Paths to Godliness in and out of the Priesthood
Lorenzo Snow Chapter 17: Priesthood—“for the Salvation of the Human Family”
Today we’re going to talk about the priesthood, Godliness, and exaltation. First, we’re going to discuss the differences between Godliness and God’s priesthood, and we’ll start by reading a passage.
Page 212:
Purity, virtue, fidelity, godliness must be sought ambitiously, or the crown cannot be won. Those principles must be incorporated with[in] ourselves, woven into our constitutions, becoming a part of us, making us a centre, a fountain of truth, of equity, justice, and mercy, of all that is good and great, that from us may proceed the light, the life, the power, and the law to direct, to govern and assist to save a wandering world; acting as the sons of God, for and in behalf of our Father in heaven. We expect in the resurrection to exercise the powers of our priesthood—we can exercise them only in proportion as we secure its righteousness and perfections; these qualifications can be had only as they are sought and obtained, so that in the morning of the resurrection we will possess those acquisitions only which we secured in this world! Godliness cannot be conferred but must be acquired, a fact of which the religious world seem[s] strangely and lamentably unconscious. Seek to benefit others, and others will seek to benefit you; and he that would be great, let him be good, studying the interests of the whole, becoming the servant of all.
I love this passage. I think there is so much meaning packed in here that we are going to read it another time or two, and it’s going to be the focus of the lesson.
First, President Smith talked about we expect to exercise our Priesthood in the resurrection, or in other words that our priesthood power will continue with us into the next life. But then he goes on to say that Godliness cannot be conferred upon us. What does he mean that we can’t confer Godliness?
What is the priesthood (the power and authority of God)?
What is Godliness (being like God)?
Comparing the two, what’s the difference between God’s power and authority (his priesthood) and what god is like (godliness)? In other words, why can we confer the priesthood but not Godliness?
King analogy:
A king might have all the power a man can possibly have in his country. He commands his armies and all people are subject to him. A king may grant any person in his kingdom power and authority to act in his stead. Thus, the king maybe confer his priesthood upon certain delegates.
However, the king’s power and authority are very different from his character. Supposing we have a good, honorable king, this king can in no wise confer his character upon another person as he can wish the donkey to talk. The king may do a lot of things to help his subjects become better people, but this is ultimately something that they must of themselves choose to do. Our character is our own, and nobody can confer it upon us. The priesthood is no magic bullet to suddenly become like God.
So far, this is all very intuitive. It’s not a new concept, as D&C 121 makes it clear that the priesthood and Godliness are different, that as we gain God’s power, we lose it if we have or develop a poor character.
D&C 121:36-37
36 That the rights of the priesthood are inseparably connected with the powers of heaven, and that the powers of heaven cannot be controlled nor handled only upon the principles of righteousness.
37 That they may be conferred upon us, it is true; but when we undertake to cover our sins, or to gratify our pride, our vain ambition, or to exercise control or dominion or compulsion upon the souls of the children of men, in any degree of unrighteousness, behold, the heavens withdraw themselves; the Spirit of the Lord is grieved; and when it is withdrawn, Amen to the priesthood or the authority of that man.
Back to the king analogy:
A king who confers his authority on a delegate will likely take away that authority if he learns that this person’s character is fowl. A poor character that is manifested by things such as lying, cheating, and breaking laws are likely to force the king to relieve this person of their authority.
So it might seem that we’ve established that God’s priesthood and God’s character (Godliness) are very different things. However, after all that discussion we’ve had, I don’t think it’s that simple. And I don’t think Lorenzo Snow thinks so, either. We’re going to re-read the Lorenzo Snow passage, this time focusing on the similarities that President Snow makes between priesthood and Godliness.
Purity, virtue, fidelity, godliness must be sought ambitiously, or the crown cannot be won. Those principles must be incorporated with[in] ourselves, woven into our constitutions, becoming a part of us, making us a centre, a fountain of truth, of equity, justice, and mercy, of all that is good and great, that from us may proceed the light, the life, the power, and the law to direct, to govern and assist to save a wandering world; acting as the sons of God, for and in behalf of our Father in heaven. We expect in the resurrection to exercise the powers of our priesthood—we can exercise them only in proportion as we secure its righteousness and perfections; these qualifications can be had only as they are sought and obtained, so that in the morning of the resurrection we will possess those acquisitions only which we secured in this world! Godliness cannot be conferred but must be acquired, a fact of which the religious world seem[s] strangely and lamentably unconscious. Seek to benefit others, and others will seek to benefit you; and he that would be great, let him be good, studying the interests of the whole, becoming the servant of all.
In this passage, priesthood is first mentioned in the context of working hard to acquire the wonderful attributes of godliness. Then President Smith mentions our expectations about the priesthood, and then he says we should obtain the priesthood’s righteousness and perfections. Godliness seems to be a set of righteous and perfect characteristics, and if the priesthood has righteousness and perfections too, we see how President Smith seamlessly connects the ideas of Godliness and God’s power. He’s made a connection here, and this is really what I want us to investigate.
We discussed earlier how the priesthood and godliness are different, but President Smith alludes to some serious connections between the two. How, then, are Godliness and the priesthood similar?
Back to the king analogy again:
Although my history is not good enough to actually know much about kings in history, the character of kings that people actually want to follow in fairy tales and movies is really good. The kings in these stories tend to not only be good at fighting, but they are honorable and just. Often, it is because of their character that they obtain power. People want to follow them and die for them because of their excellent character.
I once asked in a lesson if any of you had heard the quote “As man now is, God once was; as God is now man may be.” I think many of you were a bit surprised to learn that not only was this quote by Lorenzo Snow, but that it was in the manual. It’s a doctrine that we don’t talk about much, but the church hasn’t taken it out of the manuals, and we apparently still believe in a God that essentially “rose to power”, once being like man, and then attaining Godliness. We’re not sure how this happened, but it seems safe to say that his power and greatness of character increased over time.
And now, God is exercising a plan to help us do the same and reach exaltation. And although he can give us some authority to exercise his power, he cannot force us to develop a good character, but he’s given us all the help he can, including the amazing and essential power of his son’s atonement. He also gives us his priesthood, meaning his authority and power. When we have the smallest of small tastes of what it means to have God’s power exercising his priesthood, we should realize that this power and authority will only be as meaningful as we develop a righteous character. I believe that behind President Smith’s message in this passage is the idea that the priesthood and Godliness are inseparable. You cannot have the preisthood without a serious attempt at developing Godliness. And the only purpose of the priesthood is to exalt mankind, which includes not only saving our dead, but obviously attaining Godliness. Again, God’s purpose is to exalt us, which includes obtaining Godliness, which is indeed why he gave us the priesthood.
Page 210:
… The object of the priesthood is to make all [people] happy, to diffuse information, to make all partakers of the same blessings in their turn.12
For this very purpose the Holy Priesthood has been bestowed in this our day, to guide and perfect the saints of God here, and just in proportion as we attain to intelligence in this world and to integrity and faithfulness … , so will be the exalted condition in which we shall appear behind the veil.
How does the priesthood exalt us?
A different way of looking at this discussion: If this priesthood is here to exalt us, are the priesthood and priesthood ordinances just a formality on the road to exaltation? There are so many righteous people on this earth who are NOT MORMONS, who have attained a high degree of Godliness without the priesthood. As a well known example, think of the wonderful Godliness of a person like Mother Teresa. Considering that she is already just and true, that she already believes in Jesus and his atoning power, are priesthood ordinances just a formality for someone like her along the road to exaltation?
D&C 76 describes those who reach celestial glory (exaltation):
53 And who overcome by faith, and are sealed by the Holy Spirit of promise, which the Father sheds forth upon all those who are just and true.
69 These are they who are just men made perfect through Jesus the mediator of the new covenant, who wrought out this perfect atonement through the shedding of his own blood.
These characteristics sound like a host of awesome, Godly people who are not Mormons, who seem to only lack official priesthood ordinances. I may be wrong, but I think that, for some people, priesthood ordinances indeed are just a formality.
Think of the Lamanites, who were baptized by fire and knew it not. Does this not imply that they received the Holy Ghost in an unconventional way, not via the laying on of hands?
3 Nephi 9:15
20 And ye shall offer for a sacrifice unto me a broken heart and a contrite spirit. And whoso cometh unto me with a broken heart and a contrite spirit, him will I baptize with fire and with the Holy Ghost, even as the Lamanites, because of their faith in me at the time of their conversion, were baptized with fire and with the Holy Ghost, and they knew it not.
The priesthood provides us with a connection with God. It allows his prophets to obtain revelation. It provides ordinances that set us on a clear path back to him. It is no wonder, then, that the priesthood helps those who have it utilize the atonement to help them utilize this life to attain Godliness.
But since we’re a church that believes so much in the justness of God, that God would never condemn anybody for something that wasn’t their fault, doesn’t it make sense that the billions of people who never had access to the priesthood in this life would also be given tools to help them achieve Godliness? We believe this earthly life is a testing ground, a laboratory where we have limitless opportunities for growth due to the conditions that mortality presents to us. If this life is such a precious opportunity to work towards Godliness, and the priesthood and the gospel are such important tools to help us attain Godliness in this life, isn’t it unfair to think how many billions of people must have wasted their lives away without the priesthood and the gospel? That because they never had the priesthood and the gospel, their growth was stunted, their ability to attain Godliness dwarfed?
Of course not! How could we believe in a god who is so unfair? It is now that things like the light of Christ being given to every man (Moroni 7:16), and things like baptism by fire occurring in what seems to us unconventional means start to make sense.
What I’m trying to say is that God has a big toolbox. He wants to exalt mankind, and priesthood ordinances that bring us to Christ are his way of doing this. But we should never forget that billions of people out there are on their own road to exaltation, a road that is different than ours. And while we can invite them to our road, life is complicated. The complexities of this human existence make it simply impractical for us all to walk the same path. God knows this, and he finds ways to make as many paths as possible lead to Rome. Priesthood ordinances and guidance will come later, but God won’t forsake his billions of children that are without them in the meantime. That is the greatness of God.
The challenge for us is to remember this paradox: we hold God’s priesthood and should invite all mankind to receive priesthood ordinances that will bring them on the path to Christ and Godliness; yet, God is not so small and short sighted that he cannot work outside of this church to help people along different paths towards Godliness.
