Baptism is it really a dedication to God, where in the Bible?

Crazyguy

I haven't found a Scripture where it says that Baptism is a dedication to God. I have only found in the book of Acts chapter 2 I believe where baptism is for forgiveness of sins. Am I wrong? Please advise.

prologos

" I have come to do your will" o spirit directed organisation.

the girl next door

Many religions view dedication to God as a promise to do his will. Child dedications for example do not assume salvation but a promise to bring that child up "in the faith". Hannah was a barren wife who promised to dedicate her child to God if He would give her a son (1 Samuel 1:11). Luke 2:22 begins the account of Mary and Joseph taking Jesus to the temple after forty days in order to dedicate Him to the Lord. This was slightly more involved since it involved a sacrifice, but once again this ceremony did not indicate any level of salvation.

JWs view Baptism as the public display of the dedication they have previously made to serve Jehovah.

wokeup

Making a dedication, 'symbolizing' that dedication by Baptism and then "living up' to that dedication by carrying out the perfunctory tasks prescribed the organization is not a NT teaching. The Hebrew and Greek words for dedication are not present contextually in association with Baptism in any way.

leaving_quietly

Here are my notes on the topic:

Dedication

The word “dedication” is never used in the scriptures related to baptism. The first mention of any baptism is in Matthew 3:6, so this was not a practice common to the Israelites until a much later period. The only time the word dedication is used in the Greek scriptures is at John 10:22 in relation to the “Festival of Dedication”. The word “dedicated” is used three times in the Greek scriptures, at Matthew 15:5, Mark 7:11 and Luke 21:5. Both Matthew and Mark were discussing corban, a gift dedicated to God, while Luke was discussing how the temple was “adorned with fine stones and dedicated things”. None of these were associated in any way with baptism.

That leaves me to wonder, then why does the Society feel we must first dedicate ourselves to God as a prerequisite to baptism? The scriptures make no such statement. This is yet another example of going “beyond the things that are written.”

Something to note are these two comments from decades ago:

w70 7/1 p. 404 par. 13

Christians must appreciate these facts. Their dedication is not to an organization nor to a work. Neither is it to a human or a government; it is only to the Creator himself, to Jehovah God, through Jesus Christ.

w66 10/1 pp. 603-604 par. 15

We do not dedicate ourselves to a religion, nor to a man, nor to an organization. No, we dedicate ourselves to the Supreme Sovereign of the Universe, our Creator, Jehovah God himself.

The use of “dedication” apparently comes from Jesus’ statement at Matt 16:24: “Then Jesus said to his disciples: “If anyone wants to come after me, let him disown himself and pick up his torture stake and keep following me.”

Something of note, here: “If anyone wants to come after me” and “keep following me”. This is important because dedication to JWs is to Jehovah not to Christ.

The Searcher

CRAZYGUY, you've got the one & only scriptural reason for baptism!

The Bible says nothing about baptism involving a "dedication."

The dedication is to the WTBTS - nothing more!

Ucantnome

I haven't found a Scripture where it says that Baptism is a dedication to God.

My father said this after 40 years as a witness and serving as an elder. i found it odd.