Lesson 30: “The Prisoners Shall Go Free”

Purpose

To help class members rejoice in their opportunity to provide ordinances for the dead.

Preparation

• Prayerfully study the following scriptures and other materials:
  • Doctrine and Covenants 2; 124:25–55; 127; 128; Joseph Smith—History 1:36–39.
  • Our Heritage, pages 58–61, information under "The Nauvoo Temple."
• Review the material for this lesson in the Class Member Study Guide.
• To gain a greater understanding of historical events related to the doctrine in this lesson, consider reviewing the following:
  • "Letters on Baptism for the Dead."
  • Additional historical material for this lesson.
• Additional Reading
  • Why Do We Baptize for the Dead? By Elder D. Todd Christofferson
  • The Spirit of Elijah by President Russell M. Nelson
  • Roots and Branches by Elder Quentin L. Cook

Discussion and Application

1. Through the Prophet Joseph Smith, the Lord revealed the doctrine of priesthood ordinances for the dead.

• Why do we perform ordinances for the dead?
  • All people must have the opportunity to hear the gospel and receive the saving ordinances of the priesthood. People who did not receive these blessings during mortality will have that opportunity in the spirit world. Because they do not have physical bodies in the spirit world, they cannot receive the ordinances themselves. However, we can receive the ordinances in their behalf. Individuals in the spirit world then choose whether to accept or reject the ordinances that have been performed for them.
• The Lord began teaching Joseph Smith about work for the dead very early in the Prophet's ministry (Joseph Smith—History 1:36–39; heading to D&C 2; 2:1–3). 
  • President Gordon B. Hinckley commented on this teaching:
    • "It is tremendously significant to me that … this repetition of the wondrous words of Malachi concerning the work for the dead, was given to the boy Joseph four years before he was allowed to take the plates from the hill. It was given before he received either the Aaronic or Melchizedek Priesthood, before he was baptized, and well before the Church was organized. It says much concerning the priority of this work in the plan of the Lord" ("A Century of Family History Service," Ensign, Mar. 1995, 61).
• On 15 August 1840, the Prophet Joseph preached at the funeral of a Church member named Seymour Brunson. As part of his sermon, he read extensively from 1 Corinthians 15, which includes a reference to baptism for the dead (verse 1 Corinthians 15:29). Then he announced that the Saints could be baptized in behalf of their friends and relatives who had died without receiving the gospel. He declared that the plan of salvation was intended to save everyone who was willing to obey the requirements of the law of God. After this sermon, Church members began performing baptisms for the dead in the nearby Mississippi River. (See Journal History of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, 15 Aug. 1840.)

2. The Lord commanded the Saints to build a temple in Nauvoo.

• On 19 January 1841, several months after the Saints had begun performing baptisms for the dead, the Lord commanded them to build a temple in Nauvoo (D&C 124:25–27).
• What reasons did the Lord give for this commandment?

a. D&C 124:28, 40–41. (To reveal additional priesthood ordinances.)
b. D&C 124:29–30, 33. (To provide a place to perform baptisms for the dead.)
c. D&C 124:55. (To have the Saints prove their faithfulness in keeping His commandments so He could bless them with honor, immortality, and eternal life.)

• The Nauvoo Temple was the second temple built in this dispensation. One of the primary purposes of this temple was to provide a place for the Saints to perform ordinances such as baptisms and confirmations for the dead, the endowment, and temple marriage. These ordinances were not performed in the Kirtland Temple.
• The Saints made great sacrifices to obey the commandment to build this temple.  (See Our Heritage (pages 58–60, first four paragraphs under "The Nauvoo Temple").
• What impresses you about the sacrifices made by the early Saints in building the Nauvoo Temple?
• For a short time, the Lord permitted the Saints to continue performing baptisms for the dead in the Mississippi River (D&C 124:31–32; History of the Church, 4:xxxviii). But on 3 October 1841, the Prophet Joseph announced that "there shall be no more baptisms for the dead, until the ordinance can be attended to in the Lord's House" (History of the Church, 4:426). On 8 November 1841, Brigham Young dedicated a temporary but carefully crafted wooden baptismal font in the basement of the unfinished temple (History of the Church, 4:446–47). Today all ordinances for the dead must be performed in temples.
• What can we learn from the Saints' determination to build a baptismal font before the temple was completed?
• What are some of your feelings about redeeming the dead?
• Do you think the saints today are as anxious to do the work as the early Saints were?

3. We should be enthusiastic and joyful in our efforts to perform baptisms for the dead.

• Some baptisms for the dead were done in New Testament times following the Resurrection of Christ (1 Corinthians 15:29). However, the great work of providing saving ordinances for the dead is now the responsibility of Church members in this dispensation. 
• Members of the Church who are 12 and older, including new converts, can be baptized for the dead. To be able to be baptized for the dead, a member must hold a current temple recommend. Male members must hold the priesthood.
• Read D&C 128:15. 
  • In what ways do the dead depend on us for their salvation? 
  • In what ways does our salvation depend on the salvation of the dead? (See D&C 128:17–18 and the following quotations.) 
    • President Gordon B. Hinckley said: "That which goes on in the House of the Lord … comes nearer to the spirit of sacrifice of the Lord than any other activity of which I know. Why? Because it is done by those who give freely of time and substance, without any expectation of thanks or reward, to do for others that which they cannot do for themselves" (Ensign, Mar. 1995, 62–63).
    • Elder John A. Widtsoe of the Quorum of the Twelve said: "In our preexistent state, in the day of the great council, we made a certain agreement with the Almighty. The Lord proposed a plan, conceived by him. We accepted it. Since the plan is intended for all men, we become parties to the salvation of every person under that plan. We agreed, right then and there, to be not only saviors for ourselves, but … saviors for the whole human family. We went into a partnership with the Lord. The working out of the plan became then not merely the Father's work, and the Savior's work, but also our work. The least of us, the humblest, is in partnership with the Almighty in achieving the purpose of the eternal plan of salvation" ("The Worth of Souls," Utah Genealogical and Historical Magazine, Oct. 1934, 189).
• Read D&C 2. How can performing baptisms for the dead help us turn our hearts to our ancestors?
• How do you feel knowing that through baptisms for the dead you can help others receive salvation.
• Read D&C 128:19, 22–24. 
  • According to these verses, what should our attitude be about the gospel and about performing baptisms for the dead? 
  • Why does the subject of baptisms for the dead bring such gladness, both to the living and the dead?
• How did you feel when you first learned that you could be baptized for your deceased family members.

Conclusion
The prophet Joseph Smith called the work of redeeming the dead the "most glorious of all subjects belonging to the everlasting gospel."