The Second Birth.

The Edict of the King.—"Except a man be born again, he cannot see the Kingdom of God."

"Except a man be born of water and of the Spirit, he cannot enter into the Kingdom of God."^[1]

So said the King of that Kingdom, the only one empowered to prescribe conditions upon which men may become his subjects, or his fellow citizens in the Eternal Commonwealth. Nicodemus, to whom Jesus spoke those words, was a ruler of the Jews, a Pharisee, and, as some suppose, a member of the Sanhedrin, or supreme Jewish council. Favorably inclined toward the unpopular Nazarene, yet too politic to be seen associating with him openly, this man sought him out by night, avowing a belief that he was "a teacher come from God." In response to this confession of faith, Jesus taught Nicodemus the doctrine of baptism.

A Subject of Controversy.—The meaning of the language in which the teaching was conveyed, though perfectly plain to Christians anciently, has been a matter of uncertainty to their successors all down the centuries. From the days of the early Greek fathers of the Christian Church, to the days of St. Augustine, the great theologian of the Western or Roman Catholic division of that Church; from his time to the time of Luther and Calvin, and thence on into the present age, men have disputed over the mystical Second Birth, declared by the World's Redeemer to be the portal of admittance into his Kingdom.

Over the general meaning of the phrase, "Born of Water and of the Spirit," there may have been no serious contention. In all or most of the Christian denominations, it means baptism, the ordinance whereby a person is initiated into the Church. But the meaning of baptism, the significance, form, purpose and effects of the ordinance, and whether or not it is necessary to salvation—these questions have furnished the backbone of the controversy; questions easily answered, problems readily solved, if the Holy Spirit be taken for a guide, and there be no wresting of the scriptures.

The Savior's Example.—The words of Jesus to Nicodemus ought to set at rest the question of necessity. But as a clincher we have the Savior's declaration regarding his own baptism. Jesus came from Galilee to Jordan to be baptized by John. The Baptist, deeming himself unworthy of that high honor, demurred, saying: "I have need to be baptized of thee, and comest thou to me?" Jesus, answering, said: "Suffer it to be so now, for thus it becometh us to fulfill all righteousness. Then he suffered him."^[2]

Now, if it was becoming in the Son of God to be baptized, it is becoming in all who follow in his footsteps and hope to be with him hereafter. They must be baptized with the baptism that he was baptized with—the baptism of water and of the Spirit, received by him at the river Jordan nearly two thousand years ago.

King and Subject. There are those who contend that the baptism of Jesus was all-sufficient; that it answered for the whole human race, thereby obviating the necessity of baptism in general. To all such I put this question Can you conceive of a kingdom in which the king is required to obey the laws ordained for its government, while the subjects are not required to obey them? Far more likely, is it not, that the king, rather than the subject, would be exempt from such obedience? But the laws of Christ's Kingdom are just and impartial. They bear with equal pressure upon all. The Son doeth nothing but what he hath seen the Father do,^[3] nor does he require from men an obedience that he himself is not willing to render. "Follow Me," is the watchword of his mission.

"To Fulfil All Righteousness."—True, baptism is "for the remission of sins,"^[4] and in the Savior there was no sin to remit. Why, then, was he baptized? John saw this point, when Jesus presented himself for baptism; and that, no doubt, was one reason why he demurred to the request. We cannot impute sin to the Sinless, but we are in duty bound to accept and obey his instruction. He did not say: Thus it becometh Me to fulfill all righteousness. He put it in the plural, thus giving it general application.

Baptism Not Done Away.—Christ's baptism, whether for original sin—the sin of the world, which he had assumed—or purely as an example, did not do away with baptism, any more than his endurance of the pangs of Adam's race^[5] obviated human suffering. Men and women still suffer, notwithstanding that infinite atonement. All must be baptized for the remission of their own sins, notwithstanding the baptism of "the Lamb of God which taketh away the sin of the world."^[6]

Exempt From Baptism.—Little children, too young to have sinned, and therefore without need of repentance, are exempt from baptism, and it is a sin to baptize them, involving as it does the vain use of a sacred ordinance.^[7] Redeemed by the blood of Christ from the foundation of the world, their innocence and purity are typical of the saved condition of men and women, who must become like them before entering into the Kingdom of Heaven. As children advance in years, however, they become account-able, and must then yield obedience to the requirements of the Gospel.^[8] Eight years is the recognized age of accountability in the Church of Christ.^[9]

Redeemed Without Law.—There is another class mentioned in sacred writ, for whom, in the language of the Book of Mormon, "baptism availeth nothing." The "heathen nations," who "died without law," are to be "redeemed without law," and shall "have part in the first resurrection."^[10] These, however, are not heirs celestial. Theirs is "the glory of the terrestrial" in the great Kingdom of the Future.

Vicarious Ministrations.—So necessary is baptism, on the part of all capable of intelligent obedience, that the Gospel makes provision for the vicarious baptism of those who pass away without undergoing this ordinance for themselves. Work of this character, when divinely authorized, is acceptable to the Lord; a fact that should occasion little wonder in Christian minds, when it is remembered that the whole fabric of Christianity rests upon the vicarious work wrought by Jesus Christ for the redemption of a world powerless to redeem itself. Men cannot answer by proxy for the deeds done in the body, but there have always been sacred ceremonies that one person might perform for another. Baptism is among them.^[11]

For the Remission of Sins.—Baptism is the divinely instituted process whereby sins are remitted. All men have sinned, and in order to bring them back into God's pure presence, where nothing sinful can come, it is necessary that they be first cleansed from sin. Water baptism is the beginning of the cleansing process.

Means and Accessories.—Water, in and of itself, cannot wash away sin; but obedience, typified by the water, can and does, when the ordinance is lawfully and properly administered.^[12] The case of Naaman the Syrian, cleansed of leprosy by dipping seven times in the river Jordan, is often cited as an illustration.^[13] It was not the water that cured Naaman, but his obedience to the Prophet who had told him to dip seven times in that particular stream. Had he dipped in any other stream, or any other number of times but just seven, his disease would still have clung to him. But he did as he had been directed, and his faith, manifested by his obedience, worked the cure, bringing down the power of God for that purpose. The water was only the medium through which the power operated. Likewise, when Christ anointed the eyes of the blind man with clay, causing him to see, it was faith that wrought the miracle, not the clay, which was only an accessory. It is the same with consecrated oil, as used in the healing ordinance of the Church.^[14]

Effect of Baptism.—Baptism cleanses and illumines the soul, and it is by water and by Spirit that the cleansing and illumination come. They are indispensable in the process. The sick can be healed without the use of consecrated oil, or even without the laying on of hands. But no sinner can be baptized—cleansed and illumined—without the water and the Spirit.

Children in Christ.—The effect of baptism is to make men and women childlike—not in ignorance, nor in weakness, but in innocence and humility. "Of such is the Kingdom of Heaven." By baptism, following faith and repentance and administered by divine authority, the soul is "born again," and is typical, in its infant-like purity, of the soul raised to immortality. By baptism we are as effectually freed from sin, as by death, burial and resurrection, the mortal is changed to immortal and ushered into a new existence. Hence, baptism is termed "the washing of regeneration." Regeneration means "new birth."

Early Christian Views.—The earliest Christians did not doubt the necessity of baptism. On the contrary, they strongly insisted upon it, as indispensable to a saved condition. During the Patristic age—that of the post-apostolic Fathers—the conviction that no soul could be saved without baptism was so firm that it led to pedobaptism—the baptism of infants—and to other innovations upon the primitive faith. It was seen that infants could not believe in Christ, nor repent of sins that they had not committed; but it was held that the Church, or those who stood sponsor for the little ones, could believe for them, and they were baptized for original sin, the sin of Adam, which they were supposed to have inherited. Peter's words in promising the Holy Ghost, "For the promise is unto you and to your children."^[15] were construed to sustain infant baptism. It was even assumed that the Savior authorized it in saying, "Suffer little children to come unto me."

Pedobaptism.—Holders of such views have never explained why infant baptism did not become prevalent until two or three centuries after Christ; and why such eminent Christians of the fourth century as Gregory of Nazianzum, the son of a bishop; Basil the Great of Cappadocia; Chrysostom of Antioch, and Augustine of Numida—whose mothers were pious Christians—were not baptized until they were over thirty years of age, Paul's affirmation that "children are holy,"^[16] and the Savior's declaration, "Of such is the kingdom of God,"^[17] are a sufficient answer to the assumption that children under the age of accountability have need to be baptized. Those who introduced the practice of baptizing infants for original sin, over-looked or were blind to the fact that Christ atoned for original guilt, and that men are accountable for their own sins and not for Adam's transgression.

Other Innovations.—One innovation led to another. Martyrs who had shed their blood in defense of the Church, or for its sake, but had never confessed Christ nor been baptized—what of them? For their benefit another doctrine was introduced. They were held to have been baptized in their own blood. Finally, out of deference to the claims of a far more numerous class—worthy men and women, many of whom had lived and died before the Christian Church was founded, while others, though living contemporaneously with it, were never reached by its missionaries—the idea gradually obtained that baptism was not essential to salvation. All this might have been obviated, and the Church spared much ridicule and skepticism, the result of its rambling inconsistencies, had it kept the key to the situation—Baptism for the Dead.

Gradual Growth of a Heresy.—The idea that baptism is non-essential did not become fixed and popular until many centuries after the Apostles "fell asleep." Saint Augustine, who figured in the latter part of the fourth and in the first half of the fifth century after Christ, and who advanced the notion that water baptism was "the outward sign of an inward grace," held, nevertheless, that no soul could be saved without it—not even infants; though their condemnation, resulting from non-baptism, would be of the mildest character. Augustine's concept of baptism, with some modifications, is the doctrine of the Roman Catholic Church and of the orthodox Protestant churches at the present time. Luther held baptism to be essential to salvation; Calvin and Zwingli did not; and there, in the sixteenth century, it appears, began the schism of opinion concerning it that divides Christendom today.

Footnotes

1. John 3:3, 5.2. Matt. 3:13.3. John 5:19.4. Mark 1:4; Acts 2:38.5. 2 Nephi 9:21, 22.6. John 1:29.7. Moroni 8:8-10, 19, 22.8. Moses 6:55.9. D. & C. 68:25-27.10. Mosiah 3:11; Moroni 8:22; D. & C. 45:54; Ib. 76:72.11. I Cor. 15:29.12. Moses 6:60.13. 2 Kings 5:1-14.14. James 5:14, 15.15. Acts 2:29.16. 1 Cor. 7:14.17. Mark 10:14; Luke 18:16.