The Lamb of God...baptized by water, to fulfill all righteousness

"And now, if the Lamb of God, he being holy, should have been to be baptized by water, to fulfil all righteousness, O then, how much more need have we, being unholy, to be baptized, yea, even by water!" (2 Nephi 31:5)

Remember that John the Baptist did not want to baptize the Savior. He considered himself unworthy and understood that the ordinance was designed for the wicked. It was only at the insistence of the Savior that he acquiesced. 

"Then cometh Jesus from Galilee to Jordan unto John, to be baptized of him. But John forbad him, saying, I have need to be baptized of thee, and comest thou me? And Jesus answering said unto him, Suffer it to be so now: for thus it becometh us to fulfil all righteousness. Then he suffered him." (Matthew 3:13-15)

"Though Jesus was God; though He reigned in the heavenly kingdom; though he was alive spiritually and fit in all respects to return to the presence of the Father - yet He was baptized. He was baptized in order to gain salvation in the celestial kingdom of God, thereby setting the perfect example for all men." (Church News, "Jesus, the Sinless One, Was Baptized by John to Fulfill All", Jan. 14, 1995, p. 21)

"Nephi, to dramatize the importance of baptism, tells us that the Savior had to be baptized to "fulfill all righteousness" (2 Nephi 31:5). The doctrine is both little understood and marvelously important. In the high spiritual sense there is no righteousness without willing submission to all the ordinances of salvation.  No more perfect example could be found than Christ himself. Christ who was sinless, had to be baptized in order to be considered righteous. To be righteous, as the world is used in its highest spiritual sense, means far more than being sinless, pure, or merely good. Righteousness is not simply the absence of evil or impropriety; it is the active seeking of the mind and will of the Father and compliance with that will once it has been obtained." (McConkie and Millet, Doctrinal Commentary on the Book of Mormon, vol. 1, p. 361)

Nephi explained that Christ did fulfil all righteousness in being baptized (2 Nephi 31:4-11):

1. He humbled himself before the Father.
2. He covenanted to be obedient and keep the Father's commandment.
3. He had to be baptized to gain admission to the celestial kingdom.
4. He set an example for all men to follow

"Our Lord's baptism 'showeth unto the children of men the straightness of the path, and the narrowness of the gate, by which they should enter, he having set the example before them.' (2 Nephi 31:9.) If even the King of the kingdom could not return to his high state of pre-existent exaltation without complying with his own eternal law for admission to that kingdom, how can any man expect a celestial inheritance without an authorized and approved baptism?" (Bruce R. McConkie)

Nothing can be more plain! I firmly believe that God will not command us to do something that the Savior did not do. Jesus is the perfect example for all men who we should follow. We note this corresponding teaching by Joseph Smith:

"If a man gets the fulness of God he has to get [it] in the same way that Jesus Christ obtained it and that was by keeping all the ordinances of the house of the Lord. 

"There really are no exceptions!" (Lord, Increase Our Faith, p. 75.) 

Developed by Ryan Constantine

The Baptism of Jesus

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