BAPTISM.
Then necessity for baptism was
plainly taught by the Savior and the Apostles. Comparatively speaking it stood
in the same light to the kingdom or church of God that the oath of allegiance
does to any temporal government. Jesus stated to Nicodemus that a man could not
enter the kingdom of God without having first obeyed this ordinance.
To become a citizen of an earthly
government where a person is not born so, a man is required to subscribe to a
certain prescribed oath. To become a citizen of the government of God requires
that a person must be baptized in water, in obedience to the command of the
Great Head of the government, and the laws of the kingdom as they are found in
the Bible, the book of commandments for the Church of Christ.
“Go ye into all the world, and
preach the Gospel to every creature. He that believeth and is baptized,
shall be saved:” (Mark xvi., 15, 16). “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). “Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing
them in the name of the Father, and of the Son and of
the Holy Ghost” (Matt. xxviii., 19). “Repent, and be baptized, every
one of you” (Acts ii., 38.)
Its form should be by
immersion. “Buried with Him in baptism, wherein also ye are risen with Him
through faith” (Col. ii., 12.) “Were all baptized of Him in the River of
Jordan” (Matt. iii., 6; Mark i., 5-9). “Jesus when he was baptized, went
up straightway out of the water” (Matt. iii., 16; Mark i., 10). “John
also was baptizing in Ænon near to Salim, because there was much water there” (John
iii., 23). “And as they went on their way, they came unto a certain water:
and the eunuch said, See, here is water; what doth hinder me to be baptized?
And Philip said, If thou believest with all thine heart, thou mayest. And he
answered and said, I believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God. And he
commanded the chariot to stand still: and they went down both into the water,
both Philip and the eunuch; and he baptized him. And when they were come up out
of the water” (Acts viii., 36-39).
Its OBJECT.—“John did baptize in
the wilderness, and preach the baptism of repentance for the remission of
sins” (Mark i., 4). “And he came into the country about Jordan,
preaching the baptism of repentance for the remission of sins” (Luke
iii., 3). “Then Peter said unto them, Repent and be baptized every one of
you, in the name of Jesus Christ, for the remission of sins” (Acts
ii., 38). “Arise, and be baptized, and wash away thy sins” (Acts xxii.,
16). (John Morgan, “Doctrines of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day
Saints: Its Faith and Teachings,” pp. 2-3, repr. Tracts from Southern states
mission, Chattanooga, Tenn. [1899], [3-4]