The Jesus of the Book of Mormon said that baptism is required to go to heaven. It is written, “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) Here, we learn about the Holy Trinity, but baptism being required for salvation is unsound and extra Biblical.
What we just read goes against what Jesus of the Bible said. It is written, “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? Not at all. Jesus said that we are unsaved if we don’t have faith in Him. Nowhere can we find in the Bible, where it says baptism is necessary for salvation. However, LDS people say it is and so does their sacred book, the Book of Mormon. But what is this book? It was manufactured by the hand of Joseph Smith and his friends. They made up this story, and added their own doctrines regarding baptism and other things in the text.
Joseph Smith fabricated fictional characters to declare his doctrines. 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. Baptism is important but not necessary for salvation. It is written, “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. They use these verses to back up that statement. It is written, “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. The second birth comes through the Holy Spirit. In Acts, chapter 2, it says that on the day of Pentecost, many people received the Holy Spirit through prayer, not through baptism.
“There was a man of the Pharisees, named Nicodemus, a ruler of the Jews: The same came to Jesus by night, and said unto him, Rabbi, we know that thou art a teacher come from God: for no man can do these miracles that thou doest, except God be with him. Jesus answered and said unto him, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God. Nicodemus saith unto him, How can a man be born when he is old? can he enter the second time into his mother’s womb, and be born? 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. Marvel not that I said unto thee, Ye must be born again. The wind bloweth where it listeth, and thou hearest the sound thereof, but canst not tell whence it cometh, and whither it goeth: so is every one that is born of the Spirit.” (John 3:1-8)
Many people confuse John, chapter 3, and being born again of water with baptism of water. Therefore, they claim that a person must be baptized of water in order to be saved and go to heaven. However, this is not what the text says. Nicodemus mentioned to Jesus about the first birth. He knew that the first birth was coming out of our mother’s womb, so he wanted to know what the second birth meant. Jesus said that in order to enter the kingdom of God, a person must be born again. This means being born of water (physical birth) and the Spirit. Our bodies have a spirit but to be led into all truth, we must receive the Holy Spirit. Think of the Spirit of God as our guide in this life. This is why Jesus said we must be born again in the Spirit to see and to enter the kingdom of God. When God’s presence comes into our lives, Jesus is able to know us personally and spiritually. No longer are we led by the flesh, but by God also.
“And when he was demanded of the Pharisees, when the kingdom of God should come, he answered them and said, The kingdom of God cometh not with observation: Neither shall they say, Lo here! or, lo there! for, behold, the kingdom of God is within you.” (Luke 17:20,21)
But where is the kingdom of God? Is it in heaven? How about paradise? Neither actually. Jesus said that people will look for the kingdom of God when in reality it is within us. God in us means that God is doing a work in us. We are different as God is leading us in life. This is kingdom work on earth as it is in heaven. It is also how a person is saved. If there is fruit from God’s kingdom in our lives, then that means our faith is alive and active. For a surety, “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) Our faith in Jesus us, not water baptism. This is why the thief on the cross went to paradise, having never been water baptized. But what if a person wants to be water baptized or has been, is that fine? Yes, of course. Water baptism refers to a person’s willingness to commit their lives to follow Jesus. However, many people have done this without water baptism and are saved. 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. The Book of Mormon corrupts your Word. The LDS people are hard-hearted and difficult to reach for Your kingdom. They have been trained from birth in what they believe to be true. So, as 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. Even more disturbing, they profess to be Christians. By so doing, they deceive many. 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 say the Book of Mormon is a perfect translation, even though there are no golden plates or evidence to support it. In so doing, they show blind faith, where they walk blindly on 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.
Just like the last chapter, the author here relies on his own private interpretation of the Bible to justify his beliefs. Which private interpretation contradicts the entirety of Christian history for more than 1,500 years.
We learned in the last chapter that the Jews believed baptism was absolutely necessary for their converts. We also know that Jesus and His disciples water baptized the same way John the Baptist baptized. They were identical baptisms, so much so that the people were confused. “Then Jesus and his disciples left Jerusalem and went into the Judean countryside. Jesus spent some time with them there, baptizing people… So John’s disciples came to him and said, “Rabbi, the man you met on the other side of the Jordan River, the one you identified as the Messiah, is also baptizing people. And everybody is going to him instead of coming to us.” (John 3:22, 26) This was the same baptism. Jesus wasn’t baptizing anyone by fire at this point. The Holy Spirit had not been sent yet. (John 16:7)
Water baptism was used to cleanse someone from their sins. (Mark 1:4, Acts 2:38) That is what John the Baptist was called to do. (Luke 1:77) There is no other way aside from a personal visitation from Jesus telling you that your sins are forgiven. Paul still had his sins even after seeing Jesus. (Acts 22:16) Sins are not forgiven by faith alone, and there is not a single Bible verse that claims such. And you can’t go to heaven without your sins being cleansed. “No unclean thing can enter into heaven.” (Revelation 21:27)
This is why the entire Christian Church for 1,500 years believed in water baptismal regeneration. The word “regeneration” literally means “new birth” or “born again”. That’s what John 3:5 means, born of water… AGAIN. That means going through the water twice, first at birth when we receive our own body and SPIRIT. The second time we receive our salvation. It was this interpretation that, without fail, every authority figure in history for 1,500 years interpreted John 3:5 as. Nobody even began to interpret it otherwise. Obviously, this creates a problem for the author. The Book of Mormon contradicts his interpretation, but matches all of Christianity for 1,500 years. Who do we believe? One man who writes a book? or history?
https://www.catholic.com/tract/born-again-in-baptism
This is Part 2 of 29 | Baptism Is Necessary for Salvation
This is just a disagreement in interpretation. Some Christians would say that the Bible does teach baptism is necessary for salvation. Just look at these verses, one of which which you quoted:
Mark 16:16, NRSV
The one who believes and is baptized will be saved; but the one who does not believe will be condemned.
Acts 10:48, NRSV
So he ordered them to be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ. Then they invited him to stay for several days.
1 Peter 3:21, NRSV
And baptism, which this prefigured, now saves you—not as a removal of dirt from the body, but as an appeal to God for a good conscience, through the resurrection of Jesus Christ.
You quote Ephesians 2:8-9 (“For by grace you have been saved through faith, and this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God—not the result of works, so that no one may boast,” NRSV); however, this misunderstands what Paul is saying. Paul wasn’t rendering any sort of opinion on baptism, but rather just speaking against the Jewish law. I completely agree that we are saved by grace. I believe that through covenant making and keeping, I allow God’s grace to more fully enter into my life.
Also I like this quote from an Evangelical:
“Through the years I was able to correct others who mistakenly thought that [John 3:5] refers to water baptism. I felt very knowledgeable to be able to explain the ‘correct’ view. So it took the wind out of my sails when I discovered that the early Christians universally understood Jesus’ words to refer to water baptism.
“And once again, it was the Gnostics who taught differently than the church—saying that humans can’t be reborn or regenerated through water baptism. Irenaeus wrote about them: ;This class of men have been instigated by Satan to a denial of that baptism which is regeneration to God.’
“In today’s evangelical church, water baptism is often regarded as a rather insignificant matter, at least in the process of salvation. However, baptism carried the utmost significance to the early Christians.”
-David Bercot, Will the Real Heretics Please Stand Up