Question
Dear Gramps,
In the Book of Moses we read of Adam and Eve being baptized. Can you explain the situations and events surrounding that? Were they also given the Holy Ghost? I’m a bit confused on the need for the Holy Ghost before Christ was born and died for us. He returned to the apostles to give them the Holy Ghost, didn’t He? When John and Jesus were baptized, I recall the dove. The Holy Ghost testifies of Christ, right? Where else do we read about the Holy Ghost being given to others before Christ’s death?
S
Answer
Dear S.
Adam was commanded by the Lord to have faith, to repent, and to be baptized, and was promised that if he would do so he would receive the gift of the Holy Ghost, as is the case with all those who come unto Christ to become candidates for salvation.
But God hath made known unto our fathers that all men must repent.
And he called upon our father Adam by his own voice, saying: I am God; I made the world, and men before they were in the flesh.
And he also said unto him: If thou wilt turn unto me, and hearken unto my voice, and believe, and repent of all thy transgressions, and be baptized, even in water, in the name of mine Only Begotten Son, who is full of grace and truth, which is Jesus Christ, the only name which shall be given under heaven, whereby salvation shall come unto the children of men, ye shall receive the gift of the Holy Ghost (Moses 6:50-52).
Adam was also commanded to offer sacrifices to the Lord and was obedient in doing so, although he didn’t understand what the purpose of the sacrifice was. After showing his obedience, an angel appeared to him, explaining the purpose of sacrifice. Then Adam received the Holy Ghost, and through that medium knew again the Father and the Son that he had known in the Garden of Eden, as the Holy Ghost fulfilled his mission in bearing record of the Father and the Son.
And he gave unto them commandments, that they should worship the Lord their God, and should offer the firstlings of their flocks, for an offering unto the Lord. And Adam was obedient unto the commandments of the Lord.
And after many days an angel of the Lord appeared unto Adam, saying: Why dost thou offer sacrifices unto the Lord? And Adam said unto him: I know not, save the Lord commanded me.
And then the angel spake, saying: This thing is a similitude of the sacrifice of the Only Begotten of the Father, which is full of grace and truth.
Wherefore, thou shalt do all that thou doest in the name of the Son, and thou shalt repent and call upon God in the name of the Son forevermore.
And in that day the Holy Ghost fell upon Adam, which beareth record of the Father and the Son, saying: I am the Only Begotten of the Father from the beginning, henceforth and forever, that as thou hast fallen thou mayest be redeemed, and all mankind, even as many as will (Moses 5:5-9).
The mission of the Holy Ghost is to testify of the Father and the Son. If we have a testimony of the truthfulness of the gospel, it comes from the Holy Ghost. That unspeakable gift has been an integral part of the gospel whenever the gospel has been on the earth, from the days of Adam until now. However, during the Savior’s mortal ministry, it was not given as a gift to the disciples until after the Ascension because the Savior, of whom the Holy Ghost testifies, was there himself among them. He, along with the Father who announced him, was His own witness.
It is also written in your law, that the testimony of two men is true.
I am one that bear witness of myself, and the Father that sent me beareth witness of me (John 8:17-18).
Gramps
