A CONTRAST BETWEEN THE DOCTRINE OF CHRIST AND THE FALSE DOCTRINES OF THE NINETEENTH CENTURY.
BY PARLEY P. PRATT
Whosoever transgresseth and abideth not in the doctrine of Christ, hath not God. He that abideth in the doctrine of Christ, he hath both the Father and the Son.—2 John, verse 9.
BAPTISM FOR THE REMISSION OF SINS
The remission of sins is what every sinner desires when he truly believes in God and has repented of every transgression. Faith and repentence do not bring remission, but they must be had before it can be obtained, for they prepare the sinner for this ordinance. But baptism brings remission, or, in other words, it is through baptism that sins are remitted. To prove this, we may turn to the word of God.
John the Baptist was a servant of God, acting under divine revelation, and we read(Mark i. 4, and Luke iii. 3) that he preached "the baptism of repentence for the remission of sins," in the wilderness and all the country about Jordan. While he was preaching this doctrine, Jesus considering it necessary to fulfil all righteousness, came to him and was baptized, thus acknowledging that John was preaching a correct doctrine and baptizing for the right purpose. Now this has been a matter of sacred history for some eighteen hundred years and who is so blind to truth and lost to reason as to assert that baptism is for anything else than for the remission of sins? The passages quoted are a standing rebuke to all such persons.
Jesus called and ordained men to preach His gospel, but just before He left them He commanded them to tarry at Jerusalem till they were endowed with power from on high. They did so, and when they received this power, they convinced a large multitude that Jesus was the Christ, and when their hearers inquired of them what they should do, Peter replied: "Repent, and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins" (Acts ii. 38). According to this, the inspired apostles taught that baptism was for the remission of sins, after Christ's ascension into heaven.
Paul saw a vision in which he was told to go to a certain place where it should be told him what to do. He went, and there fasted and prayed three days. Then the Lord sent Ananias to him, who said, "Arise, and be baptized and wash away thy sins" (Acts xxii. 16).
Why did not the Lord remit Paul's sins through his fasting and prayer? Because He had established baptism for that purpose, and both small and great must comply if they desire the blessing.
"But," says one, "you astonish me; I was always taught that baptism was an outward sign of an inward grace." That may be, but a true servant of God never taught you so, neither did you learn it from the Bible. You must be baptized and have your sins washed away before you are even prepared for the reception of an "inward grace."
"But," continues the objector, "Peter tells us that baptism 'is not the putting away of the filth of the flesh but the answer of a good conscience towards God.'"
Very good! Ananias did not tell Paul to be baptized and wash away the "filth of the flesh," but to "be baptized and wash away his sins." Peter and John, with the rest of God's servants, did not preach baptism for the "putting away of the filth of the flesh," but for the "remission of sins." When a man is baptized according to the Lord's will, he receives a remission of sins and his conscience is void of offense towards God.
Some object to baptism for the remission of sins because infants are "born in sin" and that would include infant baptism. True, the sin of Adam passed upon all mankind; but Christ took away the sin of the world by taking it upon Himself and atoning for the same upon the cross. Therefore, infants are without sin, and "of such are the kingdom of heaven" (Mark x. 14).
The sins which men should be baptized for are their own individual sins, and not the sin they were born in, for the Savior atoned for that.
Nor is it proper to say that baptism remits a man's sins, for that is the work of the Lord. The "laying on of hands" does not give the Holy Ghost, for it is the "gift of God." The blowing of rams' horns did not throw down the walls of Jericho, it was the power of Jehovah. "Simon saw that through the laying on of the Apostles' hands the Holy Ghost was given" (Acts viii. 18). God works by means, through instruments, and it is through baptism that sins are remitted.
It is repeatedly stated in the scriptures that those only who do the will of God can obtain salvation. That it is the will of God for people to receive the remission of sin, none will deny. That remission of sins is obtained through baptism has been clearly proven. Therefore all who will be saved will have to be baptized for this purpose.
Again, the Bible says, "the Lord Jesus shall be revealed from heaven with His mighty angels, in flaming fire taking vengeance on them that know not God, and that obey not the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ: who shall be punished with everlasting destruction from the presence of the Lord, and from the glory of His power" (II Thess. i. 7-9). From this we learn that the Lord will take vengeance on those who obey not the gospel, and punish them with everlasting destruction.
Baptism for the remission of sins is a principle of the gospel, and those who fail to obey it will surely be partakers of the vengeance and punishment mentioned in the foregoing quotation.
The Prophet Elisha pointed out the way for the Syrian leper to be cleansed, namely, to be washed or dipped seven times in Jordan. But he went away in a rage, thinking that the waters of Syria were just as good as those of Jordan; but afterwards, being persuaded by his servants, he obeyed the requirement, and was cleansed. Now, if he had been dipped in any other river, it would have done him no good; or if he had been dipped less than seven times, it would have availed nothing. God had prescribed the means, and they must be complied with to the very letter, or the blessing would not follow. So it is with regard to baptism.
"When Israel were bitten by poisonous serpents, God commanded a brazen serpent to be raised, that whosoever should look upon it should be healed. All the poisoned ones who would not look, considering it non-essential, died in their poison. So likewise, all sinners who will not be baptized, considering it non-essential, will die in their sins, and be damned."[A]
[Footnote A: Apostle Orson Pratt, on "Water Baptism.">[
Sufficient has been said to satisfy any reasonable mind on this subject. Every point of scripture touching the object of baptism has been examined, and found that each one proves it to be for the remission of sins. The arguments against this doctrine have also been examined and found utterly groundless.
Let every unbaptized person waste no time, but prepare himself for this ordinance, by repenting of every sin. Then he may seek a properly authorized person to baptize him for the remission of his sins, that they may be remitted, that he may be a fit subject for the Holy Spirit to rest upon, that he may be saved with the redeemed and sanctified of all generations in the Kingdom of God forever—
"While time, or thought, or being lasts,
Or immortality endures."
"GOOD TIDINGS."
OR THE "NEW AND EVERLASTING GOSPEL."
QUESTION.—What is the Gospel?
ANSWER.—There is only one true system of doctrine that can properly be called the Gospel; and that one system is so definite in every point, and so exactly adapted to the situation of sinners, that every person may immediately embrace it wherever it is preached, and by so doing they become saints, or Christians.
The first principle of action required in the Gospel is belief in the name of Jesus Christ, the once crucified and now risen Redeemer.
The second is repentance; which signifies nothing more nor less than the putting away of sins, with humility and meekness before God—feeling sorry for our sins, and a determination to forsake them.
The third is baptism, by immersion in water, in the name of the Father, of the Son and of the Holy Ghost, FOR THE REMISSION OF SINS.
The fourth is the laying on of hands, in the name of Jesus, for the baptism of the Holy Ghost. All who do these things in a proper manner, and under proper authority, are saints; and if they endure to the end they will be saved in the Kingdom of God.
Q.—Are there any conditions in this system which the sinner cannot immediately fulfil, as soon as he understands them?
A.—The sinner can believe that Jesus is the Christ on good testimony. He can turn from his sins, and put them away. He can also go forth, and be immersed in water, in the name of the Lord Jesus.
God will not believe for us; He will not repent for us; He will not be baptized for us; but these things are for us to do; and if we do them, then God has promised to forgive us our sins, and to baptize us with the Holy Ghost; then, certainly we should be the children of God, in the enjoyment of religion.
Q.—Is it of any use for men to pray to the Lord to convert them and give them religion, while they neglect to obey the Gospel?
A.—No. In vain they call Him Lord, Lord, and do not perform the things which He has commanded them. In vain they worship Him, teaching for doctrines the COMMANDMENTS OF MEN. The Lord is praying us to be converted, and we will not, while at the same time we are praying Him to convert us.
Q.—But must not the Lord perform some special work, on His part, more than He has done, in order to convert our souls and make us Christians?
A.—No. The Lord has died for us; He has risen again for us; He has sent His word to us, with servants to administer it; and now He requires us to obey it, and then He has promised to forgive our sins, and to grant us the gift of the Holy Ghost.
Q.—But what! Can every sinner come immediately forward and obey the Gospel when it is preached, and thus become a child of God?
A.—Yes.
Q.—What! All the sinners in this town?
A.—Yes; and all the sinners in England, nay, in all the world. The very moment they obey the Gospel they are free from sin, and are made partakers of the Holy Ghost. If this is not the case, then the word of God is of none effect, and the Gospel never saved a man since the world began, nor ever will; for, if God has sent a message or Gospel into the world which is insufficient to save sinners, and is under the necessity of saving them some other way, independent of that Gospel, then surely He has sent it in vain. But, on the other hand, if He has sent a Gospel which would save one man by obeying its precepts, then surely it would be the power of God unto salvation to all who would believe and obey it.
Q.—If these things are so, what would a minister of the Gospel say if he were to be present at some of the religious excitements which are got up in modern times, and were to see persons bowed down at the penitent forms, trying to "get religion" in that?
A.—He would say, as Ananias said to Saul of Tarsus, "Why tarryest thou? Arise and be baptized, and wash away thy sins, calling upon the name of the Lord."
Q.—But what would he say if they should refuse to comply with the requisition, and should continue praying?
A.—He would say, "Why do you call Lord, Lord, and do not perform the things he has said?" "In vain you worship him, teaching for doctrines the commandments of men."
Q.—But would they not "get religion in that way?"
A.—No. They might pray as long and as loud as the four hundred prophets of Baal did, but with as little effect.
Q.—But did not the Apostle say to the jailer and his household, that they should be saved if they would believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, without obeying the Gospel?
A.—No. He spake unto them the word of the Lord.
Q.—What word of the Lord did he speak unto them?
A.—The word of repentance and baptism for remission of sins; as is evident from the fact of their attending to baptism the same hour.
Q.—What would have been the situation of the jailer and his household if they had believed on the Lord Jesus Christ, and had not obeyed the Gospel?
A.—They would have been under much more condemnation than they were before.
Q.—But was not Saul of Tarsus, while on his way to Damascus, converted and made a Christian by a special work of God?
A.—No. He was only convinced or convicted that Jesus was the Christ; but his being a saint (or Christian) depended on his going to Damascus, and obeying the Gospel baptism.
Q.—What would have been his situation if he had continued to believe in Christ, and had not gone to Damascus and obeyed the Gospel?
A.—He would never have "got religion" to this day, but would have been worse than he was before.
-Q.-Did not the Apostle say to the people of old, that, if they would confess with their mouth the Lord Jesus Christ, and would believe in their hearts that God had raised him from the dead, they should be saved?
A.—Yes. But he was writing to the Church of God, whose members had already obeyed the Gospel, and had been planted together in the likeness of his death; being buried with him by baptism, and having risen again to newness of life, he was encouraging them to continue in the belief and confession of his name.
Q.—But did not the Apostle thank God that he had not baptized many of the Corinthians?
A.—Yes. But the reason was, lest they should say he had baptized in his own name.
Q.—But did he not say, that he was not sent to baptize, but to preach the Gospel?
A.—Yes. But others were sent to water those whom he planted. He, as a wise master-builder, laid the foundation by preaching the word, and others attended to the other part of the work, and thus builded thereon.
Q.—Did not Cornelius and his friends receive the Holy Ghost before they were baptized?
A.—Yes. But it was to convince the Jews that they (the Gentiles) had part in the Gospel as well as the Israelites.
Q.—Would Cornelius and his friends have been saved, after all they had received, if they had refused baptism?
A.—No. For Peter was sent to tell them words whereby they should be saved, and part of these words were, that they should be baptized; and, if they had refused to comply with this message, they would have been worse than those who had never known the way of truth.
Q.—Was not the thief on the cross saved without baptism?
A.—If he was, it was because he had no opportunity to obey; and, therefore, was not saved through a Gospel ministration, but was included in the same mercy as the heathens, who have never had the offer of the Gospel, and therefore, are under no condemnation for not obeying it.
Q.—Would the thief on the cross have been saved if he had lived to hear the Gospel, and had opportunity to obey it, and refused?
A.—No. The Gospel condemns all who do not obey it. It is a savior of life unto life, or of death unto death, to all who are privileged to hear it.
Q.—Is there, then, no other Gospel but faith in Jesus Christ, repentance towards God, and immersion in water FOR THE REMISSION OF SINS, with the laying on of hands in the name of Jesus for the baptism of the Holy Ghost?
A.—No. The people who are without this order of things are strangers to the GOSPEL, notwithstanding all the morality, sincerity, and piety they may possess.
Q.—What! Are all the professed ministers of the Gospel, who have not obeyed and taught that particular form of doctrine without the Gospel, the same as the heathen—and all their hearers, too?
A.—Yes. Unless we make this difference, that, having the Bible and some idea of Jesus Christ, they have been benefited in a moral point of view, although they have not understood the Gospel.
Q.—Are all the ministers and professors of religion, in this age of the world, under obligation to obey that Gospel, in order to be saved in the Kingdom of God?
A.—Yes. "Except a man be born of WATER and of the SPIRIT, he cannot enter into the Kingdom of God." How then can he be saved in it?
Q.—What has Christ said of those who would come into the sheep-fold by climbing up some other way besides the door?
A.—He has pronounced them thieves and robbers.
Q.—At Christ's second coming, what will become of all those ministers and professors, and others who do not obey the Gospel?
A.—"He will come in flaming fire, taking vengeance on all those who know not God, AND OBEY NOT THE GOSPEL OF OUR LORD JESUS CHRIST."
Q.—How comes it that the Christian world (so called) have been so long without the Gospel in its fulness?
A.—In fulfilment of the word of prophecy, spoken by the prophet Daniel and by the revelator John, "THEY HAVE MADE WAR WITH THE SAINTS, AND OVERCOME THEM;" and in fulfilment of Paul to Timothy, "They have HEAPED TO THEMSELVES TEACHERS, having ITCHING ears; and these have turned their ears from the TRUTH, and they are turned unto fables, and they will not endure SOUND DOCTRINE."
Q.-How came the Latter-day Saints to understand this Gospel, and to be instruments in restoring it among mankind?
A.—Not for any worth or wisdom that was in them more than others; but because the time had come for this Gospel of the Kingdom to be again restored to the inhabitants of the earth, and to be preached to all nations preparatory to the second coming of Messiah. Therefore the Lord sent forth an Holy Angel to commit the authority of this ministry again unto man, and this in fulfilment of the promises recorded by the ancient prophets and apostles.
Q.—Is it not uncharitable to consider the Christian world all wrong, except such as obey the fulness of the Gospel? and still more so to tell them of it?
A.—No. The man who tells his generation the truth, according to the "law and the testimony," is more charitable to them than ten thousand men who cry, Peace and safety, and prophesy smooth things, when sudden destruction is near at hand.
Q.—But, what will become of all the people who have lived and died since the Gospel was perverted and before it was restored again?
A.—They will be judged according to their works, and according to the light which they enjoyed in their day; and, no doubt many of them will rise up in judgment against this generation, and condemn it; for, had they enjoyed the privileges which we enjoy, they would, no doubt, have gladly embraced the truth in all its fulness. They desired to see the latter-day glory, but died without the sight.—P. P. Pratt.
"Attempts to promote universal peace have failed. The world has had a fair trial for six thousands years; the Lord will try the seventh thousand Himself."
—Joseph Smith, The Prophet.
A PLEA FOR MODERN REVELATION.
BY ORSON PRATT.
We now appeal to the honesty, good sense and learning of all good moral men, to testify their convictions in regard to the insufficiency of their rules of faith. Is there a man among you who has candidly examined the present confused, divided, distracted state of all Christendom, who is not thoroughly convinced that something is radically wrong? Many of you, no doubt, have in your serious reflecting moments, looked upon the bewildered, blind, cold, formal, powerless systems with which you were surrounded with feelings of sorrow and disgust. You have wished to know the truth, but, alas, wherever you have turned your investigations, darkness and uncertainty have stared you in the face. The voices of several hundred jarring, contending, soul-sickening sects were constantly sounding in your ears; each one professing to be built upon the Bible, and yet each one differing from all the rest. Under this confused state of things you have, peradventure, involuntarily exclaimed: can the Bible be the word of God! Would God reveal a system of religion expressed in such indefinite terms that a thousand different religions should grow out of it? Has God revealed the great system of salvation in such vague, uncertain language on purpose to delight Himself with the quarrels and contentions of His creatures in relation to it? Would God think so much of fallen men, that He would give His only Begotten Son to die for them, and then reveal His doctrine to them in language altogether ambiguous and uncertain? Such questions, doubtless, have passed through the mind of many a religiously-inclined person. Millions have been sensible of the midnight darkness, but have not known the true cause; they have acknowledged that they could not understand a very great proportion of the Bible, yet they have believed it to be the word of God; they have wondered that the Bible should be their only rule of faith, and yet so few be able to understand it alike. Many seeing the contradiction, and vagueness, and the uncertainty of all modern religions, professing to have emanated from the same God, have been so disgusted that they have renounced the Bible as a fable invented by priestcraft; others fearing to do this, have poured over the whole libraries of uninspired commentaries, seeking after the true meaning of that which they believe God has revealed; and at last, finding the learned commentators as widely disagreed as the sects themselves, they have concluded that the Bible is a great mystery and that God did not intend to have it understood when He revealed it. Others, still, have a little more perseverance, and believing that God would not send a revelation which He did not wish the people to understand, have with great diligence collected vast numbers of the most ancient Greek and Hebrew manuscripts of the sacred books, but here they find themselves utterly confounded; these ancient manuscripts, which they had hoped would reveal the truth, are perverted and corrupted in almost every text, so that they find "an incredible number of different readings" on every page and almost every sentence. From this heterogeneous mass of contradictory manuscripts they give an English translation, and call it the Bible; thus leaving millions to guess out the true meaning, and quarrel and contend with each other because they do not guess alike.
The true cause of all the divisions which distract modern Christendom is the want of inspired apostles and prophets: they, through wickedness and apostasy, lost the key of revelation some seventeen centuries ago, since which time they have been altogether unable to open the door of knowledge. Satan has taken the advantage of their dark and benighted condition, and robbed the world of a great number of sacred books, corrupting those few that remained to such a degree that he has got the whole of Christendom quarreling about their true meaning. This pleases him: he cares not how much they contend and fight about religion, as long as he knows that their religion is false; neither does he care how much they are united about religion, as long as he knows that it is not of the right kind. He can tolerate, and, indeed, help his reverend ministers to promulgate all kinds of religion, except that which has true revelators and prophets in it: no other kind of religion displeases him. But for a prophet or revelator to establish a religion on the earth, is more than he can quietly put up with; it strikes a death blow to all that he has been doing since the great apostasy. He is exceedingly frightened, lest some of the old lost books of the ancient prophets and apostles should be again revealed. He is also raving mad, lest the books of the Old and New Testaments should be revealed again anew in their purity as at first—lest every point of Christ's doctrine should be again revealed in such plain, definite and positive language, that no two persons could possibly disagree upon it. This would be exceedingly dangerous to his kingdom; no wonder, then, that he should be full of wrath. But the sincere, honest, humble seeker after truth must have the privilege of finding it, and that, too, in the greatest of plainness, before the overthrow of all nations, that they, by embracing it, may escape the judgments of great Babylon. Yes! the day is come and the time is at hand when all nations are to hear the word of the Lord by the mouth of His chosen apostles and prophets to whom He hath restored the key of revelation for the last time, and for the dispensation of the fullness of times, that all things may be prepared and sealed unto the end of all things, against the day of rest for the meek of the earth.
"Nothing but a sterling desire to do the will of God will cause men to endure the contumely and reproach of their fellowmen and associate themselves with the people denominated Latter-day Saints or 'Mormons.'"
—John Taylor.
"The Lord never did and never will send an angel to anybody merely to gratify the desire of that individual to see an angel."
—Wilford Woodruff.