Joseph
Fielding Smith Jr., writing on the topic of soteriology, discussed the salvific
efficacy of water baptism:
Baptism is essential to salvation and
exaltation for the following reasons:
1. It is the means by which the repentant individual obtain remission of
sins. (Mar 1:4; Luke 3:3)
2. It admits the repentant person to
membership in the Church and kingdom of God on earth. (D. & C. 20:37; Matt.
7:13-14)
3. It is the means whereby personal sanctification
may be obtained through reception of the Holy Ghost. (3 Nephi 27:20)
4. It is the gateway to the celestial kingdom.
(John 3:1-11; 2 Nephi 9:23-24) Joseph Fielding Smith Jr. Religious Truths Defined: A Comparison of Religious Faiths with the Restored
Gospel [Salt Lake City: Bookcraft, 1959], 287)
Notice that,
according to Smith, water baptism and not
confirmation is the instrumental means of receiving a remission of sins;
instead, confirmation is the beginning of progressive sanctification.
Interestingly,
such also supports justification being transformative, as, through the instrumental
means of water baptism, God cleanses us
(which is not a mere declaration; it is a transformation)
and makes (not simply declares) us to be righteous/justified
and such a transformation is separate from the process of sanctification.