The Holy Ghost is a holy personage that can minister to man for his
salvation only on certain conditions. These are, belief in the Lord Jesus
Christ, repentance and baptism for the remission of sins, with hands laid on to
confer the Holy Ghost.
These ordinances must be administered by one having authority before man
is in a condition to have the Holy Ghost act as a medium of communication
between him and the Lord.
Jesus Christ again says, “Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a
man be born of water and of the Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of
God.” (John, iii. 5.)
The apostle John says, “Whosoever is born of God doth not commit sin;
for His seed remaineth in him: and he can, not sin, because he is born of God.”
(I John, iii. 9.)
These passages force the conclusion, that a man must be baptized and
receive the Holy Ghost, or be born of the Spirit, before he is a member of the
kingdom of God. And when he is a legal member, with the Spirit or seed of God abiding
in him, he cannot, or will not sin, therefore he is entitled to, and can have a
continual communication with God through the Holy Ghost which leads into all
truth, brings all things to remembrance, and teaches things to come. (Joel H.
Johnson, Voice
from the Mountains, Being a Testimony of the Truth of the Gospel of Jesus
Christ, as Revealed by the Lord to Joseph Smith, Jr. [Salt Lake City:
Juvenile Instructor Office, 1881], 7-8)
