Gospel Doctrine: Selections from the Sermons and Writings of Joseph F. SmithSmith, Joseph F. (Joseph Fielding)
Religion
Gospel Doctrine: Selections from the Sermons and Writings of Joseph F. Smith
Smith, Joseph F. (Joseph Fielding)
Latter Day Saint churches
THE CHANGE THAT COMES WITH REPENTANCE AND BAPTISM. That change comes
today to every son and daughter of God who repents of his or her sins,
who humble themselves before the Lord, and who seek forgiveness and
remission of sin by baptism by immersion, by one having authority to
administer this sacred ordinance of the gospel of Jesus Christ. For
it is this new birth that was spoken of by Christ to Nicodemus as
absolutely essential that men might see the kingdom of God, and without
which no man could enter into the kingdom. Each of us can remember,
perhaps, the change that came into our hearts when we were baptized
for the remission of our sins. Perhaps it is not proper for one to
speak of himself or of his own experiences, because there may be those
within the sound of my voice who object to a man speaking of himself,
and especially when he shall say any good of himself; yet I speak not
of myself, I speak of the influence and power of the Holy Spirit that
I experienced when I had been baptized for the remission of my sins.
The feeling that came upon me was that of pure peace, of love and of
light. I felt in my soul that if I had sinned--and surely I was not
without sin--that it had been forgiven me; that I was indeed cleansed
from sin; my heart was touched, and I felt that I would not injure
the smallest insect beneath my feet. I felt as if I wanted to do good
{118} everywhere to everybody and to everything. I felt a newness of
life, a newness of desire to do that which was right. There was not one
particle of desire for evil left in my soul. I was but a little boy, it
is true, when I was baptized; but this was the influence that came upon
me, and I know that it was from God, and was and ever has been a living
witness to me of my acceptance of the Lord.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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