The idea that baptism is necessary for salvation is not found in the Bible, but it is a belief in Mormonism and their sacred book, the Book of Mormon. This book contains writings from Jesus that were incorporated into the text by Joseph Smith. In so doing, he has this so-called Jesus declaring his true doctrine. How people must have faith, repent of their sins, be baptized, and receive the gift of the Holy Ghost to inherit the kingdom of God. Nowhere does the Bible say this, but in this knock-off Bible-like book. It reads, “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 will visit him with fire and with the Holy Ghost. And thus will the Father bear record of me, and the Holy Ghost will bear record unto him of the Father and me; for the Father, and I, and the Holy Ghost are one. And again I say unto you, ye must repent, and become as a little child, and be baptized in my name, or ye can in nowise receive these things. And again I say unto you, ye must repent, and be baptized in my name, and become as a little child, or ye can in nowise inherit the kingdom of God.” (3 Nephi 11:35-38) Notice how this Jesus figure said that baptism is required to enter heaven. However, this is not taught in the Bible. We will read about this next.
We will look at the Bible to see if this other Jesus’s statement is true or not. The true Jesus of the Bible taught, “go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature. He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved; but he that believeth not shall be damned. And these signs shall follow them that believe; In my name shall they cast out devils; they shall speak with new tongues; They shall take up serpents; and if they drink any deadly thing, it shall not hurt them; they shall lay hands on the sick, and they shall recover.” (Mark 16:15-18) Does this mean that people who are not baptized are damned and don’t go to heaven? No. It says we are not saved if we don’t have faith in Jesus. “For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: Not of works, lest any man should boast.” (Ephesians 2:8,9) Mormons would argue and say that baptism is required for salvation because of these verses. “Jesus answered, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born of water and of the Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God. That which is born of the flesh is flesh; and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit.” (John 3:5,6) What this really means is that we were born once in our mother’s womb through water and blood. This second birth comes through the Holy Spirit. On the day of Pentecost, as written in Acts 2, many people were filled with the Holy Spirit through prayer, not through baptism. Amen.
Let us pray:
Oh lord, I pray that people will know how to distinguish between You, the real Jesus, and a fake one in other books. One thing I know is that You will never contradict Yourself, of which other writings outside the Bible often do. One such book that is really disturbing is the Book of Mormon. The people of this cult are very hard people to reach for Your kingdom, for they have been ingrained from birth in what they believe to be true. And if we come to share the gospel, many people don’t accept it, even if it comes from the Bible. They prefer to believe what their modern-day prophets say rather than what the Bible says. This is one of the few religions that state they are Christian and would say this, which is very disturbing. How is it that they can wake up each day and feel like they are on Your side when they only believe in the Bible as far as it is translated correctly? They claim that their Book of Mormon is a flawless translation, despite the lack of golden plates or evidence to support it. And so these people have blind faith and are blindly walking the path of destruction. I truly want to reach them with the truth, God. Therefore, lead me to people who are ready to hear Your gospel message and be saved. I love You, Lord. Amen.
