Comments on: Begging for a Remission of Your Sins

By: Jared

Jared — Wed, 01 Apr 2009 18:59:31 +0000

alma49–I agree, it is not an automatic ticket. Its important to teach this when we have the opportunity.

By: Are Mormons Born Again? « Grace for Grace

Are Mormons Born Again? « Grace for Grace — Tue, 31 Mar 2009 15:24:41 +0000

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By: ama49

ama49 — Tue, 31 Mar 2009 15:21:41 +0000

This was a great scriptural example of how we can be baptized and still not be born again. I think many people think the act of being baptized and having our hands laid on us for the gift of the Holy Ghost is an automatic ticket, but it’s not at all. We need to conciously decide to receive the Holy Ghost and accept Jesus just as your example states.

By: Jared

Jared — Sun, 20 Jul 2008 23:29:20 +0000

tk-thanks for coming by and sharing you testimony of this important gospel principle.

By: Jared

Jared — Sun, 20 Jul 2008 23:27:43 +0000

Spektator-thoughtful comment. Thanks for the details you provided and a link to your site. I’m looking forward to spending some time there.

By: tk

tk — Sun, 20 Jul 2008 17:26:11 +0000

Thank you for your post. I know what you have written is true because I had the same experience as both you and King Benjamin describe,”..the Spirit of the Lord came upon them, and they were filled with joy, having received a remission of their sins, and having peace of conscience, because of the exceeding faith which they had in Jesus Christ who should come…”

Thank you for the reminder, which I will use as I take the sacrement today.

By: Spektator

Spektator — Sun, 20 Jul 2008 10:50:45 +0000

Jared,

I found your blog through the Mormon Blogs for the first time this morning. I want to add my testimony of the power and majesty of the baptism of fire and the Holy Ghost. It is truly a magnificent experience and one that all believers of Christ should seek.

“…if it so be that ye believe in Christ, and are baptized, first with water, then with fire and with the Holy Ghost, following the example of our Savior, according to that which he hath commanded us, it shall be well with you in the day of judgment. Amen.” Mormon 7:10

I think it is important to note that, in the case of the people of King Benjamin, it was not until AFTER their baptism of fire that they were given this guidance:

“…For the gate by which ye should enter is repentance and baptism by water; and then cometh a remission of your sins by fire and by the Holy Ghost.
And then are ye in this strait and narrow path which leads to eternal life; yea, ye have entered in by the gate…”
2 Nephi 31: 17-18

So baptism by fire and the Holy Ghost is the gate to the strait and narrow path to eternal life. I find the symbolism of a gate in reference to this baptism as significant. It is an entry point where we begin, not the culmination of a long life of seeking the will of the Lord.

There are four places I have found that define the gospel in terms of either ‘baptism by fire and the Holy Ghost’ (D&C 33:11-12, D&C 39:6) or ‘sanctification” (3 Nephi 27:20-21, D&C 76:40-42). Given these scriptures, I would suggest that the baptism by fire is how we become sanctified. It is how our sins are purged from us or how we are cleansed from sin. It is, according to Moroni, a condition by which we are numbered with the church:

“And after they had been received unto baptism, and were wrought upon and cleansed by the power of the Holy Ghost, they were numbered among the people of the church of Christ; and their names were taken, that they might be remembered and nourished by the good word of God, to keep them in the right way, to keep them continually watchful unto prayer, relying alone upon the merits of Christ, who was the author and the finisher of their faith.” Moroni 6:4

Could you imagine what this church of Christ in our times would be like if all were ‘baptized by fire’ before they were admitted?

The stories of Nephi, the people of King Benjamin, Enos, Alma, the 300 Lamanites from the Book of Mormon all teach us that the baptism by fire and the Holy Ghost is both a requirement for membership in His Kingdom and a source of indescribable joy and peace.