"For I Desired Mercy and Not Sacrifice..." (Hosea 6:6)

Recently in my study of the New Testament I have noticed that Jesus refers to this passage quiet a few times when telling the Pharisees how their outward acts will not be enough for the kingdom that He is establishing. Jesus draws on this prophecy specifically and it is from this prophecy that I would like to found a discussion on the idea that the kingdom that Christ established, the kingdom of God, is a kingdom of the purging of the hearts. In many instances we are asked ourselves to examine our motives behind our actions. Do we do it for the glory of men or to please God? Is our heart focused on the things of the eternities? How do we view others? How do we view God?

In 1 Samuel 16:7 the Lord tells Samuel that he doesn't look on the outward appearance but rather "on the heart". Over and over again in His ministry Jesus reminds us that it is why we do things, not how much we do that really matters. This concept comes up numerous times in His ministry as He teaches His disciples to avoid "the leaven of the Pharisess" for they have corrupted the law with their oral traditions.

Jesus uses Hosea's prophecy to rebuke the Phariesees when they attempt to dispute whether Jesus' disciples break the Sabbath when they eat from the corn of a field that they are walking through. (See Matthew 12). In my study of Matthew I have found that Jesus often does things like this so that the Phariesees will call Him out on it and He has an opportunity to teach the correct principle. In this case He declares himself Lord over the Sabbath. I invite you, my dear reader, to consider that perhaps we should reevaluate the attitude of our heart. The Lord said. "Where treasure is, there is your heart also" (Matt. 6:21). Allow me to give an example of my own.

Every Sunday two men go to church. One of them goes so his neighbors know that he is a good person because he goes to church and spends a few hours listening to a sermon about God. He dresses in his finest apparel and everyone that sees him knows that he is off to church to worship the Lord. Many people admire him for the pristine way in which he takes his seat and listens to the sermon, his back erect, his head upright. To them, it is as if he is proud to be in the presence of God. Yet as he sits there and, to others, appears to listen to the sermon his mind wanders to the football game he will watch after church or the fact that he needs to wash his car. Instead of learning about how he can minister to others, he is thinking of what his wife will make for dinner that night.

Man number two. This man has come on hard times. He only has one worn out suit with many patches meant to cover up the holes of the jacket. He walks to church every Sunday no matter the whether and takes his seat at the back of the church. He doesn't want to be noticed. He is simply there so that God can patch up his broken soul and contrite heart. He wears a look of serenity and peace as the sermon begins and no one notices the man's tears as he silently thanks God for the preachers words. It was exactly what he needed to hear that day.

The soul searching question I invite each of you to consider is: what man am I? What do we think about as we sit in church? Why do we even go to church? God should not be someone that we simply think about one day a week and then forget about the rest of the time. There is a great example of the contrast between these two types of individuals in the Book of Mormon. The Book of Mormon prophet Alma has come across the Zoramites which had built synagogues and there they did gather one day out of the week to worship and if any man desired to worship he must stand atop a tower of sorts. There they would offer the same prayer as everyone else. We read "Whosoever desired to worship must go forth and stand upon the top thereof, and stretch forth his hands towards heaven, and cry with a loud voice" (Alma 31:14). In contrast Alma then preaches to the humble who have been cast out of the synagogue. "I behold that ye are lowly in heart; and if so, blessed are ye." (Alma 32:8)

Who are you? Where is your heart? My hope for each of you is that you strive to be of humble heart, especially this time of year as we give thanks to others and to God for all that we have been given and all that He has blessed us with. Turn to the Lord, in this admonishment I echo the explanation of Peter when Jesus asked His disciples if they would turn from Him. Where else would we go? May God watch you over in this holiday season, until you read again.

“He Revealeth His Secret Unto His Servants, the Prophets” (Amos 3:7)

There are varying opinions on whether God still communicates with His children through prophets today. Some Christian denominations believe that this line of communication ceased with the death of Christ, for thus the barrier between men and God was removed and there was no more need for a mediator. Yet a modern day prophet is a distinguishing feature of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints and in order to understand them you must understand their doctrine on Prophets.

For the Latter Day Saint the best place to start the discussion of the necessity of prophets is to teach about dispensations. To put it simply a dispensation is a period of time that follows a predictable pattern. They begin with a restoration of truth upon the Earth (God’s truth); the people are righteous and blessed for their obedience. Then they begin to prosper, become proud and wicked. Eventually their wickedness leads to an apostasy, an event in which God removes His influence from the people because they are too wicked. That is essentially dispensations in laymen terms. To be more specific the Bible Dictionary of the King James version expounds it as “a period of time in which the Lord has at least one authorized servant on the Earth who bears the holy priesthood and the keys, and who has divine commission to dispense the Gospel to the inhabitants of the Earth” The person previously described is a prophet whom God has called

Yet what evidence have you of dispensations in the Bible? Well in Ephesians 1:10 Paul writes of “the dispensation of the fullness of times” in which the Lord “might gather together all things in Christ”. This implies that there were other dispensations prior to "the end of days". Based on what has been discussed up to this point I submit to you that you can identify at least one dispensation with Adam, one with Enoch, another with Noah, Abraham, Moses, and Christ with his apostles in the Meridian of time. During these periods of time the priesthood resided upon the Earth and prophets acted as a means to warn the people and bring them to God.

However, with the dispensation of Christ you run into something that is a little unique from other dispensation. Yes in other dispensations the Lord withdrew from the people and thus a new prophet had to be called at a later time to usher in a restoration. But with the ascension of Christ into Heaven the wicked people of that time started to kill off the Apostles od the Master. The New Testament records these events for us and as they die, the priesthood dies with them. Only this isn’t any withdrawal of the priesthood. This “withdrawal” lasts thousands of years and becomes known in LDS doctrine as the Great Apostasy.

Such an event is prophesied of a great deal in the Old and New Testaments. In Amos the Lord says “The days come, that I will send a famine in the land, not a famine of bread, nor a thirst for water, but of hearing the words of the Lord: And they shall wander from sea to sea, and from the north even to the east, they shall run to and fro to seek the word of the Lord, and shall not find it” (Amos 8:11-12). Peter writes of “false prophets” that “shall bring in damnable heresies, even denying the Lord that bought them, and bring upon themselves swift destruction. And many shall follow their pernicious ways; by reason of whom the way of truth shall be evil spoken of” (2 Peter 2:1-2). Essentially this apostasy was a starvation of God’s word and understanding of Him until God saw fit to bring about a restoration of things once again.

In another post I will discuss how God prepared the world for the Restoration of the priesthood and His Gospel but now I think it is fitting to talk of the man that God called to head this dispensation. The dispensation that Peter referred to as "the dispensation of the fullness of times."  I am speaking of Joseph Smith. In “the midst of [the] war of words and tumult of opinion” Joseph describes in his own words a time when “priest [was] contending against priest, and convert against convert” (Joseph Smith History 1:6). Joseph felt as many of us often do wondering “what is to be done?” As many of us probably would have he turned to the Bible for his answer. He explains “I was one day reading the epistle of James, first chapter and fifth verse which reads: If any of you lack wisdom, let him ask of God, that giveth to all men liberally, and upbraideth not; and it shall be given him” (Joseph Smith History 1:10). He describes “never did any passage of scripture come with more power to the heart of man than this did at this time to mine” Feeling like he’d received an answer to his prayer, or a way to find an answer, he did what I think most of us would do. He decided to ask God.

On a beautiful spring day in 1820 in the early hours of the morning, when Joseph Smith was just 14 years old he retired to a predetermined spot with the intent to ask God which religion, if  any, was right. When he knelt down to offer up the desires of his heart he explains “I was seized upon by some power, which entirely overcame me, and had such an astonishing influence over me as to bind my tongue so that I could not speak. Thick darkness gathered around me, and it seemed to me for a time as if I were doomed to sudden destruction” I shall take the liberty to guess that you are familiar with the very real being that is known as Lucifer or Satan. To summarize, he was cast out of heaven because he sought to take away the agency of men and take the glory for the success of all returning to the Father for himself. God the Father would not have it and Satan, even the Son of the Morning, was cast from heaven along with all those who chose to follow him.

I propose to you that if this account of a fourteen year old boy is true and God was trying to use him to restore the Gospel once again upon the Earth, Satan, who wishes to make everyone miserable like unto himself, would not want these events to transpire. Yet God will always prevail. Joseph goes on to say “exerting all my powers to call upon God to deliver me out of the power of this enemy… and at the very moment when I was ready to sink into despair… to the power of some actual being from the unseen world… I saw a pillar of light exactly over my head, above the brightness of the sun, which descended gradually until it fell upon me.” This magnificent light released Joseph from the hands of the evil presence that had wished to destroy him and when he looked he explains “I saw two Personages, whose brightness and glory defy all description, standing above me in the air. One of them spake unto me calling me by name and said, pointing to the other-This is My Beloved Son. Hear Him!”

I don’t think anyone, when they pray, anticipates an answer like this. Many critics of the Church balk claiming that God would not appear to a 14 year old boy. How could you trust such an account? Yet recall the calling of Samuel. It is clear that he was young when God called to him (see 1 Samuel 3:1-20). The ancient Jewish historian Josephus speculates that Samuel was about twelve years old. Despite exactness it is safe to assume from the verses that he was young and that the Lord did in fact speak to him. So for the Lord, calling prophets in their youth was not an unheard of practice but it seems to get the critics buzzing now a days.

Joseph Smith records that Christ told him that he “must join none of [the Churches], for they were all wrong; and… all their creeds were an abomination in his sight; that those professors were all corrupt; that: “they draw near to me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me, they teach for doctrines the commandments of men, having a form of godliness but they deny the power thereof.” [reference Isaiah 29:13] Just as God had in prior dispensations He had called another prophet to restore the Gospel of Jesus Christ with all the organization, powers, and doctrines that existed in Christ’s time; a beacon for all those searching for answers and truth. So why do we need prophets today? The answer is really rather simple. To guide in Christ’s stead until the Messiah, the anointed one, returns to reign in all His resurrected glory. Thank you for taking the time to read my dear readers and may God never cease to bless you, until you read again. 

"Ye Are A Chosen Generation, A Royal Priesthood" (1 Peter 2:9)

I think the best place to start in a discussion of the priesthood is at the beginning. That is, the Old Testament. The word for priesthood in Hebrew is “cahona” and comes from the root “cahan” which means “is divine’ (Brown-Driver-Briggs English-Hebrew Lexicon). With the realization that the origin of the very word is connected with divinity let us dive into a closer analysis of the priesthood of the Old and New Testaments in order to more fully understand the nature and roll of the priesthood in the LDS Church.

As mentioned in a previous post the functions of priests in this time was to act as mediators between the people and God. By virtue of their office they were able to draw closer to God, while the people, as a result of their sins, could not pass beyond a certain point. The priests of the Old Testament mainly exercised their office at the altar by offering sacrifices and incense. In Numbers 18:5 the Lord instructs Aaron and his sons “And ye shall keep the charge of the sanctuary, and the charge of the altar; that there be no wrath any more upon the children of Israel.” Yet their other duties included; teaching the people of the law by communicating to them the will of God and blessing them in the name of the Lord.

It is important to note that the priests did not (nor does they today by LDS standards) take their office upon themselves. Rather they were and are chosen of God.  Earlier in the book of Numbers a man by the name of Korah along with 250 rebels try to seek priestly offices for themselves. In section 16 Aaron declares: “the Lord will shew who are his, and who is holy; and will cause him to come near unto him: even him whom he hath chosen will he cause to come near unto him” (Numbers 16:5). In a sense the priest belonged to God and was Holy to him. If you would like to learn more about the priests of the Old Testament please let me know and I will gladly dedicate a post completely to that.

An important aspect of the priests and priesthood in the Old Testament is the practice of the laying on of hands from the time of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, the laying on of hands was used in ceremonies which carried with it a specific meaning. An illustration is found in Genesis 48. After telling Joseph about the promise of blessing God had given him (Genesis 48:4), Jacob said that Joseph's sons would become his sons, just as Reuben and Simeon were his sons (Genesis 48:5). As far as Jacob was concerned, together with God' s approval these two sons of Joseph  were now legal  sons of Jacob and heirs of the blessings God had promised him. All this would   become more specific with the ceremony of the laying on of hands on these two individuals - Manasseh and Ephraim (Gen. 48:13-16) Notice that Jacob deliberately crossed his hands during the ceremony  so that Ephraim,  the younger brother received the  greater blessing, and Manasseh the older brother, received a lesser blessing.  The laying on of hands here illustrates a special ceremony within the context of a divine purpose.

So we’ve discussed the function of priests, priesthood and the practice of laying on of hands in the Old Testament. What about the New Testament?  With the advent of Christ, the priesthood of the Old Testament was elevated to the height it had never before possessed. It also became the cornerstone of the Christian religion so much so that we might almost define true Christianity as the religion of a divinely revealed priesthood. Christianity is indeed priestly and the priesthood is of its essence:. So when Christ died on the cross and atoned for all of us, thus opening the way for men to find their way back to God, the Old Priesthood (not the Priesthood itself but the Priesthood in its Old Testament form was done away with).

If we’ll remember the purpose of a priest in Old Testament times was to act as a mediator between man and God. Christ was the ultimate mediator through the shedding of his blood. Indeed Christ proclaimed “No man cometh unto the Father but by me” (John 14:6). Yes Christ became our ultimate mediator, our advocate with the Father, yet that was not the end of the priesthood. In John 20:21 Christ admonishes His disciples “as my Father hath sent me even so send I you” Previous to His death Christ had ordained the priesthood upon his apostles when he said “ye have not chosen me, but I have chosen you, and ordained you that ye should go and bring forth fruit, and that your fruit should remain: that whatsoever ye shall ask of the Father in my name he may give it you” (John 15:16). This verse brings back two familiar ideas of the priesthood and priests. First, that they must be chosen by God, and second that they act as mediators of sorts with the ability to act in Christ’s stead, essentially they were to do what Christ would have done if He were upon the Earth.

There are numerous branches of Christianity that believe the priesthood ended with the death of Christ and the tearing of the veil. However, after Christ’s resurrection and ascension into heaven many of the Apostles (Paul, Timothy, etc..) laid their hands upon the heads of new believers and conferred the Holy Ghost upon them. This is the priesthood. In Acts 8 the Apostles go to Samaria when they hear that the people have received the word of God but have not yet received the Holy Ghost. Verse 17 says “then laid they their hands on them, and they received the Holy Ghost.” Just as Christ acted as a mediator to confer the Holy Ghost on his Apostles from the Father, the Apostles act as a mediator of sorts for the new members of the Church to receive the Holy Ghost as well. Another example of the exercising of the priesthood used as mediation between man and God is seen in Acts 19 when Paul passes through Ephesus and runs into a group of people that have only been baptized with “John’s baptism” (Acts 19:3) and Paul asks them “Unto what end were ye baptized?” (Acts 19:2) and the record goes on “And when Paul had laid his hands upon them, the Holy Ghost came on them; and they spake with tongues, and prophesied.”(Acts 19:6). The bottom line is to show that the laying on hands and the priesthood was continued from Old Testament times to New Testament times and continues beyond that into modern times.

Much like the apostles going forth, baptizing and conferring the Holy Spirit upon new members with the laying on of hands, the practice also exists in the pages of the Book of Mormon and in the LDS Church today. In the Book of Alma, the prophet Alma while preaching to the people (much as the apostles of Christ did after his ascension into heaven) Alma came upon the city of Zarahemla and “ordained priests and elders by laying on his hand according to the order of God, to preside and watch over the Church” (Alam 6:1). Another example takes us to 3 Nephi where Christ makes his visit to the American continent after He is crucified and resurrected. The scriptures record “And it came to pass that when Jesus had made an end of these sayings, he touched with his hand the disciples whom he had chosen (chosen by God), one by one, even until he had touched all, and spoke unto them as he touched them” (3 Nephi 18:36) The chapter goes on to say “the disciples bare record that he gave them power to give the Holy Ghost” (3 Nephi 18:37).

So the priesthood and the practice of laying on of hands was present in the Old Testament, New Testament and the Book of Mormon. But perhaps the white elephant in the room is the functions of priests and the priesthood in the LDS church today. First of all, within the Church there are two kinds or levels of Priesthood. The Aaronic Priesthood, it is the “lesser” of the two priesthood and contains the offices of deacon, teacher, priest, and bishop. It is known by other names as the Levitical Priesthood, the Preparatory Priesthood, the Lesser Priesthood, the Second Priesthood, and the Priesthood of Aaron. The other branch of the Priesthood is the Melchizedeck Priesthood it is the “higher” of the two priesthood and contains the offices of Elder, High Priest, Patriarch, Seventy, Apostle, and Prophet. The greatest reference for the duty of priesthood holders (remember they must be called of God, ordained to the office by one who is in authority [or who has also been called of God through the laying on of hands], and live worthy of their office.) can be found in D&C 20, often nicknamed the foundation of the Church because it outlines its structure and the function of all the difference offices. The duties of priesthood holders are as follows:

Apostles (an elder)-verse38 

• To baptize (38)
• To ordain other elders priests, teachers, and deacons (39)
• To administer bread and wine (we use water)- the emblems of the flesh and blood of Christ-
• Confirm those who are baptized into the Church, by the laying on hands for the baptism of fire and the Holy Ghost (41)
• To teach, to expound, exhort, baptize, and watch over the Church
• To take the lead of all meetings

Elders

• Conduct the meetings as they are led by the Holy Ghost, according to the commandments and revelations of God (45)

Priests 

• To preach, teach, expound, exhort, and baptize, and administer the sacrament (46)
• Visit the house of each member, and exhort them to pray vocally and in secret and attend to all family duties (47)

•  May also ordain other priests, teachers and deacons (48)
•  Take the lead of meetings when there is no elder present (49)
• In these duties assist the Elder if the occasion requires (52)

Teachers and Deacons 

• To watch over the Church always and be with and strengthen them (53)
• See that there is no iniquity in the Church, neither hardness with each other, neither lying, back biting, nor evil speaking. (54)
• See that the Church meet together often, and all that all the members do their duty (55)
•  Take the lead of meetings in the absence of the elder or priest (56)
• And is to be assisted always in all his duties in the church, by the deacons if occasion requires (57)
• DO NOT have authority to baptize, administer the sacrament, or lay on hands (58)
• Both Teachers and Deacons are to warn, expound, exhort, and teach, and invite all to come unto Christ.

So there you have, a list of duties (roughly) that each office of the priesthood performs. If you are interested in a post on the complete organization of the Church just let me know and I will gladly get one up for you. It has been a pleasure my dear readers sharing this information with you. Latter Day Saints take very seriously the reminder from Peter “Ye are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, an holy nation, a peculiar people; that ye should shew forth the praises of him who hath called you out of darkness into his marvelous light” (1 Peter 2:9). To wield the power of God, to act in His name, to use such a responsibility to bless others and edify the Church, that is true meaning of being a Priesthood holder of God. May God bless you all, man and women alike, until you read again.

(I strongly encourage anyone who is interested in learning more to search "the priesthood" on lds.org or ask any question you would like in a comment, I promise to do my best to answer it). 

“The Veil of the Temple was Rent in Twain” (Matthew 27:51)

Right after Jesus Christ “yielded up the ghost” (Matthew 27:50) upon the cross the scriptures record that the “veil of the temple was rent in twain”. There is much controversy on what this symbolized in the tumultuous religious world of doctrine and opinion. Having this questions recently posed to me, as an intellectual myself I was interested to see what it implied from not only an LDS perspective but from the perspective of many Christian denominations, how they differ, and how they are similar.

First I think it is incredibly important that we establish (for the sake of understanding between reader and writer) what exactly the purpose of the veil in the temple was both in Old Testament times, New Testament times, and (for the LDS among the audience) modern times as well. Exodus 26:33 in the King James publication of the Bible reads that the vail (as spelled in this verse) “shall divide unto you between the holy place and the most holy.” Within the same chapter, the verses go on to explain that the veil was designed to cover the ark, the mercy seats, and the symbol of divine presence. The word “veil” in Hebrew means a screen, divider or separator that hides. So what was the veil hiding exactly? Essentially its main purpose was to obscure the view of the individual from the divine. To many it stood, and still stands, as a figurative and literal obstacle between mankind and God.

The book: Temples of the Ancient World edited by Dr. Donald W. Parry explained that “throughout the ancient world, the veil of the temple is the barrier between ourselves and both the hidden and mysteries of the temple and the boundless expanses of cosmic space beyond” (Parry 572). The book goes on to explain that a veil was used rather than a door to show that the barrier between the spiritual and the secular is not completely impenetrable and that messengers could pass through it. This idea is also set forth by a passage well known by Latter Day Saints: “The veil was taken from our minds, and the eyes of our understanding were opened” (Doctrine and Covenants 110:1). In this verse it is not a physical veil like the woven tapestry of the tabernacle and the temple but rather a figurative spiritual veil that kept the Saints of this dispensation from understanding the things of God.

Religions and secular scholars alike acknowledge the fact that in Old Testament times anyone except the high priest who entered the Holy of Holies would die. Even the high priest, God’s chosen mediator with His people, could only pass through the veil and enter this sacred dwelling once a year, on a prescribed day called the Day of Atonement. In order to cross the barrier between man and God this high priest had to make special preparations.  He had to wash himself, put on special clothing, bring burning incense to let the smoke cover his eyes from a direct view of God, and bring blood with him to make atonement for sins. In his letter to the Hebrews Paul explains: “But into the second went the high priest alone once every year, not without blood, which he offered for himself, and for the errors of the people” (Hebrews 9:7). To put it simply, the high priest was a mediator between the people and God who made sacrifices within the realm of the holy of holies

So what exactly did the tearing of this sacred veil mean? Well in light of what has previously been discussed the tearing of the veil was essentially the rending of the barrier between man and God. With Christ’s death, suddenly man could again return to God despite being a sinner, through the atonement and blood of Jesus Christ. Many Christian faiths, for some reason, uphold the notion that Latter Day Saints under appreciate this important fact by claiming that because they claim to have a prophet, who acts as a mediator for the entire Church before God, they do not believe that they need Christ to approach the Father. However in Doctrine and Covenant (a compilation of modern revelations from receive by the modern day Prophet Joseph Smith from Jesus the Christ)  in Section 45 there is a beautiful verse about this belief in the words of Christ himself which reads “Listen to him who is the advocate with the Father, who is pleading your cause before him- saying: Father, behold the suffering and death of him who did no sin, in who thou was well pleased, behold the blood of thy Son which was shed, the blood of him whom thou gavest that thyself might be glorified; Wherefore, Father, spare these my brethren that believe on my name, that they may come unto me and have everlasting life.” (D&C 45:3-5). So thus far the beliefs are the same. To both denominations the renting of the veil represented the dissolution of the barrier between God and man.

Referencing once again Paul’s letter to the Hebrews he relates to them “Having therefore brethren, boldness to enter into the holiest by the blood of Jesus, by a new and living way, which he hath consecrated for us, through the veil, that is to say, his flesh” (Hebrews 10:19-20). I’m no expert on the Bible, however let me propose that this scripture is essentially saying that Christ established a “new and living way” for us to return to God, that is that through him and his atonement we can return to the presence of God by means of repentance. During his Earthly ministry Christ taught “I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me” (John 14:6). With the rending of the veil this was reaffirmed. To go along with what the Bible teaches about the need for atonement the Book of Mormon confirms “Wherefore it must needs be an infinite atonement- save it should be an infinite atonement this corruption could not put on incorruption. Wherefore, the first judgment which came upon man must needs have remained to an endless duration. And if so, the flesh must have laid down to rot and to crumble to its mother earth to rise no more.” (2 Nephi 9:7)  This means that without the atonement of Christ we would have no hope of getting back to God. The splitting of the shroud as Christ’s death symbolized that opportunity. Abinadi, a prophet of the Book of Mormon admonishes the wicked of his time “And now, ought ye not to tremble and repent of your sin, and remember that only in and through Christ ye can be saved?” (Mosiah 16:13)

Yet another question remains from all this; It seems that all Christians (yes even Latter Day Saints) believe that with the death of Christ and the rending of the veil our journey back to God was no longer hindered by our sins because of the blood of the Lamb of God. So why the need for a priesthood? Why the need for modern revelation and a prophet? If Christ acts as our mediator and advocate before the Father why do we need revelation today if we can receive it ourselves? Though there are many answers (which I wholeheartedly invite you to learn about by studying the Book of Mormon and asking me if you so desire) it essentially comes down to the need for ordinances such as baptism. When Christ was baptized he taught “Except a man be born of water and of the spirit he cannot enter into the kingdom of God.” (John 3:5)  Thus the Son of God puts forth the need for baptism. If we are not baptized we cannot return to the presence of God. Another witness of the importance of baptism comes in the Book of Matthew. When Christ comes forward to be baptized by John, the Elias refuses, claiming he [John] , if anything, has need to be baptized by Christ. The Lord responds “Suffer it to be so now: for thus it becometh us to fulfill all righteousness.” (Matthew 3:15) So baptism is meant to fulfill all righteousness. What in the world does it mean to fulfill all righteousness? Again humor me and refer to your Book of Mormon. Nephi (another prophet of the Book of Mormon) provides a great clarification when he says “Know ye not that he (Christ) was holy? But notwithstanding he being holy, he showeth unto the children of men that , according to the flesh he humbleth himself before the Father, and witnesseth unto the Father he would be obedient unto him in keeping his commandments... And again it showeth unto men the straitness of the path, and the narrowness of the gate, by which they should enter, he having set the example before them” (2 Nephi 31:6,9).  Well there you have it my friends. Christ was setting the example for us (He is the ultimate example after all) and in being baptized He demonstrated His will to submit to the Father and showed us that “For wide is the gate, and broad is the way, that leadeth to destruction, and many there be which go in thereat; because strait is the gate and narrow is the way which leadeth unto life and few there be that find it” (Matthew 7:13-14); so must we demonstrate our willingness to submit to His will and be baptized.

Now, let me clarify something very important. Latter Day Saints do not believe that it is ONLY through baptism that we are saved (though we will always uphold that baptism is a stepping stone towards salvation). A literal article of our faith declares “We believe that the first principles and ordinances of the Gospel are: first, faith in the Lord Jesus Christ, second, repentance, third, baptism by immersion for the remission of sins and fourth, the laying on of hands for the gift of the Holy Ghost” (Article of Faith #4). The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints if often accused of believing that it is through works, not faith, that we are saved. However in the Book of Mormon Christ teaches us “My grace is sufficient for all men that humble themselves before me: for if they humble themselves before me, and have faith in me, then will I make weak things become strong unto them” (Ether 12:27). We believe that. We believe that Christ’s grace is sufficient to save us. We believe in the importance of works as a demonstration of our love before God. Many opposers of the Church will use the scripture 2 Nephi 25:34 which says “it is by grace that we are saved after all we can do.” Yet what gets me is no one ever asks us “what exactly is all that you can do?” The answers can once again be found in the book which we uphold as doctrine from God, the Book of Mormon. Alma 24:11 reads “And now behold my brethren since it has been all that we could do, (as we were the most lost of all mankind) to repent of all our sins and the many murders which we have committed, and to get God to take them away from our hearts, for it was all we could do to repent sufficiently before God that he would take our sins.” Faith, repentance, baptism, keeping the commandments, obedience, diligence, continuing in humility and enduring in faithfulness to the end: those are examples of our works. Those are things that we can do for ourselves. Then comes God’s grace. He forgives us because we cannot forgive ourselves only after we repent. Asking a Latter Day Saint if we believe we are saved by grace or by works is like asking if we prefer to cut with one blade of the scissors or the other. In our minds you need both because you cannot receive grace without accepting Christ ( a work) and you cannot accept Christ without his mercy being extended towards you (grace).

So certain ordinances are necessary for our salvation (though these ordinances have no bearing without the atonement and grace found through our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ). These ordinances, such as baptism, cannot be performed without the priesthood. Since I do not want to stretch your synapses any further than I already have with all that I’ve shared with you up to this point I will leave you with a leading verse of sorts to prepare you for my next post. In the first epistle of Peter, Christ’s senior apostle writes to the Christians of old and to the Saints of today “But ye are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a peculiar people; that ye should shew forth the praises of him who hath called you out of darkness into his marvelous light;” (1 Peter 2:9).  The prophets of the Book of Mormon only second the need for the priesthood when Alma explains “Now they were ordained after this manner- being called with a holy calling, and ordained with a holy ordinance, and taking upon them the high priesthood of the holy order, which calling, and ordinance, and high priesthood, is without beginning or end-“(Alma 13:8). It has been a pleasure my friends. I hope you have been enlightened and edified by what you have taken the time to read. May the Lord bless you until you read again.