Jesus said to Nicodemus, "Except a man be born of water and of the spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God." We have just learned what it means to be born of water. When a man has gained the gift of faith and believes sincerely in the saving mission of Jesus Christ; when he has added to his faith works, and has learned to walk in the way of the righteous--then he must be baptized by immersion in order to fulfill all righteousness. As we have learned, such a man is then born of water: for, by obeying the law, he has laid aside his sins, and comes forth out of the water spiritually a new man, reborn. There are some people in the world who hold that when a man has done all this, he has fulfilled all the requirements, and may therefore hope to gain admittance into the kingdom of God without observing any further ceremony. But Jesus said, "Except a man be born of water and of the spirit." Evidently, then, to enter the kingdom of God, one must be born not only of water, but also of the spirit. And to be born of the spirit means to be born of the Holy Ghost. But, by what means may one be born of the spirit? [Sidenote: The laying on of hands.] This question is a very important one, since a man may not hope to enter the kingdom of God if he has not been born--or quickened--by the spirit. In the preceding lesson, it was stated that the Prophet, Joseph Smith, once stated the principal doctrines of the Church of Jesus {138} Christ of Latter-day Saints in a sort of creed, known as the Articles of Faith; and that the fourth article, in enumerating the first principles and ordinances of the Gospel, names the ordinance of the laying on of hands for the gift of the Holy Ghost as the fourth essential step in becoming a member of the Church of Christ. According to this statement, then, one may be born, or quickened, of the spirit--after having been baptized--through the ordinance of the laying on of hands. But was this the teaching of the primitive church and of the Lord Jesus Himself? [Sidenote: The teaching and practice of Paul.]