8 And it came to pass
that he said unto them: Behold, here are the waters of Mormon (for thus were
they called) and now, as ye are desirous to come into the fold of God, and to
be called his people, and are willing to bear one another's burdens, that they
may be light;
9 Yea, and are willing
to mourn with those that mourn; yea, and comfort those that stand in need of
comfort, and to stand as witnesses of God 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—
10 Now I say unto you,
if this be the desire of your hearts, what have you against being baptized in
the name of the Lord, as a witness before him that ye have entered into a covenant
with him, that ye will serve him and keep his commandments, that he may pour
out his Spirit more abundantly upon you?
11 And now when the
people had heard these words, they clapped their hands for joy, and exclaimed:
This is the desire of our hearts.
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.
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.
17 And they were
called the church of God, or the church of Christ, from that time forward. And it came to pass that whosoever was
baptized by the power and authority of God was added to his church.
Mosiah 18:8-17
What does it take to be a true Christian? Is merely accepting Christ enough? Is being baptized, attending church and
taking the sacrament enough? What do we
have to do to be a true follower of Christ?
Alma1 tells us what we must do to be a true follower of
Christ.
When those who accepted the words of Alma1
gathered at the waters of Mormon, he told them what they must do to be a true
follower of Christ. “In preparing his
people for baptism at the Waters of Mormon, Alma describes the life of the
covenant people to which they would be committing themselves.”[1]
Verse 8
You must desire to become a part of “the fold of God and be called his people.”
You must be willing to bear one another’s burdens, “that they may be light.”
Verse 9
You must be willing to mourn with those who mourn.
You must comfort those who stand in need of comfort.
You must stand as a witness of God “at all times and in all things, and in all places … even until death.”
These are the things a true follower of Christ must do. Being a true disciple of Christ is not
easy. It is very demanding. But we are promised that we “may be redeemed of God, and be numbered
with those of the first resurrection, that ye may have eternal life.”
Jacob taught his people, “Wherefore,
beloved brethren, be reconciled unto him through the atonement of Christ, his Only
Begotten Son, and ye may obtain a resurrection, according to the power of the
resurrection which is in Christ, and be presented as the first-fruits of Christ
unto God, having faith, and obtained a good hope of glory in him before he manifesteth
himself in the flesh” (Jacob 4:11).
“We should serve because we have made a promise that we
will do so. This is the heart and soul of morality and ethics, if not
business and law. Regarding the covenants made within the gospel of Jesus
Christ, covenanters agree to serve one another, ‘to bear one another's burdens …
mourn with those that mourn; yea, and comfort those that stand in need of
comfort" (Mosiah 18:8–9), to sacrifice and consecrate for the common good.’”[2]
After telling them what is required
to be a follower of Christ, Alma1 asks, “if this be the desire of
your hearts, what have you against being baptized in the name of the Lord, as a
witness before him that ye have entered into a covenant with him, that ye will
serve him and keep his commandments, that he may pour out his Spirit more
abundantly upon you?”
Through the covenant of baptism,
members become disciples of Christ. Thus bound to Christ, they also are bound
to one another, obligated by covenant to give compassionate service, such as
offering comfort in times of trial and mutual support in the gospel (see Mosiah
18:8–11).[3]
After hearing Alma1’s words, they people
proclaimed, [t]his is the desire of our
hearts.” Alma1, along with Helam, entered the water
together. Alma1 cried, “O Lord, pour out the Spirit upon they
servant, that he may do this work with holiness of heart.”
Having said these words, the Spirit of the Lord descended
upon him. Claiming authority from God,
he baptized Helam.
From where did Alma1 get his authority? He was ordained a priest by a wicked
king. Wouldn’t that invalidate his
authority? The answer is no.
First, if the person giving the authority was wicked, and
his ordination was invalid, that would really foul things up in the Church. Here’s an hypothetical example. Let’s say my great grandfather was an
Elder. He stopped going to church and become
a courser. His son (my grandfather)
turned eight and he baptized my grandfather.
As he became older, he ordained my grandfather a Deacon, Teacher,
Priest, and Elder. When I turned 8, it was
decided to have my grandfather baptize me and when I turned 12, he ordained me
a deacon. I become and Elder at 18. I get married in the temple, and, as my
children are born (daughters), I baptize each of them when they turned 8. How would this mess things up?
If my great grandfather lost his priesthood authority when
he stopped living a righteous life, that would mean my grandfather’s baptism
and ordinations done by his father were invalid. My grandfather was not a valid member of the
Church. He did not hold the
priesthood. He should not have been
married in the temple. He did not have
the authority to baptize me, so I am not a member of the Church. I hold not priesthood. My marriage in the temple, while legally
valid, is spiritually invalid. My
daughters are not members of the Church since I had no authority to baptize and
confirm them. Expand this hypothetical
Church-wide and we would have a real mess.
The only way a priesthood holder loses his authority is if
he has been told by an authorized leader of the Church to cease to exercise his
priesthood authority. This would be done
through probation, disfellowship, or excommunication. So, if an unrighteous priesthood holder has
not been told to stop exercising his priesthood authority, all ordinances he
does are valid.
In the case of Alma1, he was most likely ordained
a priest by King Noah who was ordained by his father, Zeniff. Hence, since Alma1’s authority was
received through the proper process, when he claimed authority when baptizing
Helam, he was proclaiming the proper authority to conduct the ordinance of
baptism. As a part of the prayer, Alma1
told us that, through baptism, we make a covenant with the Lord to serve Him
throughout our entire life.
Alma1 then “buried” himself and Helam in the
water. When they came forth, they
rejoiced, having been filled with the spirit.
The “burial” in water is representative of the death of Christ. Coming out of the water represents Christ
resurrection and eternal life.
A second person then entered the water. Alma1 pronounced the same words and
baptized the person, only this time, only the person being baptized was “buried”
in the water. He eventually baptized all
the people present. Over 200 hundred
souls were baptized “and were filled with
the grace of God.”
They were called the church of Christ. Those who later became a part of the church
were baptized “by the power and authority
of God.”
[W]hen Alma speaks of baptism
"in the name of the Lord" (Mosiah 18:10), believers … are baptized in
Christ's name since they believe in Christ's redemption and since Alma has
authority from God to baptize (Mosiah 18:17; Alma 5:3). In fact, Alma's group
was called the "church of Christ" for the very reason that they were
"baptized by the power and authority of God" (Mosiah 18:17).[4]
[1] The
True Points of My Doctrine, Noel B. Reynolds, Maxwell Institute, accessed October
25, 2014.
[2] Benjamin's
Speech: A Masterful Oration, John W. Welch, Maxwell Institute, accessed October
25, 2014.
[3] Baptized,
Consecrated, and Sealed: The Covenantal Foundations of Mormon Religious
Identity, Steven L. Olsen, Maxwell Institute, accessed October 25, 2014.
[4] A
More Perfect Priority? reviewed by Matthew Roper, Maxwell Institute,
accessed October 25, 2014.
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