Some time ago, I came across the book
“Experiencing the Mighty Change.” Recently,
I opened it up (on my iPad) and was truly touched. This feeling has lingered
with me, even though I, for a week or so, exchanged it for the frustration that
comes from studying Church history and getting acquainted with the traditions
of my fathers.
There are many things to ponder, read and
talk about, but I’ve settled that the most important thing for me will be to
understand and to share my belief and faith in the Gospel of Jesus Christ. The
principles of faith, repentance and baptism, along with prayer and fasting, has
taken on a whole new dimension. I realize I’ve only just begun, but I’m excited
for the journey.
Some time ago, while I was serving in a bishopric, I entertained some doubts
about the current state of the Church, and I thought long and hard about asking
to be released. I didn’t get clarity from discussions with my wife or trusted friends. Also, my prayers were left unanswered. I got the thought that I should try the
scriptures. I took my triple combination from the shelf and opened it up. My
answer was given in these verses:
Preach
unto them repentance, and faith on the Lord Jesus Christ; teach them to humble
themselves and to be meek and lowly in heart; teach them to withstand every
temptation of the devil, with their faith on the Lord Jesus Christ. Teach
them to never be weary of good works, but to be meek and lowly in heart; for
such shall find rest to their souls. (Alma 37:33-34)
The Lord showed me what’s important to him and I was on board. This insight has stayed with me, and I’m happy to be able to
share my thoughts on the Gospel of Jesus Christ with you.
My goal is never to investigate every aspect of a topic, but rather raise some points I've been pondering lately.
Receive
the Holy Ghost
When speaking about baptism, the doctrine of
Christ and the Gospel of Jesus Christ, the concept of receiving the Holy Ghost
is of paramount importance. Joseph Smith taught the following:
”You might as well baptize a bag of sand as
a man, if not done in view of the remission of sins and getting of the
Holy Ghost. Baptism by water is but half a baptism, and is good for nothing
without the other half—that is, the baptism of the Holy Ghost. The Savior says,
“Except a man be born of water and of the Spirit, he cannot enter into the
kingdom of God.” “Though we or an angel from heaven, preach any other gospel
unto you than that which we have preached unto you, let him be accursed,”
according to Galatians 1:8.23” (July 9, 1843.) DHC 5:498-500. TPJS p. 314.
I believe this rebirth has many names (born again, baptism of fire/spirit, born of God, mighty change of heart and so forth). There might be
slight differences between these different concepts. Since I haven’t attained unto this stage of spiritual development, so I don’t know about the subtle differences that
might exist. If someone, out of experience will care to enlighten me, please do
so! What I write here is what I gather, and understand, from reading the
scriptures.
The GIFT of the Holy Ghost
In the scriptural discourses on the
reception of the Holy Ghost as a finalizing part of the ordinance of baptism,
the laying on of hands aren’t mentioned. Despite this fact, the laying on of
hands has been portrayed as an essential component of receiving the Holy Ghost.
Below are a few examples.
Acts 2:1 And when
the day of Pentecost was fully come, they were all with one accord in one
place.2 And suddenly
there came a sound from heaven as of a rushing mighty wind, and it filled all
the house where they were sitting.3 And there
appeared unto them cloven tongues like as of fire, and it sat upon each of
them.4 And they
were all filled with the Holy Ghost, and began to speak with other tongues,
as the Spirit gave them utterance.
Mosiah 18:10 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?
2 Ne 31:11 And
the Father said: Repent ye, repent ye, and be baptized in the name of my
Beloved Son.
12 And
also, the voice of the Son came unto me, saying: He that is baptized in my
name, to him will the Father give the Holy Ghost, like unto me; wherefore,
follow me, and do the things which ye have seen me do.
13 Wherefore,
my beloved brethren, I know that if ye shall follow the Son, with full purpose
of heart, acting no hypocrisy and no deception before God, but with real
intent, repenting of your sins, witnessing unto the Father that ye are willing
to take upon you the name of Christ, by baptism—yea, by following your Lord and
your Savior down into the water, according to his word, behold, then shall
ye receive the Holy Ghost; yea, then cometh the baptism of fire and of the Holy
Ghost; and then can ye speak with the tongue of angels, and shout praises
unto the Holy One of Israel.
14 But,
behold, my beloved brethren, thus came the voice of the Son unto me, saying:
After ye have repented of your sins, and witnessed unto the Father that ye are
willing to keep my commandments, by the baptism of water, and have received
the baptism of fire and of the Holy Ghost, and can speak with a new tongue,
yea, even with the tongue of angels, and after this should deny me, it would
have been better for you that ye had not known me.
3 Ne 11:35 Verily,
verily, I say unto you, that this is my doctrine, and I bear record of it from
the Father; and whoso believeth in me believeth in the Father also; and unto
him will the Father bear record of me, for he [the Father; compare with 3
Ne. 19:20] will visit him with fire and with the Holy Ghost.
3 Ne 27:20 Now
this is the commandment: Repent, all ye ends of the earth, and come unto me and
be baptized in my name, that ye may be sanctified by the reception of the
Holy Ghost, that ye may stand spotless before me at the last day.
Moroni 6:4 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.
3 Ne 26:17 And
it came to pass that the disciples whom Jesus had chosen began from that time
forth to baptize and to teach as many as did come unto them; and as many as
were baptized in the name of Jesus were filled with the Holy Ghost.
3 Ne 19:8 [The disciples] knelt again and prayed to the Father in the name of Jesus.
9 And they did pray for that which they most desired; and they desired that the Holy Ghost should be given unto them.
10 And when they had thus prayed they went down unto the water’s edge, and the multitude followed them.
11 And it came to pass that Nephi went down into the water and was baptized.
12 And he came up out of the water and began to baptize. And he baptized all those whom Jesus had chosen.
13 And it came to pass when they were all baptized and had come up out of the water, the Holy Ghost did fall upon them, and they were filled with the Holy Ghost and with fire.
14 And behold, they were encircled about as if it were by fire; and it came down from heaven, and the multitude did witness it, and did bear record; and angels did come down out of heaven and did minister unto them.
3 Ne 28:18 But
this much I know, according to the record which hath been given—they did go
forth upon the face of the land, and did minister unto all the people, uniting
as many to the church as would believe in their preaching; baptizing them, and
as many as were baptized did receive the Holy Ghost.
Acts 2:37 Now when they heard this, they were pricked in their heart, and said unto Peter and to the rest of the apostles, Men and brethren, what shall we do?
38 Then Peter said unto them, Repent, and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins, and ye shall receive the gift of the Holy Ghost.
From these examples, it’s clear that the
Holy Ghost is a gift from heaven and can’t be controlled by men (unless these
have been given a specific charge; we’ll come to that shortly). Jesus makes it
clear when he prayed thusly:
3 Ne 19:20 Father,
I thank thee that thou hast given the Holy Ghost unto these whom I have chosen; and it is because of their belief in me that I have chosen them out of
the world.
21 Father,
I pray thee that thou wilt give the Holy Ghost unto all them that shall
believe in their words.
22 Father,
thou hast given them the Holy Ghost because they believe in me; and thou
seest that they believe in me because thou hearest them, and they pray unto me;
and they pray unto me because I am with them.
23 And
now Father, I pray unto thee for them, and also for all those who shall believe
on their words, that they may believe in me, that I may be in them as thou,
Father, art in me, that we may be one.
We receive the Holy Ghost as it is a gift from the Father.
Just a side note at this stage. We tend to
think that the Holy Ghost denotes a personage of spirit. We might also
understand this concept as a description of what happens to our spirit when
it’s touched by the Father—it becomes holy and sanctified!
Why the laying on of hands?
If the Holy Ghost is a gift from the Father,
why do we practice the laying on of hands. First, it should be noted, that when
someone is confirmed a member of the Church, they are told to receive the Holy
Ghost. This isn’t the same thing as giving
the Holy Ghost.
When we read how Jesus equipped his Book of
Mormon-disciples with the power to give the Holy Ghost, some important things
stand out.
3 Ne 18:36 And
it came to pass that when Jesus had made an end of these sayings, he touched
with his hand the disciples whom he had chosen, one by one, even until he had touched
them all, and spake unto them as he touched them.
37 And
the multitude heard not the words which he spake, therefore they did not bear
record; but the disciples bare record that he gave them power to give the
Holy Ghost. And I will show unto you hereafter that this record is true.
38 And
it came to pass that when Jesus had touched them all, there came a cloud
and overshadowed the multitude that they could not see Jesus.
Jesus explicitly touched his disciples
before they could give the Holy Ghost. What if the same thing holds true
today–what if you can’t bestow the gift of the Holy Ghost on anyone unless
you’ve had the hands of Jesus placed upon you with the specific purpose of
granting you this power? What are we then doing at confirmation?
In Moroni 2, we read the “words of Christ,
which he spake unto his disciples, the twelve whom he had chosen, as he laid
his hands upon them—And he called them by name, saying: Ye shall call on the
Father in my name, in mighty prayer; and after ye have done this ye shall have
power that to him upon whom ye shall lay your hands, ye shall give the Holy
Ghost; and in my name shall ye give it, for thus do mine apostles. Now
Christ spake these words unto them at the time of his first appearing; and the
multitude heard it not, but the disciples heard it; and on as many as they laid
their hands, fell the Holy Ghost.”
From this we learn that the prerequisites
for giving the Holy Ghost are:
1. Be touched by Jesus
2. Call on the Father in mighty prayer
3. Receive the power to give the Holy Ghost
4. Give the Holy Ghost in the name of Christ
Joseph Smith is quoted as saying the following:
“We now became anxious to have
that promise realized to us, which the angel that conferred upon us the Aaronic
Priesthood had given us, viz., that provided we continued faithful, we should
also have the Melchizedek Priesthood, which hold the authority of the laying
on of hands for the gift of the Holy Ghost.” (History of the Church, Vol.1, Chapter 7 [June
1829 - Apr. 1830] The Day
Appointed For Organizing the Church--Revelation On Church Government, p.
62)
The reason why I bring this up is that the
Melchizedek Priesthood is bestowed by the voice of God. I guess that the voice
of God might qualify as “the touch of Christ” (see JST Gen. 14:25-40).
Why is it important to receive the Holy
Ghost?
Lehi
taught his son Jacob that ”[Jesus] offereth himself a sacrifice for sin, to
answer the ends of the law, unto all those who have a broken heart and a
contrite spirit; and unto none else can the ends of the law be answered.” (2
Ne. 2:7)
On the same theme of the broken heart and
contrite spirit, Jesus taught that “ye shall offer for a sacrifice unto me a broken
heart and a contrite spirit. And whoso cometh unto me with a broken heart and a
contrite spirit, him will I baptize with fire and with the Holy Ghost.” (3 Ne.
9:20)
When
we’ve come to the Savior with a broken heart and a contrite spirit, we will
receive the Holy Ghost. If we haven’t received the Holy Ghost, we haven’t come
unto the Savior according to his word, which also means that ”the ends of the
law [hasn’t and cannot] be answered” on our behalf.
Another
way to describe the reception of the Holy Ghost is to wash our garments in the
blood of Christ. I will post some thoughts on this topic in the near future. Stay tuned!
Are we talking about a
process or an event?
Some
students may feel that they have not experienced a spiritual rebirth because
they haven’t seen a dramatic change in their lives. Ask: Is a change of heart
an event or a process? Share the following caution by President Ezra Taft
Benson: “The
scriptures record remarkable accounts of men whose lives changed dramatically,
in an instant, as it were: Alma the Younger, Paul on the road to Damascus, Enos
praying far into the night, King Lamoni. Such astonishing examples of the power
to change even those steeped in sin can give confidence that the Atonement can
reach even those deepest in despair. “But we must be cautious as we discuss these
remarkable examples. Though they are real and powerful, they are the exception
more than the rule. For every Paul, for every Enos, and for every King Lamoni,
there are hundreds and thousands of people who find the process of repentance
much more subtle, much more imperceptible. Day by day they move closer to the
Lord, little realizing that they are building a godlike life. They live quiet
lives of goodness, service, and commitment. They are like the Lamanites, who
the Lord said ‘were baptized with fire and with the Holy Ghost, and they knew
it not.’ (3 Ne. 9:20; italics added.)” (“A Mighty Change of Heart,” Ensign,
Oct. 1989, 5).
Who were these lamanites?
In the 1921 version of the Book of Mormon, 3
Ne. 9:20 (“And
ye shall offer for a sacrifice unto me a broken heart and a contrite spirit.
And whoso cometh unto me with a broken heart and a contrite spirit, him will I
baptize with fire and with the Holy Ghost, even as the Lamanites, because of
their faith in me at the time of their conversion, were baptized with fire and
with the Holy Ghost, and they knew it not.”)
has two footnotes (y and z). The last of these concerns the
conversion Jesus alluded to. The reference is given to Hel. 5:45 and Eth.
12:14.
Hel. 5:45 And behold, the Holy Spirit of God did come down
from heaven, and did enter into their hearts, and they were filled as if with
fire, and they could speak forth marvelous words. Eth. 12:14 Behold, it was the faith of Nephi and Lehi that
wrought the change upon the Lamanites, that they were baptized with fire and
with the Holy Ghost.
The lamanites spoken of were not anything different from Paul or king
Lamoni–all of them harbored murderous intentions towards the servants of and
believers in God. The same is not true for Enos. To put him together with these
”cold” men (Rev. 3:15-16) is, on my view, unfair and wrong. (Read Denver Snuffer’s ”Beloved
Enos” for a full treatise on this.)
President Benson uses the words of Christ to perpetuate the teaching
that the baptism of fire is a gradual process we’re barely aware of. True, the
process of repentance and change that leads a person to this point of rebirth
can be subtle. But the baptism, the rebirth, the becoming of a new creature
should and, according to scripture, is as discernible as a woman giving birth
to a child.
