Men ought—above all things in this world—to seek for the guidance of the Holy Spirit. There is nothing as important as having the companionship of the Holy Ghost…There is no price too high, no labor too onerous, no struggle too severe, no sacrifice too great, if out of it all we receive and enjoy the gift of the Holy Ghost… Elder McConkie, New Witness for the Articles of Faith, P. 253

The greatest gift that a person can have in mortality, without any exception, is the gift of the Holy Ghost, the actual guidance, the actual enjoyment of the companionship of that member of the Godhead. Those who have it have peace and solace and joy here. Then the greatest gift that a person can have in eternity is to have eternal life, which is to go where God is and have the kind of existence and kind of life that he has. Sermons and Writings of Bruce R. McConkie, Page 350.

“11 Yea, repent and be baptized, every one of you, for a remission of your sins; yea, be baptized even by water, and then cometh the baptism of fire and of the Holy Ghost.
12 Behold, verily, verily, I say unto you, this is my gospel; and remember that they shall have faith in me or they can in nowise be saved;” D&C 33

This one talks of the remission of sins that would, logically, come from the sins being burned from our hearts as if by fire.

“6 And this is my gospel—repentance and baptism by water, and then cometh the baptism of fire and the Holy Ghost, even the Comforter, which showeth all things, and teacheth the peaceable things of the kingdom.” D&C 39

This one seems to align with the idea of the Holy Ghost being the bearer of wisdom and knowledge.

Both parts, the sanctification by ‘fire’ and the access to the knowledge of God, are two good reasons to seek this baptism.

The question then needs to be asked: how do we know when we have fulfilled our baptism covenant and received the gift of the Holy Ghost?

Helen Mae Andrus, Hyrum L. Andrus, They Knew the Prophet, 51. Daniel Tyler

The Prophet Joseph Smith was a great reconciler of discrepancies in passages of scripture which were or seemed to be in conflict with each other. Until I heard the great expounder of Bible doctrines explain the following passages I concluded there must be a wrong translation in one verse or the other. One werse read: “I indeed baptize you with water unto repentance, but he that cometh after me is mightier than I, whose shoes I am not worthy to bear; he shall baptize you with the Holy Ghost and with fire.”—Matthew iii, 11.
Here we have baptism with water, baptism with the Holy Ghost, and baptism with fire, three in number. The question naturally arises, how can this passage be reconciled with the following: “There is one . . . Lord, one faith, one baptism.”—Ephesians iv., 4-6.
Joseph Smith reconciled these two scriptural passages. He said: “There is but one baptism; it takes the baptism of water, of the Holy Ghost, and of fire to constitute one full baptism.”

However, I do have to point out the irony of the following statement:

“I find much more credibility in the scriptures than I can find in the various and, at times, conflicting words of apostles and prophets, living and dead.”

Ray,
I would hope it is just semantics. At this point in my journey, I find much more credibility in the scriptures than I can find in the various and, at times, conflicting words of apostles and prophets, living and dead. The exception, of course, is when the preface their remarks with ‘Thus saith the Lord.’

I happen to believe that many who receive the Gift of the Holy Ghost as children truly have been immersed in the Spirit and “come unto Christ” without the type of experience you might classify as the baptism of the Spirit, for example. I know that more than one Prophet has described their own journey in that general way. I also believe that many who convert later in life are coming unto Christ without the type of experience you describe, and I am very wary of making distinctions that appear to denigrate those journeys. I see that as an example of things that are true but not always useful. After all, “to some is given the gift to believe on those who know” – and appearing to challenge the faith of those whose journeys differ from ours is not somewhere I personally want to go – especially when I know very faithful, dedicated, wonderful members (including apostles and Prophets) have not experienced life the way you describe.

Otoh, if you classify this baptism of fire as any spiritual experience that is so intense that it fills you with joy and love (and that can occur multiple times), I think our differences really are semantic – as I accept that without reservation.

In 3rd Nephi 16:14-11, we find that Lord warning us (as Gentiles) that we, in this day, are in danger of rejecting the fulness of the gospel. What will happen if we do? The gospel will be taken from us and given to the house of Israel. Is that prophecy worthy of serious consideration? IF the gospel as defined in the scriptures requires a literal baptism of fire and we dismiss it, we will fulfill this prophecy.

As to the people of King Benjamin, yes, they had no disposition to do evil. I would suggest that you read starting in Mosiah 4:12 regarding RETAINING a remission of our sins. King Benjamin was very clear what we must do as we endure to the end in order to continue to receive a remission of our sins. It is possible to lapse back after such an event. I assume this is what happened in the case of the people of King Benjamin. Not all of them were able to stay on the strait and narrow path to eternal life.

An example of the type of lapse is found in the person of Joseph Smith. Consider the following from D^C 20:

“5 After it was truly manifested unto this first elder that he had received a remission of his sins, he was entangled again in the vanities of the world;
6 But after repenting, and humbling himself sincerely, through faith, God ministered unto him by an holy angel, whose countenance was as lightning, and whose garments were pure and white above all other whiteness;”

So here is Joseph Smith ‘sinning’ after receiving a remission of his sins. It took repentance, humility, and faith to get him back on track. And, in so doing, received another dose of the heavenly medicine.

So there is hope for the rest of us…

I also would add that the “people of King Benjamin” expressed that they no longer had any disposition to do evil – but that evil did, in fact, happen among them after this statement. That alone is instructive, imo.

At the time, they didn’t understand what was happening to them but the Lord assisted through a disaffected Nephite named Aminadab who explained what was happening to them. Given this reference, it is clear to me that the lamanites were clearly participating in a mighty experience but didn’t understand what it was. Amainadab’s guidance brought them through the baptism of fire. This is clearly different from proposing that the baptism of fire was an imperceptible event. Just as Alma, they were filled with unspeakable joy.

Speaking of Alma, here is what he had to say about his experience: “… behold I am born of the Spirit. And the Lord said unto me: Marvel not that all mankind, men and women, all nations, kindreds, tongues, and people must be born again; yea, born of God…”

That doesn’t leave many people out of the equation. Alma declares everyone must be born again as he was. I agree that it is not an easy task. Enos had to pray well into the night to receive a remission of his sins. What are we willing to do?

Again, baptism by fire is the gate to the strait and narrow path to eternal life. What is a gate other than an entry point, a place of transition? We are then a changed creature. This is the whole essence of the gospel in my opinion. Enos, the people of King Benjamin, Alma, the 300 Lamanites were all recipients explicitly of this second baptism. Once one receives this life changing experience, there is no long a disposition to do evil.

If you believe that you can go through life and have the baptism of fire and the Holy Ghost imperceptibly change you over time, you will have missed one of the most glorious experiences of your mortal existence. I would hasten to say that without the baptism of fire and the Holy Ghost, you are not living the gospel (D&C 39:6)

It is described in:
Moroni (10:32-33)
2 Ne 31:19-20
Alma 13:10-12
D&C 76:51-53
and probably other places I am not as familiar with.

My understanding of this subject is that the “disposition”, as described in this verse, was like all things spiritual for mortals–when it was initially received they felt that way, but as time went by, and the trials of life had to be dealt with, this “disposition” wasn’t always at the same intensity. They experienced temptation and difficulties and had to work to maintain a remission of their sins, but they had been born again and had the opportunity to draw closer to the Lord than they were able to prior to this experience.

Jeff-I enjoyed this post and the comments-thanks. I get excited about this subject and hope all of us will know this subject better than any other subject.

I will address that very issue in my next post next week, but let me say that we will probably have more remorse for what good could have done, but didn’t, rather than the sins we committed.

Spektator, #31 (which BTW, was one of my nicknames in school). I would agree with you that sanctification comes in that way, but as King Benjamin’s people stated in chapter 5, “they had no more disposition to do evil, but to do good continually.” So, I think, perhaps we are both right in that case.

This might seem like a hair-splitting question, but one I’ve often thought about is this, “If we focus our life on doing good, but we don’t do as much ‘good’ as we could, do we have to repent for doing good?” Or maybe phrased slightly clearer here: “Do we have to repent for NOT doing the ‘good’ that we could (and should) have done?”

I know we must repent, but sometimes it seems like an awful burden to repent when you don’t have a clear, unambiguous idea of what you need to repent for. (I know some folks like “paradoxes” in the gospel, but they mostly just seem like ambiguities to me. And, in my life, the ambiguities always seem to work “against” me.

I’m wondering if “Living the Gospel” is different for every single person on earth. And, if it is different for everyone, and the principles to be applied are situational and varied, I wonder how the “accountability” aspect of living the gospel works.

I agree with what you’ve said. The “gospel” is very simple to understand. You’ve laid it out like Nephi does in 2 Nephi 31.

I think many members misunderstand these simple points, and by this they look beyond the mark. As members of the church, meaning we have fulfilled the 4th article of faith, we need to fulfill our baptism covenant and receive the gift Holy Ghost–this is the most important thing we can do. However, I think many members feel this is done my being active in the church and fulfilling our church callings. Doing these things is essential, but insufficient. In addition we need to diligently seek the Holy Ghost. This is done by prayer, a special kind of prayer-mighty prayer (3 Nephi 12:6, Enos 1:4, 3 Nephi 19:9, Moroni 8:26).

The gift of the Holy Ghost is just that, a gift. We don’t earn a gift.

There are various manifestations of the gift Holy Ghost, the one we need most is to receive fire and the Holy Ghost where our sins are forgiven. At this point we enter the gate and are on the narrow path and we have access to Heavenly Father in a greater degree.

I like the scripture in 1st John (JST)

9 Whosoever is born of God doth not continue in sin; for the Spirit of God remaineth in him; and he cannot continue in sin, because he is born of God, having received that holy Spirit of promise.

I not talking theory when I speak of these things, I know by experience they are true. Now that will get some people upset. I’m sorry if this is the case. I suggest instead of getting upset, study the subject carefully and prayer about it.

From back on June 1st – “Rethinking Repentance” (or my preferred title, “A Fresh View of Repentance” – from the Bible Dictionary definition)

http://mormonmatters.org/2008/06/01/rethinking-repentance/

Jeff,
I believe sanctification comes from receiving a remission of our sins through the baptism of fire and the Holy Ghost. Our service and actions towards our family and others then help us to retain a remission of our sins. King Benjamin said it better.

Also, Spektator, when I read your quotes, I saw “faithfulness to the end.” to me, that encompasses the concept of living the gospel and following Christ’s example. In my mind, the concept of sanctification comes not just from an absence of sin but also from truly patterning our lives after the Savior.