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.

Only 19 Months Away!

Yes, in a little more than a year and a half Jehovah’s witnesses plan on holding an international assembly. Where? New York city. When? July 27 to August 3, 1958. Start saving now. Plan to be there!