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Who can perform a valid ordinances on behalf of the Savior?  The apostle Paul stated in the epistle to the Hebrews, referring to the priesthood, “And no man taketh this honour unto himself, but he that is call of God, as was Aaron” (Hebrews 5:4). Paul is making it clear that no one can just claim to hold the priesthood, even if they are righteous. No, Paul said that they must be “called of God”. More importantly, Paul clarified even further by saying “as was Aaron”. Well, that is interesting! The question is, “How was Aaron called”. If you go back to the book of Exodus, there is found an exchange between God and Moses. God says to Moses, “And take thou unto three Aaron they brother…from among the children of Israel, that he may minister unto me in the priest’s office…” (Exodus 28:1). Note here the order by which the priesthood is given. God doesn’t go directly to Aaron and call him, no, he has a prophet already called. So he has Moses, the prophet, call him. In that manner “order” is kept. Otherwise you have chaos, and we all knew that God is a god of order and the opposite is chaos. The god of chaos is Satan. I have often heard people say that “God called them” to the ministry. But how could the people possibly tell who had or who hadn’t been called without some order as to the giving of authority?

I liken this “order” to the state of Maryland and their insurance licensing rules. I hold an insurance license in this state. I have passed exams, or taken tests that qualify me to sell insurance. If my license expires, I can sell insurance, but the products I sell are no longer recognized as valid in this state. So no matter if I have 25 years of experience, or in other words, having been “trained in the ministry”, my license is no good. And the people who would then purchase those products from me have no coverage. It doesn’t matter that the client “thinks” he has insurance because he paid for it. When an accident happens, his good intentions will not make his coverage valid, because he didn’t receive the “coverage” from a person who was recognized by the state. That person would need to go out and buy insurance “again”. Now if the state of Maryland requires such a license so that they can keep track of who is binding coverage, wouldn’t God be at least as organized as man in wanting to keep track of whom he allowed to perform ordinances in His name.

That is why persons who come into our church are baptized even if they have been baptized before. In fact, the lack of order is found early on in the history of Christ’s church. Shortly after Jesus ascended to heaven, Paul comes across this issue. It is recorded in the Acts of the Apostles that Paul, during his travels abroad, came across some disciples.

“And he said unto them, Unto what then were ye baptized? And they said, Unto John’s baptism. Then said Paul, John verily baptized with the baptism of repentance, saying unto the people, that they should believe on him which should come after him, that is, on Jesus Christ. When they heard this, they were baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus”. (Acts 19:3-5). In other words, these disciples had been baptized unto John, but not unto Christ. So they were re-baptized. It is clear that God is a God of order. That is why we strive to be perfect in the saving ordinances. If we make a mistake in doing the ordinance, we do it again. If we don’t, the ordinances would soon become corrupted. Do we baptize by immersion or sprinkling? Do we give the Holy Ghost by the laying on of hands or some other way? Some say it doesn’t matter. But God is a being of order.  When order is lost confusion sets in.

The beauty of the restoration is that all of our priesthood holders can trace their authority directly back to Jesus Christ himself.  There is no confusion on this matter.  Thus all of the saints know who has authority to perform ordinances in the name of the Savior.  Order is restored! What a comfort it is to know that our Heavenly Father is a God of order and will not leave us “wondering” if the ordinances of salvation we need, which he precribed, are valid or not.