Baptism is for Joy! So why should there be any arguments against it? The ironic truth is that many who claim to believe the Bible actually believe it least. Many deny, for example, that Jesus
required baptism, in spite of His setting the example by being baptized
Himself, and clearly teaching, "Except a man be born of water and of the spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God" (John 3:5). Thus He made it clear that baptism and receiving the Holy Ghost [by laying on of hands through the priesthood; 2 Timothy 1:6] are the very first steps of being "Born again" (John 3:3). However, God is a kind, wise and just God. So it is not by arbitrariness, but out of kindness and wisdom that He commands we be baptized. Paul told us His reasons. We are to be "buried with him [Christ] by baptism unto death; that like as Christ was raised up from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness in life" (Romans 6:4). In other words, when we are baptized in the proper manner, by full immersion, we undergo, symbolically, a "death" to the old persons we were, and we are reborn when we come up out of the water into a new person: cleansed and renewed. When we are also baptized "by the spirit" --- that is by receiving the gift of the Holy Ghost, through true priesthood authority, the spirit enters and purifies our souls and our bodies, and we truly do walk in newness of spiritual life. This is the true essence of being "Born again," a slogan adoped by many, yet who strangely deny the processes by which the Savior said "being born again" occurs. Baptism, as the Lord established it, is a beautiful ordinance. Thus the Lord desires everyone to experience it. Here is more evidence of God's great wisdom and love. He did not forget all those who lived before Christ came. He did not forget those billions who lived or are now living where the preaching of Christ and true baptism are not allowed. Would not a wise and loving God provide a means for All to have opportunity for salvation and experience these precious ordinances? He has! And from the beginning He did. This is why Paul asked so casually why people were being baptized for the dead, if the dead did not arise? (1 Corinthians 15:29). His statement shows that baptism for the dead was common and accepted among early Christians. Supporting evidences have been found in the eight-sided baptismal fonts (symbol of the resurrection) used by early Christians, which were buried below the earth, (being for the dead),* just as Mormon temple baptismal fonts now are. And Christ's works and teachings show that those deceased who did not immediately go to Heaven will still have that opportunity. This is why He went to preach to spirits of the dead. 1 Peter 3:18-20 tells us Christ preached to the spirits in prison. 1 Peter 4:6 tells us why? "For for this cause was the gospel preached also to them that are dead, that they might be judged according to men in the flesh, but live according to God in the spirit." Christ did not go there to mock the hopeless, but to give them hope! This is what happens to the dead. When we die, while our bodies are buried or cremated, our spirits go to "spirit prison," which means a holding place. Here spirits cannot proceed any further. They await the resurrection and final judgement. Christ went to that spirit prison to teach and give hope to the deceased spirits, not to taunt their hopelessness. He went to prepare them for those ordinances which would bring them freedom from their prison, which He obviously caused His apostles to initiate. (Jesus was with His apostles for forty days after His resurrection; Acts 1:3. Here He taught them all things in clarity). The ordinances performed by The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, are done under the direction of a loving God, and of Jesus the Christ. While once lost, the knowledge and authority to baptize for the dead has been restored. While some complain this is forcing baptism upon the dead, that is far from the truth. All deceased may accept or reject baptism. Who would deny the love and wisdom of Christ? The Lord in His wisdom has provided for all to hear His gospel, and to receive His precious ordinances. Lovingly, He has provided the way that all may experience this too-be-cherished teaching and saving ritual. The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints was blessed with the revelation and the priesthood authority to perform these cherished ordinance for deceased persons. The Lord promised he would send such authority, through Elijah, the prophet, who would "turn the hearts of the children to their fathers and the hearts of the fathers to their children" (Malachi 4:5-6. Elijah did come. He restored these ordinances in preparation for the Second Coming of Jesus the Christ. I have learned from my own baptism, from scriptural study, and from doing vicarious baptisms for others, that much of God's purpose is that we all might undergo (personally or vicariously) a beautiful ordinance that simulates dying to one's old sins and being reborn to a new life through Christ. This work truly creates a loving and Eternal bond between ourselves and our ancestors, and other deceased. Thus "the hearts of the children are being turned to their fathers." If Elijah had not come and restored these ordinances, mankind would be left under the terrible curse, as warned, of having no "root or branch." (Malachi 4:16. That is, without any connection to their parents or children in the world beyond). As much as people hope they will be with their loved ones, their own churches provide no doctrine or ordinances to make it so. It will be so only if baptismal and sealing ordinances are performed in their behalf in Mormon temples. It is vital to realize a loving God, indeed our Eternal Father, has set in place a plan of salvation for all of His children. His Kingdom, and the laws within it, are not happenstance or chaotic. His world is orderly. And His precepts come from the deepest recesses of love. He planned for the salvation of all, not just for those who happened to be born into a certain faith or a certain place or a certain time. So enormous was the joy when these truths and the keys to perform saving ordinances for the dead were revealed, that joy could not be contained. "Brethren, shall we not go on in so great a cause? Go forward and not backward. Courage, brethren, and on, on to the victory! Let your hearts rejoice, and be exceedingly glad. Let the earth break forth into singing. Let the dead speak forth anthems of eternal praise to the King Immanuel, who hath ordained, before the world was, that which would enable us to redeem them out of their prison; for the prisoners shall go free!" (Doctrine and Covenants 12: 22). Great indeed was and is God's love and wisdom in preparing for the salvation of all mankind. Those true priesthood keys --- those keys which would indeed keep "death and hell" from prevailing, have been restored. Now that He has retored His keys, and revealed how it is to be done, who would deny His great love?
* See Grace Vlam, "The Mormon Doctrine of Baptism as Reflected in Early Christian Baptistries," Dialogue Magazine: A Journal of Mormon Thought, Vol. III, No. 1, Spring, 1968, pp. 144-152.