ONE WITH CHRIST

 

 

Imagine the Saviour appearing and you are among the multitude to witness that appearance and He calls you by name to come to Him: “And Nephi arose and went forth, and bowed himself before the Lord and did kiss his feet” (3 Nephi 11:19). Imagine the honour, the overflowing of your heart, the tears that would flow, the expression of humility and deepest gratitude for your salvation that would propel you to kiss His feet……it makes me feel the moment….

Right from the start of His visit to the Americas, the Saviour made it plain He was there to teach the members of His Church. Hence immediately after calling Nephi to come forth, He gave him and  the Twelve that He chose, authority to baptize with specific instructions as to how it is to be done.

From 3 Nephi 11:21 to 12:3, the Saviour mentioned baptism 19 times and reiterated 7 times that His doctrine is: faith, repentance, baptism and the gift of the Holy Ghost. So insistent was He that this is the only path to salvation, that He emphasized that ‘whose does not believe in Him, and is not baptized, shall be damned’ (3 Nephi 11:33,34).

Worthy of mention is the concept of unity which baptism grants to all who believe in Christ and His doctrine. I have a fondness for noticing repetition in scriptural teachings. It speaks ‘importance’ to me.  In the block of scriptures regarding baptism, the Saviour mentions the Father 16 times.

The sense of unity between Him, the Father and the Holy Ghost is unmistakable…..”the Father will bear record of me,  and the Holy Ghost will bear record of Him and Me, for the Father and I, and the Holy Ghost are one” (3 Nephi 11:35,36).

I am reminded of the intercessory prayer that was uttered by Christ where He prayed ‘not for the world but for them which the Father had given Him’, meaning His disciples (John 17:9). And then for the rest of the Church membership, meaning us: “Neither pray I for these alone but for them also which shall believe on me through their word, that they all may be one, as thou, Father, art in me, and I in thee, that they also may be one in us….” (v 21).

Thus baptism, a covenant of obedience, which makes us Christ’s, becomes also a covenant of unity, with the Father and the Son and the Holy Ghost. As we come into the fold of God and become ‘the body of Christ’ we also become one with one another. The baptismal covenant reads thus (Mosiah 18:8):

·        We come into the fold of God;

·        We are being called His people;

·        We bear one another’s burdens;

·        We mourn with those that mourn;

·        We comfort those who stand in need of comfort;

·        We stand as witnesses of God at all times and in all places;

·        We enter into a covenant to serve God;

·        We covenant to keep His commandments.

I was baptized when I was 18 years of age. The moment I was raised out of the water, I was so overcome by the spirit which descended upon me that I wept uncontrollably. I knew I was one with Christ and that I was home. I know if I ever left the Church, I would be betraying my covenant of baptism, even if I continued to live the commandments….because I would no longer be Christ’s. I would not wish to lose that….ever.

How godly You were

When You planted the heavens

And laid the foundations of the earth;

How noble and honourable

When You gave me hope

Through the water’s gate;

I bequest to You my earthly deeds

And fly to You

With my arms of faith. 

- CATHRYNE ALLEN 

(Art: The Holy Ghost Descended Like a Dove by Greg Collins)