Come Now, and Let Us Reason Together

Lately I have been thinking about some of the common beliefs of our day which differ from the teachings of the restored gospel. As I have reasoned them out in my mind, I have come to find even more reasons for believing the way I do. I would like to share some of this reasoning with you. I borrow the phrase from the Bible, "Come now, and let us reason together":

Can a man look upon God?

Many religions teach that we could never look upon God. In some cases this is because they believe He has no form, and as taught by the Nicene creed, is without body, parts or passions. But if we reason this out together, the question could be asked, "Can God not show Himself to us?" If God is God, he is omnipotent and can do anything. If he could not show himself to us, he would cease to be omnipotent. In fact, there are several scriptures that refer to people seeing him. I'm not sure if people use a different interpretation to explain these witnesses, but I think their testimonies are clear. But I think that because they do not fit in with the creeds of today, they are dismissed.

JACOB

30And Jacob called the name of the place Peniel: for I have seen God face to face, and my life is preserved. Gen. 32:30

STEPHEN

55But he, being full of the Holy Ghost, looked up stedfastly into heaven, and saw the glory of God, and Jesus standing on the righthand of God,

56 And said, Behold, I see the heavens opened, and the Son of man standing on the right hand of God. Acts 7:55, 56

JOSEPH SMITH

22And 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!

23For 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—

24That by him, and through him, and of him, the worlds are and were created, and the inhabitants thereof are begotten sons and daughters unto God. Doctrine and Covenants 76: 22-24

MOSES

4And when the Lord saw that he turned aside to see, God called unto him out of the midst of the bush, and said, Moses, Moses. And he said, Here am I.

5And he said, Draw not nigh hither: put off thy shoes from off thy feet, for the place whereon thou standest is holy ground.

6Moreover he said, I am the God of thy father, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob. And Moses hid his face; for he was afraid to look upon God. Exodus 3:4-6

1The words of God, which he spake unto Moses at a time when Moses was caught up into an exceedingly high mountain,

2And he saw God face to face, and he talked with him, and the glory of God was upon Moses; therefore Moses could endure his presence. Moses 1:1-2

LEHI

(from The Book of Mormon)

8And being thus overcome with the Spirit, he was carried away in a vision, even that he saw the heavens open, and he thought he saw God sitting upon his throne, surrounded with numberless concourses of angels in the attitude of singing and praising their God. 1 Nephi 1:8

Does God have a body?

One of the most common beliefs today is that God does not have a body. Once again, this is a belief that was iterated in the Nicene creed, as well as other creeds. Anything pertaining to the flesh was looked upon as evil, so the writers felt that God must not be flesh.

If we reason this out, we must remember that Jesus Christ was resurrected. If there had been no resurrection, then all of us, after death, would remain spirit. If God is a spirit, then why should we not remain spirits too? Why was the resurrection so necessary?

In our religion we believe that God the Father, Jesus Christ, and the Holy Ghost are three separate personages. God the Father, and Jesus Christ both have physical, glorified bodies. The Holy Ghost has not as yet received a body because it is imperative that his spirit be able to commune with our spirits so that he can lead us in to all truth. If we are to become more like God, we must also have a body, and must be resurrected after death.

But even those who don't believe that they are three separate beings must still believe that God has a body. Jesus was resurrected with his body, and we have the witness of the New Testament. If Jesus is God, then God has a body.

Another witness of these two truths is Job. Job testified that not only would he be resurrected, but he would see God. If he were to see him, God must have a body.

JOB

25For I know that my redeemer liveth, and that he shall stand at the latter day upon the earth:

26And though after my skin worms destroy this body, yet in my flesh shall I see God:

27Whom I shall see for myself, and mine eyes shall behold, and not another; though my reins be consumed within me.

We should also remember that we are children of God.

16The Spirit itself beareth witness with our spirit, that we are the children of God:

17And 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. Romans 8:16, 17

Nature shows us a pattern in this thing. Every offspring grows to be like it's parent. If God truly is our Father, then he must have a body like us.

And finally we have the Savior's witness on this subject:

39Behold my hands and my feet, that it is I myself: handle me, and see; for a spirit hath not flesh and bones, as ye see me have. Luke 24:39

I would like to write future posts that reason about other truths. I hope you will share your thoughts with me so that we can reason together!

The Keys of the Priesthood

I have written often about the "keys of the Priesthood". I think these explanations about the meaning of that term are very good:

President Joseph F. Smith: “The Priesthood in general is the authority given to man to act for God. Every man that has been ordained to any degree of the Priesthood, has this authority dedicated to him.

“But it is necessary that every act performed under this authority, shall be done at the proper time and place, in the proper way, and after the proper order. The power of directing these labors constitute the keys of the Priesthood. In their fullness, these keys are held by only one person at a time, the prophet and president of The Church. He may delegate any portion of this power to another, in which case that person holds the keys of that particular labor. Thus, the president of a temple, the president of a stake, the bishop of a ward, the president of a mission, the president of a quorum, each holds the keys of the labors performed in that particular body or locality. His Priesthood is not increased by this special appointment, for a seventy who presides over a mission has no more Priesthood than a seventy who labors under his direction; and the president of an elders’ quorum, for example, has no more Priesthood than any member of that quorum. But he holds the power of directing the official labors performed in the mission or the quorum, or in other words, the keys of that division of that work. So it is throughout all the ramifications of the Priesthood—a distinction must be carefully made between the general authority, and the directing of the labors performed by that authority.” (“Distinction between Keys of the Priesthood and Priesthood,” Improvement Era, Jan. 1901, p. 230.)

President Joseph Fielding Smith:

“These keys are the right of presidency; they are the power and authority to govern and direct all of the Lord’s affairs on earth. Those who hold them have power to govern and control the manner in which all others may serve in the priesthood. All of us may hold the priesthood, but we can only use it as authorized and directed so to do by those who hold the keys.

“This priesthood and these keys were conferred upon Joseph Smith and Oliver Cowdery by Peter, James, and John, and by Moses and Elijah and others of the ancient prophets. They have been given to each man who has been set apart as a member of the Council of the Twelve. But since they are the right of presidency, they can only be exercised in full by the senior apostle of God on earth, who is the president of the Church.

“May I now say—very plainly and very emphatically—that we have the holy priesthood and that the keys of the kingdom of God are here. They are found only in The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.

“By revelation to Joseph Smith, the Lord said that these keys ‘belong always unto the Presidency of the High Priesthood’ ( D&C 81:2 ). . . .

“Now, brethren, I think there is one thing which we should have exceedingly clear in our minds. Neither the President of the Church, nor the First Presidency, nor the united voice of the First Presidency and the Twelve will ever lead the Saints astray or send forth counsel to the world that is contrary to the mind and will of the Lord.

“An individual may fall by the wayside, or have views, or give counsel which falls short of what the Lord intends. But the voice of the First Presidency and the united voice of those others who hold with them the keys of the kingdom shall always guide the Saints and the world in those paths where the Lord wants them to be. . . .

“I testify that if we shall look to the First Presidency and follow their counsel and direction, no power on earth can stay or change our course as a church, and as individuals we shall gain peace in this life and be inheritors of eternal glory in the world to come.” (In Conference Report, Apr. 1972, pp. 98–99; or Ensign, July 1972, pp. 87–88 .)