None but the righteous can be saved; that is, only those who are willing to enter into and horror the covenants of salvation will be heirs of the kingdom of heaven. Christ is the example; all who obtain salvation must obtain it in the same manner that Christ obtained it.
As baptism was required of Christ so that he might be an heir of salvation, so it is required of all who seek that blessing. Extending this principle beyond the ordinances of baptism, Joseph Smith taught that “if a man gets a fullness of the priesthood of God he has to get it in the same way that Jesus Christ obtained it, and that was by keeping all the commandments and obeying all the ordinances of the house of the Lord” (Teachings, p. 308).
“To Fulfill All Righteousness”
Nephi, to dramatize the importance of baptism, tells us that the Savior had to be baptized to “fulfill all righteousness” (2 Nephi 31:5). The doctrine is both little understood and marvelously important. In the high spiritual sense there is no righteousness without willing submission to all the ordinances of salvation. No more perfect example could be found than Christ himself. Christ, who was sinless, had to be baptized in order to be considered righteous. To be righteous, as the word is used in its highest spiritual sense, means far more than being sinless, pure, or merely good. Righteousness is not simply the absence of evil or impropriety; it is the active seeking of the mind and will of the Father and compliance with that will once it has been obtained.
“Fulfil All Righteousness”
This is something of which uninspired men have no comprehension, stated Elder Bruce R. McConkie. “Truly, he was the Lord Omnipotent before the world was; truly, he was like unto the Father in the pre-mortal life; truly, he was the Son of God here on earth- and yet, with it all, as with all the spirit children of the same Father he too was subject to all of the terms and conditions of the Father’s plan. He also was born on earth to undergo a mortal probation, to die, to rise again in immortal glory, to be judged according to his works, and to receive his place of infinite glory in the eternal kingdom of his Everlasting Father.
How well Paul said:
”Though he were a Son, yet learned he obedience by the things which he suffered; and being made perfect he became the author [that is, the cause] of eternal salvation unto all them that obey him. (Hebrews 5:8-9).“
(Bruce R. McConkie,”The Mystery of Godliness.“)”
“To Fulfil All Righteousness”
Christ is our example in all things. He ceases to be that if we excuse him from compliance with the ordinances of salvation or the obligation to keep the commandments. it would hardly be consistent to announce one system of salvation for Christ and another for the rest of mankind, and then to stoutly maintain that Christ’s actions are the example to be followed.
Was it necessary for Christ to receive the gift of the Holy Ghost by the laying on of hands? Was it necessary for him to receive the priesthood in the same manner? Did he comply with temple ordinances? In response it could be asked: Did he “fulfil all righteousness” in baptism or was more required of him? Could he have fulfilled all righteousness by selectively keeping the commandments, or was it necessary, as Joseph Smith taught, for him to keep all the commandments? On such matters Nephi is very emphatic- there is, he declared, but one path to the divine presence and only by following that path could Jesus show us the way (2 Nephi 31:9, 18-19).
“To Fulfil All Righteousness”
In Matthew‘s account of Jesus’ baptism, Christ responds to John’s reluctance to baptize him by saying, “Suffer it to be so now: for thus it becometh us to fulfil all righteousness” (Matthew 3:15). The text is quite literally true. Neither John nor Jesus could have been considered righteous had the baptism not taken place.
In the general sense, righteousness was understood to embrace the filling of obligations or the observance of legal requirements. In a more strictly religious sense it was understood to mean conforming to the will of the Father. Thus we see Christ as the personification of righteousness because his whole nature, his every action, conformed to God’s will (Gerhard Kittel and Gerhard Friedrich, Theological Dictionary of the New Testament, pp. 169-70).
The scriptures refer to Christ as the Son of Righteousness (2 Nephi 26:9; 3 Nephi 25:2; Ether 9:22), or even as the Righteous (Moses 7:45, 47). “Righteous,” as a name title for deity, is intended to convey the idea of unswerving faithfulness in the keeping of covenant promises. Salvation and righteousness are thus inseparably linked. “God’s righteousness in his judicial reign means that in covenant faithfulness he saves his people.” (Theological Dictionary, p. 171.)