This is one of my favorite songs. This particular version was created by the group Inside Out. If you are not familiar with the group Inside Out, I highly recommend their two albums “Sharing Time” and “Primary Colors.” They are two of the most creative albums I have ever heard.
Jesus came to John the Baptist,
In Judea long ago,
And was baptized by immersion
In the River Jordan’s flow.
“To fulfill the law,” said Jesus,
When the Baptist questioned why,
“And to enter with my Father
In the kingdom up on high.”
Now we know that we must also
Witness faith in Jesus’ word,
Be baptized to show obedience,
As was Jesus Christ, our Lord.
Words: Mabel Jones Gabbott, 1910–2004. © 1969 IRI
Music: Crawford Gates, 1921–2018. © 1969 IRI. Arr. © 1981, 1989 IRI
Matthew 3:13–16
Articles of Faith 1:4
I’m not sure there are many things more beautiful than witnessing someone be baptized. In our faith, it is the step necessary to become a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints; it is also one of the first ordinances of the gospel. It is the narrow gate. It is the only way back to the father.
We believe that you must be baptized by someone who has authority. There are only two ways to receive this priesthood. 1) Either it was handed down from the time of Christ. This would be hard because the apostles were all killed and the priesthood was lost. 2) It was divinely given. We know that Joseph Smith received this authority from the hand of John the Baptist. In the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, we are all able to trace our priesthood authority back to ancient apostles who held the authority.
Joseph Smith History 1:72
72 The messenger who visited us on this occasion and conferred this Priesthood upon us, said that his name was John, the same that is called John the Baptist in the New Testament, and that he acted under the direction of Peter, James and John, who held the keys of the Priesthood of Melchizedek, which Priesthood, he said, would in due time be conferred on us, and that I should be called the first Elder of the Church, and he (Oliver Cowdery) the second. It was on the fifteenth day of May, 1829, that we were ordained under the hand of this messenger, and baptized.
We believe Jesus showed us the path when he was baptized. Just as the lovely song that started this post depicts.
Matthew 3:13-16
13 Then cometh Jesus from Galilee to Jordan unto John, to be baptized of him.
14 But John forbad him, saying, I have need to be baptized of thee, and comest thou to me?
15 And Jesus answering said unto him, Suffer it to be so now: for thus it becometh us to fulfil all righteousness. Then he suffered him.
16 And Jesus, when he was baptized, went up straightway out of the water: and, lo, the heavens were opened unto him, and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove, and lighting upon him:
Even though Jesus was holy, he humbled himself before the Lord and was baptized to fulfill all righteousness.
2 Nephi 31:5-9
5 And now, if the Lamb of God, he being holy, should have need to be baptized by water, to fulfil all righteousness, O then, how much more need have we, being unholy, to be baptized, yea, even by water!
6 And now, I would ask of you, my beloved brethren, wherein the Lamb of God did fulfil all righteousness in being baptized by water?
7 Know ye not that he was holy? But notwithstanding he being holy, he showeth unto the children of men that, according to the flesh he humbleth himself before the Father, and witnesseth unto the Father that he would be obedient unto him in keeping his commandments.
8 Wherefore, after he was baptized with water the Holy Ghost descended upon him in the form of a dove.
9 And again, it showeth unto the children of men the straitness of the path, and the narrowness of the gate, by which they should enter, he having set the example before them.
Now, God loves all his children. One of the most challenging questions Christian churches must answer is, what happens to all the people who were not baptized? Do they go to hell? Are their souls lost forever?
No, they will not suffer eternal damnation. God prepared a way for all his children may receive the gift of baptism. Just as Jesus Christ vicariously atoned for the sins of all mankind, we can vicariously fulfill the ordinance of baptism for those who have died. Our loving and just Father in Heaven made it possible for all his children to return to him.
Doctrine and Covenants 128:16-17
16 And now, in relation to the baptism for the dead, I will give you another quotation of Paul, 1 Corinthians 15:29: Else what shall they do which are baptized for the dead, if the dead rise not at all? Why are they then baptized for the dead?
17 And again, in connection with this quotation I will give you a quotation from one of the prophets, who had his eye fixed on the restoration of the priesthood, the glories to be revealed in the last days, and in an especial manner this most glorious of all subjects belonging to the everlasting gospel, namely, the baptism for the dead; for Malachi says, last chapter, verses 5th and 6th: Behold, I will send you Elijah the prophet before the coming of the great and dreadful day of the Lord: And he shall turn the heart of the fathers to the children, and the heart of the children to their fathers, lest I come and smite the earth with a curse.
And we shall do the work that they could not do for themselves.
Doctrine and Covenants 128: 18
…For we without them cannot be made perfect; neither can they without us be made perfect. Neither can they nor we be made perfect without those who have died in the gospel also; for it is necessary in the ushering in of the dispensation of the fulness of times, which dispensation is now beginning to usher in, that a whole and complete and perfect union, and welding together of dispensations, and keys, and powers, and glories should take place, and be revealed from the days of Adam even to the present time.
And we know through the Prophet Joseph Smith that the ordinance of baptism was instituted from the beginning. Even the first of all men was baptized for a remission of his sins.
Moses 6:51-54; 64-66
51 And he called upon our father Adam by his own voice, saying: I am God; I made the world, and men before they were in the flesh.
52 And he also said unto him: If thou wilt turn unto me, and hearken unto my voice, and believe, and repent of all thy transgressions, and be baptized, even in water, in the name of mine Only Begotten Son, who is full of grace and truth, which is Jesus Christ, the only name which shall be given under heaven, whereby salvation shall come unto the children of men, ye shall receive the gift of the Holy Ghost, asking all things in his name, and whatsoever ye shall ask, it shall be given you.
53 And our father Adam spake unto the Lord, and said: Why is it that men must repent and be baptized in water? And the Lord said unto Adam: Behold I have forgiven thee thy transgression in the Garden of Eden.
54 Hence came the saying abroad among the people, that the Son of God hath atoned for original guilt, wherein the sins of the parents cannot be answered upon the heads of the children, for they are whole from the foundation of the world.
64 And it came to pass, when the Lord had spoken with Adam, our father, that Adam cried unto the Lord, and he was caught away by the Spirit of the Lord, and was carried down into the water, and was laid under the water, and was brought forth out of the water.
65 And thus he was baptized, and the Spirit of God descended upon him, and thus he was aborn of the Spirit, and became quickened in the binner man.
66 And he heard a voice out of heaven, saying: Thou art baptized with fire, and with the Holy Ghost. This is the record of the Father, and the Son, from henceforth and forever;
And through the ages, it continues to come down to those simple words, “Suffer it to be so now: for thus it becometh us to fulfil all righteousness.” The Father spoke saying: “This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased.”
I love the gospel of Jesus Christ. I love the simpleness of the way. I hope and pray that all men will follow in the footsteps of Jesus and be baptized in his name. Amen