Book of Mormon, D & C, Pearl of Great Price

At the start of His ministry, the Savior went to His cousin, John, and asked to be baptized. John, knowing Jesus’ true identity and perfection, protested, saying it was Jesus who should baptize him, not the other way around. Jesus was perfect, and one purpose of baptism is to wash away sins. He wondered why Jesus wanted to be baptized.

Jesus taught us regularly that we were to follow his example. One reason God sent His Son to be with us is because mortal beings often need a physical example to follow, and this is something the Savior provided us---someone who lived as we did, whose example we could emulate.

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 (2 Nephi 31 in the Book of Mormon).

Baptism is an opportunity for us to have all our sins removed from us at once and to start over. Prior to our baptism we learn about God and what He expects of us. Then we begin a process of personal repentance, as we ask forgiveness for previous sins and begin to put our lives in line with God’s plan for us. When we’ve reached a certain level of obedience, we can be baptized.

At the same time, we make covenants with God, our very first ones. A covenant is a two-way promise between us and God. We promise God we will do certain things and He promises to do things for us in return. If we do our part, He will do His.

The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, sometimes incorrectly called the Mormon Church, baptizes people at the age of eight or older. Younger children are pure, free of sin, and therefore do not need baptism. We teach that each person is accountable only for his own sins, and not Adam’s, Eve’s, or any other person on earth. A fair and loving God won’t hold us responsible for something entirely out of our control. He sends children to earth clean and pure, and they remain so until age eight, when they are old enough to know right from wrong. Children who die prior to age eight die in complete purity and return to Heavenly Father without accountability for their actions.

Since Jesus was baptized to set the example for us, members of the Church are baptized by immersion, as Jesus was. At that time, they also promise to take on the Savior’s name and keep His commandments.

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. (2 Nephi 31)

If the Savior, whose devotion to and love for His Father was never in question, felt the need to make this covenant and demonstrate His commitment to God, we most certainly need to follow that example. The baptism is tangible proof of our willingness to completely to give ourselves to God, to sacrifice our own desires for His and to commit ourselves to building His kingdom.

This baptism must be done by one who has the proper authority from God to perform it. This person must be a worthy priesthood holder, and for this reason, people who were baptized in another church are re-baptized when they join the restored church. This baptism is followed by the confirmation. The confirmation gives the newly baptized person membership in God’s church. It also bestows upon the person the gift of the Holy Ghost.

“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.”
(Teachings of the Prophet Joseph Smith, sel. Joseph Fielding Smith (1976), 314.)

The Holy Ghost will help us recognize God’s voice when we hear it, make wise choices, recognize truth, and return to our Father in Heaven through our increased ability to know and do what He asks.

Just as the Savior went to his cousin, who was authorized to baptize, we must also go to one authorized to baptize and commit ourselves to our Father in Heaven.

4 But thus saith the Lord God: O fools, they shall have a Bible; and it shall proceed forth from the Jews, mine ancient covenant people. And what thank they the Jews for the Bible which they receive from them? Yea, what do the Gentiles mean? Do they remember the travails, and the labors, and the pains of the Jews, and their diligence unto me, in bringing forth salvation unto the Gentiles?

5 O ye Gentiles, have ye remembered the Jews, mine ancient covenant people? Nay; but ye have cursed them, and have hated them, and have not sought to recover them. But behold, I will return all these things upon your own heads; for I the Lord have not forgotten my people. (2 Nephi 29 in the Book of Mormon)

God’s chosen people in the earliest days of the earth were the Jewish people. He made promises to them throughout the ages which hold true today. Many of the prophecies He made to them of an eventual gathering and homeland are gradually being filled in these last days.

The Book of Mormon begins with Lehi, a Jewish prophet in Jerusalem. He and his family fled Jerusalem at God’s direction when his life was endangered by those who disliked his prophetic message. They took with them another family and a man who became a friend, but all were Jewish. For this reason, the Book of Mormon prophets spoke often of the persecution the Jewish people would face because of the death of the Savior. This was discussed in an earlier article on persecution. In that article we read the following quote:

“For centuries apostate Christianity used the crucifixion of Jesus as an excuse for persecuting the Jews. Occasionally people still say, “This long history of rejection is the punishment for what they did to Jesus.”

In his quoting of Zenos in 1 Nephi 19:13–19, Nephi gave us some important insights into the Jews and their tragic history. There is no indication that because they are “scourged by all people, because they crucify the God of Israel” (v. 13) this scourging is initiated by God….

…Anyone who thinks that persecution of the Jews or other minority groups is pleasing to God is in deep need of repentance (see 2 Nephi 29:5).” Book of Mormon Student Manual)
(http://www.ldsces.org/inst_manuals/bm-in-sm1996/manualindex.asp)

We owe much of our spiritual heritage to the Jewish people, and yet, as Nephi, the Book of Mormon prophet who is quoted at the start of this article, says, we don’t remember to appreciate this wonderful heritage. Instead, many have used a moment in their history as an excuse to persecute them. This scripture makes it clear God does not approve of this type of behavior. Instead, if we’re going to claim the Bible as our own, we need to honor and respect those who gave it to us. Without their powerful contributions to the world, our own Christian religion would not exist. Think of the glories of the Bible we would miss—the teachings of Moses, the story of the Noah, the Psalms…

Even more importantly, our own beloved Savior was Himself a Jewish man, raised in a Jewish home and educated in a Jewish school. All of his chosen apostles were also Jewish, as were Mary and Martha and the other New Testament people we love. Not all Jewish people rejected the Savior, nor was it only the Jewish people who rejected him.

“The Gospels lack any explicit treatment of the word Christian. Indeed, the word appears only three times in the New Testament, and never from the mouth of Christ himself. The word Christianity is entirely absent from the New Testament.

Acts 11:26 tells us that “the disciples were called Christians first in Antioch.” Here, the passive construction “were called Christians” suggests that the term was first used not by Christians, but by non-Christians. (Similarly, the names Yankee and Mormon were first used by outsiders.)” (Daniel C. Peterson and Stephen D. Ricks, “Comparing LDS Beliefs with First-Century Christianity,” Ensign, Mar 1988, 7)

This tells us Jesus did not call himself a Christian. Therefore, He must have continued to think of Himself as a Jewish man. He lived the Jewish traditions, as we see from New Testament recordings of various Old Testament traditions. Jesus assured the people He had not come to destroy the law of Moses, which He loved, but to fulfill it. He was the promised Messiah of the Old Testament, not a person come to do away with the Old Testament prophets and teachings. He was, in fact, a continuation of God’s story on earth.

And so, Jesus taught that until the actual atonement occurred, the people must continue to live the law of Moses, which was a preparatory law meant to help the people prepare for the atonement.

From this we can see that persecution of the Jewish people is not pleasing to God, since it is a persecution of the Savior’s own people and of God’s chosen. As we see from the first verse quoted in this article, God has not forgotten his chosen people of the Old Testament and has loving plans for them in the future. It’s our responsibility to assist in this great promise with love.

Ben-Gurion once told Ezra Taft Benson, a former prophet of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, “You know, there are no people in this world who understand the Jews like the Mormons.”

To learn more about why the members of the Church might understand the Jewish people better than anyone else, read the Book of Mormon and also church history.