On the Need for Baptism; the Appropriate Way to Baptize
And the Lord commanded him that he should arise. And he arose and stood before him.
And the Lord said unto him: I give unto you power that ye shall baptize this people when I am again ascended into heaven.
And again the Lord called others, and said unto them likewise; and he gave unto them power to baptize. And he said unto them: On this wise shall ye baptize; and there shall be no disputations among you. Verily I say unto you, that whoso repenteth of his sins through your words, and desireth to be baptized in my name, on this wise shall ye baptize them—Behold, ye shall go down and stand in the water, and in my name shall ye baptize them.
And now behold, these are the words which ye shall say, calling them by name, saying: Having authority given me of Jesus Christ, I baptize you in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost. Amen. And then shall ye immerse them in the water, and come forth again out of the water. (3 Nephi 11: 19-26)
On the Covenant Associated with Baptism
And it came to pass after many days there were a goodly number gathered together at the place of Mormon, to hear the words of Alma. Yea, all were gathered together that believed on his word, to hear him. And he did teach them, and did preach unto them repentance, and redemption, and faith on the Lord. And . . . he said unto them: Behold, here are the waters of Mormon (for thus were they called) and now, as ye are desirous to
- come into the fold of God, and to be called his people, and
- are willing to bear one another’s burdens, that they may be light;
- Yea, and are willing to mourn with those that mourn;
- yea, and comfort those that stand in need of comfort, and
- to stand as witnesses of God at all times and in all things, and in all places that ye may be in, even until death,
- that ye may be redeemed of God, and be numbered with those of the first resurrection, that ye may have eternal life—
Now I say unto you, if this be the desire of your hearts, what have you against being baptized in the name of the Lord, as a witness before him that ye have
- entered into a covenant with him,
- that ye will serve him and
- keep his commandments,
- that he may pour out his Spirit more abundantly upon you?
And now when the people had heard these words, they clapped their hands for joy, and exclaimed: This is the desire of our hearts.
And now it came to pass that Alma took Helam, he being one of the first, and went and stood forth in the water, and cried, saying: O Lord, pour out thy Spirit upon thy servant, that he may do this work with holiness of heart. And when he had said these words, the Spirit of the Lord was upon him, and he said: Helam, I baptize thee, having authority from the Almighty God, as a testimony that ye have entered into a covenant to serve him until you are dead as to the mortal body; and may the Spirit of the Lord be poured out upon you; and may he grant unto you eternal life, through the redemption of Christ, whom he has prepared from the foundation of the world. And after Alma had said these words, both Alma and Helam were buried in the water; and they arose and came forth out of the water rejoicing, being filled with the Spirit.
And again, Alma took another, and went forth a second time into the water, and baptized him according to the first, only he did not bury himself again in the water. And after this manner he did baptize every one that went forth to the place of Mormon; and they were in number about two hundred and four souls; yea, and they were baptized in the waters of Mormon, and were filled with the grace of God (Mosiah 18: 7-16)
On Infant Baptism
Infant baptism is a concept not found anywhere in the New Testament. It was a 4th Century idea that came out of the Council of Nicea and other councils which followed. One of the arguments that came out of the councils was the idea of original sin. Church fathers argued that “forbidden fruit” in the Genesis story was a euphemism for sexual intercourse.[1] Therefore, being single was more holy than marrying, which led to single clergy (of which Paul warned Timothy to beware). This also led to monastic communities of monks and nuns which proliferated in the Middle Ages. This false doctrine also led to infant baptism; since babies are born as a result of sexual intercourse, according to this premise, they are born tainted and have to be baptized to be cleansed. This totally ignores the Biblical truth that the key reason for baptism is to remit sin and that sin, by definition, is a conscious breaking of a commandment. As children don’t develop the cognitive ability to understand that concept until their seventh year at the earliest[2], they are incapable of sin and in no need for baptism. Christ’s atonement covers little children[3].
The Book of Mormon clarifies this in no uncertain terms. In a letter written by Mormon to his son, Moroni, we read the following:
My beloved son, Moroni, I rejoice exceedingly that your Lord Jesus Christ hath been mindful of you, and hath called you to his ministry, and to his holy work. And now, my son, I speak unto you concerning that which grieveth me exceedingly; for it grieveth me that there should disputations rise among you. For, if I have learned the truth, there have been disputations among you concerning the baptism of your little children.
And now, my son, I desire that ye should labor diligently, that this gross error should be removed from among you; for, for this intent I have written this epistle. For immediately after I had learned these things of you I inquired of the Lord concerning the matter. And the word of the Lord came to me by the power of the Holy Ghost, saying:
Listen to the words of Christ, your Redeemer, your Lord and your God. Behold, I came into the world not to call the righteous but sinners to repentance; the whole need no physician, but they that are sick; wherefore, little children are whole, for they are not capable of committing sin; wherefore the curse of Adam is taken from them in me, that it hath no power over them. . .
And after this manner did the Holy Ghost manifest the word of God unto me; wherefore, my beloved son, I know that it is solemn mockery before God, that ye should baptize little children.
Behold I say unto you that this thing shall ye teach—repentance and baptism unto those who are accountable and capable of committing sin; yea, teach parents that they must repent and be baptized, and humble themselves as their little children, and they shall all be saved with their little children. And their little children need no repentance, neither baptism. Behold, baptism is unto repentance to the fulfilling the commandments unto the remission of sins.
But little children are alive in Christ, even from the foundation of the world; if not so, God is a partial God, and also a changeable God, and a respecter to persons; for how many little children have died without baptism! Wherefore, if little children could not be saved without baptism, these must have gone to an endless hell. Behold I say unto you, that he that supposeth that little children need baptism is in the gall of bitterness and in the bonds of iniquity. . . For awful is the wickedness to suppose that God saveth one child because of baptism, and the other must perish because he hath no baptism. Wo be unto them that shall pervert the ways of the Lord after this manner, for theyshall perish except they repent. Behold, I speak with boldness, having authority from God . . . Little children cannot repent; wherefore, it is awful wickedness to deny the pure mercies of God unto them, for they are all alive in him because of his mercy. And he that saith that little children need baptism denieth the mercies of Christ, and setteth at naught the atonement of him and the power of his redemption.
(Moroni 8: 2, 4-16, 20)
In the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, the age of accountability is said to be eight years of age.
[1]
Which, by the way, it was not, since God
commanded Adam and Eve to “multiple and replenish the earth” which requires
sexual intercourse. This is the method
created by God to provide physical bodies for His spiritual children. He asks only that these powers of procreation
be used exclusively within the bonds of marriage. (See “The Family: A
Proclamation to the World.”)
[3] Moroni 8:22
Text copyright January 2014, Gebara Education
Pictures are from www.lds.org
except
Infant baptism which is from www.opc.org
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