[From ws3/16 p. 8 for May 9-15]
“To do your will, O my God, is my delight.”—Ps 40:8
“ARE you a young person who is considering baptism? If so, what lies before you is the greatest privilege any human could have. As the preceding article pointed out, however, baptism is a serious step. It symbolizes your dedication—a solemn promise you make to Jehovah that you will serve him forever by putting his will above everything else in your life. Understandably, you should get baptized only when you are qualified to make that decision, you have a personal desire to do so, and you understand the meaning of dedication.” – Par. 1
The writer of the article makes it clear from the opening paragraph that before getting baptized, we must be ‘qualified to make the decision’ which entails ‘understanding the meaning of dedication.’ As we saw in last week’s review, the solemn vow or promise to God to dedicate oneself to him is not taught in the Christian Scriptures. Therefore, from whence is one to gain this understanding of the meaning of dedication? The answer clearly is from the publications of Jehovah’s Witnesses. A vow of dedication as a precursor to baptism is a doctrinal requirement imposed by the men charged with feeding the flock of those who consider themselves to be Jehovah’s people. It is not from God. In fact, God’s son condemns such making of vows. (Mt 5:33-36)
In my 40 years as an elder I knew many who held back from getting baptized, sometimes for years, because they were afraid they couldn’t keep this promise or vow. The spiritual implications of this are profound, because 1 Peter 3:21 indicates that baptism provides the basis for us to ask for forgiveness of sins and to have the confidence that God will grant it. Therefore, a Christian that holds off from getting baptized for fear of being unable to keep a vow is denying himself the scriptural basis for the forgiveness of sins. This is evidence that the arbitrary insertion of the dedication requirement actually works against Christian baptism. Again, Jesus’ words are proven true for he said that such vows originate with “the wicked one.” (Mt 5:36) Clearly, Satan rejoices at any ploy that is successful in frustrating a Christian’s relationship with the Father.
Paragraph 5
“According to one reference work,[i] the original-language word for “persuaded” has the sense “to be convinced and certain of the truth of something.” Timothy had made the truth his own. He accepted it, not because his mother and grandmother told him to do so, but because he had reasoned on it for himself and had been persuaded.—Read Romans 12:1.” – Par. 4
“…why not make it a goal to examine more closely the reasons for your beliefs? That will strengthen your conviction and will help you to avoid being driven by the winds of peer pressure, the world’s propaganda, or even your own feelings.”
Not only children and young people, but all, should reason for themselves and strengthen their conviction of what is true so as to resist peer pressure and propaganda. However, the source of such pressure and propaganda is not limited to the so-called godless world.
Paragraph 7
Here we are told to use WT publications to overcome doubts about the existence of God or the Bible creation account. This is fine, but do not limit yourself to JW sources for such things. There are many fine sources of scholarly research that will help build faith in the Bible account.
Paragraph 12
“What about “deeds of godly devotion”? These include your activities in the congregation, such as your meeting attendance and participation in the ministry.” – Par. 12
The point here is that the primary way we can perform “deeds of godly devotion” (1Pe 3:11) is to go to meetings at the Kingdom hall and go out in field service which means going from door-to-door to place magazines or show videos from JW.org. There is little doubt that the article’s author would not view our meeting with fellow Christians on our own terms in compliance with Hebrews 10:24, 25, nor our preaching about the Christ outside of the organizational arrangement, as proper deeds of godly devotion. Yet, it should come as no surprise to us that the Bible does not list meeting attendance and magazine placements as deeds that demonstrate godly devotion. What it does say is this:
“. . .The form of worship that is clean and undefiled from the standpoint of our God and Father is this: to look after orphans and widows in their tribulation, and to keep oneself without spot from the world.” (Jas 1:27)
Such deeds of godly devotion go entirely without mention in this article.
The article concludes with a sidebar listing questions from the “Young People Ask” series. Let us consider two of these:
How Can I Improve in My Prayers?
Both my wife and myself always strived to have a personal relationship with God through prayer, yet we never seemed to be able to achieve it. In such cases, one cannot help feel that the fault must lie within. As a consequence, one feels inadequate and unworthy. There is an instinctive awareness that something is missing.
It was only when I came to the realization that I too could become a child of God by obeying Christ’s command to partake of the emblems representing his blood and flesh that things changed for me. By accepting that calling, I experienced a change in my relationship and prayers that came automatically and without effort. Suddenly Jehovah was my Father, and I felt the Father/son bond. My prayers took on an intimate tone, one I’d never experienced before and I felt sure he was hearing me and loving me, because a son is sure of his Father’s love.
This experience is not unique I have found. Many of those who have likewise awakened to the true relationship being held out to us have told me they have experienced a similar change in their relationship with God and their prayerful expressions to him. So in answer to the question posed by this Watchtower article, I am confident in saying that all of us here would agree that to improve one’s prayers, one must stop viewing oneself is outside the family of God and reach out for the wonderful reward of adoption that Christ made possible by his ransom sacrifice.
How Can I Enjoy Studying The Bible?
We now have at our fingertips the greatest research tool that has ever existed: the Internet. If you want to enjoy studying the Bible, make extensive use of this. For example, if you are studying one of the publications or listening to a video on JW.org, and a Scripture is referenced, look it up in the NWT by all means, but do not stop there. Go to a source like biblehub.com and type in the Scripture there to see how other Bible translations render it. Make use of the link to the interlinear on that site to see how the original language presents the thoughts, and then click on the numerical identifiers above each Greek or Hebrew word to reference various concordances and see how the word is used elsewhere in the Bible. This will help you greatly to overcome doctrinal bias from whatever source so as to determine for yourself what the Bible teaches.
In Summary
Through this review and last week’s we are encouraging baptism, but not the so-called dedication vow. When one gets baptized in the name of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit (not in the name of the Organization of Jehovah’s Witnesses), one is submitting oneself to do God’s will. In essence, one is giving up the rule of man for the rule of God, and one is transferring from the dying family of man to the living family of God. Baptism is a requirement for all Christians and a wonderful provision for our sanctification by the forgiveness of sins. However, if we accept the dedication requirement, we are accepting again the rule or yoke of men and by this we are undoing the benefit of the baptism which follows. (Mt 28:18, 19)
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[i] For some time now, the publications do not provide the source for such reference words. The exact reason is unknown and conjectural explanations range from space constraints to information control. Certainly, the practice does not facilitate further research and fact-checking.
Archived Comments
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Comment by Anonymous on 2016-05-11 01:11:07
I've been raised as a witness since birth nearly 30+ years and I never felt close too Jehovah until the day I truly awakened, soon enough the quality and frequency of my prays skyrocketed it's like my heart is crying out to him. I'm far from the most scripturally knowledgeable person it's embarrassing to be honest or maybe I'm too harsh on myself, anyway it's one of many things I pray about and Im working to address this year, so thank you Meleti for this article.
Reply by Meleti Vivlon on 2016-05-11 07:08:12
Thank you and welcome, Joyful. It's good to have knowledge, and I'm sure there is more stored away in your brain after 30 years than you realize. The spirit will bring it out when needed. However, knowledge can puff up, while love builds up, so you're on the right track by starting first with love. (1Co 8:1)
Comment by Yehorakam on 2016-05-11 12:39:45
Joyful. Remember Luke 10:21:
"At that same time Jesus was filled with the joy of the Holy Spirit, and he said, “O Father, Lord of heaven and earth, thank you for hiding these things from those who think themselves wise and clever, and for revealing them to the childlike. Yes, Father, it pleased you to do it this way." (NLT)
It has been said: "Those who think they know everything will learn nothing." You have a distinct advantage over the knowledgeable. You recognize your lack, and have a humble desire to acquire more and if you've made that a subject of your prayers, then it will be answered. When you have a lot of knowledge, it's a constant fight to remind yourself you don't know everything and continue listening. We are all in a process of awakening. When I started to wake up, I wanted all the answers at once. Instead, I am receiving them a little at a time. Christ knows that a little at a time is better (and more exciting). May God and Christ bless you with more knowledge as you maintain your humble attitude. We will look to you as a fine example of humility and try to keep the same attitude.
Much love,
Comment by Menrov on 2016-05-12 13:06:16
I am not amused, I accidentally closed the tab and lost all I typed.....so now only view (key :-) ) comments in addition to the fine review by Meleti:
- 2 peter 3:11,12 is actually never answered. So the WT view of "godly devotion" (bit funny to call it godly devotion while devotion in this respect would be enough) is purely their own view.
- Par. 15 (cf. also par. 9) says “Would you serve Jehovah even if your parents and friends stopped doing so?"" This is so presumptuous (ref. declaration by G. Jackson) to make the act of leaving the WT synonym for leaving Jehovah. It generates fear in believers in the WT community.
Par 15: Your service to him should not depend on others—not even your parents: very scary as this actually means that young ones are more accountable to the organisation than to their parents.
- Par. 16 misses / lack the other, of equal importance, command: love your neighbour.
translation of 1 John 4:19 is NWT is quite different from others.
- Par. 19 gives the impression that baptism means being rewarded. That is misrepresenting what baptism is all about. I do not read the eunuch decided to get baptized because of a reward.
Overall: where is the counsel to consult your parents? In this entire article the parents do not play a role at all.Reply by AndereStimme on 2016-05-13 18:22:48
There doesn't appear to be a problem with the NWT, but an ambiguity in the text itself:
1 John 4:19 NWT We love, because he first loved us.
New International Version
We love because he first loved us.
New Living Translation
We love each other because he loved us first.
English Standard Version
We love because he first loved us.
Berean Study Bible
We love because He first loved us.
Berean Literal Bible
We love because He first loved us.
New American Standard Bible
We love, because He first loved us.
King James Bible
We love him, because he first loved us.
Comment by Yehorakam on 2016-05-16 03:02:36
Well, just had a look at the magazine. It looks like this jw.org reviewer site has got me reading the magazines again. Thanks Meleti! Hahahaha. Well, I guess its a good thing I still have my sense of humour.
So, here goes my take on just a few things in the article. Mostly good, but Meleti, you definitely have a point about paragraph 7. It is definitely a glaring in error to suggest only doing research in the suggested list of societies publications. They might as well be saying: "Make sure you have 'the truth' by only reading our publications that say we have the truth." It would have been better to encourage the youth to eliminate any pre-learned ideas and read the Bible under the direction of the holy spirit and see what differences there are between what the Bible says and what we believe. Then ask why don't we believe what the Bible says on those points and do your own research with a Concordance on those subjects and let the holy spirit guide you to connect the dots.
Another thing that just wrecked what they were trying to emphasize in the article series, was the really bad example in paragraph 18. It says:
"A 24-year-old brother who got baptized before he was a teenager says: “I may have had a deeper understanding if I had been older, but making the decision to dedicate myself to Jehovah protected me from worldly pursuits."
In Spanish it says this: "If I had waited a few more years, I definitely would have understood better what I was doing. But, getting baptized protected me from the traps of this world." (again, the Spanish translators only made it worse for themselves by adding the word "definitely")
First, by pulling this example out of the archives, it appears they are trying to justify the baptism of children that haven't even reached teenage years. That's why they preface the brother comment by saying he got baptized before he was a teenager. For those that want to defend child baptisms in the congregation, they now have a WT that provides justification for pre-teens (10-12) to get baptized....And it comes with a promise of protection, so that makes it okay (the parental protection for unbaptized children that the Bible describes got lost somewhere or just isn't enough). Second, the brother admits that he didn't have a full understanding of what he was doing. Do they realize that they spent 2 articles trying to help youths to understand what they are doing? THEN they use an example where a brother admits he didn't understand fully what he was doing. Did no one realize that is NOT the example they should have used. It went completely against what it appear they were trying to say in the 2 articles. But it's okay what the brother did...because he had this guardian angel of protection that prevented him from making the wrong decisions. If indeed he avoided making wrong decisions, I would think it was probably his parents and intimate associates that had the most positive influence on him, giving him good advice throughout the troublesome years. And of course, they fail to mention the examples of children that didn't fully understand what they were doing...and then fell into sin, felt like failures, and were full of regret for making a decision without fully understanding what it meant at the time. Those examples exist, but they mean nothing when the writers want to justify THEIR point. As Proverbs 21:2 says: "Every way of a man is upright in his own eyes" so I suppose if they want to justify child baptisms, they will pull out whatever example might serve that purpose, even if it goes against what they encouraged in the articles and falsely suggests you will receive divine protection from harm, or that baptism protects you from making bad decisions in life.
Sorry, but to me, it was a really bad conclusion to 2 articles that had mostly good advice in them.
Much love,
Comment by MarthaMartha on 2016-05-16 19:08:12
Yes! Yehorakam, thanks for those comments, I wholeheartedly agree.
I was baptised young, and my feelings are the same as the brother mentioned in the article. I didn't know the full import of what I was doing... And I was baptised long before the new baptism questions locked one into a contract with the organisation. What ' protected' me was my own shy nature and the very real fear of losing my family; a reality made clear to me by seeing a young sister disfellowshipped and kicked out of her family home at 16 and having nowhere to live. My parents took her in for a while but we children were forbidden to speak to her or even look at her. That made a huge impression on me. I don't believe that fear, obligation and guilt are a healthy way to serve God.
This statement in the article
"your dedication—a solemn promise you make to Jehovah that you will serve him forever by putting his will above everything else in your life"
How can anyone make that promise? At under teenage years or as an adult.? If Adam and Eve couldn't put Gods will before everything else in their life, what chance do we have?
Saying that Jehovah expects us to make a solemn promise that He knows we are incapable of keeping is perverse. And to put that kind of obligation on a child is setting them up for emotional torment as the inevitable teenage years bring desires and potential mistakes.
If baptism was as it was intended, purely a recognition of our sinful nature and a joyful acceptance of the gift of the ransom; a presenting of ourselves at baptism to follow Christ and do his Fathers will, what a happy and comforting thought that is ...now we have the right to ask forgiveness for the times we will inevitably step over the line.
It seems a heavy burden to put on a child's shoulders, and I didn't go to that meeting. We have many youngsters and I didn't want to hear the subtle peer pressure again like there had been last week.
Greetings and love to all,
Thanks for the reviews and articles, they're much appreciated.
MM :)