Mr. Durant of Salt Lake City, "That Mormon"Rich, Ben. E. (Benjamin Erastus)
Religion
Mr. Durant of Salt Lake City, "That Mormon"
Rich, Ben. E. (Benjamin Erastus)
Latter Day Saints -- Fiction; Salt Lake City (Utah) -- Fiction
"Now, my friends, faith in Christ was the first principle of the
gospel; repentance of sins was the second principle; baptism for the
remission of sins was the third principle, and then the reception of
the Holy Ghost, by the laying on of hands, as taught by Peter on that
day in Jerusalem. Is there any objection to this? 'None at all,' says
one, 'that is scriptural; we cannot object to it.' A Bible believer
cannot object to it. But what is becoming of us if such doctrines are
not taught? 'Well,' says one, are they not taught?' No. 'Faith in
Christ is taught,' and 'repentance of sins is taught,' although by some
people the latter is taught first, before faith in Christ. Some teach
that we must repent of our sins before we can have faith in Christ.
This is a mistake. We cannot possibly repent of sin committed, unless
we are convinced that we have committed the sin. We cannot repent of
laws broken, which Christ has taught through His Apostles unless we
are first convinced that Jesus was divine, and had the authority to
teach them; so that faith in Christ and His divine mission must be
the foundation of our practice as Christians. And the first effect
that faith in Christ produces, is repentance of the sins which we
have committed. So repentance is the second principle of the gospel.
But we differ a little more about the third principle. Just read your
Bible, and you will find that Peter taught baptism for the remission
of sins (Acts ii: 38). Again, John the Baptist, who was the forerunner
of Christ, baptized for the remission of sins (Mark i: 4). 'John was
sent from God.' You will find this in the 1st chapter of the gospel
according to St. John, 6th verse. John himself said, in the 33rd verse
of the same chapter, 'He that sent me to baptize with water, the same
said unto me,' referring to the instruction he received from the Father
regarding Christ. Both passages assert this, that John the Baptist was
sent by God to baptize with water, and we are taught in the Bible that
he did teach the baptism of repentance for the remission of sins. That
is just what we might expect. John was God's servant. So was Peter.
They both taught the same doctrine. John taught baptism, and Peter
told the people to be baptized every one of them. You will remember
the servant of God who was sent to speak to Paul, to instruct him just
after his conversion. He went to him, and when the scales fell from
the eyes of Paul, or Saul, this man of God said to him: 'Why tarriest
thou? arise, and be baptized, and wash away thy sins, calling upon
the name of the Lord' (Acts xxii: 16). Be baptized and wash away his
sins? Yes. Now, that agrees exactly with the doctrine of Peter, and the
doctrine of John the Baptist. They were all three servants of God, and
they all taught the same doctrine, and those who heard and believed
that doctrine possessed the selfsame faith; so that so far as baptism
is concerned, the ancient Saints did teach and practice the selfsame
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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