Borne Upon Eagles’ Wings

Ex. 19: 4 Ye have seen what I did unto the Egyptians, and how I bare you on eagles’ wings, and brought you unto myself.
Isa. 40: 31 But they that wait upon the Lord shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings as eagles; they shall run, and not be weary; and they shall walk, and not faint.

I believe that all little children who have not arrived at the age of accountability are innocent of sin and are alive in Christ. However, the Bible teaches that Adam fell and consequently all men need saving. Therefore, using this analogy, I think it can be said that coming into a fallen world from the presence of God is like falling off a cliff into a free fall with the ground (death and hell) accelerating towards us with each passing moment. Ignorant or not, gravity is in operation and the consequences of the fall are imminent.

Alma 34: 9 For it is expedient that an atonement should be made; for according to the great plan of the Eternal God there must be an atonement made, or else all mankind must unavoidably perish; yea, all are hardened; yea, all are fallen and are lost, and must perish except it be through the atonement which it is expedient should be made.

But the Bible says the there is Hope in Christ. That by the Grace of Christ we can be initially saved and rescued by faith alone. The Bible says that no one commeth unto the Son save the Father draweth Him. Therefore the Father reaches down to rescue us from our fall and the impending impact. God promises that eventually all men will be drawn unto Christ. But while all men will eventually accept the saving embrace of Christ, some will later turn away. Christ says none will be lost save the Sons of Perdition.

John 12:32 "And I, if I be lifted up from the earth, will draw all men unto me"
John 6: 44. "No man can come to me, except the Father which hath sent me draw him: and I will raise him up at the last day"
John 6: 39 "And this is the Father’s will which hath sent me, that of all which he hath given me I should lose nothing, but should raise it up again at the last day."
John 17: 12 "While I was with them in the world, I kept them in thy name: those that thou gavest me I have kept, and none of them is lost, but the son of perdition; that the scripture might be fulfilled."
Rom 14:10-12 But why dost thou judge thy brother? or why dost thou set at nought thy brother? for we shall all stand before the judgment seat of Christ. For it is written, As I live, saith the Lord, every knee shall bow to me, and every tongue shall confess to God. So then every one of us shall give account of himself to God.

Before God reached down to offer us rescue, we were not free. We had no agency and no choice. But God says that The Father lifted up the Son on the Cross to draw "all men" unto Christ. So, nothing we could do caused God to reach down towards us but His loving kindness and infinite mercy. But after being given a choice (impact or rescue), we then are free to choose at that point. Moral agency requires: 1. free will, 2. knowledge of good and evil, 3. enticement by good and evil 4. Atonement of Christ.

After accepting rescue, we are borne up as if on eagles wings. God gives us a set of wings and the first thing we learn to do is stop the fall and maintain altitude. The is termed Justification. But after our drop in altitude has ceased, is everything done?

2 Ne. 31: 19-20 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 bhope, and a clove 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.

No, not everything is done after being rescued and justified. We still have fallen a long way, some more than others. So, Christ promises to empower us and teach us to use the wings we have been given to gain altitude.. Some people might say, Wow, Im sure glad I was rescued before hitting the ground, but gee, that is a long way back up there to the top of the cliff. Maybe instead of allowing Christ (wings) to empower by assent back to the top of the cliff, maybe ill just settle for one of these lesser perches and outcroppings. The one there looks like a nice comfortable spot.

Using wings that we have been given determines the degree of Sanctification we allow Christ to do in us. Christ said that none which the Father have given Him will be lost, except the Sons of Perdition, but again although we are saved from hitting the ground, this is no guarantee that we will necessarily get back all the way from where we have fallen and receive the same gift/reward/mansion/glory/kingdom/world/seat/crown. But if we will give our whole will: heart, might, mind and strength to God, then Christ will sanctify, perfect, and exalt us and carry us back to the very top again.

Eternal Marriage vs Eternal Unions

Today we are faced with the issue of civil unions vs. traditional marriage. For the most part, while most Christians do not approve of homosexual behavior or same-sex unions, we do love them as our brothers and sisters and agree that these couples who desire to live together should be afforded most all the same benefits as a married couple.

But you can't give all the benefits of traditional marriage to a civil union, or then it would be traditional marriage just called by a different name. So, then what is the one thing that differentiates traditional marriage from a civil union. I believe that one thing that differentiates civil unions from traditional marriage is the primary right to bare, adopt, and raise children. Again, I would define traditional marriage as being between a man and a women for the purposes of creating a family unit prepared to receive children if they do come along either biologically, by adoption, through familial and neighborly influence, or in expectation and hope of eternal parenting and nurturing future souls in the next life.

While the issue of same-sex marriage is considered the civil rights issue of our generation, I think the rights that are not being considered here are the rights of child to be raised by both a mother and a father. I believe it to be the right of all children to be raised in a home with both a father and a mother. Since, Civil unions do not provide this right, therefore, I think that they are different and should be regulated different from traditional marriage.

Now, it is true that there are many children in need of adoption. Especially in Haiti. Therefore, just because a child cannot have the ideal situation, we don't need to throw out the next best thing or even the 5th best just because it is not the ideal. So, it may be better that a child be adopted by a same-sex couple then not have any parents. That said, I do not support same sex couples using sperm donors and surrogates. Purposefully creating a child in this way to be raised by a same-sex couple is a clear violation of that child's right. However, if a child has already been born and has no caregivers, a same-sex home may be a satisfactory alternative.

Understanding the difference between Civil Unions and Traditional Marriage really helped me understand the purpose of Eternal Marriage in the LDS Church. The LDS church has always believed that all those who accept Jesus Christ as their Savior will be saved. The only caveat to this is that while many will be saved, not everyone will receive the same rewards or gifts. And while all rewards or gifts are freely offered, they must be accepted. And it is the LDS view that those Christians who reject the LDS gospel and LDS temple marriage, are not rejecting heaven, but just rejecting a specific crown/reward/seat/kingdom/glory/gift/reward in heaven. We call this gift exaltation.

But Christians and LDS know that if both they and their spouse are believers and truly born again, then they will both be in heaven. And being in heaven will not dilute that relationship. We will still know as we are known,, and know as we know now. Joseph Smith taught that the same sociality that exists here will exist there except it will be coupled with eternal glory. Therefore, our love for Christ and others will not dilute our love for our family and our spouse, but it will magnify that love forever. So, naturally we can expect that families will voluntarily choose to remain together even without LDS eternal marriage. So what is difference with LDS eternal marriage?

The blessing of LDS eternal marriage is found in its purpose. Remember the primary purpose of marriage is to raise children up unto the Lord biologically or by adoption or by influence. Therefore, I believe the blessing of Eternal marriage involves being blessed to participate with God in His work of eternal parenting . The most sacred work of God and His most sacred title is that of Father. Eternal Life is the promise of coming to know God. I'm not sure how one could come to know God unless they were blessed to serve God in the kind of work that God does. Therefore, I believe that while all Christians may enjoy a form of eternal union with their spouse, and family, only those who are willing to receive the gift of LDS eternal marriage will be blessed with the opportunity to adopt self-existent spirits and nurture them and prepare them prior to being born into an Earth-like experience.

While many critics of the LDS church make LDS eternal life and exaltation sound strange, I think when it is understood that the spirits of all man are eternal and self-existent and have no beginning and no end, it is more understandable that each of us as a self-existent and co-eternal intelligence were adopted spirit children of God and nurtured by eternal parents before coming to Earth and being born to and nurtured by earthly parents. In the next life, those who receive it, will be blessed to continue to work of creation, and eternal parenting with our Heavenly Father through the blessing of LDS Eternal Marriage.

Christ was asked on one occasion by a Jewish Man if a Jewish Woman married 7 brothers according to the law of Levarite Marriage, in the resurrection, whose would she be. Jesus responded that the man denied the power, and that those worthy to obtain that world would be as the angels and not married nor given in marriage. Many see this as saying there is no marriage in heaven. But this is forgetting who Christ is talking to and about. The Jews were were offered but rejected the higher covenant. The Jews turned down eternal marriage. Consequently, those worthy to receive this lesser world/crown/seat/glory/reward/kingdom/seat/mansion would be like the angels and not married but maybe just enjoy a eternal union.

However, Heb 1 says that Christians through the sealing keys given to Peter that whatsoever is bound on Earth is bound in heaven are promised to be glorified together with Christ who was made higher than the angels and given a more excellent name than they. Therefore, Christs answer to the Jew about the Jew doesn't apply to Christians who do not deny the power of Christ, and who are willing to receive the blessing of LDS Eternal Marriage. According to Gal 4, Some who are saved will be considered children of the bondwoman Hagar, while others are called children of the promise. Again, Jews didn't have eternal marriage so as Christ said, the Jewish woman in question would not be married to any of the 7 brothers in the next life. But the important point here is that this restriction in Luke 20:35 doesn't apply to Christians because Christians are promised to be made higher than the angels and will receive a far better world/reward/gift/kingdom/crown than the Jewish woman because of Christ.

Heb 1: 5 , 13-14 For unto which of the angels said he at any time, Thou art my Son, this day have I begotten thee? And again, I will be to him a Father, and he shall be to me a Son?. . . But to which of the angels said he at any time, Sit on my right hand, until I make thine enemies thy footstool. Are they not all ministering spirits, sent forth to minister for them who shall be heirs of salvation?

Gal 4:22 For it is written, that Abraham had two sons, the one by a bondmaid, the other by a freewoman. . . Which things are an allegory: for these are the two covenants; the one from the mount Sinai, which gendereth to bondage, which is Agar. . . Now we, brethren, as Isaac was, are the children of promise.

Eternal Life and Exaltation Q & A

Q: I've heard many Mormons say they will become gods or that they will bear children in the Celestial Kingdom. Is this taught in the Bible?

A: I understand the Bible and the Early Church Fathers to teach than man, through Christ, can become more than an angel and be glorified together with Jesus Christ who according to Heb 1 was made "higher than the angels" and "given a more excellent name than they." Therefore you may see LDS writings and ECF writings say that through Christ men can become gods and children of God. "God became man so men could become gods." This does not mean that we take God the Father's place. There is a big difference in being "called gods" and being the One True God.

What LDS mean by our hope for Eternal Life and Exaltation is that God will empower those who receive this gift with the power to participate with Him in His work of creation and eternal parenting. If you think about it, the Bible says that to have Eternal Life is to know God. Well, i can not imagine really coming to know Our Father in Heaven until I have been blessed to participate in the kind of work that He does. I think that is why God calls us to be parents and to be missionaries here on Earth. By participating in His work, we come to know Him better.

But more on Eternal Parenting. You used the words "bare children." There is much more to being a parent than gestation. If fact, you can be a parent without gestating a child at all. That is called adoption. I really am not sure if any type of physical mechanism would be involved, especially since LDS believe intelligence and spirit always existed and that we also believe in a physical resurrection. Therefore, I am not sure how a physical being would "gestate" and "bare" a spirit. But, if something like that were required, it would most definitely be painless and not cause stretch marks.

Q: Don't you consider it arrogant (Proverbs 11:2) to believe that only "temple Mormons" are headed for godhood. Isn't this the same sin as Satan? Wanting to be God (Isa 14:13-15)?

A. I know we are nothing without Christ, but please tell me how the Evangelical doctrine that mankind is a created being no different than a "dung beetle" is any different than the Darwinist/Evolutionist doctrine that man evolved from "pond scum"? Are we just fish swimming around in a fancy fish bowl? What are we to God? Are we pets or are we children?

Lucifer's sin was in His desire to take God's place and thinking He knew better than God. It is not at all the desire of any LDS believer to take God place but to believe in every promise and receive every gift that God the Father desires to give to His children.

Q. We are God's crowing creation - made by Christ Jesus, Our Lord, as the object of God's love. He came to save us by His Blood, laying down His own life, for those whom He had created. Praise God! It's very sad that Mormons cannot understand that.

John 1:12-13 But as many as received him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on his name: Which were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God.

A: So, we are children and not pets. What makes a child different than a pet? If children, than what kind of work may God give us to do in heaven do you think? Are you going to just sing in the choir (I enjoy singing in the choir BTW)?

Q: It seems to me that Mormons believe they will be the children and the gentiles (like me) will become the pets in a lower kingdom or "ministering angels" to the exalted ones.

A: God in the Bible made the distinction between saved beings as either "ministering angels" and "children of the bondwoman" or "heirs of God" and "children of the promise" in Heb 1, and Gal 4. It is God in the Bible who speaks of the wise and unwise virgins, the sheep and the goats, the lukewarmers, and the children of the bondwoman vs. children of the promise. It is entirely up to you if you are going to be like Hagar's son Ishmael and be a child of the bondwoman, or will you receive the greater gift/glory/kingdom/seat/crown that God is offering you if you but receive it?

Also, I would like to compare and contrast the fairness of LDS belief with regard to the salvation of those of other faiths with the commonly held Evangelicals belief that LDS will "burn in Hell" and suffer the "blackness of darkness forever" for believing in, what some consider, a false Christ and a false gospel. And I should also remind you that LDS will even go out of their way to offer you an LDS baptism and temple ordinances after you have died. How's that for fair?

An Answer to the Question "Did God Sin?"

Recently, a fellow CARM poster named Aaron Shaf has been creating threads and youtube videos asking LDS about our understanding of the nature of God as it relates to a comment by Joseph Smith in what is called the King Follett Discourse who said, "It is the first principle of the gospel to know for a certainty the character of God, . . . and to know that we may converse with Him as one man converses with another, and that He was once a man like us; yea, that God himself, the Father of us all, dwelt on an earth, the same as Jesus Christ Himself did.' The Father is a glorified, perfected, resurrected, exalted man who worked out his salvation by obedience to the same laws he has given to us so that we may do the same."

However, aside from a few other sources which comment on the King Follett Discourse, Pres. Hinkley, who was asked about this subject, was correct in saying that this statement and speculation in what Joseph Smith meant by this statement are not emphasized in the church. Therefore, I think a few persons enjoy asking LDS on this issue precisely because LDS members don't have much to say on the matter. That said, I do have a few things to say in response to Aaron's question of whether LDS believe that God sinned.

1. First, when I read this quote by Joseph Smith, I think it's important to focus on how this passage, like the Bible, describes God in anthropomorphic terms and teach us to pray to God as if He were standing beside us listening to us pray like Moses who was said to have spoken with God face to face. I think there is value in praying this way and I think this is a major point of the statement.

2. Aaron makes the assumption that being worthy of praise as God is dependent upon the quality of omniscience or omnipotence. However, the Bible does not teach that omniscience or omnipotence is the most important defining characteristic of God. While these attributes are necessary, according to the Bible, what makes God God, is His Love. God is love.

3. Accordingly, the Love of God which LDS and the Bible refer to as charity is said to be the greatest of all, for all things pass away, but charity never faileth. What did Paul mean when He taught that all things pass away and having all knowledge and spiritual gifts was like the tinkling of cymbals? What Paul meant, I believe is that in heaven, in the pre-mortal existence, and in the eternal world, there is no sickness, we probably all speak the same language, and we have access to all knowledge that we can perfectly retain. Additionally, time does not exist. God and all heavenly beings dwell in the ETERNAL NOW. Therefore, without time, just think of the implications. Anything can be known, and anything can be done perfectly NOW.

4. Let's say for example that Aaron and I were both given the assignment to design and create a gazelle. And lets say that it took Aaron 2 years and me 5 million years to finish the job. We could even say that I started on the gazelle project for a year, and then took 2 million years off, but then came back to it. In the end, both jobs would be perfectly completed NOW because time doesn't exist. So, the point of Aaron finishing sooner is irrelevant in heaven. There is no sooner in heaven. The only important and relevant fact is that we both produced a finished and perfected gazelle.

Maybe if time to finished gazelle didn't matter, maybe least gazelle mistakes would matter. Therefore, what if I was careful, and although I spent longer on my gazelle, my first gazelle was perfect, but Aaron had 5 failed gazelles but by trial and error was able to produce a perfect and completed gazelle sooner. Would I be more worthy of praise as a gazelle creator than Aaron?

What if Aaron already knew how to design and create gazelles but I didn't. What if I spent my 2 million years off attending gazelle design and creation school? On the other hand, because time doesn't exist, that 2 million years in gazelle school wouldn't even be a nanosecond on the eternal clock. If time doesn't exist, can it be said that Aaron knew more about gazelles than I did if at the same moment Aaron designed his gazelle, I earned my gazelle design degree, and designed my gazelle? My point here is that these criteria may not be relevant in heaven.

5. How does this relate to sin? We have all been commanded to be perfect as our Father in Heaven is perfect. Christ was able to achieve this perfection at the start with the divine help of His Father. Yet the Bible still says He grew and matured in wisdom and favor with God and man. And the Bible teaches that Christ learned obedience by the things He suffered. But we know that Christ is God and stood next to the Father in the beginning, so, how could Christ learn anything. Well, we learn from the Book of Mormon that the Spirit knoweth all things, nevertheless, Christ suffered according to the flesh so that he could know in the flesh what he already knew by the Spirit. So, Christ did know it perfectly already, he just learned it again in a different way.

6. So, Christ was perfect from the beginning, but it will take the rest of us, with the divine empowerment of Christ, a full 1000 years in the Millennium to finish the work of our sanctification. Through the process of sanctification and the atonement of Christ, all sin will be disannulled, made void ab initio, and made like it didn't even happen. According to the perspective of heaven, does it matter that it will take us longer to arrive at perfection than it took Christ? Or will we be less worthy because we required the divine empowerment of Christ to become perfect who will become the Father of our Eternal Life than Christ who required the divine empowerment of His Father to be perfect?

7. Again, what makes God worthy of worship and praise is His love, and His ability to make us like He is, to give us all he has, to withhold nothing from us, to make us heirs of God, to exalt us and empower us to participate with Him in His work of creation and eternal parenting. God will be forever worthy of worship and praise because He is our Father in Heaven who empowered us who are gods en embryo already to become eternal parents. God said "ye are gods". Therefore what we become and what God empowers us to be is Fathers and Mothers and to participate with Him in His work of creation and eternal parenting. By participation in this work is the only way to truly come to know God. And according to the Bible, knowing God is the definition of Eternal Life. Well, how can you know someone, unless you are empowered to participate in the kind of work that they do? Is there anything about God's nature, or power that He cannot transmit to those He calls His children?

8. Regardless, the Bible says that Christ could do nothing but what he had seen the Father do, and Joseph Smith taught that God lived on an Earth like Jesus Christ. Therefore, since Jesus Christ is fully God and did not sin, LDS can also say that God the Father never sinned if we are to assume that Joseph meant what we are speculating he meant by the above statement.

The Parable of the Workers in the Vineyard

Matt 20:11-16
For the kingdom of heaven is like unto a man that is an householder, which went out early in the morning to hire labourers into his vineyard. And when he had agreed with the labourers for a penny a day, he sent them into his vineyard. And he went out about the third hour, and saw others standing idle in the marketplace, And said unto them; Go ye also into the vineyard, and whatsoever is right I will give you. And they went their way. Again he went out about the sixth and ninth hour, and did likewise. And about the eleventh hour he went out, and found others standing idle, and saith unto them, Why stand ye here all the day idle? They say unto him, Because no man hath hired us. He saith unto them, Go ye also into the vineyard; and whatsoever is right, that shall ye receive. So when even was come, the lord of the vineyard saith unto his steward, Call the labourers, and give them their hire, beginning from the last unto the first. And when they came that were hired about the eleventh hour, they received every man a penny. But when the first came, they supposed that they should have received more; and they likewise received every man a penny. And when they had received it, they murmured against the goodman of the house, Saying, These last have wrought but one hour, and thou hast made them equal unto us, which have borne the burden and heat of the day. But he answered one of them, and said, Friend, I do thee no wrong: didst not thou agree with me for a penny? Take that thine is, and go thy way: I will give unto this last, even as unto thee. Is it not lawful for me to do what I will with mine own? Is thine eye evil, because I am good? So the last shall be first, and the first last: for many be called, but few chosen.

A few have asked me how the concept of different rewards in heaven fits together with this parable about the workers in the vineyard. Everyone who works gets the same reward. Both those that worked 1 hour, and those that worked all day still received the same penny. But that is the key. Everyone who was rewarded worked. The significance here is that it doesnt matter how long you worked in God's service, only that you were a worker and found working when the Master comes. So the reward is the same for those that work, regardless of duration. But the reward is not the same for those who work and those who do not. If you are found working at the end of the day when the Master comes to pay the laborers, you will receive the full reward. This is why the sciptures plead with us to "enduring to the end." Again, it doesn't matter how long you worked, even if you stop working 30 seconds before the Master comes, it will be as though you hadn't worked at all.

D&C 42:42 Thou shalt not be idle; for he that is idle shall not eat the bread nor wear the garments of the laborer.

Christ Is Our Rewarder

Some Evangelical criticize LDS Doctrine by claiming that LDS believe we can save ourselves by works. They claim we believe that salvation is not by grace alone. These claims are not true. Like most Christians, LDS believe in the concept of rewards. And like most Christians, we believe that to be saved from Hell, all a person must do is confess that Jesus is the Christ (Rom. 10: 9-10). However, this minimal acceptance of the grace of Christ does not guarantee the same rewards as another who has more fully accepted the full grace and gifts of God. Similarly, LDS also believe that salvation from Hell is by the grace alone of Jesus Christ, but we also believe that our rewards are based on our works. The greatest reward being eternal life and exaltation. Salvation from Hell is not the same as Eternal Life. Eternal Life is the greatest of all the gifts of God.

Some of these same critics would question the Book of Mormon. Nephi, a Book of Mormon prophet says, "We know that it is by grace that we are saved, after all we can do " (2 Nephi 25:23). On the surface, it seems like Nephi is saying we meet Christ partway, or can somehow contribute to our own salvation on our own. Unfortunately, this misinterpretation takes Nephi's words out of context. Historically, Nephi lived under the Law of Moses before the coming of Jesus Christ. Accordingly, Nephi was discussing why they bothered to observe the Law of Moses when God had already revealed to them that the Law was dead, did not save, and that salvation was only in and through the mercy and grace of Jesus Christ. Therefore, the "all we can do" part was actually in reference to their continued observance of the Law of Moses.

So, let me be clear on LDS doctrine. LDS believe that salvation from Hell is by the grace alone of Jesus Christ. But, LDS believe that works are necessary for the greatest reward of Eternal Life. But, even with works, it is still all grace. Because LDS believe that man could do no good work unless empowered by the grace of Christ. Good works are a manifestation of the love, grace, spirit, light, and power of Christ within us. Therefore, works do not deny grace, but are a manifestation of its operation in the believer.

Now a few Evangelical friends of mine seemed to argue that obedience and works might actually distance a person from God. Someone made the point that the LDS organization and ordinances are like the many Pharisaic rules and restrictions. All those many strict observances blinded their adherents such that they not only didn't recognize their God when He appeared, they crucified Him.

Unfortunately, I think this argument against works is an example of the pendulum swinging too far to the other extreme. The problem wasn't obedience, and works of themselves. The problem with the Pharisees was that God did not inspire those extraneous works and strict observances. Therefore, God wasn't in them or a part of them. Therefore, instead of attacking works as a whole, the better question is to ask what works God does require, has inspired, and will empower. And although most Christians believe in rewards, a better question is to ask is what rewards has God actually promised (i.e. eternal families).

Personally, I have felt God empower me to water baptism and to take the Lord's Supper weekly, and to receive covenant marriage. Experiencing God empower me in these works has strengthened my faith. Some may say they don't need these works to have faith in God. Some may say that a person can have faith in Christ without them. That's fine. But, for me and my house, these works have been a mechanism for God to gift to me stronger faith and a closer relationship with Him. After understanding that God strengthens our faith though the works he does in us and through us, I realized we really can't even boast of our faith, because even faith is a gift/reward of God.

Despite all this. several Evangelical friends of mine questioned LDS motivation for works. They claimed that it was somehow wrong for LDS to seek works for the purposes of eternal reward and not love for Christ alone. I can not comment about another person's motivation. But I know the Bible gives us many motivations to obey and bring forth good fruit. In some places the Bible says "fear God" and in other places it says obey because God will reward you, and in others, the Bible says obey because God loves you and you should "love God." Whatever your motivation, the Bible is clear that we will be judged by our works and not our motivation. So, are LDS partly motivated by a hope of a greater reward in heaven? Yes, Christ is our rewarder!

Ps. 31: 23. O love the Lord, all ye his saints: for the Lord preserveth the faithful, and plentifully rewardeth the proud doer.

Matt. 6: 19-20 Lay not up for yourselves treasures upon earth, where moth and rust doth corrupt, and where thieves break through and steal: But lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust doth corrupt, and where thieves do not break through nor steal:

Matt. 16: 27 For the Son of man shall come in the glory of his Father with his angels; and then he shall reward every man according to his works.

1 Tim. 6: 19 Laying up in store for themselves a good foundation against the time to come, that they may lay hold on eternal life.

1 Cor. 12: 31 But covet earnestly the best gifts: and yet shew I unto you a more excellent way.

Heb. 11: 35 Women received their dead raised to life again: and others were tortured, not accepting deliverance; that they might obtain a better resurrection:

Matt. 5: 12, 46 Rejoice, and be exceeding glad: for great is your reward in heaven: for so persecuted they the prophets which were before you.

1 Cor. 3: 8, 14 Now he that planteth and he that watereth are one: and every man shall receive his own reward according to his own labour. . . If any man’s work abide which he hath built thereupon, he shall receive a reward.

Rev. 2: 10 Fear none of those things which thou shalt suffer: behold, the devil shall cast some of you into prison, that ye may be tried; and ye shall have tribulation ten days: be thou faithful unto death, and I will give thee a crown of life.

Rev 22:12-14 And, behold, I come quickly; and my reward is with me, to give every man according as his work shall be. I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end, the first and the last. Blessed are they that do his commandments, that they may have right to the tree of life, and may enter in through the gates into the city.

Heb. 11: 6, 26 But without faith it is impossible to please him: for he that cometh to God must believe that he is, and that he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him.

But what about these two verses? What is Paul saying about reward being a product of grace and not of debt?

Rom. 4: 4 Now to him that worketh is the reward not reckoned of grace, but of debt.

Rom. 11: 6 And if by grace, then is it no more of works: otherwise grace is no more grace. But if it be of works, then is it no more grace: otherwise work is no more work.

Rom. 6: 23 For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.

Paul still is using the term reward, or wages, and not gift. What he means is that going through the motions of works does not guarantee any particular blessing. The temple is meaningless by itself. The temple is a teaching aid to teach a person what real fruit God expects.The real lesson of the temple is that God expects a person to accept God's gift of self-mastery over the flesh. God expects a person to allow God to work in them to care for our family responsibilities, and also the fatherless and widow and our neighbors. God expects a person to receive of Christ's countinance such that they are filled with His love, humility, patience, and faith. Going to the temple guarantees nothing. If a person doesnt receive the true meaning of the temple, they are like the unwise virgins without oil in their lamps. Consequently, there will be many LDS who don't receive the promised rewards. Remember in the invitation to the wedding feast in Matt 22:10 , both the bad and good were invited and the ones not wearing the wedding garment were thrown out. What are the the beautiful white garments of the Saints? John says the white clothing is the "righteousness of the Saints" in Rev 19: 8. Paul is just reminding us that it is God who me must allow to work in us. And if we do, we will be empowered to bring forth the real fruit that God requires.

Matt. 22: 10-12 So those servants went out into the highways, and gathered together all as many as they found, both bad and good: and the wedding was furnished with guests. And when the king came in to see the guests, he saw there a man which had not on a wedding garment: And he saith unto him, Friend, how camest thou in hither not having a wedding garment? And he was speechless.

Rev. 19: 8 And to her was granted that she should be arrayed in fine linen, clean and white: for the fine linen is the righteousness of saints.

LDS General Conference

This weekend LDS members enjoyed the 179th Annual General Conference of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Every six months the leaders of the LDS church including the president and prophet of the LDS Church, the quorum of the Twelve Apostles and the quorums of the Seventy instruct the members. Several of the talks I really enjoyed include:

Elder David A. Bednar spoke of the importance of the Temple. While members of the church covenant in baptism and the sacrament that we are "willing to take upon" ourselves the name of Jesus Christ, it is the temple were we in actuality take upon ourselves fully the name of Jesus Christ. Elder Bednar spoke of the spiritual protection from sin promised to those who "stand in holy places" and who have taken upon them and feel the "fire of the covenant." Elder Bednar challenged all Saints to regularly go to the temple and keep our temple covenants.

D&C 109:22-26 And we ask thee, Holy Father, that thy servants may go forth from this house armed with thy power, and that thy name may be upon them, and thy glory be round about them, and thine angels have charge over them; And from this place they may bear exceedingly great and glorious tidings, in truth, unto the ends of the earth, that they may know that this is thy work, and that thou hast put forth thy hand, to fulfil that which thou hast spoken by the mouths of the prophets, concerning the last days. We ask thee, Holy Father, to establish the people that shall worship, and honorably hold a name and standing in this thy house, to all generations and for eternity; That no weapon formed against them shall prosper; that he who diggeth a pit for them shall fall into the same himself; That no combination of wickedness shall have power to rise up and prevail over thy people upon whom thy name shall be put in this house;

Elder Quentin L. Cook spoke about several doctrinal "stumbling blocks" or misunderstandings that others have about the LDS church and our doctrine and about the true doctrine of Christ from the Bible and from modern scripture. Many Christians have been falsely taught that there is to be no more revelation or prophets after Jesus Christ. However, the reality of Joseph Smith's First Vision demonstrates that God is the same yesterday, today, and forever. Elder Cook suggests that it can be as difficult to accept miracles today as it is to accept the miracles of Christ such as the virgin birth, the atonement and the resurrection. In our modern technological age, we are still expected to live by faith. It is the message of the LDS church that the Lord's church continues to be led today by living prophets and apostles.

Elder Cook also spoke about the LDS doctrine on the salvation of man. Many Christians have been taught that only a small number of men will be saved by Christ and go to heaven while everyone else will be damned to hell with Satan forever. LDS doctrine understands that only some who willfully and knowingly rebel against God will not be saved. While there will be different rewards in heaven; the vast majority of mankind will be saved from Hell through Christ who will save all children who die before the age of accountability and those who hear the gospel in the spirit world, who had died without a knowledge of Christ and accept it with all their hearts will also be saved.

ALFRED, LORD TENNYSON
IN MEMORIAM

O, yet we trust that somehow good
Will be the final goal of ill,
To pangs of nature, sins of will,
Defects of doubt, and taints of blood;

That nothing walks with aimless feet;
That not one life shall be destroy'd,
Or cast as rubbish to the void,
When God hath made the pile complete;

I also was very moved at the talk by our prophet President Thomas S. Monson. President Monson talked about the calamities, trials, tribulation, and adversity of our time. He said it is easy to become cynical, doubt, and fearful if we focus only on the negative and not the blessings in our lives.

2 Tim. 1: 7 For God hath not given us the spirit of fear; but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind.

If we make the gospel of Jesus Christ, it will not remove the troubles from us, but it will help us focus on our blessings and prevail over all our trials. President Monson recounts the story of a German Woman living in East Prussia after World War II who was forced to take her 5 children 1000 miles to West Germany on foot in winter. She had already lost her husband in the war. During the journey, she buried all 5 children in the frozen earth, one by one, along the way digging shallow graves with only a spoon. After burying her last infant child with only her bare fingers, she was overcome with grief and contemplating suicide, the voice of God came to her pleading with her to kneel and pray for strength. She did so and was strengthened in the hour of her Job-like extremity. She was comforted knowing that through the Resurrection of Christ she would see her children and have the joy of raising them to adulthood. Despite all of her trial and adversity she was one of the happiest, optimistic and faithful saints. President Monson charged us to "fear not, be of good cheer; our future is a bright as our faith."

Irenaeus on being a man and becoming a god

Irrational, therefore, in every respect, are they who await not the time of increase, but ascribe to God the infirmity of their nature. Such persons know neither God nor themselves, being insatiable and ungrateful, unwilling to be at the outset what they have also been created mean subject to passions; but go beyond the law of the human race, and before that they become men, they wish to be even now like God their Creator, and they who are more destitute of reason than dumb animals [insist] that there is no distinction between the uncreated God and man, a creature of today. For these [the dumb animals], bring no charge against God for not having made them men; but each one just as he has been created, gives thanks that he has been created. For we cast blame upon Him, because we have not been made gods from the beginning, but at first merely men, then at length gods; although God has adopted this course out of His pure benevolence, that no one may impute to Him invidiousness or grudgingness. He declares, "I have said, Ye are gods; and ye are all sons of the Highest." But since we could not sustain the power of divinity, He adds, "But ye shall die like men," setting forth both truths the kindness of His free gift, and our weakness, and also that we were obsessed of power over ourselves. For after His great kindness He graciously conferred good [upon us] and made men like to Himself [that is] in their own power; while at the same time by His prescience He knew the infirmity of human beings, and the consequences which would flow from it; but through His love and His power, He shall overcome the substance of created nature. For it was necessary, at first, that nature should be exhibited; then, after that, that what was mortal should be conquered and swallowed up by immortality, and the corruptible by incorruptibility, and that man should be made after the image and likeness of God, having received the knowledge of good and evil.
* * *
How, then, shall he be a God, who has not as yet been made a man? Or how can he be perfect who was but lately created? How, again, can he be immortal, who in his mortal nature did not obey his Maker? For it must be that thou, at the outset shouldest hold the rank of a man, and then afterwards partake of the glory of God. For thou dost not make God, but God thee. If, then, thou are God’s workmanship, await the hand of thy Maker which creates everything in due time; in due time as far as thou art concerned, whose creation is being carried out. Offer to Him thy heart in a soft and tractable state, and preserve the form in which the Creator has fashioned thee, having moisture in thyself, lest, by becoming hardened, thou lose the impressions of His fingers. But by preserving the framework thou shall ascend to that which is perfect, for the moist clay which is in thee is hidden there by the workmanship of God. His hand fashioned thy substance; He will cover thee over too within and without with pure gold and silver, and He will adorn thee to such a degree, that even "the King Himself shall have pleasure in thy beauty." But if thou, being obstinately hardened, dost reject the operation of His skill, and show thyself ungrateful towards Him, because thou wert created a mere man, by becoming thus ungrateful to God, thou hast at once lost both His workmanship and life. For creation is an attribute of the goodness of God; but to be created is that of human nature. If, then, thou shalt deliver up to Him what is thine, that is, faith towards Him and subjection, thou shall receive His handiwork, and shalt be a perfect work of God. (Irenaeus Against Heresies, The Ante-Nicene Fathers, vol. 1:522-523)

Its irrational for men to be impatient for eternal life (time of increase) and blame God for their fallen nature. These impatient people don't know God, are ungrateful, and can't accept their current fallen state. These people impatiently wish they were like God now. These irrational people don't see a difference between uncreated God and man in his current fallen state (creature of today). Animals are content that God has created them as they are. We shouldn't blame God but praise him that we are made first men and then will eventually be made gods (lowercase g). We were made men first because we would not be able to sustain the power of divinity and would have fallen anyways. This is saying, this is why we are given time to repent and sanctify ourselves through Christ. This is why the angel was placed to guard the way of the Tree of Life so that we couldn't partake of the fruit and live forever in our sins. But that we could repent first, be sanctified by the transformative power of Christ and the Holy Ghost and then partake of the tree of Life again when we are ready to "sustain the power of divinity."

God made man like Himself "in their own power" to act for themselves and not be acted upon and to know good and evil. But God knew man would fall because of our fallen nature. But God will overcome our fallen natures through the transformative power of Christs atonement and the sanctifying power of the Holy Ghost. It was part of the plan that man, who is made in the likeness of God, learn good and evil from experience before being made immortal. How can anyone who hasn't first gone though morality first be a God? How can that person be perfect who was just created (born). How can a man hope to be immortal if he does not obey God? We first must become a man then afterward receive the glory of God. We don't make God, but God makes us. Patiently await the hands of God who will make us gods in due time. Offer God a broken heart and a contrite spirit, or a malleable soul as we were at the time we were first created (children are pure and malleable and only later become hardened). Then God can work us, change us, shape us, transform us, fashion us and adorn us. But if we harden our hearts against God and are ungrateful, we have lost our eternal life. To be created or formed and shaped is that of human nature, and we are to deliver up to God what is ours only to give which is our will. If we give our will and our whole souls to God, then we shall continue to receive his handiwork, shaping, and forming (sanctification is a process) until we become perfected in Christ.
I think the LDS doctrine on theosis is similar to the ECF concept. I like how this passage talks about the transformative and sanctifying power of God. The LDS temple ordinances and covenants are for the purpose of sanctification. These covenants which have to do with dedicating and consecrating your life to God could be referred to as sanctifying ordinances. Remember the opposite of created is not eternal and visa versa. Something can both be created (organized) and eternal. Because we see that man who is created, is being shaped and formed and purified to become like God.

Clarification on the Self-Existent Intelligence

Today, I was visiting my wife's parent's ward in Atlanta, GA. During Elders Quorum, we studied lesson 17 from the Teachings of the Prophet Joseph Smith Manual on the "The Great Plan of Salvation." The lesson quoted extensively from the King Follett Discourse and stressed the eternal nature of the "soul", "intelligence", or "mind of man."

In several previous posts I was thinking about the concept of the self-existent, co-eternal "spirit of man," "mind of man," or "intelligence of man." This concept comes from the Book of Abraham, the Doctrine and Covenants, and the Book of Mormon as well as the King Follett Discourse by the prophet Joseph Smith.

D&C 93: 29 Man was also in the beginning with God. Intelligence, or the light of truth, was not created or made, neither indeed can be.

Abr. 3:22 Now the Lord had shown unto me, Abraham, the intelligences that were organized before the world was; and among all these there were many of the noble and great ones;

Ether 3: 15-16 And never have I showed myself unto man whom I have created, for never has man believed in me as thou hast. Seest thou that ye are created after mine own image? Yea, even all men were created in the beginning after mine own image. Behold, this body, which ye now behold, is the body of my spirit; and man have I created after the body of my spirit; and even as I appear unto thee to be in the spirit will I appear unto my people in the flesh.

During our lesson the teacher brought in several quotes from B.H. Roberts who was an member of the First Quorum of the Seventy, wrote the volume "History of the Church" among other works and was the editor for the "Millennial Star." B.H. Roberts was very educated and a wonderful debater. His teachings were somewhat controversial and sparked some debate within the church. B.H. Roberts was known from writing extensively on the immortality of the soul. And our Elder's Quorum teacher brought in several of his quotes from, "The Seventy's Course in Theology." In one section, B.H. Roberts commented that the King Follett Discourse and Abraham used the words "mind of man," "intelligence," and "the spirit of man" interchangeably, but that despite this it was his opinion that there is a difference. "

I do agree that there is likely some differentiation between the self-existing, co-eternal intelligence and the point at which we became spirit sons and daughters of the Eternal Father. If you go to LDS.org and search using the terms [intelligence AND spirit] you will see other quotes from modern Apostles and Prophets that seem to make this differentiation talking about clothing of our intelligence in a spirit body. But there is no clear mention of mechanism that I have found other than the Brigham Young quote which I quoted in my other post.

Another friend of mine brought out another B.H. Roberts quote concerning the mechanism of creation of the spirit body from intelligence:

"Will the resurrection return you a mere female acquaintance that is not to be the wife of your bosom in eternity? No; God forbid; but it will restore you the wife of your bosom, immortalized, who shall bear children from your own loins in all the worlds to come, and that without pain or sorrow in travail. This, sir, was couched in the promise of Abraham; this makes the promise great." (Defense of the Faith and the Saints, Vol.2, p.276)

It seems from this quote that B.H. Roberts believed in what he calls a "manual theory" as the mechanism by which intelligence is generated (not just formed) by God into spirit. The question and point of this post is; what should we do with this quote? It seems that Elder Roberts is referring to a physical mechanism. I don't have a problem with that. God is the Living God and has the power to both literally physically reproduce (Jesus as the Only Begotten) as well as spiritually pro-create. I am just not sure of the mechanism. And I don't think it matters.

And after looking around, I found a paper by Elder Roberts on "The Immortality of Man" which was published in the "Improvement Era" where he answers a series of questions his so-called "Manual Theory." B.H. Roberts in the article acknowledges his views are only a theory, and the fact that the theory is being debated and explained in the publication clearly suggests that not everything it claims are necessarily core doctrine of the LDS Church. But much of it is.

So, what are the essential truths on this subject? I will try and point out a few things that in my opinion are certain and why, and list what things have not been clarified yet and consequently, I have more of an open-mind regarding.

There exists something within man that is self-existent and co-eternal with God. Scriptures uses words interchangeably to describe what this is. They use "intelligence," "spirit," mind of man," and "light of truth." B.H. Roberts does not comment on the nature or mode or manner of subsistence of this form of existence. But Elder Roberts does talk about the necessary qualities of existence including self-awareness (sentience), ability to recognize self vs. other (individuality), and ability to recognized, judge, and desire light over darkness (will), and self-determination to a limited extent (agency).

Again, much of this is Elder Roberts opinion at the time. But the important concept here is that some element of our existence that is uncreated, self-existent. The reason that the eternal nature of man is important is that God can not be the author and creator of evil. If God made Lucifer who became Satan, then 1. He messed up, 2. He is guilty of giving Satan his will, knowing what he would do with it. 3. Or God rolls the dice and didn't know. God didn't create evil. Satan himself is called the Father of lies.

Because the intelligence, will, or mind of man is self-existent and co-eternal with God, the mind of Satan has always existed and was not created. Therefore, God is not responsible for Satan's rebellion and God is not responsible for our rebellion. God did not give Satan will. Satan possessed will as an inherent characteristic of self-existence. God did know exactly what Satan would do, but gave Lucifer free agency and every opportunity to choose rightly. Satan did not, and only Satan is to blame.

The Bible says that God is said to have made everything "that was made" both visible and invisible. But this suggests that not all things required making. It is also important that if man can truly realize immortality and eternal life then that life would have to exist infinitely forwards and backwards and have no beginning or end.

Another important point is the transition from intelligence to spirit. A few comments from current and past prophets and apostles have spoken of intelligence being clothed with a spirit body. There are even less comments on the mechanism. But the important point the Elder Roberts makes is that whatever the mechanism, the act in making us spirit children of God was an act of generation and not just organization or creation. Generation specifically implies that the very nature of the parent is imbued, endowed, and instilled in the offspring. Whether this occurs through a physical process or the mechanism of divine parenting or both, it doesn't matter. What matters is that God is the literal Father of Spirits, and we are His Spirit Offspring who are composed of the same essence and substance as God Himself and therefore can be endowed with all of our Father's characteristics, powers, and abilities. This power of pro-creation as well as reproduction is what makes God the Only True and Living God and not just the existing God.

Children of the Promise

There are many who misunderstand and mis-characterize the LDS belief that man has an eternal and divine potential that than all men are considered spiritual offspring of God. Yes, it is clearly stated in LDS doctrine as well as the Bible that "ye are gods and all of you are children of the Most High God" (Ps 82:6 and John 10: 34). But being considered "gods" is way different that being "God." There is only One God and man will never take His place. So, what do LDS mean when they say men are "gods in embryo." What LDS are trying to convey is the Biblical differentiation between those who will be considered angels in the next life and those who will exist eternally and continue on under the classification of "gods."

The Bible is what teaches that Christ was exalted higher than the angels. It is the Bible that promises that those who accept Christ will be glorified together with Christ to be "heirs of god" (Rom. 8: 17, Gal. 4: 7, and Heb. 6: 17) and, like Christ, will also be made "more excellent" and "better than the angels" (Heb. 1: 4) The sanctifying ordinances that LDS do are given by God as part of the "everlasting covenant" that God would restore in Ezek 37:26 which is the same "sealing in the forehead" that John is talking about (Rev. 7: 3). Those who are made kings and priests unto God and who are "called, chosen, and faithful" according to Rev. 1: 6 and Rev. 17: 14 will through the merits, mercy, and power of Christ continue on in their eternal progression to continue to mature as gods in embryo which we are already (Ps. 82: 6 and John 10: 34).

Those who do not accept Christ in they way Christ has established will fall again from their potential and while they will be saved in heaven and may dwell with Christ and the Father for Eternity will be angels but be damned or their eternal progression will have an end. Those who, through Christ, overcome and maintain their eternal course, are and will be considered "gods." But this designation does not take the place of the Most High God. God the Father will remain our Only True and Living God forever and ever (1 Cor. 8: 6, Eph. 4: 5-6, Gal. 3: 20, 1 Tim. 2: 5 and James 2: 19). But we will be empowered as we mature to participate with God in His work of creation.

Whats with all this business about living on our own planets, eternal pregnancy etc, etc?

In the Book of Revelations, John sees the Earth in its final, purified, and Celestial state after the Millennial period . John describes the Earth as a "sea of glass"(Rev. 15: 2). We know from Christ that the "meek shall inherit the Earth" (Ps. 37: 11, Matt. 5: 5). Therefore, this Earth will be the eternal home to the faithful in Christ forever. So, I'm not sure where this living on our own planet idea comes from. Assisting God in creation I speculate that planet creation is part of that, but the Earth will be our eternal home.

What about marriage in Eternity?

Yes, "that which is sealed on Earth is sealed in Heaven" (Matt. 16: 19) " What God hath joined together let no man put asunder" (Matt. 19: 6). "Neither is man without the woman neither woman without the man in the Lord" (1 Cor. 11: 11). While the angels are not given in marriage in heaven (Matt. 22: 30). Man who are gods and children of God on the Earth are married while in mortality which stays in effect in the next life. This is the power of God that Pharisee was denying. The Pharisee was denying the sealing power and authority given to Peter (Matt. 16: 19 and Matt. 18: 18).

What about polygamy?

If 2 women agree to claim the same husband and the 1st wife agrees for her husband to be the husband of another wife, then there will be polygamy. But there is nothing in LDS doctrine which would force or coerce this situation. Marriage is required for the highest degree of salvation and exaltation but not polygamy. Polygamy was required of the early LDS but not of us today for a specific purpose then, but not today (Ex. 21: 10, Deut. 25: 5-10, 1 Tim. 5: 14-17).

On Earth men have greater power to choose their wife. But according to LDS doctrine, in the Millennium, women will have the greater power to select who they will claim as their eternal companion. There is nothing about eternal marriage that would force a woman to be with a man forever who has neglected or abused her in mortality. While the LDS and most Christians discourage divorce on Earth that does not mean the same rules will apply in the next life. If a man has "buried his talent" so-to-speak, that which has been given to him by God may be taken from him and given to someone else who has been more faithful (Matt. 25: 24-28). Of course, this would be up to the woman to decide and why LDS couples are encouraged to have their marriages "sealed by the Holy Spirit of Promise" which means that both individuals feel the power and love of God in their marriage relationship both for God and for each other (Matt 26:6-13, Mark 14:3-9). There is no coercion, force, or unrighteous dominion in the LDS marriage (D&C 121: 37-46).

What about pro-creation?

Part of the work of creation is the organization of spirits. LDS believe that spirits were organized before they were born and they then enter in and quicken the human embryo and fetus at conception and before delivery (Jer. 1: 5). But Joseph Smith taught that creation is not "from nothing" but it means organized or formed, and that the spirits of man have always existed (Col. 1: 16, Heb. 3: 4 and Rom. 9: 21). Therefore, there is nothing regarding uterine gestation and vaginal delivery that would be required for a resurrected, tangible being in "creating" or organizing an intangible spirit. If there were, that would one easy delivery.

Again, no-one will take God's place. And being considered children of god, gods in embryo, and having a divine and eternal potential just means that through Christ the faithful will participate with God in His work of creation (whatever that is). Some can try as they do to make that sound evil, wrong, and twisted. I would wish they would be more clear in how they communicate our beliefs.

Yes, we do believe that the Bible talks about men being considered "gods" "I have said ye are gods and all of you are children of the Most High God" (Ps. 82: 6 and John 10: 34). But that doesn't mean that we will become "God." While there is only One God. Men are considered gods (lowercase g), and will be made "better and more excellent than the angels."There will be different rewards to those who are saved in heaven (John 14: 2, 1 Cor. 15: 40-41).

Remember that all those who accept and believe in Christ become sons and daughters of Christ. But like Abraham's son's Isaiah and Ishmael, some of the saved will be considered children of the bond woman , and others will be children of the promise (everlasting covenant) (Gal. 4: 7 and Gal. 4: 31) . There will be those who are saved on God's left hand and those who will be saved and exalted at God's right hand (Matt. 25: 33-34). There will be those who will fall from their current state as "gods in embryo" and be saved in their sins and become angels to circle Gods throne. On Christ right hand there are those who through Christ are saved from their sins and will continue on to eternal progression to sit with Christ in His throne with Him and be glorified together as an heir to God and a joint-heir with Christ (Rev. 3: 21).

So, it is up to each of us to decide. While angels circle God's throne and worship Him with their mouths, gods will be empowered and enabled through Christ to sit with Christ (the King of kings, Lord of lords, and God of gods) in his throne with Him and worship Him through word and creative works (James 2:17-18). This Eternal Life and Exaltation and truely coming to know God because heirs of God will be empowered to participate in the kind of work God does (John 17: 3).

John 17: 3 And this is life eternal, that they might know thee the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom thou hast sent.
Mosiah 5: 13 For how knoweth a man the master whom he has not served, and who is a stranger unto him, and is far from the thoughts and intents of his heart?

The Infinite Worth of Souls

How is the understanding of some Evangelical Christians about the worth of a soul in the eyes of God any better than an abortionist or an evolutionist? I understand Christians are all about being humble and giving God all the glory. However, I think there is a disconnect between the Evangelical view of the worth and potential of the human soul in the eyes of God (through Christ) and what the Bible teaches as well as real-world application.

An abortionists considers a human embryo to be worthless as it is. A pro-life christian should consider the worth of a human embryo to be in its future potential. So, what is the future potential of a human soul through Christ? Is our future potential just to add one more angel to the heavenly choir to endlessly circle God's throne? Or, does the Bible promise more through Christ?

An human evolutionist considers man to be evolved from slime and to be an improbable mistake. Therefore it really doesn't matter what what we do on this Earth, because after we die, that's it. So, get what you can. The Christian creationist should understand that while man is nothing without Christ and that our bodies will return to the dust, that our immortal spirits are the spiritual offspring (Acts 17: 28-29)of God and we were created in the image of God and have a divine potential and destiny that is better and more excellent than the angels (Heb 1:4).

Acts 17: 28-29 For in him we live, and move, and have our being; as certain also of your own poets have said, For we are also his offspring. Forasmuch then as we are the offspring of God, we ought not to think that the Godhead is like unto gold, or silver, or stone, graven by art and man’s device.
Heb. 1: 4 Being made so much better than the angels, as he hath by inheritance obtained a more excellent name than they.
Jn 3:2 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.
Rom 8:17 And if children, then heirs; heirs of God, and joint-heirs with Christ; if so be that we suffer with him, that we may be also glorified together.
Gal 4:7 Wherefore thou art no more a servant, but a son; and if a son, then an heir of God through Christ.
Rev. 3:21 To him that overcometh will I grant to sit with me in my throne, even as I also overcame, and am set down with my Father in his throne.
Ps. 82: 6(John 10: 34) I have said, Ye are gods; and all of you are children of the most High.

It is the Bible which elevates man and says without Christ man is nothing, but with Christ man has infinite potential. And all glory be to the Father and the Son. It is the Bible which says that God is a God of gods, and King of kings, a Lord of lords. God wants man to realize our full potential through Christ. Doing so doesn't detract from the greatness and glory of God, but adds to it. Does, the success and achievement of your children detract from you? Or, does their success honor you. This is the meaning of scripture when God says, "This is my work and my glory, to bring to pass the immortality and eternal life of man" (Moses 1:29)

According to the textual, biblical, and cultural context of scripture, God is a God of gods (Ps. 136:2), King of kings, Lord of lords (Rev. 19:16), Apostle of apostles (Heb. 3:1), Judge of judges (Ps. 82:1), Bishop of bishops, Shepherd of shepherds (1 Pet. 2:25), Holy of holies, and High Priest of high priests (Heb. 3:1); the Most High God, and the Most High Priest (Gen. 14:18-20, 22).

Therefore, it is the Bible which makes man kings and priests unto God for the glory of the Father and the Son. In Revelations, in preparation for the tribulation, while the Beast is marking his followers, John describes that God is busy "sealing his elect in their foreheads" (Rev. 7: 3) and says that the tribulation would have no power over them (Rev. 9: 4).

Rev. 1: 6 And hath made us kings and priests unto God and his Father; to him be glory and dominion for ever and ever. Amen.
Rev. 17: 14 These shall make war with the Lamb, and the Lamb shall overcome them: for he is Lord of lords, and King of kings: and they that are with him are called, and chosen, and faithful.

So, it seems to me that the Bible speaks highly of the potential of the soul of man. These scriptures seem to support the LDS view that God desires, through Christ, to elevate man which adds to His glory and does not detract from His greatness, glory, or perfection. God is not a static being but dynamic and it is a manifestation of His power and glory that God can elevate the souls of man.

LDS believe that the souls of man are God's spirit offspring in a figurative sense that a glorified and tangible God would not need to use the mechanics of uterine gestation to organize an intangible spirit. Yet, LDS believe that the Bible refers to God as Father and man as His children in a literal sense that God can make us like Himself through Christ (Jn 3:2)(Matt. 5: 48).

If Evangelical Christians believe that God is all-powerful, why would they deny God the greatest power in the Universe; Pro-creation. Would evangelicals figuratively sterilize God in their concept of Him?Remember that the principle of pro-creation as well as marriage was given to Adam and Eve while in the Garden and before the Fall while they were yet in a state of innocence, and glory. Therefore this is further evidence that these principles are eternal and part of the nature of God.

More on Psalm 82

I received a thoughtful reply on a previous post concerning the LDS understanding of Psalm 82. The commenter stated that the men are promised by God to become angelic but not become like god and become gods themselves and literally have Eternal Life or life and existence like God. This commenter like most well-meaning evangelicals parroted the typical response that "wasn't that Satan's plan to become like God?"

http://ldsdoctrine.blogspot.com/2008/04/psalms-826-ye-are-gods.html

The passage Ps. 82: 1-8 says and means in English and in Hebrew: "I have said, Ye are gods; and all of you are children of the most High." To the LDS, there is a big difference between being God and being a god. Don't misunderstand that point. There is also a big difference between being a god and being an angel or angelic.

Now you are trying to tell me that Ps. 82: 1-8 doesn't really mean what it is saying. "Ye are gods" doesn't mean gods and being children of the Most High God really doesn't mean that and God being our Heavenly Father doesn't really mean that God is our Father in the literal sense. And in Gen. 3: 22 doesn't really mean what it says when "the gods" say that "man has become as one of us." Neither does the Bible mean what it says when Christ promises us that through Him we can know God and be like Him (Lev. 20: 7)(Matt. 5: 48)(1 Jn. 4: 17)(John 17: 3)?

Good thing that Christ verified the meaning of this very important passage in defending His divine Sonship. The pharisees asked Jesus Christ to plainly state His messiahship. When He did they wanted to kill Him for blasphemy which they errantly defined as man considering himself a god. Christ in John 10: 34, directly quotes Ps. 82: 6 and says if God referred to men as gods in Ps. 82: 6 then how can it be blasphemy for Christ to declare He is the Son of God.

Now about Satan. His plan was not just to be a god. Satan wanted to take away our agency and force us to choose the right here on Earth. No one would be lost. However, no risk, no reward. We would return to be in heaven in the same state we were before. But in return, Satan wanted Gods glory for himself. Satan wanted to take God's place.That is not what LDS Doctrine is about at all. God will always eternally remain our God and Eternal Father. But as gods, we will not only live with God but will be empowered to participate in the work of creation with God.

Heavenly Father promises through Christ that we will be made "better than the angels" (Heb. 1: 4). Christ promises that those who overcome will be given to "sit in His throne with Him" and not just circle the throne. We will be "glorified together" with Christ and will be "heirs of God and joint-heirs with Christ" (Rom. 8: 17).

If your religion only promises you that you that the highest reward in the next life is becoming an angel; and if your religion defines eternal life as endlessly circling God's throne and no more; and if your religion says that family relationships do not last forever and that love and relationship is finite and ends at death; then you are being short-changed from the fullness of blessings that God has promised in the scriptures. The scriptures reveal that men really are children of God (not pets), and God really is our Father. And that it does not threaten God for us to mature and become like He is but it adds to His glory; because Our God is a God of gods, a King of kings and a Lord of lords; He is the Most High God.

Making Master Musicians: Everlasting Law, Everlasting Covenants and The Everlasting God

Some claim the LDS concept of God is flawed because LDS believe that while God has always existed forever and never had a beginning, so did the laws of nature and matter itself. That is, the matter and energy of the universe was neither created nor destroyed but has existed eternally and is co-existent with God.Some Christians have the concept that God created everything including natural law from nothing. That is, natural law is set up by God for man who is not bound by it. God is God by the very fact that He is independent from, better than and above the law.

LDS believe that God is One with the law. Law does not exist independent of God, but God is God by perfect mastery over the laws of nature. The Bible teaches that God is a perfectly Just God. The Bible does teach that God created everything visible and invisible and in him do all things consist. But what does the Bible mean when it says that God "created"? Creation in Hebrew means to "form," "organized" or "cut out." Thus in other parts of the Bible, it speaks of God as a builder or a sculptor who formed us from clay. Paul says "every house was built by some man, the builder of all things is God." So, when the Bible says that God even created law, it doesn't mean that God created it "ex nihlo" or "from nothing." The Bible mean that the laws were organized for operation in the heavens and Earth.

These principles apply to us in that the commandments of God. Since when did fair-minded people start to believe that their leaders should be above the law? Since when did law-abiding people start to believe that laws and commandments were restrictions and not directions for happiness. When I was learning to play the piano, I learned that there were laws of melody, rhythm, and harmony and by perfect mastery of those laws I could create beautiful music. Are we meant to believe that truly beautiful heavenly music would not conform to any laws. That would be like believing true music is post-modern. No offense against contemporary, post-modern music, I am all for experimentation, but I don't think post-modernism or the philosophy behind it constitutes some sort of higher music form or a truer reflection of God's nature.

The eternal nature of God who is One with His higher laws and covenants which God has given to man and the Bible says are everlasting and eternal also relate to the Atonement of Christ. Some Christians believe that it is impossible to become perfect and sinless even with Christ's help even though Christ commanded us to be perfect and holy. Some claim that Christ will only save us in our sins, and not save us from our sins. However, the Bible promises that Christ would come to save us from our sins. Notwithstanding, some believe that power of Christ doesn't have the power to literally turn us away from sin, purge us, purify us like silver, and change and transform us completely. Some claim the only purpose to law is to help us realize that we cannot keep it and therefore need Christ who was able to keep it perfectly. Which is true. No one without Christ can keep the law. All have sinned. But with Christ, by the end of the Millennium, I believe the power of atonement will have the power to perfect us if we trust the promises of God.

The only defense against the possibility that man can be perfected in Christ and though Christ is that they claim they have never met a sinless person. I agree. I never have met a person who has never sinned. But I have met several people who by the end of their life I believe become sinless or very close. And I have met many Christians who have made great progess towards perfection after becoming Christian. Even if there hasn't been anyone who has become perfected in Christ before dying, the 1000 years of the Millennium will give us time with Christ to complete the process of sanctification and to prepare to meet the Father when the Earth itself will be transformed from a paradisaical state to a Celestial state and literally become part of the heavens with God and home to just man made perfect in Christ forever.

So, my point is (going back to the music analogy), God wants us to become Master Musicians like himself to join in the symphony of heaven and worship him by being empowered to join with God in creating beautiful music to God. Now right now, none of us can make anything close to music. Our musical skill is now akin to a 2-year-old banging on the piano. But, through the Atonement of Christ, we are given time to repent, time to practice, repent, and prepare to meet God and be judged. And when the time of our final recital comes, we will be judged according to our own skill and ability because if we are still piano bangers, or glorified post-modernists, our non-musical cacophony will not have a place in God's kingdom. So, we shouldn't procrastinate the time of our repentance. Now is the day when we can learn from the Great Master Musician, even Jesus Christ, and become Masters like Christ by His power and not our own.

Through Christ, we are made free to choose, and choose we must. Our character is made up of millions of small decisions just like a musical score is made up of thousands of individual notes. And the Holy Ghost is given to believers to empower us to every good and righteous decision if we are willing to deliver our whole souls to God which He has bought and paid for by the flesh and blood of His Son Jesus Christ; and not keep any part back unlike Ananias and Sopphira.

Empowered By Grace To Choose The Right

According to Mormonism, all of mankind are essentially "gods in embryo." I've never understood this and would love to have a Mormon try and explain this one to me (with reference to John 10:30):

Good Question! A number of Jews were apostate at the time of Christ. They had a counterfeit orthodoxy (correct belief), which led to an errant orthopraxis (correct action) and an mistaken orthocardia(correct heart). One manifestation of incorrect doctrine was their mistaken concept of blasphemy.

In John 10 it says that there were Jews who wanted Jesus to plainly declare His Messiah-ship. When Jesus did, they wanted to stone Him for saying He is the Son of God and one with the Father. They considered equating man with God to be blasphemy.

John 10:30 I and my Father are one. Then the Jews took up stones again to stone him. Jesus answered them, Many good works have I shewed you from my Father; for which of those works do ye stone me? The Jews answered him, saying, For a good work we stone thee not; but for blasphemy; and because that thou, being a man, makest thyself God. Jesus answered them, Is it not written in your law, I said, Ye are gods? If he called them gods, unto whom the word of God came, and the scripture cannot be broken; Say ye of him, whom the Father hath sanctified, and sent into the world, Thou blasphemest; because I said, I am the Son of God?

These Jews had changed the meaning of blasphemy. These Jews believed that considering a man to be like god was blasphemy. Jesus corrected this false definition by reminding them of Ps. 82:6. If God had called the wicked judges and the afflicted and needy "I have said, Ye are gods; and all are children of the Most High," then considering man to be gods is not blasphemy; let alone Christ declaring that He is the Son of God.

So, Here Christ declares His relationship with the Father as the Son of God, and corrects the Jews for their mistaken definition of blasphemy, and verifies that Psalms 82:6 really does refer to the judges and the afflicted and needy as gods. The point of the psalm being that the judges who were chosen in the pre-existence in the Heavenly Council [congregation of the mighty (Elohim = gods)] covenanted to judge righteously and that even the afflicted and needy are considered gods in embryo and are of infinite potential worth just as much as the judges themselves are who must remember that without God they will "die like men."

How can man be considered a "god in embryo" if gods have no beginning and no end? That concept violates all those scriptures in Isaiah that says before God was no God formed neither after. And there is only God who saves.

Joseph Smith answered this question:

"The mind or the intelligence which man possesses is co-equal [co-eternal] with God himself. I know that my testimony is true; hence, when I talk to these mourners, what have they lost? Their relatives and friends are only separated from their bodies for a short season: their spirits which existed with God have left the tabernacle of clay only for a little moment, as it were; and they now exist in a place where they converse together the same as we do on the earth. I am dwelling on the immortality of the spirit of man. Is it logical to say that the intelligence of spirits is immortal, and yet that it has a beginning? The intelligence of spirits had no beginning, neither will it have an end. That is good logic. That which has a beginning may have an end. There never was a time when there were not spirits; for they are co-equal [co-eternal] with our Father in heaven."[The King Follett Sermon By Joseph Smith, Jr. (1805–1844)]

But there is a big difference between being considered God and a god. God the Father will always remain our God and Father. And Christ will always remain our Savior and source of Eternal Life. Men don't become gods. That is our species. Gods are not created; they ARE or ARE NOT. And as the self-existent Christ declares I AM THAT I AM, so men ARE THAT THEY ARE. Christ does not only reveal the relationship of God to man, but also reveals the relationship of man to God. The eternal spirits of men where created children of God (but not created from nothing) and placed in physical bodies and through Christ can be made eternal parents like the Eternal Father. But men were not created gods, men have always been "gods in embryo." A child becoming like a parent is no more blasphemy in heaven then it is on Earth.But God calls Himself the Most High God.

If God had a Father, then doesn't He take orders from His Father?

Remember that God doesn't have a beginning but is co-existent and co-eternal. Yes, Our God loves His Father. But being God and being an Eternal Father is not "King of the Mountain." And while God loves His Father like we should Love Our Eternal Father, Our God doesn't "take orders." That is because God is an agent unto himself. He doesn't need to be told what to do. Like Christ, he sees a need and does it before needing to be asked.

John 5:19 Then answered Jesus and said unto them, Verily, verily, I say unto you, The Son can do nothing of himself, but what he seeth the Father do: for what things soever he doeth, these also doeth the Son likewise.

D&C 58:26 For behold, it is not meet that I should command in all things; for he that is compelled in all things, the same is a slothful and not a wise servant; wherefore he receiveth no reward. 27 Verily I say, men should be anxiously engaged in a good cause, and do many things of their own free will, and bring to pass much righteousness; 28 For the power is in them, wherein they are agents unto themselves. And inasmuch as men do good they shall in nowise lose their reward. 29 But he that doeth not anything until he is commanded, and receiveth a commandment with doubtful heart, and keepeth it with slothfulness, the same is damned.

How can this scripture say that man can do good? Paul says that no man can do good.

This is the key to the whole grace/works enchilada right here. The power in man to do good was given by the grace of Christ. Without which man could do no good but would have been doomed to become a servant to the devil and suffer death, hell, and eternal damnation. While the spirit of all men possesses will, which is an essential characteristic of existence; what Christ's grace and atonement does is makes us agents, makes us free, and gives us the choice to choose righteously and empowers us to make decisions that will result in our becoming like our Heavenly Father.

All mankind have lost their souls. We have given ourselves away to sin and the devil. But Christ has purchased us with His flesh and blood. He has paid the price of sin and death alone. But now we must give God what He has bought and paid for--us. We are expected to give God our whole souls and keep nothing back unlike Ananias and Sapphira.

So, accepting Christ is only the first of many righteous choices we need to make. God expects us to surrender our wills and sacrifice a broken heart and a contrite spirit to Him. We will be empowered to make these correct choices only by the grace of Christ, who will not make our decisions for us, or coerce us, or force us. Christ has sent the Holy Ghost which will guide us into all truth, and empower us, entice us, and persuade us to repent, receive specific covenants and ordinances and do right. And as we do right (only by Christ's grace), the light, power, spirit, and grace of Christ's love will grow within us until we are fully changed, sanctified, purifies, and perfected. And if not fully achieved now, sanctification may require 1000 more years during the Millennium to complete but we need to get on the straight and narrow now and not procrastinate the day of our repentance.

This is how the grace of Christ has the power to fully save us from our sins and not just in our sins. This is how we are saved by grace 100%. This is how Christ's grace is all-sufficient for our salvation. Christ doesn't sweep our sins under the rug, but will change us and by His grace we are empowered to choose the right.

Matt. 7: 21 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.

God allows us to participate in our salvation by exercizing our will and Christ-given agency so that we might witness the power, grace, spirit and love of Christ in us which empowers every correct and righteous decision. But in no way does man contribute one iota to his own salvation without Christ. We don't meet God half way or even part way. Christ's grace empowers every good work, every act of righteousness, every sanctifying ordinance. But choosing righteousness and obedience in and through Christ is required for exaltation.

Co-Eternal Spirit and Purchased Possession

The Prophet Joseph Smith taught in the King Follett Discourse that our spirits have always existed. Our spirits together with their inherent characteristic of will are co-existent with God and are without beginning or end. Will is essential characteristic of existence. While we possessed will, we were not free. There is a difference between will (the ability to choose) and agency or freedom (choices). While we possess will, without Christ, we would have had no choice but death and hell. Through Christ we can choose righteousness and eternal life.

D&C 93:29-30 Man was also in the beginning with God. Intelligence, or the light of truth, was not created or made, neither indeed can be. All truth is independent in that sphere in which God has placed it, to act for itself, as all intelligence also; otherwise there is no existence.

Abr. 3: 22 Now the Lord had shown unto me, Abraham, the intelligences that were organized (not created ex nihilo) before the world was; and among all these there were many of the noble and great ones;

That the spirits and will of man are co-existent with God and therefore have always existed is why the only sacrifice acceptable to God is of a broken heart and contrite spirit or a willing heart and a willing mind. That is the only thing that God did not own and why the scriptures say that God bought or purchased us. Christ in the garden demonstrated the complete surrender of His will to the Father " nevertheless not my will but as thou wilt" (Matt. 26:39)

God has created all things both in heaven and earth. But creation means organized or formed like a builder builds a house or a potter molds clay. In this way we were created/organized children of God but not created from nothing (ex nihilo). God made us free but did not give us will. With Gods infinite foreknowledge, had God given us will that would be like giving a gun to to a known mass murderer. Instead, He gave us freedom and opportunity to exercise our will to choose righteousness.

God did not create Satan from nothing (ex nihilo) either, because then God would be responsible for creating a defective creation. But God calls us purchased possessions. In fact Paul warned that false teachers would enter in the church and deny that God purchased us. Some are confused about what was purchased or bought and what was the price and how was payment made (Acts 20:28, Eph. 1:14, 1 Cor. 6:20, 1 Cor. 7:23)

2 Pet. 2: 1 But there were false prophets also among the people, even as there shall be false teachers among you, who privily shall bring in damnable heresies, even denying the Lord that bought them, and bring upon themselves swift destruction.

Our souls including our will are the purchased possession. This is the only thing that God did not own and why God says the worth of souls is great (D&C 18:10). God did not buy sin; that was the price. The price of our souls is the consequences of sin or death and hell. What need would God have with sin, death or hell. Sin has no current or future value. Instead, we are God's purchased possessions. And while worthless in our current state, through Christ, we can be adopted children of God and can be made like God, making the potential worth of man infinite. The payment was done by the blood and body of Christs atonement (Acts 20:28).

God is eternal and has no beginning and no end. God created all things and organized the spirits of man as His children. But if man was created from nothing (ex nihilo) because the opposite of created is eternal, then man, a created being, could never become eternal and receive eternal life.

We own our own souls which are self-existent and co-eternal with God. Therefore we can sin and lose ourselves to the penalties of death and hell (Mark 8:36–37). We can hire ourselves out, receiving the wages from that spirit we listeth to obey (Alma 3:27, Mosiah 2:33), and sell ourselves for naught (1 Ne. 21:4). But God has said, in his mercy and by His grace He has redeemed and purchased us by paying us the price of sin by Christ's blood therefore we are no longer our own but are purchased possessions. The purchased price goes to us in exchange for our souls. This is a free gift.

We are the ones who will judge ourselves and send ourselves to hell. Justice is our own perfect recollection of all our guilt and our uncleanliness before God, and our broken promises to God. Justice will exists in our minds and will demand payment when the veil is lifted from our minds at the final judgement. God pays the demands of justice which we will exact upon ourselves. God is merciful and will be our advocate and not mention our sins to us. But we will. {Secret: we grade our own exams}

We then are expected to surrender our entire will to God in this world and hold nothing back. We do this by repentance and entering into the process of sanctification in Christ who will save us from our sins and not in our sins. Because no unclean thing can enter into the presence of God. The process of sanctification will continue in the Millennium.

We are promised to be glorified with Christ, become heirs of God and joint-heirs with Christ and receive all things. These are the sheep who will be with Christ on the right hand of God. These are they who will be considered children of God who will go on to exaltation to sit with Christ in His thrown.

On the other hand, those who accept the the blood of Christ but are not sanctified and purified because although they accept payment they do not fully give their whole souls to God but retain some back. They do not sell all they have, or like Ananias and Sapphira who "kept back a part of the price." These are the goats who will be on the left hand of God. They will be saved from hell but will be ministering servants (angels) and circle the throne of God but will not sit in Christ's throne with Him. They will not be heirs of exaltation. There will be saved beings who do not go to Hell but are damned and cannot enjoy eternal progression and exaltation. Angels will forever be with God, but will not be like God.

Gal. 4: 7 Wherefore thou art no more a servant, but a son; and if a son, then an heir of God through Christ.

Heb 1:3-4 Who being the brightness of his glory, and the express image of his person, and upholding all things by the word of his power, when he had by himself purged our sins, sat down on the right hand of the Majesty on high; Being made so much better than the angels, as he hath by inheritance obtained a more excellent name than they.

So, while all mankind has been purchased, the question remains; will we give God everything that He is due. Will we come unto God with a broken heart and a contrite spirit, a willing heart and willing mind and our whole souls for which He has already bought and paid for with the body and blood of His Son.

Omni 1:26 And now, my beloved brethren, I would that ye should come unto Christ, who is the Holy One of Israel, and partake of his salvation, and the power of his redemption. Yea, come unto him, and offer your whole souls as an offering unto him, and continue in fasting and praying, and endure to the end; and as the Lord liveth ye will be saved.

Mosiah 2:21 I say unto you that if ye should serve him who has created you from the beginning, and is preserving you from day to day, by lending you breath, that ye may live and move and do according to your own will, and even supporting you from one moment to another—I say, if ye should serve him with all your whole souls yet ye would be unprofitable servants.

"I have another subject to dwell upon, which is calculated to exalt man; but it is impossible for me to say much on this subject. I shall therefore just touch upon it, for time will not permit me to say all. It is associated with the subject of the resurrection of the dead—namely, the soul—the mind of man —the immortal spirit. Where did it come from? All learned men and doctors of divinity say that God created it in the beginning; but it is not so: the very idea lessens man in my estimation. I do not believe the doctrine; I know better. Hear it, all ye ends of the world; for God has told me so; and if you don’t believe me, it will not make the truth without effect. I will make a man appear a fool before I get through; if he does not believe it. I am going to tell of things more noble.

We say that God Himself is a self-existing being. Who told you so? It is correct enough; but how did it get into your heads? Who told you that man did not exist in like manner upon the same principles? Man does exist upon the same principles. God made a tabernacle and put a spirit into it, and it became a living soul. (Refers to the Bible.) How does it read in the Hebrew? It does not say in the Hebrew that God created the spirit of man. It says, “God made man out of the earth and put into him Adam’s spirit, and so became a living body.”

The mind or the intelligence which man possesses is co-equal [co-eternal] with God himself. I know that my testimony is true; hence, when I talk to these mourners, what have they lost? Their relatives and friends are only separated from their bodies for a short season: their spirits which existed with God have left the tabernacle of clay only for a little moment, as it were; and they now exist in a place where they converse together the same as we do on the earth. I am dwelling on the immortality of the spirit of man. Is it logical to say that the intelligence of spirits is immortal, and yet that it has a beginning? The intelligence of spirits had no beginning, neither will it have an end. That is good logic. That which has a beginning may have an end. There never was a time when there were not spirits; for they are co-equal [co-eternal] with our Father in heaven."
[The King Follett Sermon By Joseph Smith, Jr. (1805–1844)]

These temples are sacred structures in which eternal questions are answered, truths are taught, and ordinances performed so that we can live with an understanding of our divine inheritance as children of God and with an awareness of our potential as eternal beings. The house of the Lord helps you to see the end from the beginning. Just as the temples of God are sacred, so are your temporal bodies. The Apostle Paul said: “Know ye not that your body is the temple of the Holy Ghost which is in you, which ye have of God, and ye are not your own? For ye are bought with a price: therefore glorify God in your body, and in your spirit, which are God’s” (1 Cor. 6:19–20).
[Dieter F. Uchtdorf, “See the End from the Beginning,” Ensign, May 2006, 42–45]

I am indebted to President Boyd K. Packer, who made us aware of the fact that the term free agency appears nowhere in holy writ. Instead, the scriptures generally speak of agency or free will (Mosiah 18:28, D&C 58: 27), but when agency is modified, it is referred to as “moral agency” (D&C 101:78). . . . This wonderful plan of happiness was provided at a very high price. As the Apostle Paul taught the Corinthians: “What? know ye not that your body is the temple of the Holy Ghost which is in you, which ye have of God, and ye are not your own? For ye are bought with a price” (1 Cor. 6:19–20). That price, of course, was the atoning sacrifice of Jesus Christ, (D&C 19:16–19).
[Spencer J. Condie, “Agency: The Gift of Choices,” Ensign, Sep 1995, 16]

You have agency, and you are free to choose. But there is actually no free agency. Agency has its price. You have to pay the consequences of your choices. Human agency was purchased with the price of Christ’s suffering. The power of Christ’s Atonement overcomes the effect of sin on the condition of wholehearted repentance. Through and by the Savior’s universal and infinite Atonement, all have been redeemed from the Fall and have become free forever to act for themselves (2 Ne. 2:26).
[Dieter F. Uchtdorf, “On the Wings of Eagles,” Ensign, Jul 2006, 10–15]

My beloved brothers and sisters, I invite you to join with me in a prayer that we may enjoy the Spirit of the Lord while I attempt to say a few things about the worth of a soul (D&C 18:10–11) . . . . In origin, man is a son of God. The spirits of men “are begotten sons and daughters unto God” (D&C 76:24). Through that birth process, self-existing intelligence was organized into individual spirit beings. . . . It is in the attainment of eternal life, which man must earn in mortality, that he reaches his full potentiality. Man, being a child of God—who himself is a glorified, resurrected, immortal soul, enjoying eternal life—has, in harmony with the universal law of nature, the potentiality to reach, in full maturity, the high status of his Heavenly Father. John was alluding to this truth when he wrote, “We [are] 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” (1 Jn. 3:2). . . . In comparison to eternal life, all else sinks into insignificance. For, as Jesus said: “What shall it profit a man, if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul? Or what shall a man give in exchange for his soul?” (Mark 8:36–37.)
[Marion G. Romney, “The Worth of Souls,” Ensign, Nov 1978, 13]