4th Article of Faith

"We believe that the first principles and ^aordinances of the Gospel are: first, ^bFaith in the Lord Jesus Christ; second,^cRepentance; third, ^dBaptism by ^eimmersion for the ^fremission of sins; fourth, Laying on of ^ghands for the ^hgift of the Holy Ghost."

These are the steps we take to become members of God's Kingdom. We must have faith in Jesus Christ in order for all of the other steps to become successful. Having faith means to believe in Him and his saving grace. It doesn't mean we have to know for a fact but that there is something we feel in our hearts that cause of to have that belief that He is real and loves us. 

When we want to follow Jesus then we find we must give up on the things that cause us to sin  and do things that are not what Jesus would have done. This is where the repentance part comes in. We ask forgiveness of our past sins and promise to never do them again, but if we make mistakes we can remember that Jesus suffered for our sins so we can repent again and start over. However; the idea is that we "never" do it again.

After we have made this change in our life then the next step is to be baptized the right way and with the right authority from God. The correct way to be baptized is to do it like Jesus did, see Matthew 3:13. It says he came up out of the water, meaning he was under the water so the proper way to be baptized is to be taken under the water and brought back up like Jesus did. The proper authority is through the priesthood of God. You can only get that from God meaning He gives the authority to those who holds His priesthood.

The last step is not the least step but just as important as the rest, and that is to receive the Holy Ghost by the laying on of hands again through the proper authority from God. What is the purpose of the laying on of hands in this process? It is to give us that promised Comforter always, to have the Spirit to guide our lives so we know we are doing the right things. Its a promise to have His spirit to always be with us. Now that is an awesome gift.

Its all pretty simple to understand, Jesus did his part now we have to do ours. We need to believe that he is our only Savior, then change our pattern in life to emulate His, become baptized, then receive our gift of the Holy Ghost. I love the Plan of Salvation. I hope you feel the same Spirit I do when I watch this short video of Jesus being baptized.

Jesus being baptized