The prophet Nephi described the beginning of The Way as
repentance and baptism in water. Repentance is a phase of spiritual development
that maps to the altar of sacrifice in the tabernacle of Moses. Baptism in
water is an event of spiritual development that maps to the laver in the
tabernacle of Moses. Nephi says that the next major milestone of spiritual
progression is baptism by fire and the Holy Ghost.
13) Wherefore, my beloved
brethren, I know that if ye shall follow the Son, with full purpose of heart,
acting no hypocrisy and no deception before God, but with real intent, repenting of your sins [corresponds to
the altar of sacrifice], witnessing unto the Father that ye are willing to take
upon you the name of Christ, by baptism—yea,
by following your Lord and your Savior down into the water [corresponds to the
laver or wash basin], according to his word, behold, then shall ye receive the
Holy Ghost; yea, then cometh the baptism
of fire and of the Holy Ghost; and then can ye speak with the tongue of
angels, and shout praises unto the Holy One of Israel.
17) Wherefore, do the things
which I have told you I have seen that your Lord and your Redeemer should do
[in this sense, Christ himself is The Way, see John 14:6]; for, for this cause
have they been shown unto me, that ye might know the gate by which ye should
enter. For the gate by which ye
should enter is repentance and baptism by water; and then cometh a remission of your sins by
fire and by the Holy Ghost [the entrance to the Holy Place of the
tabernacle of Moses].
18) And then are ye in this strait and narrow path which leads to
eternal life [from baptism, through the Holy Place, past the table of
showbread and the sacred lampstand/menorah, through the veil, into the Holy of
Holies]; yea, ye have entered in by the gate; ye have done according to the
commandments of the Father and the Son; and ye have received the Holy Ghost,
which witnesses of the Father and the Son, unto the fulfilling of the promise
which he hath made, that if ye entered in by the way ye should receive.
19) And now, my beloved
brethren, after ye have gotten into this strait and narrow path [or entered
into that phase of spiritual development represented by the Holy Place in the
tabernacle], I would ask if all is done? Behold, I say unto you, Nay; for ye
have not come thus far save it were by the word of Christ with unshaken faith
in him, relying wholly upon the merits of him who is mighty to save.
20) Wherefore, [what follows
next are three steps that take you to the presence of God] ye must press forward with a steadfastness in
Christ [step 1], having a perfect
brightness of hope [step 2], and a love
of God and of all men [step 3 – note that steps 2 and 3 are hope and love,
which is charity, so it seems reasonable that step 1 is actually faith so that
steps 1, 2 and 3 are faith, hope and charity]. Wherefore, [what follows next
are three steps that take you to the presence of God from another perspective] if
ye shall press forward, feasting upon the word of Christ
[represented by the table of showbread], and endure to the end [represented by entering the Holy of Holies],
behold, thus saith the Father [or, at that point, this is what the Father will
say to you, and it is an oath or a promise, no longer conditional on passing
through covenant trials]: Ye shall have
eternal life. (2 Nephi 31:13, 17-20)
If we map Nephi’s language onto the layout of the tabernacle
of Moses, it would look something like this:
Based on Nephi’s description of The Way and how it seems
to map onto the layout of the tabernacle of Moses, the baptism of fire and the
Holy Ghost is a transition from a telestial life to a terrestrial life. It is
like being born into a terrestrial state. Other prophet-writers use phrases to
describe this step of spiritual development such as ‘born again’, ‘born of
God’, ‘born of the spirit’, and ‘born of Christ’.
When someone receives the baptism of fire and the Holy
Ghost, he may or may not understand it. Jesus told the Nephites – “And whoso
cometh unto me with a broken heart and a contrite spirit, him will I baptize
with fire and with the Holy Ghost, even as the Lamanites, because of their
faith in me at the time of their conversion, were baptized with fire and with
the Holy Ghost, and they knew it not.” (3 Nephi 9:20). There are two ways in
which it may be true that someone has this experience and knows it not. One is
that he has the experience, is very aware of something spiritual happening, but
doesn’t know what it is. The other is that the experience is so subtle that he
is not aware of it. In this second case, the way you can tell if you have been
baptized by fire and the Holy Ghost is if you experience the after-effects.
Joseph Smith explained the effects of being baptized by
fire and the Holy Ghost, which he calls the first Comforter:
There are two Comforters spoken
of. One is the Holy Ghost, the same as given on the day of Pentecost, and that
all Saints receive after faith, repentance, and baptism. This first Comforter or Holy Ghost has no other effect than pure
intelligence. It is more powerful in expanding the mind, enlightening the
understanding, and storing the intellect with present knowledge, of a man who
is of the literal seed of Abraham, than one that is a Gentile, though it may
not have half as much visible effect upon the body; for as the Holy Ghost falls
upon one of the literal seed of Abraham, it is calm and serene; and his whole
soul and body are only exercised by the pure spirit of intelligence; while the
effect of the Holy Ghost upon a Gentile, is to purge out the old blood, and
make him actually of the seed of Abraham. That man that has none of the blood
of Abraham (naturally) must have a new creation by the Holy Ghost. In such a
case, there may be more of a powerful effect upon the body, and visible to the
eye, than upon an Israelite, while the Israelite at first might be far before
the Gentile in pure intelligence. (TPJS, p. 150-151)
Apparently a person who is not descended from Abraham
will have a more noticeable experience with the Holy Ghost than someone who is
descended from Abraham. Notice how he explained that the emotional affects of
the Holy Ghost are calm and serene, which are very subtle emotions. However, the
Holy Ghost’s primary purpose is to impart knowledge or information, not
sentiment. You may know if you have been baptized by fire and the Holy Ghost if
you are learning the things of God. Joseph Smith further explained how to
recognize the effect of the Spirit:
The Spirit of Revelation is in
connection with these blessings [the first and second Comforters]. A person may
profit by noticing the first intimation of the spirit of revelation; for
instance, when you feel pure intelligence flowing into you, it may give you
sudden strokes of ideas, so that by noticing it, you may find it fulfilled the
same day or soon; (i.e.,) those things that were presented unto your minds by
the Spirit of God, will come to pass; and thus by learning the Spirit of God
and understanding it, you may grow into the principle of revelation, until you
become perfect in Christ Jesus. (TPJS, p. 151)
The apostle Paul does a fair job at contrasting the
difference between someone who is still in the state of a natural man and
someone who has been baptized by fire and the Holy Ghost and is thus able to
learn the things of God:
7) But we speak the wisdom of
God in a mystery, even the hidden wisdom, which God ordained before the world
unto our glory [note that this is information or knowledge, not emotion]:
8) Which none of the princes of
this world knew: for had they known it, they would not have crucified the Lord
of glory.
9) But as it is written, Eye
hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither have entered into the heart of man, the
things which God hath prepared for them that love him.
10) But God hath revealed them
unto us by his Spirit: for the Spirit searcheth all things, yea, the deep
things of God.
11) For what man knoweth the
things of a man, save the spirit of man which is in him? even so the things of
God knoweth no man, but the Spirit of God.
12) Now we have received, not
the spirit of the world, but the spirit which is of God; that we might know the
things that are freely given to us of God [in other words, they learned things
about God and his works that they could not have understood if they hadn’t been
already been baptized by fire and the Holy Ghost].
13) Which things also we speak,
not in the words which man’s wisdom teacheth, but which the Holy Ghost
teacheth; comparing spiritual things with spiritual.
14) But the natural man
receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God: for they are foolishness unto
him: neither can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned.
15) But he that is spiritual
judgeth all things, yet he himself is judged of no man.
16) For who hath known the mind
of the Lord, that he may instruct him? But we have the mind of Christ. (1
Corinthians 2:7-16)
The Holy Ghost has another primary purpose, and that is
to sanctify a person by delivering the power of the atoning blood of Christ.
Jesus explained – “Now this is the commandment: Repent, all ye ends of the
earth, and come unto me and be baptized in my name, that ye may be sanctified by the reception of the Holy Ghost, that
ye may stand spotless before me at the last day.” (3 Nephi 27:20). The word ‘sanctified’
comes from a Latin root that has the exact same meaning as the word ‘holy’,
which comes from a Germanic root. A saint is the same as a holy person. To be
sanctified has the same meaning as to be made holy. The words ‘holy’ and ‘sanctified’
describe a state that is equivalent to a celestial state. So we have this
gospel algebra: holy = sanctified = celestial. As long as I am at it, the word ‘heavenly’
is the Germanic equivalent of the word ‘celestial’, which comes from a Latin
root. So our gospel math now looks like this: holy = sanctified = celestial =
heavenly. What is the point of that, you may ask. After being baptized by fire
and the Holy Ghost and transitioning from a telestial state to a terrestrial
state, the Holy Ghost imparts knowledge and power to assist you to be
sanctified, or to transition to a celestial state. Alma the Younger describes
people who become sanctified, or celestial, through priesthood service:
Now they [people who serve in
the priesthood], after being sanctified [made holy or celestial] by the Holy
Ghost, having their garments made white, being pure and spotless before God,
could not look upon sin save it were with abhorrence; and there were many,
exceedingly great many, who were made pure and entered into the rest of the
Lord their God. (Alma 13:12)
Perhaps you are wondering how I found the equation holy =
sanctified = celestial = heavenly? The key was in these passages from Doctrine
and Covenants 88:
2) Behold, this is pleasing unto
your Lord, and the angels rejoice over you; the alms of your prayers have come
up into the ears of the Lord of Sabaoth, and are recorded in the book of the names of the sanctified,
even [‘even’ means ‘equivalent’] them
of the celestial world [so the sanctified are those who are of the
celestial world].
25) And again, verily I say unto
you, the earth abideth the law of a
celestial kingdom, for it filleth the measure of its creation, and
transgresseth not the law—
26) Wherefore, it shall be sanctified [the earth, by keeping the
celestial law will be sanctified, or made fit for the celestial kingdom]
(D&C 88:2, 25-26)
I first realized that celestial = sanctified. Then with a
little study of root words I found out that celestial = heavenly and sanctified
= holy.
To summarize, by the baptism of fire and the
Holy Ghost you become “a new creature” (2 Corinthians 5:17), being born into a
terrestrial state of spirituality. You may or may not be aware of the actual
moment of that transition. Some people experience that transition as an event
where they know something spiritually powerful is happening. Others are not
aware that God has affected the transition for them. However, the after-effects
are similar for both groups of people. The Holy Ghost reveals information, wisdom,
intelligence, and knowledge, especially revealing to “you all things what ye
should do” (2 Nephi 32:5) until Christ “shall manifest himself unto you in the
flesh” (2 Nephi 32:6). The Holy Ghost also applies “the atoning blood of Christ”
(Mosiah 4:2) so that you may be sanctified and enter into “the celestial world”
(D&C 88:2).
No comments:
Post a Comment