I’ve lately been pondering on, studying, praying about, and discussing with a couple of friends the concept of faith. As I was meditating on several related principles, they suddenly came together in a way that sounded very much the same as things I already believed, but felt different. I’d like to share and hope you find this beneficial.
Faith
Faith begins with hearing the word of God (Romans 10:17). I believe this means more than reading the scriptures, or hearing words delivered by a messenger, but it is the actual moment those words become revelation from God directly to you.
Saving faith is only ever exercised in God—not in his messengers, servants, or even the scriptures, but in Him alone. As Jesus told the Pharisees: “Search the scriptures; for in them ye think ye have eternal life: and they are they which testify of me, but ye will not come to me, that ye might have life” (John 5:39-40).
Many people throughout the years have built up entire religions around their false interpretations of the words God spoke to someone else. Yet, until these words jump off the page and are directed towards you specifically, they are not living. The Prophet Joseph taught that “there is no salvation between the two lids of the Bible” (TPJS p. 319).To his uncle Silas, he wrote:
Perhaps you may be surprised at this assertion, that I should say for the salvation of his creatures in these last days, since we have already in our possession a vast volume of his word which he has previously given.
But you will admit that the word spoken to Noah was not sufficient for Abraham, or it was not required of him to leave the land of his nativity and seek an inheritance in a strange country upon the word spoken to Noah, but for himself he obtained promises from the hand of the Lord and walked in that perfection, that he was called the friend of God.
Isaac, the promised seed, was not required to rest his hope alone upon the promises made to his father Abraham, but was privileged with the assurance of his approbation in the sight of Heaven by the direct voice of the Lord to him.
If one man can live upon the revelations to another, might I not with propriety ask why the necessity then of the Lord’s speaking to Isaac as he did, as is recorded in the twenty-sixth chapter of Genesis? For the Lord there repeats, or rather promises again, to perform the oath which he had previously sworn to Abraham, and why this repetition to Isaac? Why was not the first promise as sure for Isaac as it was for Abraham? Was not Isaac Abraham’s son, and could he not place implicit confidence in the veracity of his father as being a man of God? …
The same might be said on the subject of Jacob’s history. Why was it that the Lord spake to him concerning the same promise, after he had made it once to Abraham and renewed it to Isaac? Why could not Jacob rest contented upon the word spoken to his Fathers? When the time of the promise drew nigh for the deliverance of the children of Israel from the land of Egypt, why was it necessary that the Lord should begin to speak to them?
“The promise or word to Abraham was that his seed should serve in bondage, and be afflicted four hundred years, and after that they should come out with great substance. Why did they not rely upon this promise, and when they had remained in Egypt, in bondage four hundred years, come out without waiting for further revelations, but act entirely upon the promise given to Abraham that they should come out?
Paul said to his Hebrew brethren that God might more abundantly show unto the heirs of promise the immutability of his counsel. He confirmed it by an oath. He also exhorts them, who, through faith and patience, inherit the promises.
Notwithstanding, we (said Paul) have fled for refuge to lay hold upon the hope set before us, which hope we have as an anchor to the soul, both sure and steadfast, and which entereth into that within the veil, yet he was careful to press upon them the necessity of continuing on until they, as well as those who then inherited the promises, might have the assurance of their salvation confirmed to them by an oath from the mouth of him who could not lie; for that seemed to be the example anciently, and Paul holds it out to his Hebrew brethren as an object attainable in his day.
And why not? I admit that by reading the scriptures, of truth, the saints in the days of Paul could learn, beyond the power of contradiction, that Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob had the promise of eternal life confirmed to them by an oath of the Lord; but that promise or oath was no assurance to them of their salvation, but they could, by walking in the footsteps and continuing in the faith of their fathers, obtain for themselves an oath for confirmation that they were meet to be partakers of the inheritance with the saints in light.
To exercise faith in God, the word of God must first be delivered to you by direct revelation. Scriptures and messengers can frequently serve as a catalyst, but it must ultimately come from God: “for when a man speaketh by the power of the Holy Ghost, the power of the Holy Ghost carrieth it unto the hearts of the children of men” (2 Nephi 33:1; cf. Moroni 7:31-32, D&C 1:38, D&C 68:4). This is why, for example, missionaries ask people to pray about the Book of Mormon. The moment the reader receives revelation, it becomes God’s word and not someone else’s.
We are all held accountable and ultimately judged according to the light we receive in this life (Moroni 7:18, Alma 12:8-15). This is a universal yet dynamic standard. Every single person—from your religious neighbor, to your agnostic co-worker, from someone living in California today to someone living in China 3,000 years ago—has some portion of God’s word, greater or lesser. It is the living voice of the living God. It’s their perception of light, and revelation. And they will all be judged according to the light and revelation they received.
As a quick note on that: if the purpose of this life was to get everyone to join the LDS church, it would be an abysmal failure. With the largest population of members to date, Latter-day Saints make up only about ~0.2% of the world’s population. Even though we frequently say work can and is being done for the dead, providing them an exception in the afterlife, what exactly was the purpose of the life they did live?
Every life is eternally significant, and divinely planned; God is at work, speaking to his children wherever they may be: “The Lord deals with this people as a tender parent with a child, communicating light and intelligence and the knowledge of his ways as they can bear it” (TPJS p. 305). “For behold, the Lord doth grant unto all nations, of their own nation and tongue, to teach his word, yea, in wisdom, all that he seeth fit that they should have; therefore we see that the Lord doth counsel in wisdom, according to that which is just and true” (Alma 29:8).
Faith in God’s revealed word is ultimately the principle upon which we are judged, and the only principle upon which we are saved. This is why the Prophet speaks of exercising “faith in God unto life and salvation” (Lectures on Faith 3:3). Now, it’s also worth noting that eventually all things will be revealed to all people, but we’ll come back to that at a later time.
Grace and Knowledge
There’s so much quibble about grace in the protestant sphere. The best way to understand grace is as knowledge. And not just facts, or acquired information, but the direct revelation of God’s word to you. It’s to have a real encounter with Him in any degree (Mosiah 18:6). And that word, delivered in any degree, is always a gift.
We are saved and sanctified by the Truth (a personal knowledge of he who is the Word of God) (John 17:17). It is by grace (or knowledge/revelation) we are saved, through faith. And that not of ourselves: it is the gift of God (Ephesians 2:8).
That grace, or knowledge, is sufficient to transform us, if we will receive it. Knowing how and why Jesus would act in any given scenario is a massive gift; we simply cannot imagine what he would do, or how he could/would do it. And when you encounter and feel that living knowledge, you encounter him in some degree—and yielding to that influence will change you. It will knock you down and rearrange you.
It’s in this way we can understand Joseph Smith’s comments that “knowledge saves a man,” and “a man is saved no faster than he gets knowledge.” Our best ideas or most sincerely held beliefs are not alone sufficient to transform us: “Salvation cannot come without revelation” (TPJS p. 160). We must actually come to know God and Christ to be partakers of eternal life (John 17:3).
Peter addressed the church in his day saying, “Grace and peace be multiplied unto you through the knowledge of God, and of Jesus our Lord, According as his divine power hath given unto us all things that pertain unto life and godliness, through the knowledge of himthat hath called us to glory and virtue: Whereby are given unto us exceeding great and precious promises: that by these ye might be partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world through lust” (2 Peter 1:2-4).
Commenting on this passage, the Prophet Joseph taught:
Contend earnestly for the like precious faith with the Apostle Peter, “and add to your faith virtue,” knowledge, temperance, patience, godliness, brotherly kindness, charity; “for if these things be in you, and abound, they make you that ye shall neither be barren nor unfruitful in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ.” Another point, after having all these qualifications, he lays this injunction upon the people “to make your calling and election sure.” He is emphatic upon this subject—after adding all this virtue, knowledge, etc., “Make your calling and election sure.” What is the secret—the starting point? “According as His divine power hath given unto us all things that pertain unto life and godliness.” How did he obtain all things? Through the knowledge of Him who hath called him. There could not anything be given, pertaining to life and godliness, without knowledge. Woe! woe! woe to Christendom!—especially the divines and priests if this be true.
Salvation is for a man to be saved from all his enemies; for until a man can triumph over death, he is not saved. A knowledge of the priesthood [the order and manner of the Son of God] alone will do this.
TPJS p. 305
It is furthermore the case that only by acting on God’s revealed word to you can you be transformed and receive the assurance that course of life you are pursuing is agreeable to his will (for more on this, I would suggest revisiting the entirety of Lecture 6 from the Lectures on Faith). As in Alma’s analogy of planting and nourishing the seed, acting on revelation will lead to successively greater knowledge and revelation, which will in turn inspire greater faith, leading to a perfect knowledge. On another occasion, the Prophet taught:
Now for the secret and grand key. Though they might hear the voice of God and know that Jesus was the Son of God, this would be no evidence that their election and calling was made sure, that they had part with Christ, and were joint heirs with Him. They then would want that more sure word of prophecy, that they were sealed in the heavens and had the promise of eternal life in the kingdom of God. Then, having this promise sealed unto them, it was an anchor to the soul, sure and steadfast. Though the thunders might roll and lightnings flash, and earthquakes bellow, and war gather thick around, yet this hope and knowledge would support the soul in every hour of trial, trouble and tribulation. Then knowledge through our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ is the grand key that unlocks the glories and mysteries of the kingdom of heaven.
Compare this principle once with Christendom at the present day, and where are they, with all their boasted religion, piety and sacredness while at the same time they are crying out against prophets, apostles, angels, revelations, prophesying and visions, etc. Why, they are just ripening for the damnation of hell. They will be damned, for they reject the most glorious principles of the Gospel of Jesus Christ and treat with disdain and trample under foot the key that unlocks the heavens and puts in our possession the glories of the celestial world. Yes, I say, such will be damned, with all their professed godliness. Then I would exhort you to go on and continue to call upon God until you make your calling and election sure for yourselves, by obtaining this more sure word of prophecy, and wait patiently for the promise until you obtain it, etc.
Christ promises a new heart to every person who comes to Him. His intention is to put His law in our inward parts, and write it in our hearts (Jeremiah 31:33; cf. Ezekiel 36:26-28). He is the Word of God; as we plant Him in our hearts, His love, character, and Spirit will grow within us until we are transformed into what He is. Then we will be like Him.
After entering in by the way, Nephi emphasizes the importance of feasting upon the words of the Christ, “for behold, the words of Christ will tell you all things what ye should do” (2 Nephi 32:3).
There are layers to this mystery, but we’ll just explore one as it relates to this topic.
The word of God is truth (John 17:17). Christ is the Word of God (John 1:14), and He is truth (John 14:6). It’s not just that He intellectually knows truth, but rather is truth. It’s characteristic of His being.
What then are the “words of Christ?” As Nephi points out, the words of Christ are associated with the angels who embody and deliver His words (2 Nephi 32:3). Angels (seen and unseen) minister for the purpose of bringing us to Christ, and Christ for bringing us to the Father. However, all of these “words” are equally so the “truth,” because of the source from which they flow. The word of Christ is truth. Feasting upon it will be the key to going further in our journey. It is how we “come unto Christ”— following His words back to the source.
“And now, my beloved brethren, after ye have gotten into this strait and narrow path, I would ask if all is done? Behold, I say unto you, Nay; for ye have not come thus far save it were by the word of Christ with unshaken faith in him, relying wholly upon the merits of him who is mighty to save. Wherefore, ye must press forward with a steadfastness in Christ,having a perfect brightness of hope, and a love of God and of all men. Wherefore, if ye shall press forward, feasting upon the word of Christ, and endure to the end, behold, thus saith the Father: Ye shall have eternal life” (2 Nephi 31:19-20).
When you eat, or “feast” on something, you internalize it; it becomes a part of you. This is the idea of Christ putting His law in our “inward parts” and writing it in our hearts.” It’s also the spiritual truth being conveyed in the symbol of the Sacrament. We are internalizing Christ—His words and truth—so that we become like Him (John 6:53-56).
If the Lord has shown us our weakness—some part of our heart that is not aligned to Him—it is further truth that will enable us to overcome that. This is how He turns weakness into strength.
That being said, we must maintain the attitude of desiring and submitting to His truth at all times—whatever that might be. That requires continual faith on our part, or what Nephi calls a “steadfastness in Christ.” There is a difference between discovering some part of your heart is not in harmony with God, and outright rejecting or resisting the truth that can save you. One is entering into the mist of darkness, the other is abandoning the iron rod.
As we continue to grow in truth, we will become like He who is Truth.
Now, I’d like to move beyond the abstract and break down the mechanics of how this works. What is it about internalizing greater truth that allows us to become like Christ is?
Temptation and Intelligence
If Jesus’s command was “be ye therefore perfect, even as your Father which is in heaven is perfect,” we should start by asking: why is God the way He is? What makes Him a perfect and glorious Being? Why doesn’t He sin?
In D&C 93, we read: “The glory of God is intelligence, or in other words light and truth” (D&C 93:36). God is who He is as a consequence of the light and truth He possesses; that is His glory. The difference between God and fallen man is a matter of intelligence. If we want to be “perfect, even as he is perfect,” we must be intelligent, even as He is intelligent. We must possess greater light and truth.
Deception, temptation and sin are always based in lies. Always. Every tactic of the adversary involves getting you to accept a lie that will then weaken you, lessening the light and truth that you possess. He is “the father of all lies,” a “liar from the beginning.” Every time he offers you a lie (whether it be deception, temptation, discouragement, etc.) and you accept it, you take in greater darkness.
In the scriptures, darkness and lies are synonymous with chains—what Alma calls “the chains of hell” (Alma 12:11; cf. D&C 123:7-8). This is because, whereas light and truth empower you, darkness and lies restrict you.
Agency is really a function of how much light we have; the greater light we possess, the greater power we have to act in the world (God being the greatest light we can conceive of, and consequently the Being of greatest power). Conversely, the less light we have, the more restricted we are in our ability to act (drug addiction is a great example—it’s a form of bondage/captivity; you’re subject to external circumstances, being “acted upon,” etc.).
So in this context, why do we sin?
Because all temptation is rooted in lies, we are only enticed by them if we believe the “lie” in question could be true. For example, you’ll probably never be enticed by the prospect of eating a rock, because you have no reason to believe that will be a good experience. On the other hand, though downing an entire sleeve of Oreos will probably make you sick, you might have a reason to believe that that could be a good idea (e.g. it tastes good). The lie is, “it doesn’t matter,” or “you probably won’t feel that bad,” or “just don’t think about it.” You get the idea. Satan tends to minimize the negative consequences of sin and overplay the positive ones; like he told Eve regarding the fruit, “thou shalt not surely die” but “shall be as gods, knowing good and evil.”
Our desires are not inherently bad. We’re intended to eat, sleep, reproduce, be in relationship with one another, create, learn, etc. Temptation happens when our desires are disorganized, or out of order. In order to be like Christ, all of these things must be intelligently ordered according to His light. He does this by providing us with spiritual truth.
Losing the Desire to Sin
Because temptations are always based in lies and deception, they have no power over beings filled with light and truth. Hence, “light and truth forsake that evil one” (D&C 93:37) . When you are filled with truth, temptation loses its appeal.
Another funny example I like to refer to is being 6 years-old and hearing the ice cream truck come down the street. At 6, you might lose your mind begging your parents for ice cream money, and then have a total meltdown when they say no. With a limited perspective, it can seem like your whole world hangs on this one thing. At 36, you probably (hopefully) don’t feel the same way. Even with enough money to clear the shelf, an over-priced Tweety Bird popsicle just doesn’t seem to have the same appeal anymore.
What changed? Perspective. You have a better understanding of value in light of a bigger picture. And the knowledge you’ve gained isn’t just intellectual—it’s woven into the very essence of your being. The same way that Christ doesn’t just “know” truth, but is truth, the perspective you’ve gained becomes a part of who you are.
We might also think about this in terms of our tree analogy from earlier in this series. As you “mature” in the gospel, you lose the desire for sins, habits, and activities that once seemed appealing. Why? Perspective. You see their true value and consequences with greater clarity. Where stretching the truth, or vegging on TV, or trying to maintain an “image” may have once seemed desirable, those things are seen for what they really are.
“What value does ‘x’ thing have in view of eternity?” You might find, in considering that question, that most of what entrances the world is like an overpriced Tweety Bird popsicle. Sports, video games, fashion, material things, money. The value and appeal of all these things is an illusion sustained by a limited perspective. As you grow in truth, your desires are realigned.
Truth puts lies to shame. Temptation only has power over you to the extent that you lack truth. For this reason God, whose glory is light and truth, is neither swayed nor enticed by any of these things. As we trust in God, and seek His light, He will show us why these things will not fulfill what we’re seeking, or that they’re inadequate to do what we think they’ll do.
If you feed off the dopamine that comes from scrolling on social media, or watching porn, or getting high, He will show you why those things are hollow and insufficient to meet your actual needs. He will take away their appeal by infusing you with greater light and truth, and then you will understand the condition Isaiah described of the wicked regarding that thing—it is like “when an hungry man dreameth, and, behold, he eateth; but he awaketh, and his soul is empty: or as when a thirsty man dreameth, and, behold, he drinketh; but he awaketh, and, behold, he is faint, and his soul hath appetite” (Isaiah 29:8).
On the other hand, He will also show you why His path is the only one that will bring you true joy and fulfillment. Every other option, no matter how enticing, is an illusion and will actually cause you greater suffering. And so it is always a matter of finding and holding onto the iron rod—greater truth—and pressing forward on its path. We must trust that that the Lord’s course will bring about the greatest outcome at increasingly higher levels; then with the doing comes the understanding (faith leads to knowledge).
When we possess lies, we possess distortion and impurity. If I believe I am the central reality in my universe, I’m going to be inclined to see others as objects—either as tools or obstacles—in the context of getting what I want. If someone else had needs that postpone me from fulfilling my self-centered desires, I’d be inclined to be frustrated, angry, impatient, etc. However, that belief is not true.
If I turn to the Lord and seek the truth I am missing, He may reveal to me that I’ve been placing myself above others, acting selfishly, and seeing them as objects rather than people whose lives are as real as mine. In order to continue on the Lord’s course, I must humbly receive this truth, repent, and let the old beliefs go—no matter how hard it may be. If I harden my heart against that revelation, I am turning my back on the iron rod and insisting I can find my own way through the darkness—but I can’t. No one can. There is no other way.
When I internalize this truth, “feasting upon the words of Christ,” my emotional disposition will change when others’ needs arise. The core belief is what dictates my feelings and behavior—the frequency on which I vibrate. God is truth, and God is love; these things are of the same nature. To have greater truth is to have greater love.
Because our desires are determined by the truth (or lies) we possess, intelligence is synonymous with purity/holiness. Intelligence indicates the degree of light and truth we possess. Because lies are distorted truths, our desires are distorted when we hold them. On the other hand, because truth is pure, we are made purer by receiving it—the greater truth we possess, the purer are our hearts and desires.
Sanctified Through Truth
Spiritual truth is the key to transforming our desires.
The Savior prayed, “Sanctify [my disciples] through thy truth: thy word is truth. As thou hast sent me into the world, even so have I also sent them into the world. And for their sakes I sanctify myself, that they also might be sanctified through the truth. Neither pray I for these alone, but for them also which shall believe on me through their word; that they all may be one; as thou, Father, art in me, and I in thee, that they also may be one in us: that the world may believe that thou hast sent me” (John 17:17-21; emphasis added).
In D&C 130, we read: “Whatever principle of intelligence we attain unto in this life, it will rise with us in the resurrection. And if a person gains more knowledge and intelligence in this life through his diligence and obedience than another, he will have so much the advantage in the world to come” (D&C 130:18-19).
This is why the prophet taught, “Knowledge saves a man” (TPJS p. 357), and “A man is saved no faster than he gets knowledge, for if he does not get knowledge, he will be brought into captivity by some evil power in the other world, as evil spirits will have more knowledge, and consequently more power than many men who are on the earth. Hence it needs revelation to assist us, and give us knowledge of the things of God” (TPJS p. 217).
When you are made aware of some part of yourself that is not aligned to the light of Jesus Christ, it’s important to identify precisely what that is. If we sin, it’s because we lack truth. If we lack truth, we ought to search it out and receive it with full purpose of heart.
Seeking truth is more than an intellectual attempt to think your way out of the natural man, but is rather the process of spiritually bonding with God and allowing His glory to work in you. “Draw near unto me and I will draw near unto you; seek me diligently and ye shall find me; ask, and ye shall receive; knock, and it shall be opened unto you” (D&C 88:63). As we come nearer to Him, the glory (light and truth) of His presence can sanctify us, if we yield our hearts to Him.
Much of this work can only be done in solemn prayer and meditation. The references Nephi makes to prayer in his discourse on Christ’s doctrine are worthy of their own study. Know that when you are baptized with fire and the Holy Ghost, “then can ye speak with the tongue of angels, and shout praises unto the Holy One of Israel” (2 Nephi 31:13). “And now, how could ye speak with the tongue of angels save it were by the Holy Ghost? Angels speak by the power of the Holy Ghost; wherefore, they speak the words of Christ. Wherefore, I said unto you, feast upon the words of Christ; for behold, the words of Christ will tell you all things what ye should do” (2 Nephi 32:2-3). We are all directed to “hearken unto the Spirit which teacheth a man to pray” (2 Nephi 32:8), because this is the mechanism whereby we are brought into a state of oneness with God (Romans 8:26; D&C 46:30; 3 Nephi 19:24; Moroni 7:48; Moroni 8:26). That’s all I will say here, but the scriptures are replete with insight on this principle and I would highly recommend making a study of it.
The book of Helaman provides an example in the righteous Nephites who suffered persecution at the hands of their brethren: “Nevertheless they did fast and pray oft, and did wax stronger and stronger in their humility, and firmer and firmer in the faith of Christ, unto the filling their souls with joy and consolation, yea, even to the purifying and the sanctification of their hearts, which sanctification cometh because of their yielding their hearts unto God” (Helaman 3:35).
When we prayerfully identify the part of ourselves that is not reconciled to God, and offer it up in complete faith, we prepare our hearts to approach Him and receive the greater truth He desires to bestow upon us.
As we draw near to Him, the truth of who He is will illuminate our souls. This is more than intellectual information, abstract facts, or ideas. It is as though He shares with you the very essence of His being. And if you’ll receive it, it will have the power to replace lies with truth, and a disposition to sin with one to do righteousness.
This requires us to live in His light, to seek Him, and to surrender to any higher truth He reveals to us. This may be difficult at times, but for this reason it’s imperative we have faith that His ways are higher than our ways, and that He seeks our joy and welfare.
“As far as we degenerate from God, we descend to the devil and lose knowledge, and without knowledge we cannot be saved, and while our hearts are filled with evil, and we are studying evil, there is no room in our hearts for good, or studying good. Is not God good? Then you be good; if He is faithful, then you be faithful. Add to your faith virtue, to virtue knowledge, and seek for every good thing.” (TPJS p. 217).
By reconciling to God in prayer and meditation, feasting upon the words of Christ, our belief systems can be restructured so that we know what God knows, feel what He feels, and do what He does.
Nephi’s Example
Consider Nephi’s example in this process. He is first made aware of “sins which so do easily beset [him].” There is a weakness he falls prey to. In this instance, he’s referring to the anger he feels towards his enemies—presumably Laman and Lemuel—because of the afflictions they cause him. He is controlled by his external circumstances (being “acted upon” rather than acting), and desires greater light and truth so that he is free from these temptations.
Notice how he works through the root desire by orienting himself towards God. He reaffirms that his trust is in God, and not “the arm of the flesh.” He trusts that God is just, and will deliver him and make all he has suffered right. Internalizing that truth dispels any fear or belief that these things will go unrecognized by God, and will sap the temptation to be angry of its power.
“Nevertheless, notwithstanding the great goodness of the Lord, in showing me his great and marvelous works, my heart exclaimeth: O wretched man that I am! Yea, my heart sorroweth because of my flesh; my soul grieveth because of mine iniquities. I am encompassed about, because of the temptations and the sins which do so easily beset me. And when I desire to rejoice, my heart groaneth because of my sins; nevertheless, I know in whom I have trusted.
“My God hath been my support; he hath led me through mine afflictions in the wilderness; and he hath preserved me upon the waters of the great deep. He hath filled me with his love, even unto the consuming of my flesh. He hath confounded mine enemies, unto the causing of them to quake before me. Behold, he hath heard my cry by day, and he hath given me knowledge by visions in the night-time. And by day have I waxed bold in mighty prayer before him; yea, my voice have I sent up on high; and angels came down and ministered unto me. And upon the wings of his Spirit hath my body been carried away upon exceedingly high mountains. And mine eyes have beheld great things, yea, even too great for man; therefore I was bidden that I should not write them.
“O then, if I have seen so great things, if the Lord in his condescension unto the children of men hath visited men in so much mercy, why should my heart weep and my soul linger in the valley of sorrow, and my flesh waste away, and my strength slacken, because of mine afflictions?
“And why should I yield to sin, because of my flesh? Yea, why should I give way to temptations, that the evil one have place in my heart to destroy my peace and afflict my soul? Why am I angry because of mine enemy?
“Awake, my soul! No longer droop in sin. Rejoice, O my heart, and give place no more for the enemy of my soul. Do not anger again because of mine enemies. Do not slacken my strength because of mine afflictions. Rejoice, O my heart, and cry unto the Lord, and say: O Lord, I will praise thee forever; yea, my soul will rejoice in thee, my God, and the rock of my salvation.
“O Lord, wilt thou redeem my soul? Wilt thou deliver me out of the hands of mine enemies? Wilt thou make me that I may shake at the appearance of sin? May the gates of hell be shut continually before me, because that my heart is broken and my spirit is contrite! O Lord, wilt thou not shut the gates of thy righteousness before me, that I may walk in the path of the low valley, that I may be strict in the plain road!
“O Lord, wilt thou encircle me around in the robe of thy righteousness! O Lord, wilt thou make a way for mine escape before mine enemies! Wilt thou make my path straight before me! Wilt thou not place a stumbling block in my way—but that thou wouldst clear my way before me, and hedge not up my way, but the ways of mine enemy.
“O Lord, I have trusted in thee, and I will trust in thee forever. I will not put my trust in the arm of flesh; for I know that cursed is he that putteth his trust in the arm of flesh. Yea, cursed is he that putteth his trust in man or maketh flesh his arm. Yea, I know that God will give liberally to him that asketh. Yea, my God will give me, if I ask not amiss; therefore I will lift up my voice unto thee; yea, I will cry unto thee, my God, the rock of my righteousness. Behold, my voice shall forever ascend up unto thee, my rock and mine everlasting God. Amen.” (2 Nephi 4:17-35)
Conclusion
Faith in God allows us to receive greater truth, and greater truth is the cure to temptation. We are sanctified by truth, which is the glory of God. Light dispels darkness, love casts out fear, and truth sets us free.
In the scriptures (particularly in Isaiah), salvation is equated with healing, wholeness, and peace. The peace Christ gives is “not as the world giveth.” It is not dependent on external factors—it is peace in the face of all adversity; to grow in agency, or the capacity to act and not be acted upon. It is to overcome the world; to arrive at a point where you possess sufficient truth to overcome the lies pertaining to this world, so that Satan loses all power to tempt you here, and you bind him through your faith and righteousness. This is how and why he will be bound for a thousand years—and it is something you can begin doing today through your faith. This is what it means to overcome the world.
Transformation through Christ is possible. As a person grows from grace to grace in His truth, his heart will become increasingly pure until he has “lost every desire for sin; and like the ancients, arrives at that point of faith where he is wrapped in the power and glory of his Maker, and is caught up to dwell with Him” (TPJS p. 51).
Alma taught, “Now they, after being sanctified by the Holy Ghost, having their garments made white, being pure and spotless before God, could not look upon sin save it were with abhorrence; and there were many, exceedingly great many, who were made pure and entered into the rest of the Lord their God”(Alma 13:12). In other words, when we are “pure, even as he is pure,” we shall “see him as he is” (1 John 3:2; cf. Matthew 5:5).
In order to know God, we must be wiling to challenge our traditions.
God’s order and glory is truth, and His truth is one (Deuteronomy 6:4). Because we are born into a fallen world, cut off from His truth, we inherit false traditions, habits, assumptions, and biases. These run deeper than just religious affiliation; they affect the very way we perceive ourselves, God, and the world.
It’s likely that we’re all born with a mix of truth and error. The truthful aspects are what we find valuable, and are why we cling to our beliefs in the first place. However, “that wicked one cometh and taketh away light and truth… because of the tradition of their fathers” (D&C 93:39). They act as stumbling blocks that keep us from total harmony with God.
In order to exercise saving faith, we need “a correct idea of [God’s] character, perfections and attributes” (Lectures on Faith 3:4). Because we are allborn into a fallen world, we all inherit lies. Consequently, gaining a correct idea of God’s character, perfections, and attributes will always involve the giving up of certain false beliefs and traditions.
Towards the end of his life, the prophet Joseph remarked: “any person who is exalted to the highest mansion has to abide a celestial law, and the whole law too. But there has been a great difficulty in getting anything into the heads of this generation. It has been like splitting hemlock knots with a corn-dodger for a wedge, and a pumpkin for a beetle. Even the Saints are slow to understand. I have tried for a number of years to get the minds of the Saints prepared to receive the things of God; but we frequently see some of them, after suffering all they have for the work of God, will fly to pieces like glass as soon as anything comes that is contrary to their traditions: they cannot stand the fire at all. How many will be able to abide a celestial law, and go through and receive their exaltation, I am unable to say, as many are called, but few are chosen” (TPJS p. 331).
Even the Saints are slow to understand. Being willing to acknowledge our false traditions and replace them with light is a necessary part of coming to know God. We must be dispelled of all darkness and impurity. “And if your eye be single to my glory, your whole bodies shall be filled with light, and there shall be no darkness in you; and that body which is filled with light comprehendeth all things” (D&C 88:67).
There’s no such thing as being objective. For the last few hundred years, our modern culture has perpetuated the belief that we can think about and observe truth as though we’re just outside spectators. This is a Gentile idea, and is false.
We need to challenge that assumption. No matter who you are, where you go, or what you’re thinking, you are always an active participant in this world. Unlike the Greeks, who believed truth was a thought to be had, the Hebrews believed it was a life to be lived (e.g. compare Socrates with Isaiah). In other words, we do not just think about truth; we do truth.
This might seem like a foreign idea (and by definition, it is), however, grafting ourselves back into the house of Israel requires we shift our worldview from our native Gentile paradigm to that of God’s people. Making this shift will act as a guard-rail against deception in our quest for truth.
You Go Where You Look
As clinical psychologist Jordan Peterson has put it, people are “aiming creatures.” In one sense, this is what our eyes are designed to do; we focus on things so that we can get them. Not too long ago, we hunted for food. I suppose in a humorous way, we still do the same thing at the grocery store, in sports, and other activities. Generally speaking, we have aims and goals in our lives. We’re always aiming at something—whether it’s to graduate, be a better person, get that pay raise, or just make it through the day. Even the lowest or poorest of goals still represent an aim, a direction, and a course of action. Everything we do is motivated by our deeper desires—whatever they might be.
A common tip given to student motorcyclists is to “look where you want to go.” This is because where you look is where you’ll go; it’s inevitable. If you see an upcoming accident, you’re instructed to look to the clear spaces around it and not at the accident itself (otherwise you’ll end up hitting it dead on). The direction you look affects the direction you’re facing, which affects your trajectory, and ultimately your destination.
This is a true principle generally. The direction you look—the things you desire and focus on—will determine your destination.
Part of the reason for this actually isn’t too mysterious. The world presents itself to us according to the things we focus on. For example, have you ever noticed when you’re driving a new car that it suddenly seems like everyone else is driving the same car? Before, it was white noise; now it catches your attention every time.
I remember when I was 5 or 6 hearing the word “awkward” for the first time (the funny thing is, “awkward” wasn’t even the word that was being said; it was “Upward,” the Christian basketball league). I swore that nobody had ever used the word before, but suddenly I was hearing “awkward” left and right.
This holds for more complex ideas too. You’ve probably found when you’re learning something new, or are thinking about a question, that suddenly it’s relevant to all of the conversations you’re having, or things you’re reading. You encounter it everywhere.
Your world presents itself as the product of your conscious attention.
We are encountering an overload of information all the time. It’s too much to make sense of all at once, so we choose to focus on what we think is most important, or relevant. This is like wading out into the world holding a piece of Velcro, which is designed to catch things of a similar nature. If I’m thinking about the word “awkward,” I’ll start to notice every time somebody says it.
So how does this apply spiritually?
Well, like the piece of Velcro, “like attracts like.” In other words, we will gravitate towards whatever is in our own heart. It will affect the things we give attention to, the way we think, the questions we ask, and ultimately the conclusions we draw. It all begins in our heart, with our desires.
The Orientation of Our Heart
This brings us back to the idea covered in the previous post about “the thoughts of the heart.” Just like anger or depression can distort the way you think about something in a moment, so too can pride, fear, complacency, etc., affect the way you think about things generally. The state of one’s heart will reflect its feelings back to itself. If you’re a fearful person, you’re going to see reasons to be fearful. “We don’t see things as they are, we see them as we are.”
The best way to think about the state of your heart is as being “oriented” in a certain direction. Which way are you facing? What are you aiming at? Because like a motorcyclist, you’ll go where you look. You are going to find exactly what you’re looking for—even if it’s not what you think you’re looking for: “For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also” (Matt. 6:21).
We treat confirmation bias like it’s this thing we have to watch out for, but can escape if we’re actively trying to be objective. We cannot. We don’t get the luxury of just making observations about things like we’re outside spectators. We are inescapably participants, subject to the state of our own hearts.
If you were truly objective, you wouldn’t have any interest or curiosity in learning anything in the first place. Interest, curiosity, and questions denote that we are orienting our attention towards something. The kinds of questions we ask reflect our attention and desire–the direction our hearts are pointed.
Furthermore, the kinds of questions we ask determine the kind of answers we can get. Questions function like a flashlight: they focus you on certain things at the exclusion of others. Every question has certain baked-in assumptions about what can be an answer. If I asked you, “what time is it?,” and you told me “strawberry-shortcake,” I couldn’t register that—even as a wrong answer. It’s completely outside of what that question assumes it can discover. That’s not inherently bad, but it highlights the nature of attention. Certain questions can only get you certain answers.
As another example of this: if you asked me, “Is college good?”, it would be improper to just give a yes or no answer. There are certainly beneficial aspects to college, but it may not be for everyone in every case; the culture and ideology tend to be corrupt; there may be more efficient ways to get a good job in your field, etc. Either response (yes or no) may lead you to conclusions I didn’t intend to convey.
The issue then, very frequently, becomes: are we asking the right question? Think about how many times Christ answered a question with another question, or reframed the question being asked. He was changing the orientation of the asker because their question wasn’t going to get them anywhere.
Whether you’re asking a friend a question, conducting a scientific study, or seeking revelation from God, the right questions will get you the right answers.
It all starts with the desires of our hearts. Everything else flows out from there. Our hearts reflect our desires, our desires determine our focus, our focus determines our direction, and our direction determines our destination.
Confirmation bias itself is actually neutral—it just represents our state of being, or the direction we’re headed. It is the frequency on which we resonate. The real question is: what are biased to, and why?
Each line represents an orientation, paradigm, bias, or “frequency,” with its associated trajectory. The yellow line represents the light, word, Spirit, and truth of God. When our hearts are not properly oriented towards Him, our trajectory will take us away from Him.
As intelligent beings, we are always trying to organize facts into a narrative, or story. This is how we understand and make sense of things.
That being said, there are an infinite number of ways to make sense of the world. Because the state of our heart impacts our conclusions, the way we see the world is directly tied to the state of our heart. In other words, the belief system that each person has indicates something about their heart.
Those who have similar hearts come to similar conclusions. This is why we see social trends (correlations) in political parties, music interests (concerts), restaurants, stores, clothing styles, churches, religions, etc. Like attracts like. You will gravitate towards whatever is in your heart. If you are “vibrating” at a certain frequency, you’re going to surround yourself with people and things that are the same. Again, that’s not inherently bad [1]. It’s just important to recognize. The external things orbiting in someone’s life represent the internal condition of their hearts. In a sense, it’s the fruit they bear.
The Path We Walk
Each orientation of the heart will have an associated path (or belief system) built around it. At the end of every path is a god, or ideal, which represents our concept of “perfect” or good. As it’s been said that we’re aiming creatures, the thing you’re aiming at (or are oriented towards) is your god.
Everybody has a god, though not everybody knows it. Even if you’re an atheist, you have a god—and even if you’re Christian, the god you worship may not be the God of Israel. It may be a false image of Him, or something else entirely. Your god may be your possessions, career, business, reputation, spouse, parents, or friends; it may be sports, music, entertainment, comfort, sex, government, academics, medicine, or some form of the “arm of flesh.” It may be the need to be “right” all the time, to be praised, or seen by others. It may be a distorted image of God, such as humility, inclusion, and acceptance at the expense of discernment, truth, and the sacred (or vice versa). In all reality, it will likely be more complicated than a single “thing,” but hopefully these examples illustrate the idea.
Your “god” is the thing your heart is set upon; the thing you’re willing to sacrifice for. Anciently, people would make sacrifices and pay homage to the gods they worshiped. While those specific rituals are not practiced today (at large), our hearts work the same. The god (or image of God) your heart looks to is the god you worship.
Because you go where you look, you will move down a path towards whatever “god” you are looking at. As you persist down that path, you will come to know that god. Like a seed growing into a mature tree, the orientation of your heart will eventually blossom into a comprehensive ideology, worldview, and belief system.
And because truth is not just something we think about, but something we are and do, coming to know your god also means you will be conformed into its image (the Hebrew word for “know” implies experience, the way Adam “knew” Eve, and they became one flesh). Along the way, you may change religions, attitudes, habits, friends, priorities, and more. “Seek and ye shall find” (Matt. 7:7) is first a foremost a statement of fact; you’re going to find whatever is in your heart.
For example, if your heart is filled with fear about not being loved or approved by others, you may first imagine God as a parent with impossibly high and strict standards, and zero tolerance for your flaws. You sense judgment and disapproval from others (whether real or imagined) as your imperfections and errors are on display. Fear prompts you to become a critic of yourself so that nobody else will. You demand flawlessness in every aspect of your life, but find it harder and harder to maintain. The fear of making a mistake even starts to paralyze you. Then you perhaps grow intolerant of the imperfections and mistakes of others, and before you know it, you have been conformed into the image of God you have been trying to appease all your life.
Or perhaps you begin to recognize the bad fruit that serving this “god” bears in your life. You begin to shift your heart’s orientation. You yearn for an end to the mindless rat race, and become attentive to the criticism that you are trying to “work your way to heaven.” As you notice this stress absent in the lives of other Christians, you come to see your past ideals as tyrannical and unhealthy. You question whether a loving God would really make it so hard to return Him. Self-evidently, it seems unreasonable that a parent who really loved their child would keep them out of heaven for their mistakes or flaws. You find it easy to conclude that if God loves us, He will take us no matter how we are—we just need to accept His love. You begin to resent any form of “religious authority” that has the audacity to tell people they need to meet certain standards before God will take them back. You recognize and admire how Christ contradicted the religious authorities of his day, and begin to see Him as irreverent, casual, funny, and opposed to organized religion. In time, you become conformed to this image as well.
These are just a couple of examples that illustrate the idea. Like I mentioned above: this process is actually much more complex and multi-faceted, but the principles are the same. The state of our heart will determine our beliefs, image of God, and who we become.
Because walking down a path is inevitable, it’s important we are intentional about where we look, what we desire, and what we worship. If we seek truth, but our hearts are not right with the Lord, then we will walk a path that takes us away from God.
God is truth (Deuteronomy 32:4), thus if we are interested in obtaining truth, we must gain “a correct idea of [God’s] character, perfections and attributes,” as well as “an actual knowledge that the course of life which [we are] pursuing, is according to his will” (Lectures on Faith 3:4-5). If we’re not actively seeking that, with a willingness to submit to whatever He is, then our hearts will take us a down a path that leads to something else.
So what is the solution? How do we ensure we’re looking and heading in the right direction?
The Straight and Narrow Path
Our goal, above all else, must be to know the only true God. In the intercessory prayer, Christ noted this is the essence of eternal life: “And this is life eternal, that they might know thee the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom thou hast sent” (John 17:3; emphasis added).
As was mentioned earlier, at the end of every path is a god. If we pursue the path to its end, we will know (or experience and become one with) that god. Thus, in pursuing He who is truth (John 14:6), we can know and become one with truth—which is eternal life.
Christ taught, “Enter ye in at the strait gate: 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” (Matt. 7:13-14).
There is a path that leads to eternal life. If there is a path, there is a direction. If there is a direction, obtaining eternal life requires we properly align our hearts to walk in that direction (1 Kings 8:58,61). As a matter of fact, the word “repent” means to turn and face, or also to have a change of mind (to think differently afterwards). Because the “gate” represents the entrance to this path, it should be no surprise that we read “the gate by which ye should enter is repentance…” (2 Nephi 31:17).
In order to obtain truth, your heart must be aligned with God’s will. “The light of the body is the eye: if therefore thine eye be single, thy whole body shall be full of light. But if thine eye be evil, thy whole body shall be full of darkness. If therefore the light that is in thee be darkness, how great is that darkness!” (Matt. 6:22-23)
Now some of the pieces start coming together: Our heart represents the direction we’re facing. We go where we look. Therefore, we are all heading in some direction. If we want the truth of God, we must fundamentally change the direction we’re facing—the things we desire (and consequently the way we think). By reorienting our hearts, we enter in at the straight gate and begin walking the path that leads to eternal life—which Christ observed “few” do.
In order to be in a state where you can receive truth, you must enter in at the strait gate. This raises the question: how? How do we reorient our hearts to God? How do we know which direction to face? What do we set our hearts upon so that we can know God?
Observe how “eternal life,” or “knowing God,” gets defined in scripture:
The apostle John wrote: “And hereby we do know that we know him, if we keep his commandments. He that saith, I know him, and keepeth not his commandments, is a liar, and the truth is not in him. But whoso keepeth his word, in him verily is the love of God perfected: hereby know we that we are in him” (1 John 2:3-5).
John connects the idea of knowing God to keeping His commandments, and being perfected in the love of God. Jesus also connected eternal life with keeping the commandments: “And, behold, one came and said unto him, Good Master, what good thing shall I do, that I may have eternal life? And he said unto him, Why callest thou me good? there is none good but one, that is, God: but if thou wilt enter into life, keep the commandments” (Matt. 19:16-17; Matt. 18:8-9).
On one level, we come to know God by keeping His commandments. Therefore, the first thing we ought to seek for (in our hearts) is to keep the commandments of God, both written in scripture and as He speaks to us personally through the voice of our conscience. Our highest desire and priority should be to obey Him, leaving behind all other idols and worldly cares:
“Then said Jesus unto his disciples, If any man will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow me. For whosoever will save his life shall lose it: and whosoever will lose his life for my sake shall find it” (Matt. 16:24-25; emphasis added).
“Wherefore if thy hand or thy foot offend thee, cut them off, and cast them from thee: it is better for thee to enter into life halt or maimed, rather than having two hands or two feet to be cast into everlasting fire. And if thine eye offend thee, pluck it out, and cast it from thee: it is better for thee to enter into life with one eye, rather than having two eyes to be cast into hell fire” (Matt. 18:8-9).
Losing ourselves for Christ’s sake includes not just doing as He asks, but wanting to do as He asks—seeking for it, hungering and thirsting after righteousness. It’s not to merely inconvenience ourselves, but to give up all other desires, plans, and priorities for His will, trusting that His way will bless us more than any other option available (more on this in a future post). To repent and enter in at the gate is to fully reconcile our ideas, desires, and actions to the voice of the Spirit. It’s to love Him, and who He is; to love purity, holiness, light, love, and life. It is by this total surrender of heart and mind that we orient our hearts to God, and begin upon the path that leads to life.
When we get our hearts right with the Lord, truly right, our minds and hearts will then begin to be changed. As we persist down that path (or “endure to the end”), we will come to know Him in the fullest sense: We become like Him (2 Peter 1:5-8; cf. John 17:19-21), pure “even as he is pure” (1 John 3:2-3), and will know Him face to face (Genesis 32:30; Exodus 33:11).
John taught, “Beloved, now are we the sons of God, and it doth not yet appear what we shall be: but we know that, when he shall appear, we shall be like him; for we shall see him as he is. And every man that hath this hope in him purifieth himself, even as he is pure… Whosoever abideth in him sinneth not: whosoever sinneth hath not seen him, neither known him” (1 John 3:2-3,6; cf. 1 John 4:7-8). Christ also noted, “Blessed are the pure in heart: for they shall see God” (Matt. 5:8; cf. John 6:46).
As was stated above, what we see in the world is a reflection of what’s in our heart. Hence, those who are pure “even as he is pure” will begin to see Him. They’ll begin to see Him in every aspect of their lives, in every detail of the world, and in their own countenance; and eventually they will see and know Him face to face (John 14:21-23; cf. 1 Corinthians 13:12).
Look to Life to Receive Truth
If our goal or desire is anything other than knowing God, our best efforts in discovering truth will take us down one of the many paths leading to death (Matt. 7:13). If we are not actively seeking to learn how God is, and become like He is, our heart will lead us astray (Jeremiah 17:9; contrast with Matt. 5:8). Hence the importance of turning our hearts (Luke 1:16; cf. Psalm 51:10; Jeremiah 24:7; Ezekiel 36:26).
On the other hand, when we orient ourselves to this goal, and are willing to sacrifice any inconvenience or comfort to have it, we allow the Spirit of Truth to flow into our lives and teach us “the truth of all things.” We begin judging ideas and teachings based on their efficacy to bring us closer to God (i.e. accord with His Spirit). We carefully observe whether they bear the fruit of the Spirit in our lives—not just as passing feelings, but as attributes growing within us: “love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness, temperance” (Galatians 5:23 [19-23]); and whether they have the power to bring us into God’s presence—to know Him in the fullest sense.
With this in mind, we understand more clearly these words from Christ in the Sermon on the Mount:
“Enter ye in at the strait gate: 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.
“Beware of false prophets, which come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly they are ravening wolves. Ye shall know them by their fruits. Do men gather grapes of thorns, or figs of thistles? Even so every good tree bringeth forth good fruit; but a corrupt tree bringeth forth evil fruit. A good tree cannot bring forth evil fruit, neither can a corrupt tree bring forth good fruit. Every tree that bringeth not forth good fruit is hewn down, and cast into the fire. Wherefore by their fruits ye shall know them.
“Not every one that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven; but he that doeth the will of my Father which is in heaven. Many will say to me in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in thy name? and in thy name have cast out devils? and in thy name done many wonderful works?And then will I profess unto them, I never knew you: depart from me, ye that work iniquity” (Matt. 7:13-23; emphasis added).
Those who live by these words of the Savior will invariably be led to the truth. They will be equipped to discern truth from error, and true messengers from false ones.
John boldly proclaimed: “We are of God: he that knoweth God heareth us; he that is not of God heareth not us. Hereby know we the spirit of truth, and the spirit of error” (1 John 4:6; emphasis added).
Paul similarly stated: “If any man think himself to be a prophet, or spiritual, let him acknowledge that the things that I write unto you are the commandments of the Lord” (1 Corinthians 14:37).
Christ also taught: “If any man will do [God’s] will, he shall know of the doctrine, whether it be of God, or whether I speak of myself” (John 7:17).
In other words, the key to recognizing true messengers of God is to seek to know Him by keeping His commandments and aligning our whole hearts to His will.
As we persist in this state of total surrender, we will begin to acquire His attributes. The greater influence the Spirit has in our lives, the more we become one with Christ and can see things as He sees them—through the mind and will of the Father. As our understanding is thus quickened by the Spirit, we can perceive greater truth. This enables us to see “afar off” (into eternity) both spiritually and physically.
Comparatively, Peter says that “he that lacketh these things [faith, virtue, knowledge, temperance, patience, godliness, brotherly kindness, and charity] is blind, and cannot see afar off” (2 Peter 1:9). Paul similarly noted, “But the natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God: for they are foolishness unto him: neither can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned” (1 Corinthians 2:14). Consequently, those who are “not of God” will reject His servants.
Christ Himself was rejected as an imposter by the religious majority of His day because their hearts were not aligned with God’s: “Jesus said unto them, If God were your Father, ye would love me: for I proceeded forth and came from God… Why do ye not understand my speech? even because ye cannot hear my word. Ye are of your father the devil, and the lusts of your father ye will do. He was a murderer from the beginning, and abode not in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he speaketh a lie, he speaketh of his own: for he is a liar, and the father of it. And because I tell you the truth, ye believe me not... He that is of God heareth God’s words: ye therefore hear them not, because ye are not of God” (John 8:42-47; emphasis added).
A Note on the Restoration
When it comes to determining whether or not Joseph Smith was a true or false prophet, we ought to evaluate him by the Savior’s criteria: what is the fruit? Does it bring you closer to God? Does it inspire and empower you to be more like Him? Does it bear greater love, joy, peace, gentleness, meekness, etc., in your character? Does it make you more sensitive to the voice of the Spirit? Does (or can) it bring you through the strait gate, and along the narrow way that leads to life?
Joseph Smith claimed, “If you will obey the Gospel with honest hearts, I promise you, in the name of the Lord, that the gifts as promised by our Savior will follow you, and by this you may prove me to be a true servant of God” (Teachings of the Presidents: Joseph Smith, Ch. 9: Gifts of the Spirit). Therefore, in a very real way, Joseph’s claims can be verified based on their ability to do these things. If obtaining these things is your goal, and your heart is set upon knowing God, then you will be able to determine whether the restoration and its associated scripture, doctrines, ordinances, etc., add any value to your journey.
Joseph is, in essence, claiming to provide a treasure map. If you read and follow the map correctly, you will find the treasure—else he is a false prophet. I will tell you most assuredly that the map is true and faithful. It will guide you into greater light, love, and pure knowledge. When correctly understood, and closely followed, it will do all Joseph claims it does. I am yet to find another system of religion that can do as much for an honest disciple as can the restored gospel.
On the other hand, if you are either unacquainted with or disinterested in knowing God (and all that entails), it does not matter if you are born with the restored gospel or encounter it in another context, it will sooner or later appear foolishness to you. Even the best attempts to reconcile history, scripture, or doctrine will seem forced, convenient, or just a way to “make things fit.” It will not seem like the truth, and trying to believe it is will feel like an increasingly heavy burden.
A living covenant has both blessings and curses attached. You can think of it as a huge stone: if you abide in the covenant, it will become a stepping stone under your feet on your ascent to God; if you do not, it will seem a burden on your shoulders that threatens to crush you. Hence, Christ said, “on whomsoever this stone [the kingdom of God] shall fall, it shall grind him to powder” (see The Parable of the Lion).
All things you don’t understand pertaining to the Restoration can be reconciled, but first you must be reconciled to God through the atonement of Christ, having an eye single to His glory. Then your whole body will be full of light (Matt. 6:22). “Seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all [your needs] shall be added unto you” (Matt. 6:33).
What do you desire? What are you seeking first?
Christ’s love for us knows no limit, but because He loves us His standards are exacting. He asks for our whole hearts because He knows anything less will take us down a different path: “No man can serve two masters: for either he will hate the one, and love the other; or else he will hold to the one, and despise the other (Matt. 6:24); “if thine eye offend thee, pluck it out, and cast it from thee: it is better for thee to enter into life with one eye, rather than having two eyes to be cast into hell fire” (Matt. 18:9); “he that loveth father or mother more than me is not worthy of me: and he that loveth son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me” (Matt. 10:37); “if any man will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow me” (Matt. 16:24).
“Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God isone Lord: And thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thine heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy might” (Deuteronomy 6:4-5; emphasis added).
Built Upon a Rock
At the conclusion of the Sermon on the Mount, Christ said: “Therefore whosoever heareth these sayings of mine, and doeth them, I will liken him unto a wise man, which built his house upon a rock: And the rain descended, and the floods came, and the winds blew, and beat upon that house; and it fell not: for it was founded upon a rock. And every one that heareth these sayings of mine, and doeth them not, shall be likened unto a foolish man, which built his house upon the sand: And the rain descended, and the floods came, and the winds blew, and beat upon that house; and it fell: and great was the fall of it” (Matt. 7:24-27).
If we give everything to follow Christ, passing through the strait gate and walking the narrow way, we will have built our lives on a rock-solid foundation. We will withstand the rain, winds, and floods that threaten to deter us from our course. If on the other hand we hold back a portion of our hearts, try to serve two masters, or are more concerned with the things of this world, the storms and floods of life will disorient us, confuse us, and bring us down.
Ultimately, the hearts matter above all else in the search for truth (spiritual or otherwise). In order to see and understand truth, we must live truthfully. There is no other way to do that than the way prescribed by Christ. He is the Way, the Truth, and the Life. To know Him is to know truth, see truth, and become truth —which is eternal life.
“God has created man with a mind capable of instruction, and a faculty which may be enlarged in proportion to the heed and diligence given to the light communicated from heaven to the intellect; and . . . the nearer man approaches perfection, the clearer are his views, and the greater his enjoyments, till he has overcome the evils of his life and lost every desire for sin; and like the ancients, arrives at that point of faith where he is wrapped in the power and glory of his Maker, and is caught up to dwell with Him” —Joseph Smith
[1] The fact that “like attracts like” can apply to either our detriment or our benefit. If our hearts are turned away from God, the things we draw into our life will create greater obstacles in coming to Him. On the other hand, we read: “intelligence cleaveth unto intelligence; wisdom receiveth wisdom; truth embraceth truth; virtue loveth virtue; light cleaveth unto light… Draw near unto me and I will draw near unto you; seek me diligently and ye shall find me; ask, and ye shall receive; knock, and it shall be opened unto you” (D&C 88:40, 63).
Anciently, many civilizations believed in worshipped a pantheon of gods. There were different gods for love, anger, death, war, hunting, agriculture, weather, parties, childbirth, travel, etc.
People payed homage to the gods from whom they sought blessings. If they wanted to be successful in war, they supplicated the god of war; if they experienced a drought or famine, they’d make offerings to the gods of agriculture and weather, and so on.
Furthermore, the ancient gentiles did not believe there was any inherent unity among the gods; one god might come along one day and thump another one on the head, and that would be that – no more hunting. It made for a pretty fickle and arbitrary world.
What made the God of Israel unique is that He was all powerful, and unified in purpose. He was kind, but also severe. He was strong, but also longsuffering. He empowered His people in war, but also commanded them to not murder. In short, the gentile worldview believed that all of the elements of life worked independently of one another, while the Israelite’s believed that they all fit together inside of one great whole.
Hence, we have Moses’ unique declaration to a people who just came out of a polytheistic culture: “Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God is one Lord: And thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thine heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy might” (Deuteronomy 6:4-5; emphasis added). (As a side note, all of the heavenly host were still referred to as “gods,” but unlike the polytheistic gods, they all worked together in harmony under the Most High God).
Because Jehovah’s attributes encompassed all other “gods,” the ancients naturally wanted to understand how He balanced many (seemingly) contradictory characteristics. How could He support both love and war? How could He sanction one thing in one instance, but not in another? Just who is this “Most High God”, and what is He like?
The divisive thing about Jehovah is that His character and attributes are an all-or-nothing package deal. There’s no picking and choosing the parts you like while discarding the rest. You must take Him as He is.
The tendency of many people today is to decide upfront what they believe is right and moral, and then make a God in their own image. Every single person who believes in God is going to believe He aligns with their political ideology, personal philosophy, etc. While these things absolutely should be aligned, most people take it upon themselves to decide what they think is right and wrong before consulting God, and then assume He must agree with their beliefs. You may find that most of the time, the “God” people have created in their own image doesn’t require them to really change, either. Our behavior reflects our beliefs, our beliefs reflect our values, and our values reflect our image of God.
This is really just a shade of polytheism. When people do this, they aren’t worshipping Jehovah, they’re worshipping “the god of niceness,” and “the god of parties,” and “the god of church-attendance,” and so on.
A Correct Idea of His Character, Perfections, and Attributes
In the Lectures on Faith we read that in order for men and women to exercise faith unto life and salvation, they must have “a correct idea of [God’s] character, perfections and attributes” (Lectures on Faith 3:4).
God is salvation, and Christ is a saved being. His name (order, pattern, character, attributes) is the only name whereby we can be saved from the state of death common to us all.
There is an order to all creation. Inasmuch as we depart from that order, we will die. We are all branches dislodged from the tree of life, projected to decay forever and ever. Only by being reclaimed by one willing to pay the price, and thereafter living in harmony with the order of creation, can we have hope for salvation. The life, ministry, and atonement of Jesus Christ makes both of these things possible; not only has He paid the price to reclaim us, but He has shown us the way whereby we can remain with Him. His life and example are the essence of heaven itself, and He lends His grace to purify those who follow Him.
Continuing in the Lectures on Faith, we read:
“But to be a little more particular, let us ask, where shall we find a prototype into whose likeness we may be assimilated, in order that we may be made partakers of life and salvation? or in other words, where shall we find a saved being? for if we can find a saved being, we may ascertain, without much difficulty, what all others must be, in order to be saved—they must be like that individual or they cannot be saved: we think, that it will not be a matter of dispute, that two beings, who are unlike each other, cannot both be saved; for whatever constitutes the salvation of one, will constitute the salvation of every creature which will be saved: and if we find one saved being in all existence, we may see what all others must be, or else not be saved. We ask, then, where is the prototype? or where is the saved being? We conclude as to the answer of this question there will be no dispute among those who believe the bible, that it is Christ: all will agree in this that he is the prototype or standard of salvation, or in other words, that he is a saved being.
“And if we should continue our interrogation, and ask how it is that he is saved, the answer would be, because he is a just and holy being; and if he were any thing different from what he is he would not be saved; for his salvation depends on his being precisely what he is and nothing else; for if it were possible for him to change in the least degree, so sure he would fail of salvation and lose all his dominion, power, authority and glory, which constitutes salvation; for salvation consists in the glory, authority, majesty, power and dominion which Jehovah possesses, and in nothing else; and no being can possess it but himself or one like him: Thus says John, in his first epistle, 3:2 and 3: ‘Behold, now we are the sons of God, and it doth not appear what we shall be; but we know, that when he shall appear we shall be like him; for we shall see him as he is. And any man that has this hope in him purifies himself, even as he is pure.’—Why purify himself as he is pure? because, if they do not they cannot be like him.” (Lectures on Faith 7:9; emphasis added)
Christ needed to be exactly what He was in order to be a “saved being.” Hence, He is the way, the truth, and the life. He emulated the various attributes of God in a perfectly balanced way – balance being the key word.
When we’re developing any skill, whether it’s riding a bike, singing, cooking, or hitting a baseball, we must find balance between several principles in order to find mastery. Too much of one thing (or too little of another) can be enough to prevent good results. So it is with the character of Christ. To worship Him is not to love one of His attributes at the expense of all others, but to find the balance between them all. He is merciful, but He is also just. He is meek, but He is also bold.
Hear, O Israel, Jehovah our God is one Lord.
Jesus’s prayed for His followers, “That they all may be one; as thou, Father, art in me, and I in thee, that they also may be one in us” (John 17:21). His desire is that we share in His character, perfections, and attributes – as He is one with the Father, so may we be one with Him. On this oneness hangs life and salvation: “And this is life eternal, that they might know thee the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom thou hast sent” (John 17:3).
The Lies That Resonate
As we are all quickened by a portion of the Lord’s Spirit, we have an inherent ability to recognize truth. Satan combats this through temptation and false traditions, both of which obscure our view and make truth harder to detect (D&C 93:39). The average person will not readily embrace darkness and evil. Instead, Satan crafts lies that have some sort of basis in truth (for which the soul yearns). However, like salt water to the dehydrated, the more they buy into the lie, the more devastating its effects become.
For example, the increasing desire some people have to treat all people’s beliefs as equally valid is rooted in humility. However, it begins to find itself less balanced as it emphasizes this one virtue at the expense of all others. Moral relativism leads to nihilism, depression, and worse. The fruit is not good. Hence life eternal is to know God; salvation is found, not by worshipping “the god of humility,” but by worshipping the Father in the name of Christ.
Every popular belief system, ideology, and social movement is based on some true principle or attribute of Deity. Unfortunately, they’re almost all short-sighted, imbalanced, and destructive. They have a form of godliness, but deny the power thereof. Like trying to survive by drinking ocean water, people are drawn in by the forms and depraved by the content. It’s salt water to the soul.
Seeking God
The only way we can only guard against these clever deceptions is through a firm desire to know God. Seeking Him must be our highest priority. He’s promised that those who do so in our day will find Him:
“And the Lord shall scatter you [Israel] among the nations, and ye shall be left few in number among the heathen, whither the Lord shall lead you. And there ye shall serve gods, the work of men’s hands, wood and stone, which neither see, nor hear, nor eat, nor smell. But if from thence thou shalt seek the Lord thy God, thou shalt find him, if thou seek him with all thy heart and with all thy soul” (Deuteronomy 4:27-29).
We can seek Him by letting go of our pre-determined beliefs of what’s right and wrong – letting go of any position, paying any price, and being completely open to receiving and obeying the truth He reveals. We can allow God to teach us about Himself without reservations, willing to change our political views, doctrinal views, or social views to align with what His word. As Jacob taught, “seek not to counsel the Lord, but to take counsel from his hand” (Jacob 4:10). This takes faith that He knows better than we do.
We can seek Him by aligning ourselves to all we know to be right. We can commit, here and now, to obey every prompting and live by every truth that He reveals to us in the day-to-day moments of our lives. We can live in the light of what our conscience currently tells us is right and wrong. One repentant person in the scriptures exemplified this attitude in prayer: “O God, Aaron hath told me that there is a God; and if there is a God, and if thou art God, wilt thou make thyself known unto me, and I will give away all my sins to know thee, and that I may be raised from the dead, and be saved at the last day” (Alma 22:18).
As you’re reading this, you may be able to think of something awry in your life that you know needs fixing; there’s the starting point. Privately seek to set your life in order; do the things you know you should be doing.
We can seek Him by diligently seeking further light and knowledge from the Lord directly. We can allow the scriptures and (more importantly) revelation to inform our understanding of right and wrong. We can allow the scriptures to tell us what they say instead of us telling them what they say. We can search the scriptures diligently for a deeper and clearer understanding of God’s will, generally and for our own lives.
As we do these things, giving greater heed (obedience) and diligence (searching) to His word, He will open up and reveal to us greater and greater truths about Himself, His character, perfections, and attributes. We will come to know Him, and thus be partakers of eternal life (John 17:3 cf. Matthew 7:21-23; 25:11-12; Alma 12:9-15).
Nephi was shown in vision that in the last days there would be a great division among all people – “either to the convincing of them unto peace and life eternal, or unto the deliverance of them to the hardness of their hearts and the blindness of their minds unto their being brought down into captivity, and also into destruction…” (1 Nephi 14:7). Jesus referred to this division using several parables, namely: the wheat and the tares, the wise and the foolish virgins, and the sheep and the goats (divided on his right hand and on his left).
Though we see increasing political division today, the division prophesied of is not strictly political; it is a spiritual matter, split between those on the side of life, and those on the side of death. Ironically, those on the side of death are always split amongst themselves – whether it be politically, religiously, or otherwise. There is only one narrow way that leads to life, while the ways leading to death are nearly infinite (Matthew 7:13-14). Unity is only to be found in the truth; everything else is just chaos.
The angel described this great division using the imagery of two churches, “And he said unto me: Behold there are save two churches only; the one is the church of the Lamb of God, and the other is the church of the devil; wherefore, whoso belongeth not to the church of the Lamb of God belongeth to that great church, which is the mother of abominations; and she is the whore of all the earth” (1 Nephi 14:10).
One of the reasons the church of the devil is referred to as the whore of all the earth is because she is indiscriminate in her values. Whereas the church of the Lamb has only one husband (the Lord), the church of the devil subscribes to every idea, philosophy, and practice that leads to death (and there are many).
Those who make up the church of the Lamb are His “saints,” or sanctified ones (1 Nephi 14:12). These are saints by Book of Mormon definition – those who yield to the enticings of the Holy Spirit and are changed through the atonement of Christ (Mosiah 3:19). Membership in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints does not alone make one a saint. We must literally be transformed by Christ’s atonement from desiring death to desiring life (Mosiah 5:2), otherwise we’re not saints – we’re just ‘ain’ts.’ One can be a member of the Church and still belong to the church of the devil; this division is a lifestyle and a culture, not a title. The great division will take place among all people, including the Church. As has been shown previously, there are many Latter-day Saints who will end up fighting against the work of Zion.
The Gentiles Go Two Ways
As Nephi was taught in vision, everything is about whether or not the Gentiles will harden their hearts. If they don’t, they will be sifted with the wheat; if they do, then with the tares. Latter-day Saints are not yet exempt from being “identified with the gentiles” (D&C 109:60). When the scriptures speak of a great division taking place among the Gentiles, that division happens on all levels. The only difference is that those of the Church will be held to a higher standard; with the greater light comes the greater condemnation (D&C 82:3). The Lord Himself indicates that the destruction and calamities of the last days will begin first upon His own house, and from thence go forth to the rest of the world (D&C 112:25-26).
Speaking of the Church, the Lord said, “For they were set to be a light unto the world, and to be the saviors of men; and inasmuch as they are not the saviors of men, they are as salt that has lost its savor, and is thenceforth good for nothing but to be cast out and trodden under foot of men” (D&C 103:9-10). We have been given too much to not do anything about it. If we do not become a light unto the world, and saviors of men, we will one day find ourselves cut off from the Lord’s covenant people.
The Savior prophesied the day the Gentiles would sin against His gospel. As you read this statement of the Lord’s carefully, you’ll see how it applies not only to the Gentiles of America, but of the Church as well:
“And thus commandeth the Father that I should say unto you: At that day when the Gentiles shall sin against my gospel, and shall reject the fulness of my gospel, and shall be lifted up in the pride of their hearts above all nations, and above all the people of the whole earth, and shall be filled with all manner of lyings, and of deceits, and of mischiefs, and all manner of hypocrisy, and murders, and priestcrafts, and whoredoms, and of secret abominations; and if they shall do all those things, and shall reject the fulness of my gospel, behold, saith the Father, I will bring the fulness of my gospel from among them.
“And then will I remember my covenant which I have made unto my people, O house of Israel, and I will bring my gospel unto them. And I will show unto thee, O house of Israel, that the Gentiles shall not have power over you; but I will remember my covenant unto you, O house of Israel, and ye shall come unto the knowledge of the fulness of my gospel.
“But if the Gentiles will repent and return unto me, saith the Father, behold they shall be numbered among my people, O house of Israel. And I will not suffer my people, who are of the house of Israel, to go through among them, and tread them down, saith the Father.
“But if they will not turn unto me, and hearken unto my voice, I will suffer them, yea, I will suffer my people, O house of Israel, that they shall go through among them, and shall tread them down, and they shall be as salt that hath lost its savor, which is thenceforth good for nothing but to be cast out, and to be trodden under foot of my people, O house of Israel” (3 Nephi 16:10-15).
Now, there is a positive side to this, which is that the Gentiles have the opportunity to perform the greatest task ever assigned to mankind. The opportunity to be a light to the Gentiles and saviors to the house of Israel will include ministering with miraculous power hardly conceivable to us now. These will be the 144,000 high priests seen by John (Revelation 14:1), the Gentile kings and queens seen by Isaiah (Isaiah 49:21-22), the saviors on Mount Zion mentioned in Obadiah (Obadiah 1:21), and the fulness of the Gentiles spoken of by Lehi and others (1 Nephi 15:13-14, 3 Nephi 16:4, Romans 11:25-26). These will gather in the lost tribes of Israel in the greatest missionary effort the world has ever seen.
The Three Nephites serve as a type of these servants, not only as translated beings, but as being a few of the only surviving Nephites (a covenant people that hardened their hearts). The ratio of the righteous and wicked is never split 50/50; it is always the few and the many.
As Nephi wrote of our day, “I beheld the church of the Lamb of God, and its numbers were few, because of the wickedness and abominations of the whore who sat upon many waters; nevertheless, I beheld that the church of the Lamb, who were the saints of God, were also upon all the face of the earth; and their dominions upon the face of the earth were small, because of the wickedness of the great whore whom I saw” (1 Nephi 14:12; cf. 2 Nephi 28:8). This is always the case in scriptural history (e.g. Noah’s family vs. the world, Abraham’s family vs. Sodom & Gomorrah, Lehi’s family vs. Jerusalem, etc.).
Furthermore, the wicked Nephites and the Three Disciples were both at opposite extremes of the spectrum; one side so filled with life that it could not be taken from them (3 Nephi 28:7), and the other so captive to death that it was celebrated (Moroni 9:9-10). Such is the prophesied division of our day; everyone will essentially end up at one end or the other.
When Will These Things Come to Pass?
The Lord indicates that this great division takes place as the result of a great and marvelous work He will perform. Those who love life and truth will be polarized to one side, while those who harden their hearts and love a lie will be polarized to the other. These things are beginning to happen now, but when the Lord “makes bare” His arm in the eyes of all nations, they will amplify until “the consumption decreed has made a full end of all nations.”
The most notable catalyst to these things will be the arrival of the Lord’s end time servant. He is prophesied to come with a greater portion of the words of Christ, which the Gentiles will summarily reject:
“But behold, the life of my servant shall be in my hand; therefore they shall not hurt him, although he shall be marred because of them. Yet I will heal him, for I will show unto them that my wisdom is greater than the cunning of the devil. Therefore it shall come to pass that whosoever will not believe in my words, who am Jesus Christ, which the Father shall cause him to bring forth unto the Gentiles, and shall give unto him power that he shall bring them forth unto the Gentiles, (it shall be done even as Moses said) they shall be cut off from among my people who are of the covenant” (3 Nephi 21:10-11).
As there is an opposition in all things, the outpouring of light in that day will be accompanied by an increase in darkness. We will see both greater truths and greater deceptions; both greater peace and greater war. The increased opposition will propel those who love God further than they could get otherwise. We read of such a precedent among the Nephites:
“And they were lifted up in pride, even to the persecution of many of their brethren. Now this was a great evil, which did cause the more humble part of the people to suffer great persecutions, and to wade through much affliction. Nevertheless they did fast and pray oft, and did wax stronger and stronger in their humility, and firmer and firmer in the faith of Christ, unto the filling their souls with joy and consolation, yea, even to the purifying and the sanctification of their hearts, which sanctification cometh because of their yielding their hearts unto God” (Helaman 3:34-35; emphasis added).
The opposition and persecution from the wicked will be a catalyst for the righteous to obtain more power with God. As Nephi wrote, “And it came to pass that I beheld that the great mother of abominations did gather together multitudes upon the face of all the earth, among all the nations of the Gentiles, to fight against the Lamb of God. And it came to pass that I, Nephi, beheld the power of the Lamb of God, that it descended upon the saints of the church of the Lamb, and upon the covenant people of the Lord, who were scattered upon all the face of the earth; and they were armed with righteousness and with the power of God in great glory.” (1 Nephi 14:13-14).
Hence, when the Lord’s servant is “marred because of them,” the Lord will heal him (which in Isaiah’s context, refers to being made a translated being). It will be in that day when the prophecy of Joel will be fulfilled, which says, “I will pour out my spirit upon all flesh; and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, your old men shall dream dreams, your young men shall see visions” (Joel 2:28).
To the Right or the Left?
How can we ensure we will ripen with the wheat and not the tares? Considering even the Church will be divided, how can we make certain we are not among the wicked?
The most important thing we can do now is take honest inventory of our own hearts. Do we embrace a culture of life, or a culture of death? Are our individual actions in harmony with life? Do we seek for the welfare of others? Do we love truth? Are we striving to understand greater truth and live accordingly? Are we inquiring of the Lord to learn from Him personally, or are we hardening our hearts by expecting others to do so for us?
One of the most vital indicators is how we approach religion. If religion is the search for truth, revelation and repentance will serve us well. On the other hand, if we view religion as short list of beliefs or creeds, “Mormonism” (so-called) is no different than any other ideology.
Ideology and other forms of dead religion have a fixed set of beliefs. You can study their tenets for a few months and have a comprehensive understanding of the belief system. It’s limited. It’s finite. It has an end. It’s a worldview that teaches you the “right answers” to every circumstance and question, but only offers a shallow understanding of fundamental issues and doctrines. For this reason, an ideologue is very predictable. A conversation with any number of individuals who wholesale subscribe to the same ideology will always be the same; there is no thinking left to be done.
We typically speak of a dead vs. living religion in terms of continuing revelation – and that idea is true enough – however, instead of waiting on continuing revelation from others, we ought to be seeking it ourselves. If our search for truth does not result in continuing revelation, we do not have a living religion. What the restored gospel offers is keys to an infinitely deep wealth of knowledge. If we limit the truths that have been restored to revised bullet points, it is no different than the rest of Christianity.
For example, if the value we find in the plan of salvation (as we commonly refer to our flow chart) is that instead of believing we die and just go to heaven or hell, we actually go some place else and then eventually are sorted into one of three buckets, our religion is just as dead as any other. The value is in understanding why these things are so (for starters, that they act like rungs on a ladder of progression).
Most Christians put God in a box, and many Latter-day Saints just put Him in a slightly bigger one. Revealed truth is not intended to act as a fence, but rather as a gateway to greater understanding and further truth. True principles are infinitely profound; you can always take them deeper. False precepts that are not aligned to the order of heaven will put a dam in truth’s logical and eternal flow. Truth expands into eternity, and fits inside a larger pattern of life and creation. You can see fractals of true principles on infinitely smaller and larger scales. False principles are typically limited to one arbitrary explanation; the question “why,” is usually answered with, “that’s just how God made it.”
Our love for truth over ideology will be a distinguishing factor between the two churches in days to come. We must love truth above all else. If this idea doesn’t make sense, please let me know and I’ll try to find a clearer way to articulate it. There’s an enjoyable block from the Teachings of the Presidents: Joseph Smith manual that’s worth reading here.
To love truth is to love the order of life and creation. It is to have a desire to uphold it, maintain it, and promote it. It is to care for the welfare of others, individually and collectively. No matter how much truth someone possess today, this is what matters most.
There are those now who love life, but have not yet been sanctified in truth to the end that Christ desires. They have drawn lines in the sand and put some limits on God. I believe men like Jordan Peterson fall in this camp. He has extracted greater value and truth from the scriptures than have most Christians. He apparently cares deeply for the life and welfare of others, but currently seems hesitant to accept that most scripture is more than myth. These kinds of people are generally reconciled to the truth they have, and live accordingly. When the Lord sets His hand again, they will be given the opportunity to embrace greater truth, or will find their sacred cows become stumbling blocks.
A love for light and truth will matter more and more in the coming years. Ideology creates the illusion that we possess greater knowledge than we really do. Without being grounded in a genuine knowledge of the truth, we will be swept up in the wave of deception to come.
It’s hard for many of us now to perceive a world like the end of the Nephite civilization. It’s even harder to imagine ourselves being polarized to such a dark extreme. Yet, every historical instance where evil rules, whether it be Sodom, Jerusalem, or Nazi Germany, ordinary people find it surprisingly easy to gradually tolerate and permit greater wickedness. Only those ever vigilant for life and truth can avoid moral decline. As G.K. Chesterson put it, “A dead thing can go with the stream, but only a living thing can go against it.” Or, as the Savior put it, “ye must watch and pray always, lest ye be tempted by the devil, and ye be led away captive by him” (3 Nephi 18:15).
Here is a thought provoking quote from a German who experienced the rise of the Nazis:
“If the last and worst act of the whole regime had come immediately after the first and smallest, thousands, yes, millions would have been sufficiently shocked—if, let us say, the gassing of the Jews in ’43 had come immediately after the ‘German Firm’ stickers on the windows of non-Jewish shops in ’33. But of course this isn’t the way it happens. In between come all the hundreds of little steps, some of them imperceptible, each of them preparing you not to be shocked by the next. Step C is not so much worse than Step B, and, if you did not make a stand at Step B, why should you at Step C? And so on to Step D.
“And one day, too late, your principles, if you were ever sensible of them, all rush in upon you. The burden of self-deception has grown too heavy, and some minor incident, in my case my little boy, hardly more than a baby, saying ‘Jewish swine,’ collapses it all at once, and you see that everything, everything, has changed and changed completely under your nose. The world you live in—your nation, your people—is not the world you were born in at all. The forms are all there, all untouched, all reassuring, the houses, the shops, the jobs, the mealtimes, the visits, the concerts, the cinema, the holidays. But the spirit, which you never noticed because you made the lifelong mistake of identifying it with the forms, is changed.” (Milton Sanford Mayer, They Thought They Were Free: The Germans 1933-45)
On the same topic, this short clip from Jordan Peterson illustrates this idea:
Of course, these examples are just a sample of all that could be said on this subject. The findings of the Stanford Prison and Milgram Shock experiments are also noteworthy, and worth taking the time to look into.
The little things are the big things.
We want to ensure, above all else, our hearts remain pure through all that is to come. Those on the side of life (who belong to the church of the Lamb) are those who have been sanctified and made pure.
We are sanctified through truth, which is the word of God (John 17:17). As we yield to truth by looking to God in every thought, our hearts will be purified and preserved. The light within us will grow brighter while the Spirit withdraws from the world around us. Truth will be made plainer and clearer to us everyday amidst a nation dwindling in unbelief.
What is unique about the righteous portion in Jesus’ parables? They are full of the Holy Ghost (having been sanctified in truth) and desire the life and welfare of others (see Matthew 25). They love light rather than darkness, truth rather than lies, and life rather than death.
There are only two churches. Though both options will require everything that we have, it is that simple. Light or darkness? Truth or lie? Life or death? Creation or destruction? Love or fear? Good or evil? “I call heaven and earth to record this day against you, that I have set before you life and death, blessing and cursing: therefore choose life, that both thou and thy seed may live” (Deuteronomy 30:19).
Elder LeGrand Richards tells an interesting story about his cousin on a mission that I like:
“This cousin of mine who went to Norway—and he had been raised so that he had no experience with difficult situations—wrote me when he had been there a few weeks, and he said, ‘LeGrand, I met a man the other day who knows more about religion than I’ve ever dreamed of, and I told him that if he had something better than I had, I’d join his church.’
“I wrote back and, calling him by name, I said, ‘You told him just the right thing. If he has something better than you have, you ought to join his church. Does he have something better than a personal visitation of God the Father and his Son, Jesus Christ, after centuries of darkness, when the heavens had been sealed and not one religious leader believed that there was any direct communication from God upon this earth today? Does he have something better than the coming of Moroni, and the knowledge of the gold plates, and the marvelous message that those plates contain and that was translated by the gift and the power of God? Does he have something better than the coming of John the Baptist with the Aaronic Priesthood, the power and the authority to lead men down into the waters of baptism for the remission of their sins? Does he have something better than the coming of Peter, James, and John with the holy Melchizedek Priesthood, the power to organize again the Church and the kingdom of God upon the earth and to bestow the Holy Ghost by the laying on of hands?’ Then I went on to recall the mission of Moses and Elijah and Elias, and I said: ‘If he has something better than that, you ought to join his church.’ Now, I hope that all of you feel as I do regarding this matter.” (“God’s Simple Eternal Truth, 1979)
Establishing the Cause of Zion 