Not valid on what basis? Here's some info; up unti 1988 "approved associates" (unbaptized publisher) were treated as disfellowshipped although not baptized.
*** w10 2/15 p. 22 Questions From Readers ***
What about an individual who was not practicing sin at the time of his baptism but whose subsequent wrongdoing required the formation of a judicial committee? Suppose he then claimed that he did not fully understand what he was doing at the time of his baptism and said that his baptism was not truly a valid one. When meeting with a wrongdoer, the elders should not raise questions about his baptism and ask whether he feels that his dedication and baptism were valid. After all, he heard a Scriptural discourse about the significance of baptism. He answered affirmatively questions regarding dedication and baptism. Then he changed his clothing and was physically immersed in water. It is, therefore, reasonable to believe that he fully understood the seriousness of what he was doing. The elders would thus treat him as a baptized person.
If the individual raises the issue of the validity of his baptism, the elders may direct his attention to The Watchtower of March 1, 1960, pages 159 and 160, and February 15, 1964, pages 123 to 126, where the matter of rebaptism is discussed in detail. Eventual rebaptism under certain circumstances (such as a lack of sufficient Bible understanding when one was baptized) is a personal matter.
*** w60 3/1 pp. 159-160 Questions From Readers ***
Questions From Readers
● What should a congregation committee do in the case of one who has committed acts deserving being put on probation or disfellowshiped and who now claims that in the light of what The Watchtower, August 1, 1958, had to say about valid and invalid baptisms, his baptism was not a valid one?
We well know that Christendom professes to be Jehovah’s organization and in the new covenant with him. It has never renounced that relationship, although it is a false claim and pretense. Yet because of the appearance that Christendom puts on before the world and the demands that it makes according to its boastful claims, Jehovah God will judge Christendom just the same as if she were in actual covenant relationship with him. She will be judged unfaithful and punished accordingly because she has acted hypocritically and brought reproach upon his name.
Likewise, if an individual who has made a profession of dedication to God through Christ and after the baptismal talk submits to water baptism and then continues to associate with the congregation, even though spasmodically, claiming to be a dedicated, baptized member of the congregation and never renouncing that relationship with the congregation, then that individual has to be judged by the congregation according to the appearance of things that is being offered by this person.
The congregation credits the individual with honesty and with having intelligently entered into a full membership in the congregation by virtue of dedication and baptism. The congregation is not God, who is able to read the heart, nor does it have supernatural gifts as did Peter and other apostles so as to know whether the individual is earnest and sincere and is not dishonest and hypocritical. If the individual permits himself to be accepted by the congregation upon the basis of the congregation’s own understanding and view of the matter, then this individual subjects himself to be judged and dealt with according to the standards that the congregation owns up to as found in the Word of God.
If, after the individual commits a wrong that deserves disfellowshiping, the individual first then disclaims having actually been what he has all along pretended to be and what he has let the congregation think he is, then he certainly is trying to take advantage of the congregation and is trying to crawl out from underneath responsibility and due consequences for his acts. He cannot now properly claim that he was not really dedicated and that his baptism was all a mistake and that in reality he never was a member of the congregation and of the New World society and so cannot be chastened by or expelled from it.
This particularly follows in the case of such a one’s making a confession. If inside himself he did not count himself a member of the congregation, then why make a confession to the congregation in the first place? An undedicated, unbaptized person is not obliged to confess all his sins and wickedness that he committed before dedication to the congregation and ask their forgiveness. All that is necessary is that he clean up his life, then make a dedication and act in harmony with that dedication and present himself for baptism.
But whether confessing or not, when a person is found guilty of misconduct he must be dealt with according to the appearance he gave those of the New World society and must therefore be put on probation or disfellowshiped as the situation may call for. If after he has been reinstated he still is convinced that he had not made a dedication before his baptism and it therefore was invalid, he should, if he has not already done so, make an intelligent, binding dedication to God now that he has repented and proved his repentance by works befitting such and then he should be baptized. We cannot trifle with Jehovah God. This is a serious matter and should be treated seriously.
*** w56 12/15 pp. 762-763 Questions From Readers ***
Questions From Readers
● Because of information presented in the July 1, 1956, Watchtower on baptism, a number of persons have asked about the advisability of being baptized again. They say that their understanding of the matter is better now than when they were immersed. Also, some were told years ago that their immersion in water by one of Christendom’s religious systems was sufficient to symbolize their dedication if they understood at the time that they were dedicating themselves to do Jehovah’s will, but now this article (page 406, paragraph 14) says that baptisms in Christendom’s religious systems today are not valid and that these individuals should be baptized again by Jehovah’s theocratic organization. They ask if they should now be baptized again, and if so, what date for their time of dedication should be shown on their Publisher’s Record card? Should it be this latest baptism date, even though the person has been in the truth and actively witnessing for ten or twenty years or more?
On the question of persons who were once baptized by Jehovah’s witnesses and who get to feeling the need of being baptized again in view of the article referred to above, the thought is raised, Did those who heard the baptism talk when they were immersed understand it? Did they understand that water immersion symbolized a dedication they were to have made already in their hearts, a vow or decision already made before God to do his will? Were not the questions specific that were propounded to them at the time of their baptism? Did not the talk and these questions point up with clarity and force the requirements? If the baptism talk stated the case plainly and the questions put to the candidates were plainly and unmistakably worded, why should the one who then said Yes to the questions now say he did not know or understand what he was doing?
All of us have doubtless grown in an appreciation of dedication since we symbolized it by water immersion. Certainly we did not appreciate it fully when we made it, or as fully as we do now. But this does not mean we should be rebaptized. This Watchtower article has not said anything more than or different from what previous articles on the subject have said, except the point of one’s having been baptized in Christendom’s religious denominations not being viewed as sufficient today, since A.D. 1918, when Jehovah God accompanied by his Messenger of the Covenant came to the temple and cast off Christendom.
So it is up to these uncertain persons to ascertain when they knowingly dedicated themselves to God, which dedication they can now distinctly remember with a satisfied conscience, and if it has been since they were baptized years ago, then they should be baptized again in symbol of their real dedication and that date should be the one used on their Publisher’s Record card.
Once a person has been baptized with understanding in token of his dedication there is no need or propriety for him to be rebaptized, even if for a time he falls away or becomes inactive, any more than a member of Christ’s body needs to be re-anointed. His baptism once performed stands forever as a testimony of his dedication to Jehovah and as an irremovable sign of his obligations toward God.
As to the baptism or total immersion of persons while members of Christendom’s religious organization and before becoming associated with Jehovah’s witnesses: In 1918, because of their conduct, the religious denominations of Christendom were definitely cast off by the judgment of Jehovah through His Messenger at His temple. Prior to that many connected with such denominations conscientiously studied their Bibles and came to discern that they must surrender or dedicate or “consecrate” themselves to God through Christ to be God’s and to do his will henceforth, trusting in His help by His holy spirit. They correctly saw that water baptism by complete submersion was the proper thing to have done to represent this surrender of themselves to God through Christ. So they had the clergyman or the authorized official in the religious denomination immerse them, doing so in the formula “in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Ghost [or, Spirit],” and they trusted in the operation of God’s spirit as described in the Scriptures, which they had read and were familiar with.
Let it be noted that such individuals made a real dedication of themselves to God through Christ and prayed for His holy spirit and they felt themselves bound by it ever after. They did not make this dedication through the clergyman or other official who baptized them. This is corroborated by the fact that after they came to know the truths as presented by Jehovah’s witnesses they saw their obligation, not to rededicate themselves to God, but to “come out of her” or come out of antitypical Babylon, and so they severed their connections with the religious denominations and became witnesses of Jehovah and continued on doing His will with better knowledge and clearer understanding. They were not rebaptized, but persisted in fulfilling their previous dedication and Jehovah manifested his acceptance of them by using them in his service and by displaying through them the operation of his spirit, while at the same time they brought forth the fruitage of His spirit. This indicates that the essential thing to validate a dedication is, not what the baptizer (be he a clergyman or otherwise) understands or thinks, but what the immersed one thinks, understands and does. The dedication was correct and the water symbol was correct and God indicated his acceptance, putting his spirit upon the immersed one. Why, then, should there be a rebaptism after one has left antitypical Babylon in fulfillment of his dedication and has become one of Jehovah’s witnesses?
Note specifically what the afore-mentioned paragraph 14, page 406, of The Watchtower says: “Often the question is asked whether one baptized previously in a ceremony performed by some other religious group should again be baptized when coming to an accurate knowledge of the truth and making a dedication to Jehovah.” Note those last six words: “And making a dedication to Jehovah.” That is, making a dedication after receiving the truths presented by Jehovah’s witnesses and after leaving antitypical Babylon. This means that such person had not symbolized a dedication of himself to God when baptized “in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Ghost [or, Spirit]” by an official of the religious denomination but had merely become a member of that denomination. Hence that person saw the need of making a dedication and symbolizing it after associating with Jehovah’s witnesses. Such a person properly gets rebaptized. In agreement with this, the twelve men who were rebaptized in Acts 19:1-7 had been baptized in the name of the Father but not in the name of Jesus nor in the name of the holy spirit, about which they had not heard, so that their previous total immersion was not in the name of all the factors involved, which was why they could not receive the holy spirit before Paul had them rebaptized.
Hence now when the call to come out of Babylon is being clearly sounded out, if anyone has heard of this call and yet remains in a religious part of antitypical Babylon and gets immersed in such a religious part, his immersion would not count. His decision could not have been a dedication to do God’s will, because, to quote paragraph 14, “the individual would have separated himself from such God-dishonoring Babylonish systems even before letting them baptize him.” Such an individual could only make an acceptable dedication after he ‘came out of Babylon’ and this dedication he would have to symbolize by a rebaptism in water, being totally submerged. The rebaptism date of such one is the date that should be shown on his Publisher’s Record card in the congregation with which he associates. The date of dedication is never shown, but is understood to have preceded the moment of baptism.
If a person attends a baptism feature but does not sit among the baptismal candidates and does not vocally answer the questions but afterward decides to be baptized in symbol of dedication and so joins in the procession of candidates and actually gets baptized on the same basis as they do, that person obligates himself to Jehovah God through Christ. His symbolized dedication must stand as an everlasting engagement on his part and he must consider himself bound by it in God’s sight. God read his heart and saw what he did and therefore holds him to his public profession of dedication. However, in future, it would be better for a person like this to do the following before submitting to baptism: go to the baptism speaker whose speech this person has heard and then have him ask this person the two questions privately for affirmative answers.
*** w64 2/15 pp. 121-127 Did You Make an Acceptable Dedication to God? ***
Did You Make an Acceptable Dedication to God?
EACH year a large number of humble persons throughout the world learn of God’s marvelous purposes and righteous requirements. They see the need to serve this great God, Jehovah, and they then dedicate their lives to him, symbolizing this dedication by being baptized, or immersed, in water. (Matt. 28:19, 20) In this way hundreds of thousands of persons from all walks of life have become dedicated servants of Jehovah God.
However, at times questions arise in the minds of some of these dedicated servants of God as to the validity of their dedication and baptism. Understanding so much more now about God’s purposes, some wonder whether the dedication they made years ago was a proper one or not. They ask: Did I make an acceptable dedication to God? How can I tell whether it was valid? How much did I need to know at the time? If I do not remember the exact occasion of my going to God in prayer and dedicating myself, should I be rebaptized? What if the questions now asked of baptism candidates were not presented at my baptism years ago? Would that mean I need to be rebaptized?
CORRECTLY INFORMED
Persons who, over the years, have submitted themselves to water baptism by Jehovah’s witnesses have no reason to get to thinking that they did not understand what they were doing at the time of their water baptism, or that they were not informed of what they were about to do before actually being immersed in water.
It has always been the procedure of the Watch Tower Society at general assemblies and in the local congregations to have a talk on baptism delivered to all interested persons before the water baptism takes place. Every speaker appointed by the Watch Tower Society, or by the local congregations, would, in his sermon, give the explanation of baptism and its significance in harmony with what had been published in the books and magazines of the Watch Tower Society up to that time. Additionally, these interested persons could have read for themselves such articles prior to their baptism.
Just because an individual does not clearly and distinctly remember his precise thoughts at the time of his water baptism years ago does not mean that he did not know what baptism meant. One’s lapse of memory does not prove anything. It does not mean that he did not know what he was about to undergo in symbolizing his dedication.
What this water baptism symbolized has always been clearly understood and explained by Jehovah’s witnesses, although there has been a change in terminology. In times past what we now call “dedication” used to be called “consecration.” It was called consecration, for instance, in the book by Charles Taze Russell entitled “The New Creation,” in which book the meaning of water baptism is explained, particularly with reference to those who make up the symbolic body of Christ, those who have the hope of heavenly life. In due time, however, in The Watchtower of May 15, 1952, two articles appeared on this subject. The leading article was entitled “Dedication to God and Consecration,” and the subsidiary article was entitled “Dedication for Life in the New World.” These articles showed that what was once called “consecration” was more properly termed “dedication.” Since that time the term “dedication” has been used.
Understanding of the symbolic meaning of water baptism had been broadened out previously to 1952 to include those of the “other sheep” class, those who have hopes of living forever in a paradise earth, as well as those of the anointed body of Christ. As stated on page 677 of the book entitled “‘Babylon the Great Has Fallen!’ God’s Kingdom Rules!”: “However, from 1934 onward the anointed remnant plainly pointed out that these ‘other sheep’ must now make a full dedication of themselves to God and symbolize this dedication by water baptism and then become fellow witnesses of Jehovah with his remnant.—See The Watchtower and Herald of Christ’s Presence, as of August 15, 1934, pages 249, 250, paragraphs 31-34.” Thus water baptism was extended to include the “other sheep” class. Its symbolic significance also continued to be correctly understood.
The Watch Tower Society in all its publications continued taking care not to leave interested persons in ignorance of the fact that water baptism symbolized consecration, or, as now better understood, dedication. In its brief account of the general assembly held at Washington, D.C., May 31 to June 3, 1935, the July 1, 1935, issue of the Watchtower magazine said, on page 194: “About twenty thousand interested ones attended, among whom were a large number of Jonadabs [those with earthly hopes] who symbolized their consecration by water immersion.” The following year, or 1936, the book Riches was published, and it stated on page 144 under the subheading “Baptism”: “Is it necessary for one who today professes to be a Jonadab or person of good will toward God to be baptized or immersed in water? Such is proper and a necessary act of obedience on the part of one who has consecrated himself . . . It is an outward confession that the one being baptized in water has agreed to do God’s will.”
In the year 1939 the book Salvation was published, and on pages 270, 271 and 273 under the subheading “Baptism” it says: “Baptism or immersion in water is a symbol outwardly testifying that the person thus immersed has surrendered his selfish will to do God’s will. . . . Baptism, therefore, symbolically and outwardly testifies to an agreement to do God’s will. . . . Baptism is required because it is an act of obedience; and all who please God are required to be obedient.”
In the Watchtower account of the assembly of Jehovah’s witnesses held at St. Louis, Missouri, in 1941, page 287 of the September 15, 1941, issue says: “Never since Pentecost of A.D. 33 was there such a great number baptized at one time at one place, in symbol of their consecration to Jehovah through Christ Jesus to do the divine will. It took two hours to perform this act of faith and obedience, so great was the number of those presenting themselves.” In the baptismal talk to all these candidates the speaker for the occasion stressed that water baptism symbolized consecration, or, as we know it now to be, dedication. 3,903 were immersed.
So, then, down through the years there has continued to be a constant reemphasizing of the fact that water baptism symbolized one’s decision to devote himself henceforth and forever to Jehovah God through Jesus Christ. Hence, it can be seen that from a very early time the significance of dedication and water baptism has been clearly understood and presented for all who wanted to serve God properly. The change in terminology from “consecration” to “dedication” has not affected in any way what was meant and understood to be a vow or promise made to God to do his will.
QUESTIONS AT BAPTISM TALK
It may be that on some baptismal occasions in the past years specific questions that could be answered audibly were not asked of the baptismal candidates regarding their faith, obedience and dedication. Yet the failure of the speaker on baptism to pronounce such questions, and hence the failure of the baptismal candidates to answer audibly and affirmatively to such questions, do not undermine the validity of the baptism performed on such occasion. The deciding element in the matter is that the speaker correctly presented the significance of water baptism to the interested persons and they understood the matter, for which reason they went to the place of immersion, changed their clothing and submitted to being dipped beneath the waters.
There is no reason for persons today to think that because they have difficulty remembering what occurred a few or many years ago they did not know what they were doing on the occasion of their baptism. All their actions argue that they did understand and they did intelligently undergo water baptism in symbol of the dedication that they decisively made to Jehovah God through faith in the Lord Jesus Christ.
In the October 1, 1942, issue of The Watchtower, on pages 300 to 302, an article entitled “Baptism” was published and this article concludes with the following statements: “Before proceeding with your baptism it is proper, first, that you answer affirmatively these questions to show you are taking this step with the Scriptural understanding thereof and are fit for baptism as a devoted servant of the Lord, fully responsible to Him: (1) Do you believe in Jehovah God the Father, that ‘salvation belongeth unto Jehovah,’ and that Christ Jesus is his Son in whose blood your sins are washed away and by whom salvation comes to you from God? (2) Have you therefore confessed your sins to God and asked for cleansing by Christ Jesus, and therefore turned away from sin and the world, and consecrated yourself without reservation to God to do his will? Your answer, being Yes, is testimony that you are worthy and in line for water baptism in obedience to God’s will.”
In the next issue of the Watchtower magazine, that of October 15, 1942, in the account of the assembly of Jehovah’s witnesses at Cleveland, Ohio, on September 18-20, 1942, it says on page 319 regarding Sunday morning, September 20: “The day was opened with a discourse on ‘Baptism’ at 8 a.m., and 459 presented themselves for water immersion in symbol of their complete consecration to the Lord; it was a pleasure to behold so many young persons thus ‘remembering their Creator in the days of their youth.’ These, immediately after baptism, joined their other companions in the field activities.”
The questions to be asked of the baptismal candidates before admitting them to water baptism were republished in a revised form in the February 1, 1945, issue of The Watchtower after the leading article on the subject “Baptism—Why?” namely, on page 44, under the heading “Questions.” The questions there printed are substantially the same questions that are asked of baptismal candidates at the present time and to which they are expected to answer affirmatively in an audible manner before being admitted to the immersion.
Yet, because such questions which were to be audibly answered may have been omitted at a baptism talk in times past, it does not mean that the information presented did not accurately inform the persons interested about what they were doing. The publications of the Watch Tower Society had long made the matter plain and the men representing the Society who would be giving the baptism talks would have thoroughly understood what was involved and would have made it clear to their listeners.
PRIVATE PRAYER
Some state that they do not remember saying a specific, private prayer at the time of their dedication and wonder if such failure renders their baptism invalid.
It must be appreciated that not all prayer offered to Jehovah God needs to be offered on bended knee in the privacy of one’s own personal room at home. Prayer can be offered up to Jehovah from the heart silently and unobserved by outsiders even while one is walking along the street or while one is standing in the presence of another person, as in the case of Nehemiah, who was the cupbearer for the king and was standing in his presence at the time he prayed. (Neh. 2:3-5) Consequently, just because one cannot recall a specific moment when he made a decision to be henceforth and forever Jehovah God’s and whether it was made in one specific, private prayer, it does not mean that he did not make a direct dedication of himself to the Most High God before he was immersed in water.
Certainly before a person would be immersed in water in symbol of dedication he would have to make a decision to undergo such immersion. The very reason for making such a decision would be an understanding of what the water immersion symbolized and the obligations under which he understood himself henceforth to be because of making such a decision to be immersed. No individual walks into a water immersion of Jehovah’s witnesses blindly just because he happens to be found in the crowd of candidates, being swept off his feet along with the crowd into the water and into the hands of the immerser.
Even while the individual is changing his clothing and is preparing himself to enter into the water to be immersed, he manifests to himself and to all observers that he has made a decision to be forever afterward dedicated to Jehovah God through Jesus Christ. Such a decision is a solemn thing and evidently it is made in a prayerful mood, with one’s thoughts on the God who can read the heart. So whether one made such a decision of dedication long before the actual baptizing in water, or it was made during or after the baptismal talk, the incontrovertible fact remains that the individual made a dedication of himself from the heart in the presence of the Most High God, and that is the thing of primary importance.
On the day of Pentecost when the apostle Peter told the Jews, who had been cut to the heart by the words that he preached to them, what to do, they followed his advice, repented, and were baptized on that day. (Acts 2:37-41) They had little time in advance of their actual water baptism to make the decision to follow in the footsteps of the Lord Jesus. This decision they did not make on bended knee in prayer in the privacy of their homes, which were located in scattered parts of the Roman Empire and even outside of it. They made their decision just prior to the water baptism that Peter encouraged them to undergo. They evidently made their decision standing up in the presence of the apostles, upon whom the holy spirit had been poured out that day.
So one’s physical attitude, or one’s location at the time of making the decision of dedication, or whether it was done in one well-remembered specific prayer, does not determine the validity of the dedication vow that is thus made. The essential thing is that the dedication must be understood to be made to the Most High God through his Son, Jesus Christ, our Savior.
LIVING UP TO DEDICATION
When one dedicates himself to Jehovah God, he solemnly vows, or promises, to do the will of God forever. At baptism, therefore, he symbolizes this vow or promise to continue progressing in the Christian way. The responsibility to continue in that way of life rests upon each one who dedicates his life to God. He must live up to that dedication by doing what God has outlined in his Word. “Offer thanksgiving as your sacrifice to God, and pay to the Most High your vows.”—Ps. 50:14.
However, because a person does not live up to his dedication, it does not mean that his dedication was invalid. What it does mean is that he is simply not living up to that dedication! It represents failure to fulfill his vow, his promise, and not a failure to make a correct dedication and baptism in the first place. How serious this is can be seen from God’s Word: “Whenever you vow a vow to God, do not hesitate to pay it, for there is no delight in the stupid ones. What you vow, pay.”—Eccl. 5:4.
Thus, if one has slipped away from the faith to a degree, or may have even committed a grievous sin after he was baptized, this cannot be taken as an indication that his baptism must have been invalid and hence he must be rebaptized. In all likelihood it was not his dedication and baptism that were at fault. The trouble is his failure to live up to his promise to do God’s will.
If any today find themselves practicing what is bad, or if they practiced badness some time after their dedication, they should not automatically look to rebaptism to correct the situation. The way to set oneself straight with Jehovah is to confess the wrongdoing to Jehovah in prayer and also to the judicial committee of the congregation, who will prayerfully and Scripturally handle the matter. (1 John 1:9; Jas. 5:16) Whatever correction is administered will work toward the good of the one who has confessed his wrongdoing, as well as toward the good of the entire congregation.
However, it is a different matter when a person was committing serious wrongdoing at the time of his “dedication” and baptism and even thereafter. If one was habitually sinning, practicing a grievous wrong during this time, even though ceasing from it some time after his baptism and making advancement in the service of Jehovah, he was in an unclean state before God at the time of his baptism. Such a baptism, since it did not follow a true dedication, would be invalid. If such a person has now forsaken that practice of sin, repented and made a sincere dedication of himself to Jehovah God, he should be rebaptized.
Therefore, if any individual who wants to be a baptized Christian is living a life that, if he were already dedicated, would result in his being cut off or disfellowshiped from the Christian congregation, he is not ready for baptism. First he must clean up his life in harmony with God’s righteous requirements before presenting himself to the Most High for dedication and baptism.—1 Cor. 6:9-11.
GROWTH IN APPRECIATION TO BE EXPECTED
From all the foregoing it can be seen that the New World society of Jehovah’s witnesses has been very careful to have all baptismal candidates understand that they were being immersed in water only because they had previously, whether shortly before or a long time before, decided to belong to Jehovah God and accordingly had deliberately and intelligently dedicated themselves to God through faith in Jesus Christ.
One therefore should not waver in his mind as to whether he had a correct understanding of the matter when he was immersed. In all probability, if he presented himself for baptism among the candidates he likely had sufficient knowledge to know what he was doing, which would mean that his dedication and baptism were valid.
With the passing of time Christians are expected to grow in knowledge and understanding of God’s purposes and requirements. It is therefore natural that at the time of water baptism one would not have the knowledge and understanding of matters that he would acquire after years of progressing toward Christian maturity. Even the Lord Jesus, after his baptism in the Jordan River and his receiving the holy spirit from heaven, went into the wilderness of Judea and spent forty days there to enlarge his understanding of what his dedication to God, symbolized by water baptism, really required of him. But the fact that he understood the matter of his dedication better at the close of the forty days does not mean that he did not make a valid dedication of himself to Jehovah God. When Jesus left his carpenter shop in Nazareth and went to John the Baptist at the Jordan River to symbolize his dedication, he knew the reason for this. But he also increased in knowledge and understanding with the passing of time.
We should be grateful for the increase in growth and understanding that God provides through his spirit, Word and organization. It helps us to carry out our dedication faithfully. But just because we were relatively poor in understanding and appreciating what dedication meant at the time of our baptism, we who are now possessed of a fuller, more accurate understanding of dedication and baptism should not feel it necessary to be rebaptized. We should, with mental equilibrium, remember all the information in printed and spoken form that has for many decades presented the matter clearly and should not let our faulty memories produce in us an unsettled state of mind and heart.
What we should appreciate more and more with the passing of time is the serious responsibility under which we have come by dedicating our lives to God. We should by all means sincerely and earnestly renew our determination to live up to that dedication to the Most High God Jehovah, and in this way imitate his faithful Son, Jesus Christ.—1 Pet. 2:21.
[Footnotes]
When receiving candidates for water immersion, Charles Taze Russell, the first president of the Watch Tower Bible and Tract Society (1884-1916), would put the following questions to such candidates:
“(1) Have you repented of sin with such restitution as you are able, and are you trusting in the merit of Christ’s sacrifice for the forgiveness of your sins and the basis of your justification?
“(2) Have you made a full consecration of yourself with all the powers that you possess—talent, money, time influence—all to the Lord, to be used faithfully in His service, even unto death?”
After the candidates had answered affirmatively, he would say: “On the basis of these confessions, we acknowledge you as a member of the Household of Faith, and give to you as such the right hand of fellowship, not in the name of any sect or party or creed, but in the name of the Redeemer, our glorified Lord, and His faithful followers.”—See The Watch Tower and Herald of Christ’s Presence as of May 15, 1913, page 159, column 2, under the heading “Broad Unsectarian Questions.”
Other baptismal speakers would follow this pattern with candidates for water immersion.
*** km 10/75 p. 8 Question Box ***
Question Box
● What action should the congregation take with regard to unbaptized associates who fall into serious wrongdoing?
The Organization book, page 174, shows that unbaptized wrongdoers who have been regularly associating with the congregation maybe disciplined in a way similar to the way baptized wrongdoers are handled. Some have asked, What is meant by “regularly associating”?
These are not newly associated persons who are studying and who still have their worldly ways. Rather, the persons referred to as “regularly associating” are those who have made some progress in the way of truth and who have been attending meetings regularly over a period of time. Usually they have been sharing in field service, are enrolled in the School, and have come to be regarded by others as being Jehovah’s witnesses.
If such an unbaptized associate falls into serious wrongdoing, the elders should talk to him about what is said in the Organization book, pages 128, 129. If after that he is still unrepentant, in spite of repeated efforts of the elders to help him with his problem, then the congregation and its members must be protected from the danger of contamination, in harmony with Paul’s counsel at Galatians 5:9. Announcement should be made that his conduct is “unbecoming a Christian,” and that for anyone to continue associating with him would not be in harmony with the counsel of 1 Corinthians 15:33. He will be denied the privilege of giving student talks, participating in demonstrations from the platform, etc. No field service reports would be accepted from such a person. In the event the elders later are satisfied that this person shows fruits of repentance, it would be proper to announce that the restrictions on him have been lifted. With the elders taking the initiative, the congregation can then continue giving loving aid with the view of helping the repentant one along the way to life.
There may be others, not yet “regularly associating,” who are studying and starting to attend meetings, but who are still contaminated with worldly uncleanness. Of course, no action needs to be taken against these, but they should be encouraged to lake steps to clean up their lives. Only when they have done this should they be invited to accompany the publishers in the field service, share in presentations from the platform, etc. (See Organization book, pages 128, 129.) It is our hope that, as they study and apply God’s Word, they will be motivated to make the necessary changes to become acceptable to Jehovah.
*** w88 11/15 p. 19 Helping Others to Worship God ***
Previously, unbaptized ones who unrepentantly sinned were completely avoided. While, as adjusted above, this is not required, the counsel at 1 Corinthians 15:33 should still be observed.
