Galatians 3:27
Galatians 3:2727For all of you who were baptized into Christ have clothed yourselves with Christ.
JWs accept the verse's affirmation of baptism into Christ. The Watchtower's broader baptism teaching adds a second-stage identification with the organisation that itself does not name.
Paul's language is precise and load-bearing — "all of you who were baptised INTO Christ have put on Christ". The preposition is the point. Baptism unites the believer with a person, not with an institution. Pair this with ("baptised into Christ Jesus were baptised into his death"), (baptism in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of sins), and (the pledge of a good conscience to God through Christ's resurrection). Across the New Testament the baptismal object is consistently Christ and Christ alone. The doorstep insight is gentle but firm: when the 1985 Watchtower added a second question requiring identification with the organisation, it shifted the object of identification sideways. says the believer puts on Christ; the added question requires the candidate to put on a corporate badge alongside. Paul rebuked the Corinthians for far less ( — he was glad he had baptised so few of them precisely because nobody could claim baptism into his name). The apostolic pattern is exclusive: one Lord, one faith, one baptism ().