This is a series of snapshot views on the nature of the priesthood of God, and on the nature of God’s goodness. Neither can function without the other.
Scattered
Of necessity, this topic must be approached in bits and pieces, since it is so vast and all encompassing in its nature. Hopefully, if I bring up one topic and talk about it you will think of six other things I haven’t addressed. My purpose here is to get down on paper what little I have been able to piece together in just a short period of time.
I am in the process of writing the commentary on one of the 2025 Come, Follow Me lessons on the Doctrine and Covenants, sections 23-26 to be precise. My pondering has been on the statement the Lord said to Emma Smith that “thou shalt lay aside the of this , and for the things of a .” It is this topic of laying aside the things of this world for something better that got me thinking along this vein.
Even if the individual thoughts in this article seem disjointed, they are all about the nature of goodness and how that applies to us and to God. So only if given enough of them will they all begin to touch on each other and begin to build an image of the whole. Since I can’t hold that many thoughts in my head at once, I guess I can only show you little bits and pieces that have occurred to me at this time. Hopefully, I will be able to think of more and add to this topic in the future as I come to comprehend God’s goodness and the nature of being good more completely.
The connection
God’s priesthood is a power in and of itself. Whatever this priesthood power is, it is based on the virtues of goodness. The scriptures and the writings of the prophets are very clear that God’s priesthood cannot operate or tolerate anything that is not good. If we engage in attitudes and activities that violate the goodness of God’s priesthood the scriptures tell us “Amen to the priesthood or authority of that man.” Let’s take a quick look at this familiar passage found in Doctrine and Covenants 121:34-37.
34 Behold, there are many , but few are chosen. And why are they not chosen?
35 Because their are set so much upon the things of this , and to the of men, that they do not learn this one lesson—
36 That the of the priesthood are inseparably connected with the powers of heaven, and that the powers of heaven cannot be nor handled only upon the of righteousness.
37 That they may be conferred upon us, it is true; but when we undertake to our , or to gratify our , our vain ambition, or to exercise control or or compulsion upon the souls of the children of men, in any degree of unrighteousness, behold, the heavens themselves; the Spirit of the Lord is grieved; and when it is withdrawn, Amen to the priesthood or the authority of that man.
Verse 36 is fascinating in its implications. There are rights that come with the use of the priesthood of God, and these rights are “inseparably connected with the powers of heaven.” God reigns and rules by, through, because? of His use of this priesthood power. These powers He wields are controlled “only upon the principles of righteousness.” A principle is a general truth or a law of action. In this case I believe that the principles that govern righteousness are those that define and uphold all forms of goodness. God is the source of all goodness in the universe. All His laws and behaviors are based on His personal goodness. There is no unkindness or “evil” in His personality or behavior. That last statement may take some time to sink in. Think about all the places in the scriptures where it talks of God’s anger, vengeance, jealousy, etc. If God is purely good then is there a way we need to interpret these expressions that allow God to still be a good person, but act as He does? I believe we are sometimes too narrow in our way of thinking and apply negative attributes to God incorrectly.
When God describes His own behavior we often read that His “course is one eternal round” (D0ctrine and Covenants 3:2) or that His behavior has no “shadow of changing” (Mormon 9:10). Both of these statements mean the same thing, that God is unchangeable. He never deviates in His behavior or attitudes at any time. This is a source of consistency that can be counted on, because it is what we call a universal constant.
Verse 37 describes how God’s behavior and our behavior is connected to the priesthood of God. This verse lists a few words that describe in general terms things that run counter to the nature of God’s goodness. There is sin, pride, vain ambition, exercising “control or dominion or compulsion upon the souls of the children of men, in any degree of unrighteousness.” Any of these behaviors cause the Holy Ghost, the Spirit of the Lord, to become grieved and then He withdraws from us. We have made covenants with God to keep His commandments. These self-centered behaviors violate those covenants. Our covenants with God are administered by the Holy Ghost as our teacher and mentor in all things spiritual. When we violate the basic tenets of the laws of God, we offend our teacher, our connection with the power inherent in God’s priesthood.
Righteousness
The gospel of Christ consists of the laws and teachings that show us the nature of God, Himself. They spell out for us in both general and specific ways that we can behave like God. We call that being godly or holy. As God’s people we are supposed to be a holy people, or in other words, people who think and act like God. We are mortal, so we can’t be perfect at this, but that is the goal. The Holy Spirit teaches us how to be holy a little at a time as we seek His guidance and follow His promptings.
I have long stated that commandments are the laws of happiness. “Wickedness never was happiness.” (Alma 41:10) Commandments teach us how to be good like God is good. By definition, righteousness is the same as goodness. To be or act in a righteous way is to be or act in a good way. Evil is the alternative to goodness. By definition if it is not goodness then it is evil. Goodness always leads to some form of peace, happiness, or joy. It is constructive and mutually building. Evil always leads to dissolution, destruction, sadness, sorrow, and misery. If it isn’t good then it is bad. The test for which a behavior or attitude is is where that attitude or behavior leads to over time.
We tend to think of most things falling into a category of “shades of gray.” God doesn’t do that. If a behavior or attitude ultimately leads to misery or destruction of the soul then He calls it evil in the here and now. When Martin Harris lost the 116 manuscript pages the Lord called him an evil man. In the following verses God explains why Martin is called evil. The Lord is not saying Martin is and always will be evil. He was stating that his current behavior was evil, because it led to destruction of that which was good. God always talks about things in the eternal sense. If my behavior today will lead me astray from goodness, no matter my capacity for good, He will say that I am on the path of evil or that I am a wicked man. He always looks at each behavior and where it will lead that person in the end. Good behavior is righteous behavior, because it leads us to become like God, who is the source of all good in the universe.
The scriptures are full of examples of how God talks about us as His children. He never calls us good unless we are currently being good in our attitudes and behaviors. As soon as we do something that will ultimately lead to our destruction, God refers to us as evil, for that will be the end result if we don’t repent. Does that mean He doesn’t let us change? Of course not. He is always pleased when we repent and turn from destructive (evil) behaviors and are righteous (good). God is constantly inviting us to turn to the Savior and his atoning sacrifice as the means of cleansing the evil from our lives. He knows that happiness can only be found in goodness (righteousness).
Priesthood
There is more than one kind of priesthood. Satan has his own versions by which he administers all forms of evil. God has shared with us His priesthood by which all things were created and are now maintained. God’s priesthood is both a power and a set of laws. I don’t fully understand either of course, but hopefully I will someday.
By virtue of the priesthood we have been given laws by which we will be judged at the last day when we are brought before the judgment bar of God to be weighed in the balance. That is a generic term for being rewarded for the desires of our heart. The Book of Mormon is very clear about the judgment being a restoration – good for good, and evil for evil. If the desires of my heart have been good then I will be rewarded with good for the rest of eternity, for I have shown that this is what I want for myself. If I have pursued evil during my days of proving or probation then I will be rewarded with a lesser reward. I will have proven to God, my Father that I am not interested in being like Him. I will live elsewhere and serve in a lesser capacity. Only those who pursue being like God will be able to live with Him.
The priesthood, as far as I can see, works basically the same in the heavens as it does on earth. It is structured and orderly. All things are done by those holding the rights to administer the priesthood or laws of God. The scriptures teach that the plan of salvation was presented to us in such a way that Jesus is the Savior of all God’s children who are allowed to come to earth. He was ordained through the priesthood to be the Messiah or Savior. He came to earth and performed the work of saving all God’s children from permanent banishment from God, for without his atoning sacrifice we would have been left to be spirits after death forever. Our Father has stated that we are not allowed to return to Him unless we do so in a resurrected body. This is what Christ has given to us, the way home.
Jesus in turn calls his prophets and speaks to them. Their priesthood responsibility is to do his will and teach his commandments to the rest of us. We exercise our faith in the testimony of the prophets, and it is as though Christ has spoken directly to us. This is the eternal pattern found throughout the scriptures, and throughout the ages.
The priesthood is not the same as the administration of the church. It is by the priesthood that the administration of God’s laws are given to us, but administratively things change as they need to. They do not change in principle or doctrine. The priesthood provides the bare-bones structure and organization of God’s kingdom on earth. How that kingdom is handled or administered changes constantly as our needs dictate. But it is all done through the priesthood chain of command from prophet down to the deacons who pass the sacrament.
It is the priesthood authority given to man to use that brings with it the covenants of God with mankind. No covenants are available for anyone outside of God’s priesthood. It is these covenants through which we experience the power of God in our lives. God uses His covenants with us to find those who want to change to become like Him. We can’t become like Him without a lot of change. That change is possible only because of Christ’s sacrifice for us. Jesus makes it possible for us to repent and try again, and again, and again. This is all part of God’s mercy and kindness to His children.
Temples
We need to remember that most of God’s children don’t hear about Christ and the possibilities of becoming like God during our time in mortality. The bulk of God’s children won’t hear about the plan of salvation until they are already in the spirit world. This is why we spend so much time in the temple. There are far more people passing to the other side of the veil than we are performing the work for here. These are physical covenants that, for whatever reason, need a physical body to make them. A spirit body can’t make these covenants except in the spirit (yes, the pun was actually necessary).
The love of God is manifested in the covenants available within His temples. After baptism all other covenants required for exaltation are had within the walls of the temple. To learn the goodness of God we must learn to serve others as He does. We do this through ministering outside the temple and ministering within the temple for those who are already deceased.
I have written before about the law of vicarious works. If you do a search on this site you will find articles that talk about vicarious works. God does not require us to do everything ourselves in order for it to count for our salvation. Christ did for us what we could not do for ourselves, and we are required (if we want to become like God) to do for others what they cannot do for themselves. If it is within our power to do so, it is expected of us to find joy in that service. And fortunately for us, serving others brings joy to the soul, for it is the nature of service to create love and joy. Win win. Those who are already in the spirit world are presented with the covenants made in the flesh by us in their behalf as we serve in the temples. We get the privilege of performing essential godly service for our family members on the other side of the veil. And to be clear, there is no such thing as someone not being a family member, because we are all from the same family of Adam. There was only one common progenitor of us all.
Connections
Let’s try to tie some of this together. The priesthood power is not ours to wield as we see fit. The authority of the priesthood is a portion of God’s eternal authority granted to mankind to perform His work on earth. All the authority comes from Him. All the power in the priesthood is God’s. When we are obedient and do good, as God does good, He allows us to do His work more effectively, and He shows us His power through the things we do. When we worthily give a priesthood blessing, for example, the Holy Ghost guides us to say the things God wants that person to be told then God brings to pass what we told that person. We can’t take credit for making that thing come to pass. God did that. This is all God’s work, not ours. It is His power, not ours. The same is true for everyone, whether that person is a holder of the priesthood or not. It is the same, because all of us have made our covenants through the priesthood, which considers us all alike. All good done is a manifestation of God’s goodness, not just our attempt at it. Our goodness is always imperfect, but His is whole and complete.
This explains why when we do evil His Spirit is grieved and withdraws from us. We can’t do God’s work using His power, under His authority, unless we do it all in His way. He is good. He keeps the same commandments He asks us to live (though probably a much higher version of them). It is only when we seek to become like God and do good in all things that His Spirit teaches us of His ways. God’s Spirit reveals to us all the things of a spiritual nature, an understanding of the scriptures, and of eternal laws, etc. All these things happen because all of us have made priesthood covenants. God only deals with us in this intimate way when we make covenants with Him.
Does God ignore all the rest of His children? No! He has told us in the scriptures that He has spoken to all nations through people sent to teach them the things that God in His wisdom has determined He wants them to know. They will be judged according to what they have been given. We don’t understand it all, we only know that this is what God has repeatedly told us. We happen to be blessed with covenants, and where much is given, much is required. We have the greatest opportunities in the here and now, and hence we also have the greatest requirements placed upon us, along with the greatest promised blessings. Eventually everyone will be taught the gospel and offered the opportunity to live by the same standards of happiness we have been offered. It is largely just a matter of timing as to when the opportunity is extended to each of us.
Exaltation is not an easy road, but it is paved with difficulties and challenges that lead to ultimate happiness in the end. Does God never feel sadness? No, he weeps for those children who reject Him. But His lifestyle is so filled with joy that it outweighs His sorrows. There is no grief He doesn’t comprehend in a personal way. His goodness encompasses all that is involved with serving others and putting our needs above His personal wants. This is why service is so challenging. Being good isn’t just a bed of roses. Goodness requires sacrifice and sorrow, for we cannot become truly good without serving others, disappointments and all. Only through our service will we ever come to see that the worth of a soul is in its capacity to become like God. How great will be our joy as we see others also seek to become like God.
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