of prophesy concerning the messiah to which he was an eyewitness. The Ethiopian seeing water said, “What is preventing me from being baptized?” Therefore, they went into the water and Phillip baptized him.
This example, along with the examples of how John the baptizer baptized saying to repent and be baptized (Mark 1:4) and Jesus' admonition to repent (Matt 4:17, John 3:22) and be baptized, points to how it is the “heart” that repents and wants to turn towards a godly life and away from a life of sin. Repentance in our heart is the qualification for baptism. It is a public declaration of one’s repentance and desire to live thereafter forever in discipleship to the Messiah. No example in the scripture is given by God that men/women must have an extensive knowledge of the Bible or a doctrine before being baptized.
It seems to be clear that while we do need to have some knowledge before we are baptized (In other words why are we being baptized?), THAT knowledge is THE “Good News that Jesus, as God’s Son, died for our sins, was resurrected to new life, and is the promised Savior and King of God’s Kingdom.” His unjust death was the final and only atonement for mankind’s sins and a precious gift of God’s mercy upon a fallen mankind. If you are moved by this and accept his gift of salvation and repent from your worldly ways, nothing is stopping you from being baptized. Your baptism is between you, Jesus Christ and The Father. You take this commitment with you all your life and it is not to be included or qualified as a commitment with a third-party (aka the Watchtower Governing Body doctrine.) The apostle Peter said:
Acts 2:38 BSB
38Peter replied, “Repent and be baptized, every one of you, in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins, and you will receive the gift of The Holy Spirit. 39This promise belongs to you and your children and to all who are far off—to all whom the Lord our God will call to Himself.”
It is worth noting that at the time Peter said this, the whole of the New Testament books were not yet written. So, it would have been impossible to make a requirement that each “baptismal candidate” would need an education first, to know what it meant to be a Christian. Education and coming to know more about God and his savior would come later AFTER a person had changed their heart, repented, and accepted the forgiveness of their sins by Jesus’ shed blood on the cross. If God is love, then it makes sense he wants us to love him as he loves us and thus it is when you hear the good news of Jesus that a person changes in their heart, repents, and gets baptized.
Acts 15:8 BSB
8And God, who knows the heart, showed His approval by giving the Holy Spirit to them, just as He did to us.
Unless you repent upon hearing this good news, the Bible says you will perish.
Luke 13:5 BSB
No, I tell you. But unless you repent, you too will all perish.
Baptism is performed when a person responds to the good news of Jesus Christ that HE gave his life for the forgiveness of our sins. To accept HIS free gift, one needs to repent of one's old ways of living and turn towards living according to God’s principles/commandments and present oneself to God to do HIS will. This is a personal commitment on your part to God to show you will follow HIS son Jesus Christ for the remainder of your life and indeed into eternity.
Baptism is not based on/qualified to/dependent on a religious affiliation, knowledge of a doctrine, or even extensive knowledge of the scriptures. It is based on a changing of one’s heart towards God’s salvation gift and repentance from your previous way of life. It is your public show of your dedication to live to do God’s will. Growing in the enlightenment of God’s Word will come as you continue to grow spiritually, grow in your Bible studies, and because of your committed prayer life.
Now there is nothing wrong with taking the time to and beginning to study the Bible and learning more about God and his plan of salvation before you come to understand God’s gift of forgiveness and are moved to repent and become baptized. Seeking the knowledge of God’s Truth is telling that you are seeking answers and you are looking to the only one who can provide the answers to life: the one who gives life itself. The point here is that you do not need to “qualify” for baptism once your heart tells you that you want to serve Jesus.
Question 1. Have you repented of your sins, dedicated yourself to Jehovah, and accepted his way of salvation through Jesus Christ?
Question 2. Do you understand that your baptism identifies you as one of Jehovah’s Witnesses in association with Jehovah’s organization?
Is a Christian a Jehovah’s Witness? …Actually, yes. As a Christian we are to be witnesses to the Good News. We are actually witnessing to the Messiah’s work (Jesus Christ). We are also witnesses to Almighty God, whose name can be known as Jehovah, Yahweh, Yah, The Four Letters, The Tetragrammaton, etc. It is God’s will that he sent Jesus to us for Salvation and The Son is not greater than The Father as Jesus said. I think that is between you and The Father as to if you decide you want or need to be baptized again strictly in the name of The Father, The Son, and The Holy Spirit. I personally would like to be baptized again in accordance with the scripture and outside any oath to a false prophet. But, I believe God knows I was sincere in my repentance the day I was baptized, albeit by an organization that adulterated the Word of God (I didn’t know it then.)
#4 Recap: Your baptism is not dependent upon your being affiliated with a religion or church. God has no religion. We have the Truth, which is Jesus Christ who is THE WORD of God. Jesus said… “I am the way, the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me. (John 14:6 WEB). And he said…“Your word is truth.” (John 17:17 WEB). Do not allow any organization to have pre-qualifications for your dedication to God by baptism that are not scriptural. When you hear the message of the Good News and understand that Jesus died for your sins, and you are forgiven because God has mercy on you, then repent and rejoice! Be baptized in the Name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. Begin living a life following Jesus Christ and obey his commandments! This personal repentance and baptism will stay with you all your life (not conflated by a vow to an organization), even as the Holy Spirit may lead you out of the church you got baptized in to another.