Doctrine and Covenants 93

<p>To help us as we progress toward the Father, the Lord gave us this promise: &ldquo;Every soul who forsaketh his sins and cometh unto me, and calleth on my name, and obeyeth my voice, and keepeth my commandments, shall see my face and know that I am&rdquo; (D&amp;C 93:1).</p> <p>Through our faith in His atoning sacrifice, the Savior cleanses us, heals us, and enables us to know Him by helping us become like Him. Mormon taught, &ldquo;Pray unto the Father with all the energy of heart, &hellip; that ye may become the sons [and daughters] of God; that when he shall appear we shall be like him&rdquo; (Moroni 7:48). As we strive to become like God, He can make of us more than we could ever make of ourselves.</p>

<p>&ldquo;We receive a little revelation; we obey it; we receive a little more, obey it, and repeat the cycle over and over again. This is the pattern by which the promise of the first paragraph of this great revelation may be obtained. As you now listen to this promise, let your souls be filled with hope. &lsquo;Verily, thus saith the Lord: It shall come to pass that every soul who forsaketh his sins and cometh unto me, and calleth on my name, and obeyeth my voice, and keepeth my commandments, shall see my face and know that I am&rsquo; (D&amp;C 93:1).&rdquo;</p>

<p>Now, I think sometimes we get away from these eternal principles of truth. The other day I was in a conference where a man presented in a priesthood meeting the doctrine that the evils of adultery were to be measured by their effect upon the whole group, and that the individual adulterer should not bear the burden of his own act. Some time before that, I heard the doctrine presented that one who lives the Word of Wisdom should not look for an individual blessing according to the promise the Lord gave that &ldquo;all saints who remember to keep and to do these sayings . . . shall receive health in their navel&rdquo; (D&amp;C 89:18) and so forth, but that the probability that the individual would receive such blessings would be increased because of his membership in a group whose standards were higher. Now, I believe that every man will be judged on his own record, and that the adulterer will have to bear personally the judgment for his act, and he will be rewarded according to his act, and I believe as the Lord promised in the first verse of the 93rd section of the D&amp;C, &ldquo;that every soul who forsaketh his sins and cometh unto me [God], and calleth on my name, and obeyeth my voice, and keepeth my commandments, shall see my face and know that I am&rdquo; (D&amp;C 93:1).</p>

<p>The perceived importance of religion and religious faith has declined in many nations in recent years. A growing number of people consider that belief in and allegiance to God are not needed for moral uprightness in either individuals or societies in today&rsquo;s world. I think we would all agree that those who profess no religious belief can be, and often are, good, moral people. We would not agree, however, that this happens without divine influence. I am referring to the Light of Christ. The Savior declared, &ldquo;I am the true light that lighteth every man that cometh into the world&rdquo; (D&amp;C 93:2; Moroni 7:16, 19). Whether aware of it or not, every man, woman, and child of every belief, place, and time is imbued with the Light of Christ and therefore possesses the sense of right and wrong we often call conscience.</p>

<p>We all are prone, once in a while, to be in a state contrary to the nature of happiness, and not necessarily because we have pursued wickedness or iniquity to a full extent. But so long as we are in this earthly probationary state, the adversary can influence us. We may have become a little careless. We may have neglected our relationships with those closest to us&mdash;those who are our first responsibility&mdash;our spouse, our children, or our parents. Perhaps we may have permitted small bad habits or attitudes to enter into our lives; or perhaps we have even lost to some degree an understanding of the importance of keeping a covenant with exactness. If so, we are in a dangerous state. We must become aware of it. We cannot afford to ignore the situation. We may observe that for some time we are not really happy, that we must constantly force ourselves to smile, or perhaps that we are in a state close to depression. One may not yet have formally broken a covenant, or may even still manage to hide behind a facade of happiness. Although we might deceive others, we cannot deceive ourselves, and we cannot deceive the Lord.</p> <p>When the Spirit of the Lord is withdrawn even in part, we feel it, though we may know little or nothing about the gospel of Jesus Christ or the plan of salvation. When any child of God breaks any of the laws of God, which are the laws of righteousness, the Spirit of Christ, which, according to the scriptures, gives &ldquo;light to every man&rdquo; will be withdrawn to some degree. (D&amp;C 84:46; D&amp;C 93:2; D&amp;C 121:37; John 1:9). Shadows of darkness will fall upon the soul, and, in this state, an awareness of what is happening to us is essential.</p>

<p>We know very little about the context of Doctrine and Covenants 93. Joseph Smith himself only provided a one-line introduction to the revelation in his history, writing, “On the 6^th [May 1833] I received the following.”<a href="#_ftn1" id="_ftnref1" title="" class="see-footnote">[1]</a> Because of the revelation’s similarities to the first chapter of the Gospel of John, it might be easy to assume that it came in relation to Joseph’s translation of the Bible. However, records kept by the Prophet and his scribes show that they completed work on the New Testament over three months earlier, in February 1833.<a href="#_ftn2" id="_ftnref2" title="" class="see-footnote">[2]</a> In addition, the changes made to the Gospel of John in this revelation do not match the changes Joseph made as part of his new translation of the Bible.</p> <p>A small insight into the context of the revelation comes from Bishop Newel K. Whitney, who is mentioned in the revelation. On the back of the earliest surviving copy of the revelation, he wrote, “Revelation to Joseph, Sidney [Rigdon], Frederick [G. Williams] and Newel [K. Whitney] by chastisement and also relative to the Father and Son.”<a href="#_ftn3" id="_ftnref3" title="" class="see-footnote">[3]</a> Probably the best motivation for this revelation comes from the Savior Himself, who states in the text, “I give unto you these sayings that you may understand and know how to worship, and know what you worship, that you may come unto the Father in my name, and in due time receive of his fulness” (D&C 93:19). Contained within this revelation are not only profound insights into how we worship the Father and the Son but also some of the weightiest statements made about the natures of God, Jesus Christ, and the sons and daughters of God themselves. </p> <div class="footnotes"> <p class="footnote"><a href="#_ftnref1" id="_ftn1" title="" class="footnote-label">[1]</a> JS History, vol. A-1, p. 291, JSP. </p> <p class="footnote"><a href="#_ftnref2" id="_ftn2" title="" class="footnote-label">[2]</a> Minute Book 1, p. 8, JSP. </p> <p class="footnote"><a href="#_ftnref3" id="_ftn3" title="" class="footnote-label">[3]</a> Revelation, 6 May 1833, JSP. There is also some evidence that this copy of the revelation may be the original copy of the revelation. </p> </div>

<p>This brief set of verses, particularly verse 1, is one of the most comprehensive, yet simple, descriptions of the gospel of Jesus Christ. Previous to this time the Savior had already made several promises to prominent Church leaders that they might see his face (see D&C 50:45; 67:10, 14; 76:116–118; 88:68), but in verse 1 the promise is made to “every soul” that follows five simple and logically progressive steps to enter into the presence of the Savior. These promises can be applied not only after our death and resurrection but also in this life and the promise to truly know Christ through receiving the Second Comforter (D&C 88:3–4; 68:12).<a href="#_ftn1" id="_ftnref1" title="" class="see-footnote">[1]</a> </p> <p>The five steps provided in verse 1 are simply to: (1) forsake your sins, (2) come unto Jesus Christ, (3) call upon the name of Jesus Christ, (4) obey the voice of Christ, and (5) keep the commandments. This simple sequence gives all men and women the straightforward instructions they need to enter the presence of God. The Savior also explains two advantages that every man and woman who seeks this path already possesses to help them along the way. First, we have “true light,” or the light of Christ, which gives an intrinsic sense of right and wrong to every person born into this world (Moroni 7:16; D&C 84:46–54; 88:5–13). Second, we have the example of Jesus Christ, who gained a body of flesh, received of the fulness of the Father, and demonstrated the works of the Father (2 Nephi 31:7). These two guides—the light of Christ within us and the example of Jesus Christ’s life—prepare our path to eternal life. </p> <div class="footnotes"> <p class="footnote"><a href="#_ftnref1" id="_ftn1" title="" class="footnote-label">[1]</a> Stephen E. Robinson and H. Dean Garrett, <em>A Commentary on the Doctrine and Covenants</em>,2005, 3:173–174.</p> </div>