Are you one of that precious minority of former Jehovah’s Witnesses who has left the Organization because you love truth? If so, you are worthy of Jesus Christ. He said:
“He that has greater affection for father or mother than for me is not worthy of me; and he that has greater affection for son or daughter than for me is not worthy of me. And whoever does not accept his torture stake and follow after me is not worthy of me.” (Matthew 10:37, 38 NWT 1984)
Whether you prefer the expression “torture stake” or “cross,” it represents the burden you must bear, just as Christ bore his on the way to his death. You cannot save your soul if you refuse to endure the reproach that he himself endured. In that sense, former Jehovah’s Witness friends and family may unknowingly act like those Jews who mocked Jesus on his journey to Calvary, where he was executed.
Less than two months later, those same jeering Jews were confronted with a crisis. The followers of that very Jesus whom they had scorned were now demonstrating clear evidence that God was acting through them. They were miraculously speaking in tongues. As a result, many realized that they had made a terrible mistake. Yet all was not lost. There was a way out, and there is much for us to learn from what happened next.
After the apostle Peter gave a powerful witness, he concluded by telling the crowd:
“Therefore let all Israel know with certainty that God has made this Jesus, whom you crucified, both Lord and Christ!”
When the people heard this, they were cut to the heart and said to Peter and the other apostles, “Brothers, what shall we do?”
Peter replied, “Repent and be baptized, every one of you, in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins, and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. This promise belongs to you and your children and to all who are far off—to all whom the Lord our God will call to Himself.”
With many other words he testified, and he urged them, “Be saved from this corrupt generation.” Those who embraced his message were baptized, and about three thousand were added to the believers that day. (Acts 2:36–40 BSB)
They were required to reject the corrupt generation to which they had belonged. That is exactly what faithful brothers and sisters do today when they reject the corrupt generation of Jehovah’s Witnesses who continue to uphold the doctrines of men over the commandments of God. It is a sobering truth that Jehovah’s Witnesses, to paraphrase Matthew 15:8, 9, “honor Yehovah with their lips, but their heart is far removed from Him. It is in vain that they keep worshiping God, because they teach commands of men as doctrines.”
To leave that corrupt generation, those Jews had to repent of their past deeds and be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of sins.
Some of them may already have been baptized by John the Baptist. Others had never been baptized at all, since baptism was not practiced under the Mosaic Law. Regardless, a new baptism was now in effect, and it was essential for salvation. Baptism in the name of Jesus Christ is explicitly for the forgiveness of sins.
Referring to how Noah and his family were saved through the ark, Peter writes:
“Baptism, which corresponds to this, now saves you, not as a removal of dirt from the body but as an appeal to God for a good conscience, through the resurrection of Jesus Christ…” (1 Peter 3:21 ESV)
By being baptized in the name of Jesus Christ—God’s provision for the salvation of humanity—we are granted the standing to approach God as our Father for the forgiveness of sins, confident that such forgiveness will be extended. In this way, our conscience is cleansed.
This does not make baptism a kind of magic ritual, as though being baptized alone were sufficient for salvation. While baptism is essential for the forgiveness of sins, much more in involved. Remember, baptism is performed in the name of Jesus Christ. What does it mean to be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ?
If you were baptized as one of Jehovah’s Witnesses, or as a member of any other religion, you were not baptized in the name of Jesus Christ. You were baptized as belonging to that particular religion. You belong to that religion through your baptism.
Having left your former religion, you may now be grappling with the question of whether rebaptism is necessary. I knew many a baptized Catholic who, upon becoming a Jehovah’s Witness was rebaptized. But all he or she ended up accomplishing, unwittingly, was changing their affiliation from one religion to another. They were baptized in the name of their new religion.
They came under the authority of that religion. They belonged to that religion. They publicly identified with their new religion and represented its beliefs and conduct to the outside world.
To be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ is similar in intent, but vastly different in outcome, because baptism in the name of our Lord Jesus means life.
In the biblical context, to be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ means that:
- we are under his authority;
- we belong to him;
- we are remade in his likeness;
- we represent him before the world.
Let us begin with the first element: authority. When you are baptized in Christ’s name, you submit to his authority. More than that, you carry that authority before others.
“The next day the rulers, elders, and scribes assembled in Jerusalem, along with Annas the high priest, Caiaphas, John, Alexander, and many others from the high priest’s family. They had Peter and John brought in and began to question them: ‘By what power or what name did you do this?’” (Acts 4:5–7 BSB)
Those powerful men were unable to refute Peter and John because the words of those two disciples carried the authority that Jesus had granted them through the holy spirit.
The same principle applies today. What happens when Jehovah’s Witness authorities summon someone who is questioning Watchtower doctrine before a committee of three elders? Why is it that the JW elders refuse to engage in genuine biblical discussion? Repeatedly, those who have endured such judicial committees report that elders openly state they are not there to discuss Scripture. Why is this so? Because the authority of those elders does not come from Jesus, nor from Jehovah, but from the Governing Body. Their authority is weak and cannot stand before the authority granted to someone who is genuinely baptized in the name of Jesus Christ.
Now consider the second element of being baptized in the name of Jesus. We belong to him. Our loyalty is not to any religion or organization. We are not members of a religious institution. Our allegiance is only to the Christ. Because of this, we are over all other things. How remarkable that is!
“Therefore, stop boasting in men. All things are yours, whether Paul or Apollos or Cephas or the world or life or death or the present or the future. All of them belong to you, and you belong to Christ, and Christ belongs to God.” (1 Corinthians 3:21–23 BSB)
Third, we are remade in his likeness, we reflect his personality to others. What that means is that while people cannot see Jesus, they see him reflected in his followers, in us. We are no longer self-willed, but instead submit ourselves to the will of the Lord, our Lord and King.
“Whatever you do in word or deed, do everything in the name of the Lord Jesus.” (Colossians 3:17)
“It is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me.” (Galatians 2:20)
Finally, being baptized into Christ’s name means that we represent him to the outside world, not matter the cost. The Apostle Paul, himself an ambassador for Christ, shows that this is the office that every disciple of the Lord occupies.
“Therefore we are ambassadors for Christ, as though God were making His appeal through us. We implore you on behalf of Christ: Be reconciled to God.” (2 Corinthians 5:20 BSB)
An ambassador’s work is necessarily public. We must actively advance the interests of the Kingdom in this world. We cannot remain passive and expect salvation. That is not what baptism in the name of Jesus Christ entails. Jesus tells us:
“Why, YOU will be haled before governors and kings for my sake, for a witness to them and the nations.” (Matthew 10:18)
It is not for me, nor anyone else, to look back on a person’s previous baptismal experience and pronounce whether or not is was valid—whether or not it was done in the name of Jesus Christ. That is for each disciple to decide. However, if you have any doubt, why not remove all uncertainty and be baptized once again, but this time truly understanding what your baptism represents. I will leave that with you to consider.
There are two more issues to clear up before we close. The first refers to the often cites passage in Matthew attributed to Jesus.
“Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.” (Matthew 28:19)
I believe that the latter part of this verse, “in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit,” was added centuries after the fact to support trinitarian dogma. There is no instance of any baptism recorded in the Christian Scriptures were this is implemented. All we see is that baptisms were made in the name of Jesus Christ alone.
I’ll put a link to an extensive article providing the reader with abundant evidence to support this conclusion in the description field of this video.
Finally, the question arises: how does one get baptized? Set aside the notion that the person performing the baptism confers any special authority or meaning. Baptism is your public declaration that you now submit to Jesus as your King. Anyone can carry out the physical act itself. John the Baptist, who wasn’t ever a spirit-anointed Christian was chosen to baptize the son of God. It is not the qualification of the baptizer that counts, but rather the devout state of mind of the one being baptized who does so in Christ’s name for forgiveness of sins. Nowadays, there is usually a fellow Christian at hand, male or female, who can perform that baptism. I’ve known of exJW couples who baptized each other. Let us not get bound up in ritual. It is the heart-felt intent of the one being baptized that counts with our Father.
I do hope this video has been helpful to the many who are not waking up to the truth about the Organization of Jehovah’s Witnesses and who are embracing the real truth of Scripture. Thank you for your financial support of this channel. It helps us to keep going.