Reconciling Mosiah and Moroni

Someone lately brought up a fantastic point in Sunday School recently. It was brought up the fact that we are all born with what we as Latter-day Saints call, The Light of Christ and therefore we are naturally good people that become corrupted. This seems to be constantly misrepresented. Although this saintly sister had a fantastic testimony of what Moroni taught, "the Spirit of Christ is given to every man, that he may know good from evil" (Moroni 7:16), she missed some other important principles. She, in essence, is correct, but only halfway there in completing her understanding of the doctrine. 

I remember having a similar discussion because I thought completely opposite. I had read Mosiah 3:19 enough times to know that we are not inherently good. So, we may ask, how do we reconcile these two scriptures?

Easy. We look at the principles they are teaching. 

First, Moroni never claims that man is inherently good. He claims that Father in Heaven has offered us a gift so that we may make the appropriate choices even when we have not been taught directly right from wrong. Never does he claim that we are compelled to make that choice by instinct: he simply states that we have an endowment of light, even from a young age, of the most basic differences between good and evil insofar as to keep us from spiritual death.

When Mosiah teaches the doctrine of the natural man, he is teaching us about that voice that invites us to do contrary of what the Light of Christ is inviting us to do. That voice is what he calls "the natural man"or the carnal nature of our fallen bodies. 

One of the best illustrations of this is the classic cinematic effect where an angel, who is in the image of the character, is on one side while a little devil, also in the image of the character, sits on the other side attempting to pursued the person to do it there way. 

One of the best illustrations of this comes from the October 2009 General Conference. Elder Renlund gave a talk titled, Preserving the Heart's Mighty Change. In it he said:


"In 1980 we moved as a family across the street from the hospital where I trained and worked. I worked every day, including Sundays. If I finished my Sunday work by 2:00 p.m., I could join my wife and daughter and drive to church for meetings that began at 2:30.


"One Sunday late in my first year of training, I know that I would likely finish by 2:00. I realized, however, that if I stayed in the hospital just a little longer, my wife and daughter would depart without me. I could then walk home and take a needed nap. I regret to say that I did just that. I waited until 2:15, walked home slowly, and lay down on the couch, hoping to nap. But I could not fall asleep. I was disturbed and concerned. I had always loved going to church. I wondered why on this day the fire of testimony and the zeal that I had previously felt were missing. 


"I did not have to think long. Because of my schedule, I had become casual with my prayers and scripture study. I would get one morning, say my prayers, and go to work. Often day blended into night and into day again before I would fall asleep before saying a prayer or reading the scriptures. The next morning the process began again. The problem was that I was not doing the basic things I needed to do to keep my mightily changed heart from turning to stone. 


"I got off the couch, got on my knees, and pleaded with God for forgiveness."


The illustration is perfect because we have all felt that: my body tells me to sleep while my Spirit is telling me to go to Church. So what do I do? Well, that will depend on what bod is better nourished for the war. 

That brings me to the second point of doctrine: Mosiah and Moroni are trying to teach a similar doctrine: that we must nourish one while suffocating the other. In fact, it is impossible to fully satiate both appetites at the same time. Your spiritual nourishment is what is going to arm you for battle. 

Brigham Young taught plainly concerning this, "As I have told you, your spirit is continually warring with the flesh; your spirit dictates one way, your flesh suggests another, and this brings on the combat." (Journal of Discourses, 3:212).

Brigham Young further taught, "When we receive the Gospel, a warfare commences immediately; Paul says, 'for I delight in the law of God, after the inward man, but I see another law in my members warring against the law of my mind, and bringing me into captivity to the law of sin which is in my members.' We have to fight continually, as it were, sword in hand to make the spirit master of the tabernacle, or the flesh subject to the law of the spirit. If this warfare is not diligently prosecuted, then the law of sin prevails, and in consequence of this some apostatize from the truth when crossing the plains, learn to swear instead of to pray, become high-minded and high tempered instead of learning to be patient and humble, and when they arrive in these vallies (sic) they feel so self-sufficient that they consider themselves the only ones that are really right; they are filled with darkness, the authority of the Spirit is not listened to, and the law of sin and death is the ruling power in their tabernacles. (Journal of Discourses, 9:287-288).

At one point I was asked "why can't my dirty thoughts stay outside of the Temple?" but I had to remind that person that it is not Satan that keeps it in our mind--he does not have that kind of power: only we do. 

I think that this doctrine is a reminder that we are never above sin. We are never going to be non-susceptible to those. But what a blessing that is: it causes us to be forever reliant on the Savior. There is not a person on this world that will ever be able to feel as if they have "overcome" completely. We may gain the faith to have the constant companionship of the 2nd Comforter, which is Jesus Christ, however, we will always need divine help. 

Please comment. I think that this is a topic that many people misunderstand or do not recognize the complementary doctrine that both of those scriptures serve as

Name Change... and with it... doctrine of names!

So I have changed the name of this blog. There is another, more controversial blog, that has the same name as I had chosen. I did not realize this until I had someone ask me if I was affiliated. After going to their site, I opted that I would allow them to keep their name while I retained a new one.

I did not change the name just so I could say that this website was undergoing some sort of rebirth; although, that brings up a fascinating question that I want to comment on: the doctrine of Name Change.


To me it was asked: Why did the people in the Book of Mosiah receive a name change (Mosiah 1:11-12) and why does it seem so different than the one we as Church members commonly hear about (see also Mosiah 5)?


All over the Old and New Testament we see name changes take place. The first which we hear about in the written history of the world is Abraham--who before was called Abram. It then happened to his grandson Jacob who would be called Israel. (as a side note, the new name for the website comes from a word-play on Jacob's vision of a ladder leading to Heaven).


Latter-day Saints who have been through the Temple are well-aquainted with this doctrine. What most people do not consider, however, is how often we hear the word "name" in LDS Theology. Some examples include

1. At the end of our prayers "in the name of Jesus Christ"

2. When giving/receiving Priesthood blessings it is often said "by the Authority of [whatever Priesthood that person has] and in the name of..."

3. At baptism: " in the name of the..."

4. The sacrament prayers

5. The baptismal and sacramental covenants

6. Sacred temple covenants

7. it used over 1500 times in the scriptures

8. Dedicatory prayers (ldschurchtemples.com has the dedicatory prayers to all of the Temples built in the latter-days: these are great to read and glean doctrine from)

this list goes on...

Maybe some more interesting times we hear it is when their are more direct references to the Temple. One example is in 2 Chronicles 7:16, concerning the Temple the Lord said "I have chosen and sanctified this house, that my name may be there for ever". Surely the Lord does't intend to say that his literal name will be there.

Elder Dallin H. Oaks helps identify something more meaningful behind the word we so commonly use in the Church: "name". He explained,

“When I was called as an Apostle I went to the scriptures for illumination on my responsibilities. I found that I was called to be one of the “special witnesses of the name of Christ in all the world” (D&C 107:23). A witness of Christ I could understand, but why a witness of the name of Christ?

"Sensitized by this unanswered question, I have been amazed at how often scriptural teachings on very important subjects refer to the name of Jesus Christ rather than to the Savior Himself. There is something important here–something heretofore rarely discussed in our literature.

Uses of Name 

"The word name occurs in the scriptures about 1500 times, mostly as references to Deity or to the name of Deity.

"Instead of directly referring to God the Father or to His Son, Jesus Christ, many passages of scripture refer to “the name of the Lord,” to “his name” or to “my name.” Thus, the scriptures describe praying as calling upon the name of the Lord (e.g., Gen. 4:26; D&C 65:4). They teach that miracles are done by the power of His name (see Acts 4:10; 3 Ne. 8:1). They state that temples are built to His name (e.g., 1 Chr. 22:19; D&C 109:78). They declare that salvation and the remission of sins come through His name or to those who believe on His name (e.g., Acts 10:43; Alma 5:48). And they declare that there is no other name given whereby man can be saved (e.g., Acts 4:12; Mosiah 3:17). ...

"What is the meaning and significance of the word name when it refers to Deity?

Name as Identification 

"The first dictionary meaning of the word name is a word or words by which a person is identified, designated, or known. Consequently, a scriptural reference to “name” of the Father or the Son can be simply a reference to God Himself...It is probably not an overstatement to say that this meaning, identification, is the meaning most readers assume for most scriptural references to the name of Deity.

Name as Authority or Priesthood or Power

"Many scriptural references to the "name" of Jesus Christ seem to be referenes to the authority or priesthood or power of Jesus Christ. Some verses of scripture specifically define "name" in this manner.  The clearest of these is the Lord word to Abraham: "Behold, I will lead thee by my hand, and I will take thee, to put upon thee my name, even the Priesthood of thy father, and my power shall be over thee. (Abr. 1:18)

Name as Work or Plan

"Although there are various other vitally important meanings, the most frequent single meaning of the scriptures that refer to the name of the Lord seems to be work of the Lord (or His work or My work). For this purpose “work of the Lord” includes the entirety of God’s gospel plan for the salvation and exaltation of His children, most notably the Resurrection and Atonement of the Lord Jesus Christ. ...

"To those blessed with the illumination of the restored gospel, the priesthood or authority meaning discussed in chapter 3 and the work or plan meaning discussed in this chapter are basically the same reality viewed from two different perspectives. To act in the authority of God is to do the work of God: to do the work of God we should have the authority of God.

Name as Essence or Exaltation

"In the ancient world, a name represented the essence of the person named.  Thus, a prominent Bible dictionary declares: "In biblical thought a name is not a mere label of identification; it is an expression of the essential nature of its bearer.  A man's name reveals his character...Hence to know the name of God is to know God as he has revealed himself (Interpreter's Dictionary, 3:500-501).  ...

"For this reason, in biblical thought a change of name signifies a change of nature or essence.  The dictionary observes:  "It could also be said soberly of anyone that his name is his very self.  Thus, when a radical change in a person's character took place so the he became a new man, he was given a new name" (Interpreter's Dictionary, 2:408).   Thus, a king receives a new name on his ascending the throne.

"This understanding helps to explain the new names given to many key figures in the Bible at the time of an important change in their lives.  Examples include Abraham (see Gen. 17:5), Sarah (see Gen. 17:15), Israel (see Gen. 32:28; 35:10) and Peter (see John 1:42).  The idea that a name changes when a person's essence changes also helps to explain the scriptural teaching that a new name is given to all persons who come into the celestial kingdom (see D&C 130:11; see also Isa. 56:5, 62:2; Rev. 2:17, 3:12).

"The most comprehensive biblical illustration of the significance of the word name as signifying the essence of the one named occures in a conversation between the Lord and the prophet Moses.  When the Lord spoke to Moses from the burning bush, He introduced Himself with these words:  "I [am] the God of thy father, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob"(Ex. 3:6).  The scripture next reports the Lord's instructions to Moses about his assignment to deliver the children of Israel out of Pharaoh's captivity, and then records this significant exchange:


"'And Moses said unto God, Behold, [when] I come unto the children of Israel, and shall say unto them, The God of your fathers hath sent me unto you; and they shall say to me, What [is] his name? what shall I say unto them?


"'And God said unto Moses, I AM THAT I AM: and he said, Thus shalt thou say unto the children of Israel, I AM hath sent me unto you'. (Ex. 3:13-14)


"In English the words I am signify the state of being (the first person present thense of the verb to be).   (In Latin, the verb of being is esse, which is the root source of essence.)  Thus, when Moses asked to know the name of God, he was asking to know the essence or nature of God, and God answered in those same terms.  The Bible dictionary quoted above concludes:  


"The uses of the word 'name' in the OT [Old Testament] are all related to the central conception of name as denoting essential being.  This applies with regard to both man and God....The name in the OT is the essence of personality, the expression of innermost being" (Interpreter's Dictionary, 3:501).  ...


"Jesus Christ, the Redeemer and Savior of the world, is the essential life-giving source in the plan of salvation.  His saving mission under this plan opens the door and points the way for the children of God to achieve their ultimate destination as sons and daughters of God--to become like Him.  The plan of salvation is not only an expression of the authority and work of our Savior.  It is also the manifestation of His essence  (emphasis added).  ...


"The word name is threaded through the entire fabric of scriptural descriptions of the glorious plan of salvation, including its process and its intended result.  The name of Jesus Christ was specified from the heavens (see Luke 1:31; Matt. 1:21).  The word name sometimes means the work of salvation, which is the mission of the true Chruch of Jesus Christ.  And the word name sometimes means the essence of Christ or the intended exaltation that is our destination and the result of the plan of salvation

"What could be more beautiful or more natural for God the Father than to desire and provide a means for His spirit children, who were created in His image, to become like He is?  And what more natural means (more understandable to mortals) to enter upon that path than for His children to born again--spiritually begotten--and to aspire to take upon them the name of their Creator?  Taking that name upon us has obvious family implications, and it also serves to identify our destination as His children.

"Many scriptures invoke the word name in connection with explaining our relationship to God the Father and His Son Jesus Christ and our eternal goal under their plan.  Following are some that explain the plan by means of vivid analogy to birth and to attaining the name (essence) of the Creator.

"In his great valedictory teachings to his people, King Benjamin concluded with these words:


"'And now, because of the covenant which ye have made ye shall be called the children of Christ, his sons, and his daughters; for behold, this day he hath spiritually begotten you; for ye say that your hearts are changed through faith on his name; therefore, ye are born of him and have become his sons and his daughters.

"'And under this head ye are made free, and there is no other head whereby ye can be made free. There is no other name given whereby salvation cometh; therefore, I would that ye should take upon you the name of Christ, all you that have entered into the covenant with God that ye should be obedient unto the end of your lives.


"'And it shall come to pass that whosoever doeth this shall be found at the right hand of God, for he shall know the name by which he is called; for he shall be called by the name of Christ.  (Mosiah 5:7-9) ...

This reference to taking upon us the name of Christ and being "saved at the last day" is a clear reference to exaltation, which means attaining the essence of Christ."

(from His Holy Name by Dallin H. Oaks, 1998)


So in answer to that question, the people, after hearing King Benjamin give his address on becoming (another topic for discussion) Saints of Christ, wanted to have a spiritual rebirth. They wanted for their "essence" to change. King Benajamin explained to them that "the natural man is an enemy to God". The people no longer wanted to be the natural man: they wanted to experience a change in essence--they do this by taking upon themselves Christ's name or in other words, Christ's essence. 


So their experience was not much different than what we as Latter-day Saints are taught in the Temple. We just tend to hear it more prominently when discussing temple doctrine (D&C 130:11).

Symbols

Many websites have been discussing symbols of the sacred Temples. I have had the privilege of sitting at the feet of Jerry Hansen (Gerald E. Hansen for those looking to get the book), a professor in the Political Science Dept. at BYU-Idaho. Brother Hansen wrote the book "Sacred Walls: Learning from Temple Symbols" in which he analyzes a few symbols on a handful of Temples. For those wanting to explore greater meaning into symbols, I suggest that you search that book out. A book also that has wonderful commentaries on Mormon symbology is Matthew Brown's "Symbols in Stone" which focuses primarily on the Salt Lake Temple. 


I have listed another blog, The Trumpet Stone, in which the blogger has taken certain symbols found on various temples and analyzed their meanings. Again, it is a good resource for those wanting to touch on the basics.

Many of my close friends have asked what those symbols mean. I had the opportunity to be married in the Salt Lake City Temple (My wife is from Denver, Colorado but her family has since relocated to St. George, Utah and I am from Salem, Oregon. We met at BYU--Idaho. So instead of choosing Denver, Portland, Rexburg, or St. George we just went for the one everyone knows). My friends growing up were unfamiliar with the Church yet they came for the wedding and waited outside. At one point, while showing them the Temple, the question as to what the Big Dipper was on there for came up. I explained my own interpretation of the symbol and explained what it meant to others (since there are differing interpretations). 

You can see the Big Dipper constellation immediately above the window--the very window that has the All-Seeing Eye

I pondered for a moment and explained briefly that all the symbols rotated around our doctrine around what we call The Plan of Salvation. I further explained that the Temple ceremony my soon-to-be wife and I would be participating in was directly related. 

When someone approached the Temple, this should always be on their mind! The Temple teaching is an outline of the Plan of Salvation. The Temple ordinances are a vital component of that Plan. And so it fits that all the symbols on the exterior walls invoke within a person the ideas relating to the Plan of Salvation.

A symbol, however, is generally vague and one can extract many meanings out of one symbol. For instance, the sun, moon, and stars are constantly utilized on various temples. I recently attended the Columbia River Washington Temple which has the Sun, Moon, and Stars everywhere. At the entrance to the Temple is a set of stars that invoke within the patron the feeling of the Telestial world--a lower Kingdom that we all currently live in. As they move through the Temple they see the stars, and then the moon phases and finally on the back windows, in the Celestial Room, they see the Sun: an image that Paul utilizes (1 Corinthians 15:40-41) to explain the glory of the Celestial Kingdom in comparison to that of the other 2 kingdoms. So when the Patron has gone through the Temple (and symbolically gone through mortality "[receiving] the Priesthood" (D&C 84:35-38--the Oath and Covenant of the Priesthood) then they receive the glory of the Sun: or in other words, the "fulness" of the Father (see D&C 76:55-58).

At the end of the Patron’s experience they have visually progressed from the lowest light to the most glorious light. The Temple thereby becomes easier to understand because we see what it is doing: it is trying to show us the path to becoming glorified with The Father. It is showing us the patrons that as we were once dimly lit with light we can be full of light; in fact, we can one day be a source of light just as the sun is a source of light.

On the Nauvoo Temple, on the other hand, the Moon is at the very bottom and their are stars above, beneath, and to the sides of the Sun stones: these can thus invoke a completely different idea of man’s progress and what he has to do to come back into the presence of the Father (again, the book and the websites are fantastic resources for discovering these symbols). Those viewing the Temple at Nauvoo are starting at the world (where they are standing) and their eyes are drawn up to the Heavens (the world, to the moon, to the sun, to the stars). So the Temple symbolically has us looking past what we can comprehend and peering into the Heavens to search out the mysteries of Godliness.

Looking up from the bottom of the Nauvoo Temple

In similar fashion the Portland Temple, Salt Lake Temple, and others do the same type of things with the Stars. I use the Portland Temple because here the stars make a very obvious appearance relating to matters on Priesthood (the doors going into the Temple, the placement of the stars on the 6 pillars which represent Priesthood Authority and The Order of the Priesthood). It also represents Holiness as we approach the Throne of God (see the discourse in Abraham 3). Every star is a sun: so if we are all stars we can all have the same glory as that same star that offers us so much light in our own world.

A symbol that I recently discovered was in the Portland Temple sealing rooms. On the seats are embroidered pomegranates. Pomegranates are used frequently to denote various things. The priests and levites would have attached to their robes bells and pomegranates. The pomegranates would denote various things: the testimony of God, The nourishment provided by his Word, etc...

the priest has, at the bottom of his adornment, bells, fringes, and pomegranates--the testimony and word of God are symbolized in the pomegranates and the sounding of that word are symbolized in the bells source: Old Testament Student Manual, Exodus 25-30, 35-40

Symbols are constantly utilized in an effort to teach a principle. Even the history of the Church or the exodus of Israel from Egypt serve as symbols. Take this for example from Jewish history. Jacob (Israel) and his family were in the promised land. It was their birthright to be in that land; however, they were soon led into Egypt where they were oppressed with the chains of bondage. Once ready, Israel had to sacrifice a lamb to be saved. It was this lamb that protected (or covered) them. They then followed Moses through the wilderness and travelled back to the promised land. 

Sound familiar? This Exodus is a fantastic typification, or symbol of the Plan of Salvation! We too were once with God; we fell into this mortal life where we would be placed under the bondage of sin and temptation; the because a lamb was slain in our behalf, we are able to come back into God’s presence but only if we are willing to follow Christ. 

We can relate that same type of thing to flight from Nauvoo: once we were in (or around) Zion and we were chased out. Now we are working on getting that land back in order that we may build The Lord’s Kingdom.

Every year around our Easter time the Jewish people celebrate The Passover. If you have not yet participated, I would do so. The story of the flight from Egypt is rehearsed. In the Passover feast, the participants partake of a bitter herb. Often this is extra hot horseradish. Once they have partaken of this bitter herb, their mouth begins to burn and then the lamb is passed around. It is only after they eat that lamb* that the spice is removed from their mouth. This is a fantastic metaphor especially when peering through the lense of the gospel. 

My basic point is, most symbols are making an allusion to the Plan of Salvation. Whether it be man’s fallen state, The Atonement, the Resurrection, etc… everything revolves around the Plan of Salvation. As we study the Gospel, go the Temple, etc… we need to have this within our minds. While many symbols that garnish the Temple capture our amazement, I would encourage one to ask: what does that have to do with the Plan of Redemption that The Lord has authored for us. 

*Note: the Jewish people no longer use a lamb: the Temple is no longer in existence so their is no proper place to sacrifice it. Some sects may do it, but recognize that the main body of Jewish people do not. If you participate in something like this, please be sensitive about their beliefs and customs. 


Please Comment!

The Law of Adoption

"A man, as a man, could arrive at all the dignity that a man was capable of obtaining or receiving; but it needed a God to raise to the dignity of a God. For this cause it is written, "Now are we the sons of God; and it doth not yet appear we shall be like him." And how and why like Him? Because, through the instrumentality of the atonement and the adoption, it is made possible for us to become of the family of God, and joint heirs with Jesus Christ; and that as He, the potential instrument, through the oneness that existed between Him and His Father, by reason of obedience to divine law, overcome death, hell and the grave, and sat down upon His Father's throne, so shall we be abel to sit down with Him, even upon His throne." --John Taylor

One of the most misunderstood doctrines surrounds that of adoption into the family of God. It becomes a source of anti-Mormon attacks and seems to be really misunderstood both outside and inside the Church.

In Moses 6:64-68 we read,

"And it came to pass, when the Lord had spoken with Adam, our father, that Adam cried unto the Lord, and he was caught away by the Spirit of the Lord, and was carried down into the water, and was laid under the water, and was brought forth out of the water.

"And thus he was baptized, and the Spirit of God descended upon him, and thus he was born of the Spirit, and became quickened in the inner man.

"And he heard a voice out of heaven, saying: Thou art baptized with fire, and with the Holy Ghost. This is the record of the Father, and the Son, from henceforth and forever,

"And thou art after the order of Him who was without beginning of days or end of years, from all Eternity to all Eternity.


"Behold, thou art one in me, a son of God; and thus may all become my sons."

I underlined 2 important segments. Concerning what it means to be "after the order of Him..." President Ezra Taft Benson taught:

"Three years before Adam's death, a great event occurred. He took his son Seth, his grandson Enos, and other high priests who were his direct-line descendants, with others of his righteous posterity, into a valley called Adam-ondi-Ahman. There Adam gave to these righteous descendants his last blessing.

"When our Heavenly Father placed Adam and Eve on this earth, He did so with the purpose in mind of teaching them how to regain His presence. Our Father promised a Savior to redeem them from their fallen condition. He gave to them the plan of salvation and told them to teach their children faith in Jesus Christ, and repentance. Further, Adam and his posterity were commanded by God to be baptized, to receive the Holy Ghost, and to enter into the order of the Son of God. To enter into the order of the Son of God is the equivalent today of entering into the fulness of the Melchizedek Priesthood, which is only received in the house of the Lord. 


"The Lord then appeared to them. The vast congregation rose up and blessed Adam and called him Michael, the prince and archangel. The Lord himself declared Adam to be a prince forever over his own posterity. Then Adam in his aged condition rose up and, being filled with the spirit of prophecy, predicted 'whatsoever should befall his posterity unto the latest generation.' All this is recorded in section 107 of the Doctrine and Covenants (verses 53-56) [D&C 107:53-56]."

"The Prophet Joseph Smith said that Adam blessed his posterity because "he wanted to bring them into the presence of God." (Teachings of the Prophet Joseph Smith, sel. Joseph Fielding Smith, Salt Lake City: Deseret Book Co., 1938, p. 159.)

"Here is an illuminating passage from Section 107 of the Doctrine and Covenants which tells us how Adam was able to bring himself and his righteous posterity into God's presence:   

"'The order of this priesthood was confirmed to be handed down from father to son, and tightly belongs to the literal descendants of the chosen seed, to whom the promises were made.

"'This order was instituted in the days of Adam, and came down by lineage in [order] … that his posterity should be the chosen of the Lord, and that they should be preserved unto the end of the earth.' (D&C 107:40-42; italics added.)

"How did Adam bring his descendants into the presence of the Lord? The answer: Adam and his descendants entered into the priesthood order of God. Today we would say they went to the House of the Lord and received their blessings.

"The order of priesthood spoken of in the scriptures is sometimes referred to as the patriarchal order because it came down from father to son.

"But this order is otherwise described in modern revelation as an order of family government where a man and woman enter into a covenant with God--just as did Adam and Eve--to be sealed for eternity, to have posterity, and to do the will and work of God throughout their mortality.

"If a couple are true to their covenants, they are entitled to the blessing of the highest degree of the celestial kingdom. These covenants today can only be entered into by going to the House of the Lord.

"Adam followed this order and brought his posterity into the presence of God. He is the great example for us to follow." (From "What I Hope You Will Teach Your Children About the Temple," Temples of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, pp. 42-43; also, Ensign, Aug. 1985, p. 8; emphasis added.)* 

The second word to highlight from the Moses scriptures and from what President Benson emphasizes: become. Often in LDS Theology we forget that although spirit children of Heavenly Parents, we are physical children of mortal, fallen parents. We have to seek to "become" the sons and daughters of Christ. It is only those who have become His sons and daughter that will inherit the Celestial Kingdom. in D&C 76, concerning those of the Celestial Kingdom it reads:

"Wherefore, as it is written, they are gods, even the sons of God" (v. 58) meaning that they are special. Concerning this doctrine Bruce R. McConkie wrote:

"We are well aware that all men are the children of God, the offspring of the Father, his sons and his daughters. . . What is not so well known is that nearly all the passages of scripture, both ancient and modern, which speak of God as our Father and of men on earth being the sons of God, have no reference to our birth in preexistence as the children of Elohim, but teach rather that Jehovah is our Father and we are his children.   

"In setting forth that all men must be born again to gain salvation, we have seen that this means they must be "born of God, changed from their carnal and fallen state, to a state of righteousness, being redeemed of God, becoming his sons and daughters." (Mosiah 27:25.) Whose sons and whose daughters do we become when we are born again? Who is our new Father? The answer is, Christ is our Father; we become his children by adoption; he makes us members of his family.... 

"But there is more than this to the doctrine of becoming sons of God. Those who so obtain are adopted also into the family of Elohim. They become his adopted sons so that they can receive, inherit, and possess along with his natural Son. 

"To envision what is meant by being sons of God, meaning the Father, let us follow Paul's reasoning in two passages of superlative insight and inspiration. To the Romans our apostolic friend of old wrote: "For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, they are the sons of God." Standing alone, this could be taken to mean that by faith the saints become the sons of the Lord Jesus. But the perspective begins to change when our apostolic colleague says: 


"Ye have received the Spirit of adoption, whereby we cry, Abba, Father." That is, we call upon our Eternal Father in a familiar and friendly way, as children here call to their fathers with whom they maintain a familiar intimacy. Having attained this state of friendship with the Eternal One, "The Spirit itself beareth witness with our spirit," Paul continues, "that we are the children of God." He has now laid the groundwork. A pronouncement of deep and wondrous import is immediately forthcoming. "And if children"–note it well–"then heirs; heirs of God, and joint-heirs with Christ." (Rom. 8:14-17.) ...

"The reasoning is perfect. The Father had a Son, a natural Son, his own literal Seed, the Offspring of his body. This Son is his heir. As an heir he inherits all things from his Father–all power, all might, all dominion, the world, the universe, kingship, eternal exaltation, all things. But our revelations speak of men being exalted also and of their ascending the throne of eternal power. How is it done? Paul has explained it perfectly. They are adopted into the family of the Father. They become joint-heirs with his natural Son ... 

They constitute the sole and only way the eternal increase of an Eternal Father can become like their great Progenitor. As pertaining to this earth, they were revealed first to father Adam. He was baptized, born again, received the priesthood, and kept the commandments. As a result thereof, "a voice out of heaven" proclaimed: "Thou art one in me, a son of God; and thus may all become my sons." (Moses 6:65-68.) "Our father Adam taught these things," the scripture says, "and many have believed and become the sons of God, and many have believed not, and have perished in their sins." (Moses 7:1.)  (The Promised Messiah [1981], pp. 351-357; emphasis added)

For many years in the Church people were sealed up, or vertically, (not across, or horizontally, as in the Marriage sealing) to the Prophets and Apostles (rather than to their parents), but never did it sit quite right. Brigham Young wondered about this and it caused him concern. John Taylor had the same concern and finally, Wilford Woodruff was able to ponder on the matter. It should be remembered that President Woodruff had a very sound understanding of Temple Doctrine. He was the first President of the St. George Temple and thus the first designated President of any of the Latter-day Temples. 

Wilford Woodruff shared his concern publicly after receiving the revelation on how to appropriately seal the entire family of God together for the Eternal blessings:

"We have not fully carried out those principles in fulfillment of the revelations of God to us, in sealing the hearts of the fathers to the children and the children to the fathers. I have not felt satisfied, neither did President [John] Taylor, neither has any man since the Prophet Joseph who has attended to the ordinance of adoption in the temples of our God. We have felt that there was more to be revealed upon this subject than we had received."

"When I went before the Lord to know who I should be adopted to (we were then being adopted to prophets and apostles), the Spirit of God said to me, “Have you not a father, who begot you?”  “Yes, I have.”  “Then why not honor him?  Why not be adopted to him?”  “Yes,” says I, “that is right.”  I was adopted to my father, and should have had my father sealed to his father, and so on back; and the duty that I want every man who presides over a temple to see performed from this day henceforth and forever, unless the Lord Almighty commands otherwise, is, let every man be adopted to his father.  When a man receives the endowments, adopt him to his father; not to Wilford Woodruff, nor to any other man outside the lineage of his fathers.  That is the will of God to this people.  I want all men who preside over these temples in these mountains of Israel to bear this in mind. What business have I to take away the rights of the lineage of any man? What right has any man to do this?. No; I say let every man be adopted to his father; and then you will do exactly what God said when he declared he would send Elijah the prophet in the last days. Elijah the prophet appeared unto Joseph Smith and told him that the day had come when this principle must be carried out. Joseph Smith did not live long enough to enter any further upon these things. His soul was wound up with this work before he was martyred for the word of God and testimony of Jesus Christ. He told us that there must be a welding link of all dispensations and of the work of God from one generation to another. This was upon his mind more than most any other subject that was given to him.(The Discourses of Wilford Woodruff [1946], p.155; Teaching of Presidents of the Church: Wilford Woodruff [2004]).

Wilford Woodruff had revelation on the matter that would completely change how we approach our Temple worship. It was the final fulfillment of the prophet Elijah's visit to the Kirtland Temple (recorded in D&C 110). I also personally feel that it caused a shout for joy on the other side of the veil. This made the salvation of our kindred dead an urgent matter--for now we truly could not be saved without our dead; not just our dead could not be saved without us.

To the faithful Church member who has children in the Covenant, no adoption is needed. On this matter Elder James E. Talmage taught,

"Although this is incomplete, it may give someone some ideas appertaining to the Sealing Ordinance of a child to Parent. Furthermore, if one is to completely understand this they first will need to understand, in more full sense, the Abrahamic (or Marriage) Covenant.

"Children born to parents thus married under the celestial law are heirs to the Priesthood; 'children of the covenant' they are called; no ordinance of adoption or sealing is required to give them place in the blessed posterity of promise. (The House of the Lord [1976], p.88.)

Other Scripture References: John 1:12; 3 Nephi 9:17; Moroni 7:26, 48; D&C 11:30; D&C 34:3; D&C 35:2; D&C 45:8; Moses 7:1

*should be noted that this was given at the centennial devotional of the Logan Utah Temple. I strongly suggest that people read as it is a great doctrinal commentary on the Temples.