Q: I have a question about baptism. Please excuse me if you have already answered it somewhere on your site, as I have not read everything yet. In what way did the baptism of John the Baptizer and the baptism that followed by Jesus' disciples differ, if the second one was not about dedication?
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A:
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)
In the gospel of Mark we are told that "John the baptizer turned up in the
wilderness, preaching baptism [in symbol] of repentance for forgiveness
of sins." And Paul told the synagogue in Antioch that "John, in advance of the
entry of that One, had preached publicly to all the people of Israel baptism [in
symbol] of repentance." (Mark 1:4; Acts 13:24, NWT)
Please note that John's baptism was for repentance of sins, not for the
forgiveness of them. There is a difference! Repentance comes before forgiveness. Indeed, without
repentance there is no forgiveness. (Luke 13:3,5; 2 Peter 3:9) Jehovah sent John
the Baptist to prepare his people for the one—Christ Jesus—who would provide
the means for having their sins forgiven. John, as the forerunner, preached the need for
repentance, and then made it possible for them to publicly display their repentance by
getting baptized by him. (Mark 1:2-4;
Acts 13:24) He drew attention to the coming of that one as "the Lamb of God
that takes away the sin of the world." (John 1:29) Jesus' shed blood made
possible the forgiveness of sins. "God
recommends his own love to us in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died
for us." (Rom. 5:8; 1 Cor. 15:22; Heb. 9:13,14; 1 Peter 2:24)
After Jesus' death, baptism was no longer about repentance of sins but also
now included forgiveness of them. That is why Peter told the crowd at Pentecost: "Repent,
and let each one of you be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for
forgiveness of your sins (not simply for repentance), and you will receive the free gift of the holy
spirit." John's baptism of repentance was no longer valid after
Jesus' death, because now baptism was about the forgiveness of sins, and that was the
message Jesus' disciples preached. Those who were baptized by John did not
need to get re-baptized, a second time, because Jehovah accepted their original
baptism for repentance of sins; and now by applying to them the merits of Jesus' blood he forgave their sins.
Simply put, John began baptizing for repentance for forgiveness of sins,
and upon Jesus' death the forgiveness became possible.
(This, by the way, also proves that the meaning of John's baptism did not change
from repentance to that of a person's dedication to God, as the Society teaches.
Otherwise, all who had been baptized by John for their repentance of sins would
now need to get baptized a second time, one for a baptism of dedication. If they
failed to get re-baptized in symbol of their dedication, then they would not be
dedicated, would they? But this notion is not taught in the Bible.)
Since the baptism preached by the apostles was about forgiveness of sins, which
made reconciliation with God possible, such ones also received the promised holy spirit.
In this way they were "born from water and spirit," as Jesus had told Nicodemus
earlier, but which Nicodemus failed to understand. In fact, the entire Jewish
nation needed to be "born of water and spirit" if they wanted to remain God's
covenant people, since the old covenant became obsolete upon the inauguration of
the new covenant at Pentecost. (John 3:5; Acts 2:33, 38; 19:3-5; Rom. 5:8-11; Heb. 9:22)
Without accepting Jesus' blood of the new covenant, the Jews could not have
their sins forgiven and be reconciled to God. Therefore those who refused to be
thus "born again" (having been born the first time at Mt. Sinai under the old
covenant) ceased to be God's covenant people. (Matt. 26:28; Acts 4:12; Rom.
10:1-4)
Baptism after Jesus' death is for repentance and forgiveness of
one's sins. This forgiveness has made it possible to have a clean conscience
before Jehovah. Yes, due to our faith in Christ and by our baptism, we are
"having had our hearts sprinkled from a wicked conscience and our bodies bathed
with clean water." (Heb. 10:21,22) Nowhere in the Scriptures are baptism and
dedication linked together. The Watchtower, May 15, 1952, page 315, under the
study article
"Dedication for Life in
the New World,"
acknowledges this:
"Searching through the Christian Greek Scriptures we do not find either
the word dedication or the word consecration used to designate this step
of giving oneself exclusively to God through Jesus Christ. When
reading of the early adopters of Christianity we merely find it said that
they believed or exercised faith. The formula that those used who urged
people to adopt Christianity was, 'Repent and be converted,' or, 'Repent
and turn around.' Also, 'Repent and be baptized.'
For a more detailed discussion on this subject please see the article "God's
View on Dedication" on this site.