Is Baptism A Symbol of Dedication?

Let any man who would say that Chris­t­ian bap­tism is a sym­bol of our ded­i­ca­tion to God pro­duce one scrip­ture that would sub­stan­ti­ate that view. If no scrip­ture can be pro­duced then we have to con­cede that this view is not Biblical.

That there is no sup­port­ing evi­dence in the Chris­t­ian Greek scrip­tures for Chris­t­ian ded­i­ca­tion is evi­denced by the “Sing Praises to Jeho­vah” song book where the two songs con­cern­ing Chris­t­ian ded­i­ca­tion (13 & 202) are forced to cite Exo­dus 39:30 as the song’s sup­port­ing scripture.

What is Bap­tism a Sym­bol of?

Bap­tism is a sym­bol of repen­tance and the means by which we receive for­give­ness for our sins.

Peter [said] to them: “Repent, and let each one of YOU be bap­tized in the name of Jesus Christ for for­give­ness of YOUR sins, and YOU will receive the free gift of the holy spirit.” — Acts 2:38

And now why are you delay­ing? Rise, get bap­tized and wash your sins away by your call­ing upon his name.’” — Acts 22:16

owing to no works in right­eous­ness that we had per­formed, but accord­ing to his mercy he saved us through the bath that brought us to life and through the mak­ing of us new by holy spirit.” — Titus 3:5

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

If Jesus Was Sin­less Why Was He Baptised?

Jesus answers the ques­tion him­self at Matthew 3:15 “Let it be, this time, for in that way it is suit­able for us to carry out all that is righteous”

In order to be sanc­ti­fied as high priest under the old covenant Aaron had to be cleansed with water and anointed with oil. (Exo­dus 29:4,7)

Aaron as High Priest was a type for Jesus Christ.

In order to enter into his role as our High Priest Jesus too had to be cleansed with water and anointed with oil. (Hebrews 2:17) Both con­di­tions were ful­filled at the time of his bap­tism, “After being bap­tized Jesus imme­di­ately came up from the water; and, look! the heav­ens were opened up, and he saw descend­ing like a dove God’s spirit com­ing upon him.” — Matthew 3:16

As first­born among many broth­ers Jesus set the exam­ple by which we too would be born again as Spir­i­tual sons of God. (Romans 8:29)

In speak­ing to the Phar­isee Nicode­mus Jesus described the method by which one would be born again as a son of the King­dom. “Most truly I say to you, Unless any­one is born from water and spirit, he can­not enter into the king­dom of God. What has been born from the flesh is flesh, and what has been born from the spirit is spirit. Do not mar­vel because I told you, YOU peo­ple must be born again.” — John 3:5–7

At the time of his bap­tism he was born from water and as the Holy Spirit came upon him as a dove he was born from spirit and then the voice called from heaven declar­ing him, “my Son, the beloved, whom I have approved.” (Matthew 3:16,17)

One Comment

  • AZTruthSeeker wrote:

    Actu­ally, if you really look at the true essence of get­ting bap­tized you would under­stand. Jesus at the age of 29–30 came to John at the Jor­dan. It was writ­ten about Jesus in the Psalm, “It is writen in the scroll about me, “‘I have come to do your will.’” He puts off the for­mer, to now walk in a new­ness of life. We have become new crea­tures in Christ. We do not walk after the flesh no longer, as the world does, but we walk by the Spirit.

    If you believe as JW’s do, or other chris­tians, that all you have to do is learn cer­tain basic teach­ings from some reli­gious group, then, when you under­stand the basic tenets and agree with what that group teaches you can get bap­tised; regard­less if you’re 12, 10 or even 8 years old.
    Sorry to say , but, NO!
    One must truly under­stand what it means to be bap­tised into Christ, for the pur­pose of doing the will of the Father.

    Yes, bap­tism is dying to the old, and being born again to the new — New Crea­tures in Christ. So, one should now be ded­i­cated toward such a new­ness of life. “Con­se­cra­tion” “I have come to do you will, O LORD.”

Post a Comment

Please add to the discussion. Critical comments are welcome. Rude or abusive comments will not be approved.

Your email is never shared. Required fields are marked *