This is the Way - Part 1

I've spent the last several weeks studying three chapters of 2 Nephi.  I'm working on chapters 31, 32, & 33.  There is so much wonderful doctrine in these chapters, and I just haven't come to the understanding I'd like to have as yet.

Chapter 31 of 2 Nephi explains the pathway to returning to our Father in Heaven.  A quote from the summary at the first of the chapter:  Men must follow Christ, be baptized, receive the Holy Ghost, and endure to the end to be saved.  It seems to me that Nephi has condensed the Gospel down to its essential elements here.  He tells us at the beginning of the chapter that his soul delights in plainness, and this doctrine is plain and simple.

• Follow the Savior
• Repent 
• Be baptized in the name of the Son
• He will bless us with the Holy Ghost, but we must choose to RECEIVE it.
• Endure to the end.

If we do these simple things, we are on the strait and narrow path.  We have entered at the gate and are on the road back to him. 

I've wondered about the ordinance of baptism.  Nephi tells us that the Savior was baptized to "fulfill all righteousness", to show us the path we should follow.  But shouldn't it be enough to just live a good life and declare our desire to serve Him without this ritual?  Why is baptism necessary?

The Bible dictionary contains the following quote:  Baptism in water has several purposes. It is for the remission of sins, for membership in the Church, and for entrance into the celestial kingdom; it is also the doorway to personal sanctification when followed by the reception of the Holy Ghost.

Baptism symbolizes the death, burial, and resurrection of Christ, and that is why it must be done by immersion.  As with all commandments, it is designed to teach us something.  I believe that in addition to the purposes stated above, baptism is one of the many ordinances that asks us to humble ourselves and acknowledge that we are dependent upon God.  It requires putting on simple white clothes, stepping into the water, and allowing someone else to submerse us, even getting our hair wet.  That's probably why the early apostates decided to replace baptism by submersion with sprinkling.  Much less messy and humiliating.  Or should I say humbling?  [Comment from Scorchi:  It is interesting to me that sometimes we feel humiliated when we really should feel humbled. I think we FEEL humiliated when we are too prideful to BE humble.]

But humility is a good thing, and we need to be humble to accept the Gospel, and be humble to be baptized.   As we are submerged, or as we kneel before God in prayer, or as we accept and follow the ordinances of the temple, we set aside pride and acknowledge that we aren't the center of the universe.  We submit ourselves to God's will.  The ancient Children of Israel were bitten by fiery flying serpents, and when Moses raised up a brass figure of a snake on a pole, all the people had to do was to turn and look at it.  But many refused because it was too simple.  Naaman initially refused to wash in the waters of the Jordan river to cure his leprosy because it was beneath his dignity.  The Lord asks to do simple (and sometimes to the carnal mind, puzzling) things to show our humility and obedience.  Most often, we are asked to do these things without understanding a reason.  Why must I kneel?  Why must I be submersed?  What do the temple ordinances mean?  Why go through these rituals?  We are asked to obey without having all the answers.  That is the test.