"Except A Man Be Born of Water and of the Spirit He Cannot Enter into the Kingdom of God" (John 3:5)

There is much debate over what the above passage means. Lately I have heard the popular explanation that Christ is referring to our physical birth as the “baptism of water” and we are baptized by fire when we accept Jesus Christ as our Savior. No disrespect to those individuals. I wholeheartedly vouch for people practicing and worshiping God however they see fit but allow me the opportunity to shed some light on the LDS view of this section and our opinion on baptism in general.

As always, I like to start at the very beginning. In this case I would like to draw your attention to the meaning of the word “baptism” in the original Greek. The word “baptism” comes from the Greek verb “baptidzo” which means “to immerse.” The process of baptism consists of immersion, submersion and emergence. In the world of the Latter Day Saint baptism symbolizes birth, burial and resurrection of the body which gives added meaning to Christ’s words when he says “except a man be born again he cannot see the kingdom of God”(John 3:3). Yet there are many interpretations of this scripture (as previously mentioned) based on the claim that baptism is not needed for salvation. Let me teach you a concept that I intend to expound upon later, I am going to give you your first taste (for the LDS among you consider this a great review), of the Plan of Salvation.

In the Pearl of Great Price (a book that Latter Day Saints also revere as scripture) the Lord says to Moses “For behold, this is my work and my glory to bring to pass the immortality and eternal life of man” (Moses 1:39). As Latter Day Saints we do not believe anyone is going to hell, unless you deny the Christ after the heavens have been opened to you. However, that is another post and will not be discussed in depth at this time. We believe in the resurrection of all mankind. God is no respecter of persons. He loves all of His children. In Jeremiah 1:5 He says “Before I formed thee in the belly I knew thee” Just as a child is created to look like its parents we too are created to look like our Father in Heaven (see Genesis 1:26-27). God does not love in the way we humans comprehend the word. In 1 John 4:8-10 John explains that love “He that loveth not knoweth not God; for God is love. In this was manifested the love of God toward us, because that God sent his only begotten Son into the world, that we might live through him. Herin is love, not that we loved God, but that he loved us, and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins” I personally interpret this verse to point to God’s eternal love for each of us as His children, whether we have accepted His son or not, we are His for He is our Father and He created us. 

Latter Day Saints believe that we will all be resurrected; no matter what we have done. This goes back to the idea of an all-encompassing atonement. This concept is spelled out beautifully in Alma 42:23 when the prophet Alma is talking to his son about justice and mercy. He teaches “But God ceaseth not to be God, and mercy claimeth the penitent, and mercy cometh because of the atonement; and the atonement bringeth to pass the resurrection of the dead; and the resurrection of the dead bringeth back men into the presence of God; and thus they are restored into his presence to be judged according to their works, according to the law and justice” (Alma 43:23). So mercy comes in the fact that all men will be resurrected but justice comes through the judgment of all men based on whether they have accepted Christ and other contributing factors that I feel impressed not to bring up at this time.

If you will recall when Paul writes his letter to the Corinthians he write of “Celestial bodies and bodies terrestrial” (1 Corinthians 15:40) essentially, Latter Day Saints believe that these “bodies” are, to put it simply, heavens of sorts. “There is one glory of the sun, and another glory of the moon, another glory of the stars, for one star differeth from another star in glory” (1 Corinthians 15:41). When the time comes we will stand before God and be judged according to the way we have lived our lives. Thus the demands of justice can be met.

To summarize you have the highest degree, which is the Celestial Kingdom or Degree. God the Father rules over this Kingdom, here those who have been baptized with the proper authority and have had all other appropriate ordinances performed will dwell with God. The next degree is the Terrestrial Kingdom, where Christ where rule and those who were good, accepted Christ, etc… will go here. Finally in the Telestial Kingdom, where the Holy Spirit reigns, those who may not have lived the way they should will dwell for eternity (I do intend to do a post outlining the Plan of Salvation at  some point but for now email me with your questions and I will do my best to answer them). 

So back to baptism; Latter Day Saints believe it is essential to get to the Celestial Kingdom. That view is based on scriptural teachings such as Matthew 28:19 which commands “Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost” If baptism were not necessary why would Christ command His disciples to go out and do it?

Latter Day Saints believe like other denominations that you first must have faith in Christ and then be baptized. We believe without the atonement even if you were baptized it would be null and void because there would be no cleansing blood of the Savior to provide a way for us to repent. However, after you have that faith and repented of your sins, we believe the next step is baptism. It is a symbolist act that represents the cleansing that accepting Christ does for your sins and your spirit. In the Book of Mormon the prophet Nephi writes of the importance of baptism “And the Father said: Repent ye, repent ye, and be baptized in the name of my Beloved Son. And also, the voice of the Son came unto me saying: He that is baptized in my, to him will the Father give the Holy Ghost; wherefore follow me, and do the things which ye have seen me do” (2 Nephi 31:11-12).

Baptism by immersion is necessary to receive “all that the Father hath.” It is not necessary to be saved in the sense that many Christians view the word but it is necessary if we wish to receive the highest reward that God longs to give us. I can testify, as a witness for Him, that he is a God mercy, a God of justice and a God of love. His plan, even the Plan of Salvation, is perfect. No one will be left feeling cheated or unhappy for the atonement of Christ satisfied the law of justice and allows mercy to have its affect. I testify that each and every one of us will cry out as Nephi did “Oh how great [is] the goodness of our God” (2 Nephi 9:10). God bless you my dear readers, until you read again.