Christian

And if ye do always remember me, ye shall have my Spirit to be with you (3 Nephi 8:6). The prayer pronounced upon the sacrament reflects these same aspirations. However, this is not a petition in prayer, but a promise from the Lord. He affirms that for those who have “repented” of their sins and “are baptized” in His name, He promises a result. When, having done as He has asked, a person remembers His blood through this ordinance, bearing in mind that it was shed for you, then one can properly witness unto the Father. The witness one makes to the Father by this remembrance is that ye do always remember Christ. This memorial before the Father, when done correctly, results in the promise of Christ that ye shall always have His spirit to be with you. This is a covenant. This is the Lord promising. His word cannot fail. He is establishing the means by which one can have, as his guide and companion, His spirit. His light. His presence in one’s life. This is more intimate than touching His side, hands, and feet. This is to have His spirit within one’s touch at all times. The believer becomes an extension of Him, properly taking His name upon him. For he is then, indeed, a Christian. He will christen or anoint him, not with the symbol of oil, but with the reality of His spirit. This anointing is the real thing, of which the oil was meant only to testify. The Greek word chrió (χρίω) means to anoint and is from where the title Christ and the appellation “Christian” originates (Christos), meaning “the anointed one.” The holy ghost was intended to become a companion at the time of baptism. The spirit of Christ is intended to become a companion in the believer’s very person, as well. When there are two members of the Godhead represented in a living person, then it is the Father who receives this testimony of him, about him, by him, and for him. He becomes His, for these three are one. There is more going on here than an ordinance and a testimony. This is the means by which a link is formed that can and will result in the Father taking that which is corruptible and changing it into that which is incorruptible. Though, like Christ, a man or woman may be required to lay down their life, they shall have power given them to take it up again. For that which has been touched by the incorruptible power of His spirit cannot be left without hope in the grave. All such people die firm in the knowledge they are promised a glorious resurrection. This, then, is eternal life.¹