Before we
are baptized we must first understand why we are baptized. First and foremost
it is so that we can take upon us the sacred name of Jesus Christ. We covenant
with the Lord that we will enter into the law of obedience and thus covenant to
be of His kingdom. In order to do this we must repent of our sins and forsake
them. If we are baptized when we are a young child, around the age of 8, our
sins are fairly minimal. This is why we renew the covenant we made at baptism
each week by partaking of the sacrament. Each week we recommit ourselves to the
law of obedience. We do this by repenting and forsaking our sins.
There is an
important event in Christ’s life that symbolized baptism; this being his death
and resurrection. Just as we go down into the water and rise up out of the
water, so does the body go down into the ground in burial after death only to
rise again on the morning of the resurrection.
When we
consider this symbolic act it is clear to see why sprinkling a little water on
our heads does not meet the true symbolic act of baptism. Jesus gave us the
example when he was baptized by John the Baptist. We know that he went
straightway into the water and rose out of it again. We read in Mark 1:10 about
Jesus “straightway coming up out of the water”. It is by the example of Jesus
Christ that we know the correct way to preform baptisms. Just as you would not
sprinkle a little dirt on the dead to bury them so should we not sprinkle a
little water on someone to baptize them.
After
baptism we receive a “newness of life”. We are free from the bonds of sin and
are pure and clean. We can maintain this newness by attending sacrament meeting
and renewing our baptismal covenant when we partake of the sacrament. We can
repent of our sins and forsake them. It is during this sacred ordinance each
week that we can regain that newness of life and strive harder to live as
Christ would have us live.
In Mosiah
3:19 we are taught that “the natural man is an enemy to God”. We can overcome
the natural man by “yielding to the enticings of the Holy Spirit”. When we do
this we become “as a child, submissive, meek, humble, patient, full of love,
willing to submit to all things which the Lord seeth fit to inflict upon (us)”.
Ideally, the natural man within each of us would die at baptism. However, this
is the not case which is why partaking of the sacrament each week is so vital
to our spiritual survival.
It is
through our sins that we become slaves to the natural man and to Satan. If we
are to truly be free we must overcome those carnal temptations and always try
to live a life that is pleasing to the Lord.
An easy example of this is
addiction. We can be addicted to harmful substances that will dull our spirit.
We know what these are. Things like food, caffeine, tobacco, drugs, pornography,
video games, internet, certain people, electronic devices, too much sleep, and
even too much exercise can all lead us down a path that pulls us further from
the spirit. These things will lead us to a spiritual death. These addictions,
and I have not listed them all by any stretch of the imagination, eventually
causes us to “surrender later freedom to choose” (“Addiction or Freedom,” Ensign Nov. 1988) However there is always
hope. Always. This hope is found in the salvation offered by Jesus Christ.
Because
Christ died for us we are able to repent of our sins and find our way back to
Him. It is because he loves us so very much that He wants us to be free from
our sins and live a life of peace and joy. He sacrificed His life for us.
Without this ultimate sacrifice there would be no way for us to return to our
Father in Heaven. I am so thankful for the atonement so that I can be free of
my own addictions and harmful behavior and choices that drive away the spirit.
I leave this with you in the name of Jesus Christ, Amen.
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