We believe that the first principles and ordinances of the Gospel are: first, Faith in the Lord Jesus Christ; second, Repentance; third, Baptism by immersion for the remission of sins; fourth, Laying on of hands for the gift of the Holy Ghost.
There is a level at which all of the articles build upon each other, but I think that is especially striking with the first four; first there is that God exists, then that sin does, but also that there is atonement.
This article then puts them together.
Faith has to come first because without it there is no motivation for anything else.
There are two scriptures I want to reference for that...
Hebrews 11:1 -- Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.
It is not just belief, because it is in something true and there are signs and things that come and make it grow.
Alma 32:28 -- Now, we will compare the word unto a seed. Now, if ye give place, that a seed may be planted in your heart, behold, if it be a true seed, or a good seed, if ye do not cast it out by your unbelief, that ye will resist the Spirit of the Lord, behold, it will begin to swell within your breasts; and when you feel these swelling motions, ye will begin to say within yourselves—It must needs be that this is a good seed, or that the word is good, for it beginneth to enlarge my soul; yea, it beginneth to enlighten my understanding, yea, it beginneth to be delicious to me.
It takes some openness, but it is not happening without input and thought.
It does change you, and part of that is caring about things and people more, and wanting to be good, which is why it must lead to repentance.
Repentance is a whole topic on its own, but there is commitment that is signaled by baptism and that baptism cleanses and then the Holy Ghost sanctifies.
Again, there could easily be multiple subtopics here. I am not going to get into all of that now, but there is information out there.
None of the articles mention baptism for the dead, but that is something we do, and is something I have written about before:
https://preparedspork.blogspot.com/2024/03/ordinances-for-everyone.html
I will reaffirm here what I wrote about there; one of the keys to my faith is that I find mercy and justice through the entire system.
If there were people who did not have access to salvation because of the time and place where they were born, or how short their life was, or anything else that they could not control, how could we trust God?
Of course, many people don't.
What I understand is that God is better than fair, and better than people.
I am not saying you have to believe that.
My beliefs bring me hope and joy, and I do want to share that.
I also want to suggest leaving some room for belief.
If you were to learn that healing and reparation would come for everything, would that be enough, or would you still be angry? If there were meaning in the prior suffering that you could understand, would that help?
Leave room for a seed.
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