When Did the Need for Baptism Begin?
Matthew 3:1-2, 6; “In those days came John the Baptist, preaching in the wilderness of Judaea, 2 And saying, Repent ye: for the kingdom of heaven is at hand. 6 And were baptized of him in Jordan, confessing their sins.
Holman Bible Dictionary says this on baptism; “At some point close to the time of Jesus, Judaism began a heavy emphasis on ritual washings to cleanse from impurity. This goes back to priestly baths prior to offering sacrifices (Lev. 16:4, 24). Probably shortly prior to the time of Jesus or contemporary with Him, Jews began baptizing Gentile converts, though circumcision still remained the primary entrance rite into Judaism.”
Baptism is for the believer to publicly show they have clothed themselves with Christ. It is an outward confession of your inner commitment that you have died to sin and are reborn into a new life in Christ when coming up out of the water.
Baptism wasn’t a widespread practice of Jews until the time John the Baptist began his ministry. While there was a societal practice going on shortly before this time the focus as we see above from Holman’s Bible Dictionary was based on ritual washings to cleanse from impurity. Up to this point in time no one had ever heard of Jesus. The first mention of Jesus presenting Himself to the public at large is when we read about His baptism by John the Baptist.
The idea that God told Adam to repent and be baptized is nothing but a lie and has no foundational backing other than Joseph Smith’s teaching on this. Because he’s been proven to be a false prophet and lied in the past we must disregard any idea that baptism was instituted at the time of Adam.