Prior to baptism, candidates for Latter-day Saint baptism are expected to produce evidence of their worthiness to be baptised, or, to quote from Moroni 6:1 in the Book of Mormon, "they [are] not baptised save they brought forth meet that they [are] worthy of it." Such would include a basic knowledge of the Restored Gospel of Jesus Christ, as well as faith in Jesus Christ and repentance of one's sins. Some critics of LDS soteriology may see this as evidence of a legalistic "works-based" salvation, notwithstanding the many instances in Scripture where some preparation in the life of a person is necessary before becoming a full-fledged member of the Christian faith, such as Cornelius in Acts 10 and the words of John the Baptist to the Pharisees and Sadducees in Matt 3:8: "Produce fruit in keeping with repentance" (NIV).
In the Lukan parallel to the Matthean text, John the Baptist tells the crowd what some of these "fruits" are:
(1) Share food and clothing with their neighbour: ". . . He that hath two coats, let him impart to him that hath none: and he that hath meat, let him do likewise" (Luke 3:11)
(2) Not to steal: " . . . Exact no more than that which is appointed you" (Luke 3:13)
(3) Not to steal, like, or complain (spoken to the soldiers, but such is a universal expectation and commandment): " . . . Do violence to no man, neither accuse any falsely; and be content with your wages" (Luke 3:14)
If one is to charge Latter-day Saints with a raw works-righteousness gospel, for the sake of consistency, they will have to charge John the Baptist with such, too.
One may object, citing the example of the Philippian jailer who was baptised without much prior preparation. The pertinent text is Acts 16:31-34:
And [Paul and Silas] said, Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved, and thy house. And they spake unto him the word of the Lord, and to all that were in his house. And he took them the same hour of the night, and washed their stripes; and was baptised, he and all his, straightway. And then he had brought them into his house, he set meat before them, and rejoiced, believing in God with all his house.
One has to realise that the circumstances surrounding the baptism of the jailer are extraordinary--an earthquake releases Paul and Silas from jail, resulting in the jailer about to commit suicide as he would be held responsible for their escape. Upon pleading with him to stop, the jailer listens to the message of Paul and Silas and accepts the gospel message. Notwithstanding, Paul and Silas are still fugitives and the jailer is still answerable to his superiors, resulting in a paucity of preparation time, but the jailers still receive some preparation, viz. an early morning lesson on the rudiments of the Christian faith which results in his household coming to faith, too, and following such, they are baptised, as Paul knows that, not only is there scant possibility of seeing this jailer again due to his fugitive status, but also the essential/salvific nature of water baptism, Paul administered this ordinance in the middle of the night, but notwithstanding these extraordinary circumstances, we can be sure that Paul (and Silas) expected the jailer to have at least some meaningful knowledge of, and love for, God, as well as a genuine confession of sin before baptism, something Acts 16:32 witnesses to: "And they spoke the word of the Lord to him together with all who were in his house" (1995 NASB).
