Faith. (Heb. 11:1; Alma 32:31; Moroni 7:40; Romans
8:24, 25; Matt. 7:17.) Faith is the first and fundamental law or principle of
progress. Faith is a certainty of knowledge. It is the highest form of knowledge,
since it employs in its establishment every power of man. Knowledge tested and
tried is then the beginning of faith. For that reason “it is impossible for a
man to be saved in ignorance.” (D. & C. 131:6.)
The extent of a person’s faith depends
on the amount of his knowledge. The more knowledge he gathers, the more extensive
becomes his field of faith. The degree of faith possessed by any man depends not
upon the extent of his knowledge, but upon the certainty of the truth of his knowledge.
Thus a man of great knowledge may have weak faith, while one of limited information
may have strong faith.
Faith pertains to living beings and
therefore it active, growing, ever increasing. No man has a fulness of faith. Living
faith leads its possessor to works corresponding to his knowledge. “Even so faith,
if it hath not works, is dead.” (James 2:17.)
. . .
Baptism. (John 3:5; D. & C. 112:29.) The third law
and the first ordinance of the Gospel, derived from the two preceding ones, requires
the candidate to enter into agreement with God, to accept the plan and to
conform to its requirements. The physical sign of this agreement is the
ordinance of baptism.
All ordinances of the Church are
symbolic. Man believes in a world of symbols. Language itself is but a series
of symbols of that which we sense and think. L-O-V-E is but a poor symbol of the
most beautiful thing in the world.
Baptism is, first, a physical witness
of the faith and repentance of the candidate. Second, it is, as it were, the
signature of the covenant to accept, and to obey the plan of salvation. Third,
the mode of baptism, by immersion, is an acceptance of the leadership of Jesus
the Christ, for the temporary burial in the water symbolizes the life, death,
burial and resurrection of Jesus, the Christ, and becomes also a promise of man’s
resurrection from the grave. Fourth, baptism has a cleansing effect. As water
is a cleansing agent, so baptism, with all that has preceded it, will prevent
the pats errors of the candidate from standing in a way of his future progress.
He may have to pay the physical price for his errors, but they will not
henceforth handicap him in his battle for celestial glory. Fifth, baptism is
the authorized mode of entrance into the Church of Christ. (John A. Widtsoe, Program
of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints [Salt Lake City: The
Deseret News Press, 1937], 213-15)