“Having Authority from the Almighty God”

Joseph F. McConkie, Robert L. Millet

See verse 18; see also Mosiah 23:16. No ordinance will be of efficacy, virtue, and force in and after men are dead unless it is the proper ordinance, performed in the manner ordained by the Lord, in his name and by his authority, under the direction of those holding the keys of his priesthood, and thereafter it receives the ratifying seal of the Holy Spirit of Promise (see D&C 132:7-14). Illustrating the necessity for proper authority, the person performing a baptism has been directed in our day to address the one being baptized by name, saying: “Having been commissioned of Jesus Christ [that is, having been ordained to the priesthood and acting under the direction those holding its keys], I baptize you in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost. Amen.” (D&C 20:73; italics added; cf. 3 Nephi 11:25.)

Doctrinal Commentary on the Book of Mormon, Vol. 2

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