PAINTING BY JACK GARNIER

The Sacraments: Baptism

By John S. Wight
First Quorum of Seventy, president

In January 2004, a seventeen-year-old young man who had been attending the Highland Manor congregation in Independence approached Pastor Bill Lingo and asked to be baptized. In previous months, he had faced some very trying times, including the possibility of going to prison because of his involvement in an automobile accident. However, he experienced rich blessings, and as a result of his participation at Highland Manor, began to feel the peace of Jesus Christ, which he had not known before.

His request for baptism included one requirement: the baptism had to be held on Super Bowl Sunday at the same time the football game was on television. This young man is a huge football fan. His desire to enter into a covenant relationship through the waters of baptism and become a disciple of Jesus prompted him to “fast” from this all-important, once-a-year event. He wanted to demonstrate the depth of his commitment and his willingness to give up everything through this symbolic gesture.

This example raises the question, “What is it about baptism that makes it so important, so meaningful in the life of a new follower of Jesus?” Some answers to that question can be found by looking back at the origins of baptism as well as current understandings of this sacrament.

Some Significant Meanings of Baptism

This rather remarkable experience in the life of Jesus speaks volumes about the value of baptism for the Christian disciple. As the scriptures indicate, Jesus did not institute the practice of baptism. For quite some time, John had been baptizing people “with water for repentance” (Matthew 3:11) as part of his message of preparation for the coming of the Messiah.

But if this practice, which is now regarded as a sacrament, was only for the remission of sin, why would Jesus, who “knew no sin,” (II Corinthians 5:21) need to be baptized? There had to be more to baptism. Jesus gave a clue to the importance of baptism by saying he needed to be baptized to fulfill all righteousness. In other words, it was and is simply the right thing to do and necessary even for him. As some Community of Christ authors have expressed it, baptism is obedience to God’s command. The fact that baptism, as John taught, is for remission of sins is of particular importance. Not only does one seek baptism because it is the right thing to do, but because it symbolically indicates his or her desire to lay down the old person and arise as a new creature in Jesus Christ, having been forgiven and “cleansed” of all that had been separating them from God.

Baptism exemplifies the forgiving grace of God. The act of baptism also demonstrates an individual’s desire to completely submit their whole being in covenantal relationship to God. The Community of Christ practice of baptism by immersion (Doctrine and Covenants 17:21) is significant. By allowing another person to completely submerge them under water, the one being baptized signifies their complete surrender. Various scriptures link baptism and salvation. One example is found in the Doctrine and Covenants: “he that believeth, and is baptized, shall be saved” (68:1g). An identical passage is found in the Gospel of Mark: “He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved” (16:15 IV). However, other scripture makes it clear, as indeed does Jesus’ own experience, that baptism is a first step in a lifelong process, not an end in itself.

This concept is seen in another aspect of the Community of Christ understanding of baptism. Eight years of age (known as the age of accountability) is specified in the Doctrine and Covenants as the age at which children may be baptized. This suggests that not only must they be capable of making this and other decisions for themselves, but also that they will be held accountable for their choices. If baptism were an end rather than a beginning step, there would be no need for concern over accountability. By its very nature, the term “accountable” suggests not only past choices, but future ones as well. Through baptism, a person enters into a covenant in which he or she will be held accountable, just as parties who enter into business contracts will be held accountable for living up to their part of the contract.

Baptism is a sacrament—“the coming together of human and divine wills” (Exploring the Faith, 1987, p. 220). In this particular sacrament, God uses a common element of nature—water—to unite with human beings. In baptism, one experiences the mystery of the Divine in inexplicable ways, but ways that nonetheless result in the transformation of the individual.

Another important facet of baptism is that it is the first of two steps that usher the individual into membership in the body of Christ and, specifically, in the Community of Christ. (The second step is confirmation, or baptism of the Holy Spirit. This is a separate, albeit connected, sacrament that will be covered in a future article.) The act of baptism unites the individual symbolically with Jesus in his death and resurrection, but also with every other Christian disciple, and particularly within the Community of Christ when performed within that specific denomination.

“O! the Joy!”

When the North American explorers Meriwether Lewis and William Clark and their Corps of Discovery finally reached their goal—the Pacific Ocean—Clark recorded the event in their journal by writing, “Ocian [sic] in view! O! the joy!” Their journey of more than a year finally reached its goal as they joyfully peered out at the sea. Many individuals who have elected to enter the waters of baptism have experienced the same kind of deep-seated joy in finding what they have been looking for, what they have been longing for—the peace of Jesus Christ. A young woman in Minnesota described her recent baptism by saying, “It was a beautiful experience! It was absolutely emotional and wonderful because at that point I said, I’m ready to make this commitment for myself, for my family, for God, for the rest of the members of the church. So when I made that commitment it was a very special thing.”

Similarly, a story found in the Book of Mosiah demonstrates the joy of baptism. In the story, Alma asks a group of people if they desire to do a rather lengthy list of things representing a moralistic and helpful lifestyle: “When the people heard these words, they clapped their hands for joy and exclaimed, ‘This is the desire of our hearts’” (9:39–42). This story concludes with Alma and Helam being baptized, after which “they arose and came forth out of the water rejoicing, being filled with the Spirit” (9:45).

The Victory Is in the Invitation

This joy is not limited to those who choose to commit their lives to Jesus Christ in the waters of baptism. The Doctrine and Covenants (16:3f–4a) makes it clear that this joy is a shared experience:

This scripture suggests that indeed the victory is in inviting others to find the peace of Jesus Christ and take the first step on the path of the disciple by committing their lives through baptism. If you have already been baptized, claim the joy of inviting someone who does not yet know Jesus Christ to experience the blessing of baptism. After all, it was Jesus who was quoted as instructing his disciples to “go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit” (Matthew 28:19).