12 And now it came to pass that Alma took Helam, he being one of the first, and went and stood forth in the water, and cried, saying: O Lord, pour out thy Spirit upon thy servant, that he may do this work with holiness of heart.
13 And when he had said these words, the Spirit of the Lord was upon him, and he said: Helam, I baptize thee, having authority from the Almighty God, as a testimony that ye have entered into a covenant to serve him until you are dead as to the mortal body; and may the Spirit of the Lord be poured out upon you; and may he grant unto you eternal life, through the redemption of Christ, whom he has prepared from the foundation of the world.
14 And after Alma had said these words, both Alma and Helam were buried in the water; and they arose and came forth out of the water rejoicing, being filled with the Spirit.
13 And when he had said these words, the Spirit of the Lord was upon him, and he said: Helam, I baptize thee, having authority from the Almighty God, as a testimony that ye have entered into a covenant to serve him until you are dead as to the mortal body; and may the Spirit of the Lord be poured out upon you; and may he grant unto you eternal life, through the redemption of Christ, whom he has prepared from the foundation of the world.
14 And after Alma had said these words, both Alma and Helam were buried in the water; and they arose and came forth out of the water rejoicing, being filled with the Spirit.
Mosiah 18:12-14 (Emphasis mine)
After the people indicated their desire to be baptized, Alma(1) took Helam into the water. He offered a prayer asking the Lord to pour his spirit upon him as he does this work. Then, after a baptismal prayer, Alma and Helam were "buried in the water" (v14).
We don't know anything about Helam nor why he was the first. The only other reference to a Helam is the land of Helam. This land was named by Alma(1)'s group sometime after the baptisms. Was the land named in honor of Helam? We don't know. All we know of Helam is that he was a faithful follower of Alma(1) and was the first baptized.
I've discussed the importance of baptism in a prior post. Still, it is important to remember that this was and still is an essential ordinance. Christ was baptized, and as Nephi(1) said: "... if the Lamb of God, he being holy, should have need to be baptized by water, to fulfil all righteousness, O then, how much more need have we, being unholy, to be baptized, yea, even by water!" (2 Nephi 31:5, emphasis mine). Here are a few thoughts about the importance of baptism that I would like to share.
We don't know anything about Helam nor why he was the first. The only other reference to a Helam is the land of Helam. This land was named by Alma(1)'s group sometime after the baptisms. Was the land named in honor of Helam? We don't know. All we know of Helam is that he was a faithful follower of Alma(1) and was the first baptized.
I've discussed the importance of baptism in a prior post. Still, it is important to remember that this was and still is an essential ordinance. Christ was baptized, and as Nephi(1) said: "... if the Lamb of God, he being holy, should have need to be baptized by water, to fulfil all righteousness, O then, how much more need have we, being unholy, to be baptized, yea, even by water!" (2 Nephi 31:5, emphasis mine). Here are a few thoughts about the importance of baptism that I would like to share.
Noel Reynolds writes:
"The Book of Mormon accounts make clear that ... At the waters of Mormon, Alma includes in the baptismal prayer itself the characterization of baptism 'as a testimony that ye have entered into a covenant to serve him [the Almighty God] (sic) until you are dead as to the mortal body' (Mosiah 18:13, cf. 18:10) ... In baptizing Helam, Alma includes in the ritual prayer the statement that the covenant witnessed through baptism includes serving God 'until you are dead as to the mortal body' (Mosiah 18:13). Referring back to these events, Alma the Younger affirms that his father's converts had remained 'faithful until the end,' and that consequently 'they were saved' (Alma 5:13)." (Emphasis mine)
The True Points of My Doctrine, , Maxwell Institute, accessed July 25, 2011.
Richard Lloyd Anderson writes:
"In the Book of Mormon, the baptismal contract is best outlined when Alma reestablished the Church near the wilderness waters. He explained baptism as a 'testimony that ye have entered into a covenant to serve him' throughout life (Mosiah 18:13). These inspired doctrines were well known when Jesus later came to the New World." (Emphasis mine)
Daniel Peterson writes:
"[Alma1] was ordained validly by Noah, who was ordained validly by his father ... The fact that Noah was not righteous and that Alma himself seems to have violated the laws of God during his early ministry has nothing to do with Alma's priesthood authority. Unless and until superior priesthood authority withdraws permission to exercise priestly functions, a legitimately ordained holder of the priesthood may continue to perform valid priesthood ordinances—however unrighteous he may personally be, however dead to spiritual promptings, and however unlikely it may be that he will ever actually exercise his priesthood ... Alma, in fact, claimed to have authority from God (Mosiah 18:13), a claim that the later editor implicitly acknowledges as valid (Mosiah 18:18; Alma 5:3) ... It was Alma who ordained priests and teachers for his outcast people, among whom he was in fact the sole human source of authority (Mosiah 18:18; 23:17) ..."
"The baptisms that Alma performed required power and authority from God (Mosiah 18:17) ..."
Authority in the Book of Mosiah,
15 And again, Alma took another, and went forth a second time into the water, and baptized him according to the first, only he did not bury himself again in the water.
16 And after this manner he did baptize every one that went forth to the place of Mormon; and they were in number about two hundred and four souls; yea, and they were baptized in the waters of Mormon, and were filled with the grace of God.
15 And again, Alma took another, and went forth a second time into the water, and baptized him according to the first, only he did not bury himself again in the water.
16 And after this manner he did baptize every one that went forth to the place of Mormon; and they were in number about two hundred and four souls; yea, and they were baptized in the waters of Mormon, and were filled with the grace of God.
Mosiah 18:15-16 (Emphasis mine)
Alma then went about baptizing all of his followers. When he was finished, he had baptized 204 people. This is the amount of people that consisted of his followers.
In the October 2000 session of General Conference, Elder Robert D. Hales talked about the importance of baptism.
". We are reminded from the Book of Mormon that our baptism is a covenant to 'stand as witnesses of God [and His kingdom] at all times and in all things, and in all places that ye may be in, even until death, that ye may be redeemed of God, and be numbered with those of the first resurrection, that ye may have eternal life' (Mosiah 18:9; emphasis added) ... Each week in sacrament meeting we promise to remember the atoning sacrifice of our Savior as we renew our baptismal covenant. We promise to do as the Savior did—to be obedient to the Father and always keep His commandments. The blessing we receive in return is to always have His Spirit to be with us." (Emphasis mine)
In the April 2007 session of General Conference, Elder David A. Bednar said this about the importance of baptism.
"We begin the process of being born again through exercising faith in Christ, repenting of our sins, and being baptized by immersion for the remission of sins by one having priesthood authority. 'Therefore we are buried with him by baptism into death: that like as Christ was raised up from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life' (Romans 6:4). And after we come out of the waters of baptism, our souls need to be continuously immersed in and saturated with the truth and the light of the Savior’s gospel. Sporadic and shallow dipping in the doctrine of Christ and partial participation in His restored Church cannot produce the spiritual transformation that enables us to walk in a newness of life. Rather, fidelity to covenants, constancy of commitment, and offering our whole soul unto God are required if we are to receive the blessings of eternity." (Emphasis mine)
The Book of Mormon contains many great and wonderful truths. We have this great example set for us by Alma(1) and the members of the church he has organized. The people made great and powerful commitments when they decided to be baptized. Much would be expected of them. This is a great and powerful example for us to follow. The spirit and faith of these people are powerful and strong. They offer us a great example we should follow.
For Alma(1), the work was just beginning!
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