No Coincidences

Tag: plan of salvation

One True Church

I initially tried to write this post with the hope of using scripture and doctrine and principles to convince anyone who would read that the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is God’s true church, restored from the meridian of time on the same principles that Christ established while He was here. I have agonized over this post. Eventually I realized something obvious. No one is going to read this and dive into the deep scriptural and doctrinal references that add to the truth claims of this church. Plenty has been written on the truth claims of this church. All of it by much more learned and accomplished religious scholars than I. For the best intellectual break down of every truth claim of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, A Marvelous Work and a Wonder is the book to read.

What I can do is reference some scriptures, but ultimately give my testimony of this Church and Christ’s gospel. This will be my best attempt to explain why it’s important to have one faith, one body, one church (Ephesians 4:5).

Into some scripture from the Book of Mormon:

“Thou hast beheld that if the Gentiles repent it shall be well with them; and thou also knowest concerning the covenants of the Lord unto the house of Israel; and thou also hast heard that whoso repenteth not must perish.”
1 Nephi 14:5

In a recent post He Lives I talked about why any church is important. Why covenants? Why repenting? Because it turns us to Jesus Christ.

“And he said unto me: Behold there are save two churches only; the one is the church of the Lamb of God, and the other is the church of the devil; wherefore, whoso belongeth not to the church of the Lamb of God belongeth to that great church, which is the mother of abominations; and she is the whore of all the earth.”
1 Nephi 14:10

It’s important to note that this scripture doesn’t mean if you don’t belong to the Church of Jesus Christ you belong to the Church of the Devil. But. An important point is made. There is a church of the Lamb of God. There is a church that if Christ were here today, He would be the head of. There is a church that Christ is the head of spiritually. It must be. God and Jesus Christ have not left us. What this scripture is saying is you either must follow the devil or follow Christ and there will be a church on the earth with proper keys and authority to help you in following Jesus Christ.

“There is only light and darkness; there is no dusky twilight zone [in regard to covenant salvation]. Either men walk in the light or they cannot be saved. Anything less than salvation is not salvation. It may be better to walk in the twilight or to glimpse the first few rays of a distant dawn than to be enveloped in total darkness, but salvation itself is only for those who step forth into the blazing light of the noonday sun.”
Bruce R. McConkie

The beauty of the doctrine taught by Joseph Smith (given him from Jesus Christ) is that everyone will have a chance to hear the gospel. Every one will have their chance to choose to walk in the light. Agency is a core truth in God’s Plan. Without agency it would all be for not. What would our faith and devotion mean if it was by coercion? There is an idea perpetuated by other faiths and churches that if you aren’t baptized you are doomed to hell or if you don’t believe a certain way, you’re destined for eternal suffering. This is not how God works. It can’t be. Where is the grace, love, and compassion in that plan? Many faiths that emphasize the grace of Christ also claim hell as the destination for those who have never heard of Him. All will have their chance to accept Jesus Christ as their Savior. We are all the more blessed if we accept Him while here on earth when we are walking completely by faith. The covenants we make here draw us closer to Him These are truthful doctrines taught by Joseph Smith that should speak to all hearts that believe in a God who is our loving Father.

“Many in the religious world claim that no church is better than any other, just different. As “all roads lead to Rome,” it is reasoned that all beliefs must lead to heaven. If all religious paths do indeed lead to heaven, the righteous will be at a considerable disadvantage. If the gates of the celestial city are to be thrown open that widely, why the need for Apostles and prophets, their doctrines, their priesthood and keys; indeed, why the need for the Savior himself and a strait and narrow way? The doctrine of one true church is as offensive to much of the Christian world today as was the testimony of Christ anciently that he was “the way, the truth, and the life”” (John 14:6).
Joseph McConkie and Robert Millet

Part of my agonizing over this post was the fear of offending all my friends of other faiths. I would never want to disparage other churches and especially any church that leads to God and faith in Jesus Christ. That said, I will not apologize for claiming Christ has ONE church.

“There is only one true way to eternal life and that is by obedience to valid covenants. That is what the Book of Mormon testifies. When one comes to an understanding of the Lord’s covenant process of salvation, what great things the Lord did with our fathers in bringing them to a knowledge of this covenant process, and that this message is being sent forth to all the world, then one can not help but become convinced that Jesus is the Christ, the Eternal God, manifesting himself unto all nations.”
Alan C. Miner

I can’t agree with Brother Miner’s words more because that is what I have experienced. My baptism, the priesthood, my temple covenants draw me to Jesus Christ in a way that would not be possible otherwise. I know others can come to Christ and be devoted to Him without these covenants. What shall be bound on earth shall be sealed in heaven. We aren’t here for worldy things but for eternal. I am grateful for my covenants. They draw me closer to my Heavenly Father, my Savior, and eternity.

“For the time speedily shall come that all churches which are built up to get gain, and all those who are built up to get power over the flesh, and those who are built up to become popular in the eyes of the world, and those who seek the lusts of the flesh and the things of the world, and to do all manner of iniquity; yea, in fine, all those who belong to the kingdom of the devil are they who need fear, and tremble, and quake; they are those who must be brought low in the dust; they are those who must be consumed as stubble; and this is according to the words of the prophet.”
1 Nephi 22:23

I will not talk down on other churches. But does that scripture strike a chord with anyone else? Sound familiar. These are the churches of our day. They draw near to God with their lips but deny the power thereof (Joseph Smith History 1:19, 2 Timothy 3:5).

This will continue to be a theme of my writing. My greatest desire is for others to experience the love of Jesus Christ as I have felt it. This comes through covenants. This comes from knowing who we follow. This comes from knowing what He has done for us.

I know that the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is Christ’s church on the earth today. There are many churches that do much good. But there is one way. Covenants are only binding if they are initiated by God. The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is the establishment by which Christ initiates his covenants with man. This is my testimony. In His name.

February 11, 2021
He Lives

The Book of Mormon.

The Apostles, Prophets, Bishops, leaders.

The Prophet Joseph Smith.

The temples.

The missionaries.

Knowing why I’m here.

Knowing where I’m going

These things are all amazing. These are all fruits of the gospel.

But.

Why are they amazing?

After seeing a great vision of eternity, of all the heavens, of the glory, love, and light we will all receive in the next life, after this vision, Joseph Smith and Sydney Rigdon wrote this:

“And now, after the many testimonies which have been given of him, this is the testimony, last of all, which we give of him: That he lives!

For we saw him, even on the right hand of God; and we heard the voice bearing record that he is the Only Begotten of the Father.” (Doctrine and Covenants 76:22)

How I wish I could scream this to the world. Jesus Christ lives! He died for you, for each of us. He died so you need not fear death, trials, or tribulations. You needn’t fear anything. He died for your reassurance. He died for your comfort. He died for your sins. He died for you.

All those things mentioned at the start are amazing, glorious, and wonderful because they point to one thing: Him. Jesus Christ. The Savior of the world. Without Him all of it would be for nothing. Temples, prophets, scripture, what good are they? They are only good for what they point us to. The light and love of this world. Jesus Christ.

I wish the world could see this. I wish the world could see that all these things are just tools pointing to someone far greater.

Ultimately the gospel of Jesus Christ brings comfort. The Plan of Salvation brings peace. The Plan of Happiness makes this life a joy. How could this life be anything less when you know the bigger picture?

I don’t fear trials because I know they help me grow.

I don’t fear tribulations because I know they benefit me for eternity.

I don’t fear death because I know where I’m going if I continue to look to Christ.

I wrote this months ago. Now I’m coming off a situation that has been a trial and tribulation. I believe I can say with a little more confidence today that I don’t fear death.

It can be naïve to say I welcome trials and tribulations when life is wonderful and peaceful. I appreciate that my life is wonderful and peaceful because of the Gospel and the peace it preemptively brings me before trials. It’s easy to say these things when everything is going well. I’m glad I can say them when things are hard as well.

Despite current challenges, I feel so blessed.

Of course, I don’t want tests and trials, but I know when they come, they are for a great purpose. I hope when opportunities come for my faith to be tested it can feel like an open book test. I hope I can face trials in life as if I have the answers, which I believe I do. It’s easy to say until a true tragedy hits my life. I don’t hope for a true tragedy, but I hope for the strength and faith to endure tragedy if it comes.

Coming off the accident I had, I still don’t feel like I’ve gone through a tremendous trial. It has been challenging, but not overly. I don’t feel like it has been that difficult at all. I don’t know how much of that is the fact that the challenge wasn’t actually difficult or due to all the support I have around me, especially the support of God.

These are all the benefits of the Gospel of Jesus Christ. I wish the world had this same peace I have been profoundly blessed to be given.

He lives!

February 4, 2021
Books in 2020
This is a list of every book I read in 2020 and the order I ranked them in from favorite to least favorite. I get something out of every book I read. I learned long ago that if I allow myself to not finish one book, I won’t finish any. For those reasons, when I start a book, I’m committed to finishing it. I don’t care how dry or boring it may be.

It was extremely difficult to rank these books. For one, how do you rank nonfiction verse fiction? Take a fictional John Grisham crime novel like The Last Juror and compare it to a nonfiction biography of the Prophet Joseph Smith for example. How do you compare the two? To avoid overthinking it I simply went through my list of books read and from what I remembered, put each on the list. Every book’s placement on the list is from my initial remembering of how much I *enjoyed reading it.

*enjoyed for me is going to be vastly different from most people. Precious Truths Restored, which was a top five favorite book of the year for me, is there because I learned so much from it and have referred to it constantly throughout the year since I finished it. I doubt the average person would even get through it. I loved it.

I included a one sentence thought about each book. This proved difficult because I could say so much about every book. To get around the one sentence rule, I used many commas and run-on sentences. My list, my rules.

I enjoyed all these books because they each taught me something. That’s the great thing about books. Here’s my list:
1. The First 2000 Years by Cleon Skousen
  - When I told a church-going friend I finished this book he looked at me incredulously, I guess my taste in books is unique.
2. *A Case for the Book of Mormon by Tad R. Callister
  - This book will forever be my reference for a scholarly defense of the Book of Mormon.
3. *The Mourning Dove by Larry Barkdull
  - I made Beth read this, super short, super memorable, loved this book.
4. Tools of Titans by Tim Ferriss
  - I gained so much from this book, almost every one of the nearly 800 pages was marked, made me a Tim Ferriss fan for life.
5. The Joseph Smith Translation Precious Truths Restored by W. Jeffrey Marsh
  - Helped me tremendously in understanding the dangers of the different translations of the Bible, appreciating the Joseph Smith Translation of the Bible, and understanding how we have the various Bibles we have today.
6. Bridging the Divide: The Continuing Conversation Between a Mormon and an Evangelical by Gregory C. V. Johnson and Robert L. Millet
  - Inspirational book of two people from different faiths finding joy in a discussion spanning many years that brings them both closer to God, reminded me of a relationship I have with a friend I enjoy discussing scripture with.
7. *Best Loved Stories of the LDS People Vol 3 compiled by Jay A. Parry, Linda Ririe Gundry, Jack M. Lyon
  - The reason this ranked so high among so many other church history-esc books is I felt like I enjoyed a majority of the short stories, I gave it to my sister to read and she also enjoyed it.
8. The Third Thousand Years by W. Cleon Skousen
  - This was the sequel to my favorite book of the year, it’s lower on the list because I feel like we generally know more about the third thousand years, so I felt like I got less out of it personally, still great though.
9. *Among the Shoshones by Elijah Nicholas Wilson
  - Given to my sister-in-law to read, amazingly simple read that repeatedly had me saying out loud, “What the heck?”
10. The Forerunners by Mark E. Petersen
  - This did a great job of explaining Joseph Smith’s role in the restoration and went into some detail about the pattern of forerunners being sent by God to start a great work on earth, John the Baptist and Joseph Smith being the most famous examples.
11. Return from Tomorrow by George G. Ritchie with Elizabeth Sherrill
  - One of the first ever Near-Death Experience books written, NDE books have a special place in my heart as it was an NDE book that helped me come back to church.
12. The Red Record by David McCutchen
  - This was fascinating, it took legends of an ancient civilization you’ve never heard of, used oral records to go back thousands of years depicting their first legends of crossing an icy bridge to come to what would be the northern part of North America.
13. And the Moon Shall Turn to Blood by Anthony E. Larson
  - This series of books blew my mind and led me to discussing it with people that didn’t have any interest discussing the topic, this fact instantly gets it higher on the list.
14. And the Earth Shall Reel to and Fro by Anthony E. Larson
  - Part two to the above book, grouped the trilogy together on my list, these books use catastrophism as a basis of belief about what happened in the history of the world and what will happen in the future.
15. And There Shall be a New Heaven and a New Earth by Anthony E. Larson
  - Part three of the trilogy, I enjoyed the first one the most and was slightly less interested as I got to the third book, but they were kind of like one book in three parts.
16. All I need to Know I learned in Kindergarten by Robert Fulghum
  - A collection of short stories that were all extremely entertaining, quick and easy read.
17. The Glory of the Sun by Sterling W. Sill
  - I love short anecdotes or stories which is why this is just below All I need to Know I Learned in Kindergarten because that’s one of the best books I’ve read that does that, this one did a good job as well on more spiritual and deep topics.
18. At Peace in the Light by Dannion Brinkley with Paul Perry
  - Another near-death experience book, I really want to read Dannion Brinkley’s first book Saved by the Light now.
19. 2012 The War for Souls by Whitley Strieber
  - Awesomely creative book, so good I read it twice, no really, it wasn’t until the end that I realized I’d read 90% of the book years ago and never finished.
20. How Money Works by Steve Siebold and Tom Mathews
  - A gift to me, I think this book advanced my knowledge of how money works ten fold, this should be required reading in high school.
21. The Last Juror by John Grisham
  - Some authors have mastered how to get their readers to keep flipping pages no matter what, John Grisham is one of those writers.
22. The Life Beyond by Joseph Fielding McConkie and Robert L. Millet
  - This book uses modern revelation to answer questions about what happens when we die, I’m amazed the world doesn’t flock to a book that answers the most important question in this life.
23. Behold the Fig Tree by Roger K. Young
  - Any book that prepares me for what to expect leading up to the Millennium jumps up the list, see #13-15 for other examples.
24. The Shack by William P. Young
  - Book turned popular motion picture, I may have liked the movie even more.
25. Mama’s Boarding House by John D. Fitzgerald
  - A fictional account of an early settled western town, gun slinging stories have always fascinated me.
26. Silent Courage by George P. Lee
  - A really good book was tainted when I learned what became of George P. Lee, was interesting reading about the life in a culture completely unique from my own.
27. Millionaire Mind by Thomas J. Stanley
  - My only complaint about this book was the repetitiveness of points, though I still got a lot from it.
28. They Knew the Prophet compiled by Hyrum L Andrus and Helen Mae Andrus
  - First-hand accounts about the prophet Joseph Smith from those who knew him.
29. From Every Nation by Derin Head Rodriguez
  - Awesome book about the first foreign general authorities, amazing to see the distinct similarities a bunch of men from all over the world had that led to their growth in faith and devotion to Jesus Christ.
30. How to Read the Constitution and Why by Kim Wehle
  - Should be required reading in any school, important for American students to understand the constitution better, especially now.
31. Unlimited Access by Gary Aldrich
  - This book was interesting, an honest look from an FBI agent on the security of the white house while he was in charge of security at the white house.
32. When Breath Becomes Air by Paul Kalanithi
  - A really neat look at life from someone who was experiencing his own mortality.
33. Paul’s Life and Letters by Sidney B. Sperry
  - Made me understand the sacrifice of the Apostle Paul in a deeper way.
34. The Boy who Became a Prophet by Mabel Harmer
  - Ranked on the lower end because I don’t remember a ton from it, though any book on Joseph Smith has proved rewarding.
35. In the Company of Prophets by D. Arthur Haycock
  - An interesting view on modern-day prophets from the perspective of someone who knew them as well as anyone.
36. Making Sense of Suffering by Peter Kreeft
  - Like #47 The Problem of Pain, except more at my reading level.
37. It was on Fire when I sat on it by Robert Fulghum
  - Didn’t like nearly as much as #16, but still enjoyed a lot.
38. *Translating the Anthon Transcript by Stan and Polly Johnson
  - Lowered due to the chance the information in the book wasn’t fully accurate/true, I very much enjoyed learning about this though, and gave to a friend to read.
39. Zion Seeking the City of Enoch by Larry Barkdull
  - Larry Barkdull also wrote one of my favorite books of the year (#3), this was an awesome, fictional account of someone trying to join Enoch in the beginning stages of starting his perfected society.
40. Frontiers of Being by Duncan B. Blewett
  - Extremely deep and dense, some parts difficult to get through, used some of what I read in this book when officiating my sister’s wedding, fun fact, looked it up online and there’s a “new” copy for sale for $1,008.00.
41. Valley of Sorrow by Alexander B. Morrison
  - Great book, taught me a lot, not a topic I know much about or am passionate about but definitely learned a lot and opened my mind to some different views on mental health.
42. Glimpses Beyond Death’s Door by Brent Top
  - I think I struggled with feeling like I was reading an analysis of a bunch of other books that I actually wanted to read, this was surprising given my love for the topic, see #7 and #18.
43. A witness and a Warning: Modern Day Prophet Testifies of the Book of Mormon by Ezra Taft Benson.
  - Since I already know the Book of Mormon is true this found me nodding my head in agreement throughout.
44. *LeGrand Richards: Beloved Apostle by Lucile Christenson Tate
  - Gave to my brother to read, it’s inspiring to read about the life of someone with such spectacular faith.
45. The Temple: Where Heaven Meets Earth by Truman G. Madsen
  - Classic book teaching the importance of the temple.
46. Standing for Something by Gordon B. Hinckley
  - Classic GBH.
47. The Problem of Pain by C.S. Lewis
  - Was really excited for this book, quickly realized I wasn’t intellectually ready to read a philosophical book by C.S. Lewis.
48. Driven from Within by Michael Jordan
  - Interesting look at Michael Jordan looking simultaneously at his basketball career and how it fueled his creative side which created a billion dollar shoe industry.
49. Does the Bible Contradict Itself? by W. Arndt
  - A defense of the Bible, didn’t love reading cover to cover which the author kind of said not to do, but will possibly be a book I refer back to often in my life.
50. Statements on Communism and the Constitution of the United States by David O. McKay
  - Don’t remember a ton about this, I know it was short, I mostly remember thinking, “they used to be extremely afraid of communism.”
51. Hidden Treasures from the Scriptures: The Battle is not yours it is the Lord’ by Alisha Geary
  - Had an interesting theme about how to get through adversity, short book.
52. Are Your Standards Fences or Guardrails? By John Bytheway
  - While it’s sort of silly I even read this as I was approaching 30, and I ranked it low, I actually got a lot out of it, especially useful as I was becoming a parent and thinking about the standards I’d like Ivy to have.
53. Messages of the First Presidency Vol. 6 compiled by James R. Clark
  - I enjoyed it but it was dry, and the average person is not going to get through this book.
54. Emma’s Glory and Sacrifice by Gracia N. Jones
  - Great book but kind of felt like the attempt to tie it to Emma was a stretch throughout simply due to how few records we have left behind in her own words.
55. Islam by John A. Williams
  - Just really difficult to read without more of a foundation in the faith, felt like I constantly didn’t know enough to keep up with what was being discussed.
56. So Much of Life Ahead by Dean Hughes
  - This was an OK book, but it was part 6 in a series and I just decided to read it.
57. The Plain Truth about Christmas by Herbert W. Armstrong
  - Can’t believe I read this, best thing about it was how short it was, entertaining though I guess.
*Recommended or gave this book to someone to read.

Additional reading:
1. Plan of Salvation pamphlet (should be read by everyone once a year to be reminded of why we’re here).
2. Book of Mormon
3. Doctrine & Covenants (Through Section 99)
4. Old Testament (Finished Ezekiel)
5. Come Follow Me lesson each week
January 7, 2021
Lectures on Faith – Lecture 2: The Object of Faith
A main theme throughout the Lectures on Faith is God’s perfect attributes. Logically, for us to be able to have any faith in God He must be perfect. We must know that we can trust God and, in turn, His Son, Jesus Christ.

The major theme I took away from Lecture 2 specifically is how we have attained faith throughout history. Lecture 2 presents the profound idea that our faith in God is always dependent, or comes initially, from the faith of another. Consider this, if no one in your life ever mentioned any sort of higher being, any sort of God, any sort of creator, would you come up with the thought on your own? You think about God because He is someone we have been taught about since Adam.

Even if your parents aren’t the ones who teach you about God, you learn about God from someone. I would venture to say that in the world today every single person on the face of it has heard of the concept of a supreme being. Why is this? Where does our innate belief/consideration of God come from?

Lecture 2 points out that there was an unbroken chain of testimony that started from Adam and was handed down through Abraham. If you read Genesis carefully and do the math you will see that ancient prophets handed the knowledge of God down for generations. It continues today.

Adam knew God in the Garden of Eden. When he left the Garden Adam still knew God. We know Adam’s sons knew God. Abel provided sacrifices to God. Cain spoke to God even after murdering his brother. This shows us that God spoke to men even after the fall and continued to speak to them as they continued to fall into transgression. There is something significant here that I’d never considered. Abel first got his knowledge of God from his father, Adam, as did Cain. After they were told about God by Adam, then they had to develop their own faith in God. They had to learn, trust, and depend on Him, or not.

The important thing to remember from this: we all start our faith by leaning on the faith of another. We possess dependent faith. This leads to another profound truth: God possesses independent faith. God’s faith is not reliant on any outside source. As discussed in lecture one, God’s faith is perfect.

I’ve been studying the lectures alongside a video series that I will link at the bottom. There were many amazing thoughts and ideas presented in that video, related to this second Lecture on Faith.

Faith is faith until it happens, then it is knowledge. Since God has perfect faith, He doesn’t need to wait for something to happen for Him to know it. He knows it is going to happen. His faith is perfect therefore His knowledge is perfect. It’s simple when you think about it in these terms, but it’s so critical. It’s why we can have perfect faith in Him, BECAUSE we know His faith is perfect.

IMPORTANT: God is not still progressing. This is important for us to understand. God is not still learning. If He was, we couldn’t have perfect faith in Him.

This leads to a question: isn’t life boring for God if He has mastered everything?

In the video they gave an awesome analogy. Imagine you’re an accountant. You master every aspect of accounting there is. You have a perfect knowledge and ability in accounting. Would you get bored with accounting? Probably. So, what would you then do? You would teach others how to also master accounting. God is the master accountant. He has attained all knowledge on life, faith, eternity, creation – so what does He do? He teaches us. What a thought! We are being tutored by the God of the universe. That’s what makes this life so important. When we consider that we are learning and being personally groomed by God Himself, what power it adds to our existence here!

This leads to another important thought. What was Christ’s ultimate message while here? I think it would be service. Love through service. Give through service. Charity. Without charity you are nothing (1 Corinthians 13:2, Moroni 7:44) Why did Christ teach this ever-important principle? Because His Father, our Father, God is the ultimate server. He is doing everything He does to teach us. We truly are “His work and His glory” (Moses 1:39).

I want to conclude with two last realizations:
1. The scriptures help develop our faith by teaching us of God. This is important.
2. Faith comes by hearing the word of God through the testimony of the servants of God, that testimony is always attended by the spirit.
You aren’t told to have a testimony. You’re not made to know Jesus is the Christ. These are things you must come to a knowledge of through the spirit. Think about it. Christ, in His whole ministry, never told anyone He was the Son of God. He always let them come to that conclusion on their own. One example is Peter who He told, “blessed art thou for flesh and blood hath not revealed it unto thee, but my Father which is in heaven” (Matthew 16:17). Another example is Christ to the woman at the well (John 4). Christ didn’t go telling people who He was. It had to be revealed by the spirit. This is why signs come by faith, and not the other way around (D&C 63:7-12).

Our hearts must be open for us to receive the testimony of Jesus Christ. 2 Nephi 33:1 “When a man speaketh by the power of the Holy Ghost the power of the Holy Ghost carrieth it UNTO the hearts of the children of men.” Not INTO but UNTO. It’s then on the heart of the individual to accept or reject the testimony. The system is in place. The system has been in place for God’s children to develop faith in Him from the beginning. Once the testimony is carried to the heart It’s then on the agency of the individual to receive or reject that testimony.

God has perfect faith. We are here to develop our faith so that we can be like Him. He is the great accountant, and we are his protégés. It is His hope, His glory that we can become like Him. As we develop our faith here it will benefit us for the rest of eternity. I know I say it a lot, but, what a thought.

Video 3 (Lecture on Faith 2): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F-o59d9ioGA&list=PLc5yYrpPFm2umksQf3jgULxoV4YIXTd2h&index=3

Lecture on Faith 2: http://lecturesonfaith.com/2/
December 31, 2020
Lectures on Faith
Lectures on Faith – Introduction and Lecture 1: Faith Defined.

I’ve been watching a series of videos on the Lectures on Faith as supplemental material to my study of the Lectures.

If you’re not familiar with the lectures on faith, you can read them all here:

https://lecturesonfaith.com/

It’s unclear who officially wrote the Lectures on Faith, though they were approved of and taught by Joseph Smith. At a minimum, the concepts and theology of them comes from revelation given to Joseph Smith. Yet another example and evidence of his calling as a prophet.

I write here my notes and thoughts on these videos and the lectures. There are seven Lectures. The 10 video series I’ve been watching spans almost 5 hours and reviews each of the Lectures. In writing this it will help me put together my thoughts and understanding on what Joseph Smith tried to teach us about faith. Through this process I know my faith will grow by studying these principles. What Joseph Smith taught about faith is beyond profound, it is revelatory. I will need to study his words and all supplemental material for the rest of my life to get a grasp of the profound and eternal nature of faith. I look forward to reading over my notes here many times to refresh my mind and expand my knowledge on the subject.

Video 1 was an introduction to the Lectures. Video 2 was all about Lecture 1 – Faith Defined.

First, what are the Lectures on Faith? They are principles put together by Joseph Smith to help early elders to share the gospel.

What do the seven lectures cover? (from Video 1)

Lecture 1 What is faith?

Lecture 2 Links the principles of faith and the doctrine of revelation. The power of human testimony is the medium with which the gospel is passed from generation to generation.

Lectures 3 and 4 The character and attributes of God. If we don’t understand the attributes of God, we can’t have confidence to exercise proper faith in Him.

Lecture 5 The Godhead, nature of the members of the Godhead.

Lecture 6 The Law of Sacrifice.

Lecture 7 The fruits of faith.

What is the plan for the Lectures on Faith?
1. Teach what faith is.
2. Teach how to obtain faith.
3. What happens if you obtain faith?
Bob Millet

My favorite part from the first video was this suggestion from Bob Millet, one of the panelists. His suggestion was this: read the Lectures on Faith 20 times then you can start to study them.

Now that I have an overview on what all 7 lectures will cover and teach, I can get into Lecture 1.

Lecture 1: Faith Defined

Obvious question to start, what is faith?

Faith is the first principle in revealed religion and the foundation of righteousness. Faith is the substance of things hoped for but not seen (Hebrews 11:1). The lecture starts broad – faith is the belief that something will come to pass. Then it gets more religious in tone: “the principle of action in all intelligent beings.”

Faith is a principle of action. Faith implies works, it implies activity, both physical and mental. Just as faith is the moving action in all things temporal, so it is with spiritual (paragraph 12).

By faith God formed the earth. I think this is the most profound point from Lecture 1. That it is God’s faith that is His power. Take faith from God and He would cease to exist (paragraph 16). I know to many this seems like outright blasphemy. But before rejecting the idea without thought, consider what is being said. Faith is a principle of power. It is the power by which God formed the earth. Take away His faith, take away His power, He ceases to be God. Luckily for us God’s power cannot be taken away.

God’s faith and knowledge are equivalent. It is God’s perfect faith that allows His perfect knowledge. Consider: faith is believing in something that you haven’t yet seen. Since God’s faith is perfect what He has faith in will be, it will exist. We mortals look at faith as weak, unproven, unscientific. It is God’s trust in the Plan of Salvation that makes Him create worlds. It is God’s perfect faith that created those worlds. It is God’s perfect faith that makes Him the Almighty.

Again, faith is the power of God. If faith is that important, it adds a whole new meaning, explanation, and understanding to this life. Why do we move through life as if through a misty darkness, unsure of everything? Why the veil that covers our eyes and fogs our minds to so much that we used to know? Why don’t we know where we come from? Why don’t we know where we’re going? Why doesn’t God send angels down to tell us which church is true? Why doesn’t God allow profound miracles to occur before unbelievers’ eyes so they can KNOW that He exists? The reason God doesn’t do these things is due to the importance of faith. We are here to learn faith, develop faith, grow faith; because it is that important. God does not want to take that opportunity of growth and development away from us. He won’t. He knows how critical it is.

Faith, then, is the first great governing principle which has power, dominion, and authority over all things: by it they exist, by it they are upheld, by it they are changed, or by it they remain, agreeably to the will of God. Without it, there is no power, and without power there could be no creation, nor existence!” (Paragraph 24).

Link to Lecture 1: https://lecturesonfaith.com/1/

Link to Video 1 An Introduction on the Lectures: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MiV4dCY9OEA&list=PLc5yYrpPFm2umksQf3jgULxoV4YIXTd2h&index=1

Link to Video 2 What is faith?: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S_EXFQK-KJE&list=PLc5yYrpPFm2umksQf3jgULxoV4YIXTd2h&index=2
November 12, 2020