Doctrine and Covenants 84

<p>The greater priesthood administers the gospel and holds &ldquo;the key of the mysteries of the kingdom, even the key of the knowledge of God&rdquo; (D&amp;C 84:19). What is the key of the knowledge of God, and can anyone obtain it? Without the priesthood there can be no fulness of the knowledge of God. The Prophet Joseph Smith said that the &ldquo;Melchizedek Priesthood &hellip; is the channel through which all knowledge, doctrine, the plan of salvation and every important matter is revealed from heaven.&rdquo; President Joseph F. Smith stated: &ldquo;One who can truly affirm that Joseph Smith was a prophet of God, and Jesus is the Savior, has in his possession a prize beyond computation. When we know this we know God, and we have a key to all knowledge.&rdquo;</p>

<p>When we come to God&rsquo;s great commandments to love Him and those around us by covenant, we do so not as stranger or guest but as His child at home. The age-old paradox is still true. In losing our worldly self through covenant belonging, we find and become our best eternal self (Matt. 10:39)&mdash;free, alive, real&mdash;and define our most important relationships. Covenant belonging is to make and keep solemn promises to God and each other through sacred ordinances that invite the power of godliness to be manifest in our lives (D&amp;C 84:20). When we covenant all we are, we can become more than we are. Covenant belonging gives us place, narrative, capacity to become. It produces faith unto life and salvation.</p>

<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Every woman and every man who makes covenants with God and keeps those covenants, and who participates worthily in priesthood ordinances, has direct access to the power of God.</span></p>

<p>The greater priesthood referenced in these verses is the Melchizedek Priesthood, which administers the gospel and holds the keys and ordinances necessary to enter again into the presence of God. The purpose of the priesthood is to bring men and women back into the presence of God in this life and in the life to come. There are a number of ways in which this goal can be accomplished. Ordinances such as baby blessings, blessings of healing or comfort, or Patriarchal blessings bring the power of God into the lives of their recipients by providing guidance, solace, or recovery. Ordinances required for salvation allow the receivers to enter into sacred covenants that open the door of salvation and unlock the powers of godliness. &ldquo;Godliness&rdquo; is the power to become like God and is made possible by the covenants and ordinances facilitated through the priesthood.</p> <p>When this revelation declares that &ldquo;without this no man can see the face of God, even the Father, and live&rdquo; (verse 22), the <em>this</em> referred to is the power of godliness, not the priesthood. Many individuals, including Joseph Smith, have received the privilege of seeing the face of God without being ordained to the priesthood. Typically, the power of godliness necessary to see God is given to a person through the ordinances of the gospel, though there can be exceptions to this rule under unusual circumstances. One exception is transfiguration, in which an individual is temporally changed by the power of the Spirit to be able to exist in the presence of God (D&amp;C 67:11; Moses 1:9, 11, 15). Transfiguration is most likely the way that Joseph Smith was able to behold the presence of God during his First Vision despite not holding the priesthood or receiving the ordinances. Other individuals have been granted this privilege, but for most men and women the way to enter the presence of God is to receive the power to do so through the ordinances of the gospel.</p>

<p>This passage affirms that the laws Moses gave to Israel during their sojourn in the wilderness were not the fulness of the gospel but a temporary set of provisions to prepare them for the higher law. The prophet Abinadi taught that this lesser law of &ldquo;performances and ordinances&rdquo; was only a type of things to come. The true power of God to save was not solely bound in keeping the law but in accepting the atoning sacrifices of Jesus Christ. Abinadi taught, &ldquo;that salvation doth not come by the law alone; and were it not for the atonement, which God himself shall make for the sins and iniquities of his people, that they must unavoidably perish, notwithstanding the law of Moses&rdquo; (Mosiah 13:28).</p> <p>It was not Moses&rsquo;s original intent to give the children of Israel this lesser law, but because of the hardness of their hearts a change was required. The Joseph Smith Translation of this episode explains,</p> <blockquote> <p>And the Lord said unto Moses, Hew thee two other tables of stone, like unto the first, and I will write upon them also, the words of the law, according as they were written at the first on the tables which thou brakest; but it shall not be according to the first, for I will take away the priesthood out of their midst; therefore my holy order, and the ordinances thereof, shall not go before them; for my presence shall not go up in their midst, lest I destroy them. But I will give unto them the law as at the first, but it shall be after the law of a carnal commandment; for I have sworn in my wrath, that they shall not enter into my presence, into my rest, in the days of their pilgrimage. Therefore do as I have commanded thee. (Joseph Smith Translation, Exodus 34:1&ndash;2)</p> </blockquote>

<p>The &ldquo;preparatory gospel,&rdquo; as it is referred to in verse 26, was present among the Israelites until the coming of John. The importance of John the Baptist is sometimes overshadowed by the nearness of his ministry to that of Jesus Christ. John was the proper heir to the office held anciently by Aaron and could trace his authority directly to him (D&amp;C 68:15&ndash;18; 107:16, 70, 76). This passage explains that John was baptized while he was in his childhood and had been &ldquo;ordained&rdquo; by an angel when he was eight days old. The word <em>ordained </em>in this context does not mean that John was ordained to the Aaronic or Melchizedek Priesthood, or any office of the priesthood. In the time of Joseph Smith, the term was used in the same way that <em>set apart</em> or <em>blessed</em> is used in the modern Church. For instance, Emma Smith was &ldquo;ordained&rdquo; to &ldquo;expound scriptures, and to exhort the Church&rdquo; but was not given the priesthood or a priesthood office (D&amp;C 25:7).</p> <p>In a similar fashion, John was ordained &ldquo;<em>unto this power, </em>to overthrow the kingdom of the Jews, and to make straight the way of the Lord before the face of his people, to prepare them for the second coming of the Lord&rdquo; (D&amp;C 84:28; emphasis added). John was ordained by an angel because his father, Zacharias, held only the Aaronic Priesthood and lacked the authority to give such a blessing to an infant.</p> <p>During his ministry, John preached the gospel of faith, repentance, and baptism by immersion for the remission of sins&mdash;the first three principles of the gospel. However, he lacked the authority to provide the fourth principle of the gospel, baptism by fire and the Holy Ghost. He also lacked the authority to administer the other ordinances of the Melchizedek Priesthood. Hence, when Jesus began His ministry, John directed his disciples toward Him, explaining that &ldquo;He [Christ] must increase, but I must decrease&rdquo; (John 3:30). Having fulfilled his mission as the most important of forerunners, John allowed the true Messiah to take the lead.<a id="_ftnref1" class="see-footnote" title="" href="#_ftn1">[1]</a></p> <p>The submission John showed to Jesus was another sign of his greatness. The Savior Himself taught that &ldquo;among those born of women there is not a greater prophet than John the Baptist&rdquo; (Luke 7:28). In an 1843 discourse, Joseph Smith provided three reasons why the Savior had given such high praise to John:</p> <blockquote> <p>It could not have been on account of the miracles John performed, for he did no miracles; but it was, <em>first</em>, because he was trusted with a divine mission, of preparing the way before the face of the Lord. Who was trusted with such a mission, before or since? <em>No man</em>.</p> <p><em>Second</em>, He was trusted, and it was required at his hands, to baptise the son of man. Who ever did that? Who ever had so great a privilege or glory? Who ever led the Son of God into the waters of baptism, beholding the <em>Holy Ghost</em> descend upon him in the <em>sign</em> of the Dove? <em>No man</em>.</p> <p><em>Third</em>, John, at that time, was the only legal administrator, holding the keys of power, there was on earth: The keys, the kingdom, the power, the glory, had departed from the Jews; and John, the son of Zachariah, by the holy anointing, and decree of heaven, held the keys of power at the time.&rdquo;<a id="_ftnref2" class="see-footnote" title="" href="#_ftn2">[2]</a></p> </blockquote> <div class="footnotes"> <p class="footnote"><a id="_ftn1" class="footnote-label" title="" href="#_ftnref1">[1]</a> Robinson and Garrett, <em>A Commentary on the Doctrine and Covenants, </em>2004, 3:38.</p> <p class="footnote"><a id="_ftn2" class="footnote-label" title="" href="#_ftnref2">[2]</a> Discourse, 29 January 1843, as Reported by Willard Richards&ndash;B, p. 2, JSP.</p> </div>