Putting on Christ Introduction

“Wherefore the law was our schoolmaster to bring us unto Christ, that we might be justified by faith.

But after that faith is come, we are no longer under a schoolmaster.

For ye are all the children of God by faith in Christ Jesus. For as many of you as have been baptized into Christ have put on Christ. 

And if ye be Christ’s, then are ye Abraham’s seed, and heirs according to the promise.” 

(Galatians 3:24-27, 29)

Preamble

As long as we make the offering of a broken heart through surrender, in contriteness to God from the altar of our souls, entering the depths of repentance, while having received of His ordinances, and demonstrate that diamond-hard, committed willingness to risk everything to know Him—to emulate and be “all in” with Him from our hearts throughout eternity, IT IS ULTIMATELY HIS BESTOWAL OF FAITH AS AN ENDOWMENT OF POWER THAT SAVES. This salvation arises through that catalyst of “falling down and crying out to Him” with all that we have and are—one whom we have never before seen with our natural eyes though nevertheless is real, allowing our desperate plea for his atoning blood to both heal and cleanse. Through this very personal journey, we will have been led to a mini-Gethsemane of our own to further appreciate and comprehend of His offering, while RELYING ALONE UPON HIS MERITS, MERCY, AND GRACE. In an instant, the promised gift of the Father can then be received through an inner commitment to abandon one's self and one's will to God. This is when we completely surrender and ‘let go’...into His ineffably loving arms. It is by way of this ultimate expression of submission that we will have found oneness and spiritual union in Him, together with unspeakable joy in the Holy Ghost. This is the fulfillment of the promise of the Father. This is salvation. This is “putting on Christ.” 

“And of tenets thou shalt not talk, but thou shalt declare repentance and faith on the Savior, and remission of sins by baptism, and by fire, yea, even the Holy Ghost” (D&C 19:31). 

Preface

Knowing about God versus the Perfect Knowledge of God

In April of 2013, I received an indescribable tender mercy—an understanding of the importance of the knowledge about something versus the absolute knowledge of something. That difference is best represented in the very real and ongoing spiritual battle that is being waged over the hearts of men. For example, we may know a great deal about Christ but until we come to the actual knowledge of Christ, our lives may be in spiritual jeopardy—for how good is any knowledge if in the end it does not profit us unto salvation. The Light of Christ and inner awareness over the state of our hearts provides us protection against the adversary as he tries to harden our hearts against God, thereby preventing us from obtaining this necessary life-saving knowledge and guidance. The Prophet Joseph Smith taught, 

“The principle of knowledge is the principle of salvation… The principle of salvation is given us through the knowledge of Jesus Christ”[1] 

The principle of knowledge that saves begins with coming to the knowledge “of” Jesus Christ and not merely knowledge “about” Him. The actual knowledge of Christ is the gateway to all other knowledge necessary for a “more sure” salvation, including that of entering His presence in mortality. 

While the knowledge about Jesus Christ (God the Son) is different than the knowledge of Him, they are not mutually exclusive. For example, in 1820, fourteen-year-old Joseph Smith was determined to know, at least in part, which of the many religions he should join. He read a passage in the Bible instructing any who lacked wisdom to “ask of God” (James 1:5). Clearly, what he learned from his readings was knowledge about Christ—and that he could pray to God and have his prayer answered. Having faith in that new knowledge about God, Joseph decided to put it to the test. He went to a secluded wood to ask God which church he should join. According to his account, while praying he was visited by two “personages” who revealed themselves to be God the Father and Jesus Christ. In that visitation, Joseph had new knowledge, not merely about Christ but now of Christ, together with a knowledge of God the Father, and additionally, knowledge of the total Godhead. In that instant, Joseph’s life was changed forever because of that one glorious experience—knowing God. 

Moving from knowledge about something to knowledge of something is more common than one might realize. Those who have experienced a spiritual rebirth in Christ—being “born of the Spirit”–and the many who have had near death experiences are two examples. Each of these severally, yet in their singular experiences, came to the perfect knowledge that there is first and foremost a God, as well as a life after death. Admittedly, before those who underwent a near death experience passed through the veil, their beliefs about that subject greatly varied. But after that uniting experience, they all concluded and knew that mortal death is not the end of life. To a person, they no longer feared death. Some might have even longed for the peace and beauty they found in death. Moving from a belief about God to an undeniable knowledge of God is what this earthly experience is all about. In fact, it is paramount to our salvation. Obtaining this level of knowledge is our heroic journey. 

Elder Bruce R. McConkie stated: 

This true witness of the Holy Ghost is pure and absolute, and that a man can know with a perfect knowledge, by the power of the Holy Ghost, that Jesus Christ is the son of the living god, who was crucified for the sins of the world. This unshakeable certainty can rest in his soul even though he has not seen the face of the Lord.[2] 

Like Joseph, allow the seedlings of desire and faith in what you have learned about God to grow until you obtain a perfect knowledge of Him. Read on and see the steps that are available to those who desire this level of knowledge, for that is what this book is all about: the journey that will help us to move from where we are in our belief and understanding about God to the actual knowledge of God. Indeed, this is salvation. 

[1] Teachings of the Prophet Joseph Smith, Section Six 1843-44, p. 297). 

[2] The Promised Messiah, p. 592. 4 

Introduction

Write the things which ye have seen and heard, save it be those which are forbidden. 

And behold, all things are written by the Father; therefore out of the books which shall be written shall the world be judged (3 Nephi 27:23, 26). 

This book is a hybrid of “self-help” and an analysis of the first principles and ordinances of the gospel of Jesus Christ. It is about the individual, experiential, and heroic journey in following the straight and narrow path that leads to spiritual rebirth and thereafter, through pressing forward in faith, communing with the Lord through the veil. This “communing” gives us the actual knowledge of our standing before God, together with the right and blessing, through faith, to lay hold upon the “more sure” promise of eternal life—the greatest gift of heaven. And with this promise, we obtain additional spiritual knowledge, together with an obsessive desire to “seek His face,” “rend the veil,” and enter the Divine Presence while yet in mortality. 

Those whose overriding desire is to actually know God in mortality and who diligently and consistently act on this desire will find Him and will be given a place at His right hand. Those who put other priorities ahead of this preeminent one will find themselves at His left. If we truly desire to know Him, we will be unrelenting in our quest to both seek and find Him. The process of coming unto Christ cannot be described in simpler terms. 

God's “end game,” if you will, is that when our hearts inevitably break (and they most certainly will), that we be led to cry out for His mercy to heal, cleanse, and make us pure, and thereby become walking, breathing, embodiments of His love, as new creatures in Him. It is up to us, through God's gift of agency, to offer or give our hearts fully to Him and become sanctified through His blood. As we become full to overflowing with love for God, which is the first and great commandment, obeying the second great commandment will happen of its own accord, naturally spilling over onto all of our beloved brothers and sisters within the body of Christ.

The Journey to God 

The path to God is an inner journey that involves the purification of the heart and the sanctification of the soul, with the final objective being to know God and enter His presence while we are yet in mortality. The path is real. It is akin to a profound love story that involves finding, knowing, and eventually returning to that God who gave us breath. The path, though we may discuss it in symbolic terms, is a completely experiential and living one. It is a journey of personally growing in God’s light, truth, and love in the inner man. The journey cannot truly begin in power until we receive the First Comforter and are born of God, which is when we depart from the mere knowledge about God to the perfect knowledge of God. The path cannot be travelled alone—without God's power and guiding grace. Christ and His restored gospel is the power by which our brokenness, complete cleansing and mighty change of heart, “mighty offering,” and other sacred endowments can happen in full. The doctrine of Christ, which leads us to actually put on Christ and become born again, is this book's primary focus. 

This journey involves following the Light of Christ in our hearts and souls until we, through faith and broken-hearted repentance, are cleansed by spiritual fire and thereby receive a mighty change of heart and a new life in Christ. This is when we “put on Christ” and are born of God, or born again. Being born again is what Christ referred to when he said that we must be “born of the Spirit” to enter the kingdom of heaven. This is when we receive the actual companionship of the Holy Ghost or First Comforter, who will lead us to additional endowments of God’s light and knowledge. 

Eventually, those who endure in Christ after being born again will be led to what I refer to as the “mighty offering” and other sacred endowments. Lecture 6 of Lectures on Faith refers to it as “the same sacrifice.” (Note: These lectures were considered as doctrine when published as part of the Doctrine and Covenants until 1921. Though they were removed from canonized scripture then, they are still available worldwide and published as a separate booklet). The Lectures teach that once this holy consecration or “sacrifice” is accepted by Deity, we can receive “the knowledge...that [we] are accepted in the sight of God” (Lectures on Faith 3:5; 6:9; emphasis added), and “that the course of life which [we] pursue is according to the will of God...” (Lectures on Faith 6:2). 

The Role of the Holy Ghost 

The above spiritual knowledge can give us the added power through faith to obtain other vistas, including that of laying hold of the “more sure” word of promise through prophecy of eternal life while in mortality (Lectures On Faith 6:7, 6:10). This “more sure” promise of eternal life is also known as the more sure word of prophecy (see chapter 11, “The More Sure Word of Prophecy”). As a general rule (and there are exceptions), this “more sure” word of promise is a condition precedent to seeing the Lord while in mortality, should we be so fortunate. I, for one, cannot imagine a more beautiful and tender vision to hold to in this life. “Where there is no vision, the people perish” (Proverbs 29:18). I believe this level of knowledge must come through a suspension of all “unbelief,” achieved through our cumulative faith and spiritual knowledge. The Lectures On Faith contain important keys to fully eradicate our unbelief. To receive these glorious endowments, it is necessary that we begin by receiving the First Comforter, whose influence is given to abide in us (Moses 6:61). 

President Wilford Woodruff and Elder Bruce R. McConkie, regarding the reception of the actual endowment of the Holy Ghost, have said: 

“I have had the administration of angels in my day and time… and holy messengers… the room was filled with light. He laid before me as if in a panorama, the signs of the last days… But with all these, I have never had any testimony since I have been in the flesh, that has been greater than the testimony of the Holy Ghost” (Wilford Woodruff, “Administration of Angels,” 3 March, 1889, in Stuy, Collected Discourses, 1:216-218). 

“The promised receipt of the Holy Spirit, as on the day of Pentecost, is the greatest gift a man can receive in mortality” (Bruce R. McConkie, Doctrinal New Testament Commentary, Vol. III, pp. 333-334; emphasis added). 

Why did Elder McConkie refer to this endowment’s reception as the greatest gift? Because without this gift, we are unable to receive the “greater things” which are hid up because of unbelief (see Ether 4:13-16). 

Orson Pratt, in speaking of the reception of the Holy Ghost, said, 

“The gift and power of the Holy Ghost given to an individual is the greatest evidence that he can receive concerning God, Godliness, and the kingdom of heaven set upon the earth. There is no evidence equal to it.… It is given expressly to impart to mankind a knowledge of the things of God. It is given to purify the heart of man” (Journal of Discourses: 7:178-179). 

Notice that “it is given to purify the hearts of man.” And we are also told that “the pure in heart shall see God.” As stated by Elder McConkie, it is through receiving the Holy Ghost or First Comforter that we receive this sure, absolute, perfect knowledge and absolute certainty (i.e., “the knowledge of God”), which thereafter “can rest in his soul even though he has not seen the face of the Lord” (The Promised Messiah, 592). This perfect knowledge given to us through the witness of the Holy Ghost (or Comforter) is one of the ways in mortality by which we can truly “know God.” 

The Lord said, “It is I that granteth unto him that believeth unto the end a place at my right hand. For behold, in my name are they called; and if they know me, they shall come forth, and shall have a place eternally at my right hand” (Mosiah 26:24; emphasis added). The Lord elsewhere defined those who know Him. Those who “receive the [actual] gift of the Holy Ghost…shall know me” (D&C 39:23; emphasis added). And a prerequisite to its reception is the “laying on of hands” performed under the authority of the Melchizedek Priesthood, because this greater priesthood “holdeth the key…, even the key of the knowledge of God” (D&C 84:19). 

Those who receive the actual Holy Ghost, which is to be born of both water and the Spirit, obtain this “perfect knowledge” of God while in mortality, and endure to the end are those who “know Him” and receive eternal life as promised by the Father (2 Ne. 31:20). In his commentary, the Prophet Joseph says that “being born again comes by the [reception of the] Spirit of God through ordinances” (Teachings of the Prophet Joseph Smith, 162; emphasis added). 

Now come the “greater things” referenced in Ether 4:13-16. Elder McConkie informs us that 

“those who have this witness of the Spirit [or that ‘perfect knowledge’ given at the time of the spiritual rebirth] are expected, like their counterparts of old, to see and hear and touch and converse with the Heavenly Person, as did those of old” (The Promised Messiah, 592; emphasis added). 

The Holy Ghost can cleanse, sanctify, and make holy through the Lord’s direction, for “no unclean thing” can enter the Lord’s kingdom. Testimony alone is insufficient. We must be completely cleansed by God Himself. 

“John answered, saying unto them all, I indeed baptize you with water; but one mightier than I cometh, the latchet of whose shoes I am not worthy to unloose: he shall baptize you with the Holy Ghost and with fire” (Luke 3:16).  Receiving the ordinance called “the gift of the Holy Ghost” by the laying on of hands is insufficient to get us there. We must be truly converted, which is when we receive the actual manifestations of the Holy Ghost during spiritual rebirth and are both cleansed and healed. President Joseph Fielding Smith explained why many members never receive the gift and enjoyment of the Holy Ghost in power: 

“It is my judgment that there are many members of the Church who have been baptized for the [intended purpose of a] remission of their sins, and who have had hands laid upon their heads for the [intended purpose of receiving the actual] gift [and enjoyment] of the Holy Ghost, but who have never received that gift—that is, the manifestations of it. Why? Because they have never put themselves in order to receive these manifestations. They have never humbled themselves. They have never taken the steps that would prepare them for the companionship of the Holy Ghost. Therefore, they go through life without that knowledge” (“Seek Ye Earnestly the Best Gifts,” Ensign, June 1972, 3; emphasis added). 

To more easily understand the ordinance and doctrine of baptism, it would be more accurate to describe baptism as “baptisms,” in its plural form, since by definition we must be completely “immersed and overwhelmed” in both elements, water and Spirit. Otherwise, the ordinance is incomplete. A man with proper authority performs the prior and God performs the latter, subject to the fulfillment of the requirements associated with the promised blessing. Or in other words, the actual gift comes through obedience to that law upon which the promised blessing (in this case, the reception and enjoyment of the Holy Ghost in power) is predicated. 

Crying Out in Surrender and Commitment 

I believe that one of the greatest stumbling stones for us as Latter-day Saints in receiving this “unspeakable gift” of the Holy Ghost and its accompanying perfect knowledge of God arises out of our lack of understanding that although we may belong to His true Church and although we may have received every ordinance available by proper priesthood authority, we must still cry out to Him for His mercy and redemptive power in pure faith, with our entire soul and in complete surrender. The Lord refers to this “crying out” as “calling on my name” (see D&C 39:10; see also Romans 10:13). Tied to this “cry of the soul” (now this is key) is a required willingness to consecrate our all, having a rock-solid intention, commitment, and determination to serve Him until the end, irrespective of the sacrifices that may be required of us. And we must then demonstrate our willingness out in the world. The process leading to spiritual rebirth (a powerful, “mighty change of heart”) is the process of reaching this level of committed willingness to be “all in,” a “risk everything” type of willingness to surrender and commit our very lives to Him—often facilitated by a personal, spiritual crash or other rock-bottom experience. In other words, we will typically find Him in our extremities. How and why else would we come to cry out in surrender with the requisite faith on this level? His mercy and grace require our desire to know Him as intensely as a drowning man desires air. 

I had never caught hold of the above principle and never did understand it until after I had received of this gift’s influential power in my life. I had thought that through obedience alone, I could be saved. I had assumed salvation would happen of its own accord, over time, if I were just obedient and “endured to the end” through Church service. I now know otherwise. This is a great deception, however, originating from the wicked one. Now is the time for man to prepare to meet God. Literally, here and now. Pay close attention here to Alma’s words: “And never, until I did cry out unto the Lord for mercy, did I receive a remission of my sins” (Alma 38:8). 

How many people do we know (ourselves included) who have “cried out” with their entire souls to Christ in complete surrender for His mercy and redemption to both heal and cleanse? How many do we know who have been led to such an experience? And what if it were absolutely required to “cry out” from our whole soul or “call upon His holy name” for mercy, only we just didn’t know about it? In my experience, this cry of the soul occurs within a greater context that includes a perpetual yearning of the soul for the Lord’s mercy and grace to cover us. 

Hear now the word of the Lord: “And all that call upon the name of the Lord, and keep his commandments, shall be saved” (D&C 100:17). Zenos, the prophet, in speaking of praying to the Lord, said, “Yea, thou art merciful unto thy children when they cry unto thee” (Alma 33:8; emphasis added). This same principle is likewise confirmed in Helaman: “Thus we may see that the Lord is merciful unto all who will, in the sincerity of their hearts, call upon his holy name (Helaman 3:27; emphasis added). Amulek taught us to, “call upon his holy name, that he would have mercy upon [us]; Yea, cry unto him for mercy; for he is mighty to save” (Alma 34:17-18). 

Before Adam had been quickened in the inner man and born of God, Enoch says, “Adam cried unto the Lord, and he was caught away by the Spirit of the Lord” (Moses 6:64; emphasis added). If the Saints, through the Lord’s grace, can understand this prerequisite to spiritual rebirth (and there are others), we as the children of Zion will make great strides in furthering our own salvation and that of those closest to us. 

The self-help portions in some of the earlier chapters of this book are designed to lay a foundation for our ability to first become more aware of the Light of Christ within us, thereby facilitating our ability to connect with that Light. Many in the world refer to this Light as “Energy,” “Qi” (pronounced “Chee”), “Life Force,” Universal Consciousness,” “Inner Light,” “Buddha-Nature,” “Divine Intelligence, “Brahman,” “Supreme Cosmic Spirit,” “Universal Mind,” or “The Tao.” In Christianity, it is referred to as “the Holy Spirit” or “Light of Christ.” 

The self-help portion in mainly chapters 1 and 4 is mostly about creating an increased awareness surrounding the dichotomy between the “higher self” and its opposite, the natural man (or Ego), and the tools to empower the prior and tame the latter. We are all a blend of these two aspects of ourselves stemming from the Fall. The objective is for the prior (or the divine aspect of ourselves) to lead the latter in this relationship. These self-help devices are not meant to replace the reception of the First Comforter that is given to abide in us at the time of spiritual rebirth, but, rather, as tools to prepare us until such time as we are able to qualify for the same. This occurs by way of executing the doctrine of Christ, which will be explored in detail in chapter 7. 

Notice that in order to issue forth this cry of the soul in surrender to be saved, we must have first viewed ourselves in an “unsaved” or “unsafe” condition. King Benjamin referred to this as both our “awful situation” (Mosiah 2:40) and as having “viewed [ourselves] in [our] own carnal state, even less than the dust of the earth” (Mosiah 4:2). Without this awareness and the commitment to sacrifice all that may be required of us, the perpetual cry of the soul remains unissued, and conditional salvation is therefore unobtained. 

We must desire the redemption of Christ with our whole soul and both ask and plead for deliverance. After entering “the gate” or “door” leading to eternal life we will continue to follow the Light of Christ and the additional endowment of the gift of the Holy Ghost or First Comforter. This gift is given so that we may come to be “perfect in Him” in this life and come to the measure of the stature of the fulness of Christ in the next. Both occur through and by His grace. 

A Personal Experience 

In late April of 2013, I came to the knowledge of God the Father and God the Son through a manifestation of the Spirit in power, even a knowledge on the same level as if I had seen Them. I was forever changed by Christ’s redeeming grace, and, as a result, I have not since been able to think much of anything outside of that experience. But this is not just my experience. It is the experience of many today and is available to all who have heard the directive, “Receive the Holy Ghost.” Leading up to this perfect knowledge of God or of Their living reality, I had been forced to confront my own mortality, having been led to believe that I was physically dying… and in this extreme spiritual cris-is, I learned that Christ is. This knowledge had been preceded by over two decades of actively seeking Him. I told God in my heart that if He revealed Himself to me, I would do whatever He would ask of me. Through a perpetual cry of the soul to know Him, I experienced a oneness with God and with (seemingly at least) all of His natural creation, which is beyond description. 

Jesus Christ is indeed He whom the prophets through the ages have testified that He is. The resultant fruit arising out of this experience left me weeping with gratitude seemingly every night for months. I spoke with a new tongue, issuing forth words of poetic praise to my God. The tears would not let up. Even if there were heavenly license to relate the overall experience, there would simply be no words in any earthly language to convey it. 

And although we are told to “marvel not” (Mosiah 27:25), I just could not, nor will I ever, cease from marveling. Never did I anticipate such an overwhelming witness in power. Yet through the experience, I had been given the directive to bear testimony as to the holy and sacred reality of spiritual rebirth, known also as being born of God or partaking of the fruit of the Tree of Life, whose fruit is able to fill the human soul “with exceedingly great joy” and is “desirable above all other fruit” (1 Ne. 8:12). The Lord said, “But he that believeth these things which I have spoken, him will I visit with the manifestations of my Spirit, and he shall know and bear record” (Ether 4:11). 

This work known as Putting on Christ is not merely a book to be read, but one to be experienced and lived. It is my life’s calling to write. And of the exceedingly joyful taste of this glorious fruit, I bear record. This work will join other books of a similar nature, all of which are written to bear witness to the Way, the Truth, and the Life, that is Jesus Christ.

The Need for Spiritual Rebirth 

As a result of the above personal experience, my whole desire has been to humbly aid in any way within my faint and meager power any who seek to know the Lord. This then is the primary purpose of this book–to introduce people to the process and subsequent “spiritual birthing” by which we can be baptized into Christ (Gal 3:27) and thereby “Put on Christ.” The reception and actual enjoyment of this gift, however, is not a guaranteed rite of passage or a forgone conclusion for us as members of the Church. M. Catherine Thomas put it this way: 

“It seems that there are two parts to any Priesthood ordinance: the receiving of the ordinance and the obtaining of the power associated with that ordinance” (“King Benjamin and the Mysteries of God,” Neal A. Maxwell Institute of Religious Scholarship, see www.publications.mi.byu.edu). 

This power is the bestowal of faith as an endowment of power by God, which is made manifest to the candidate of salvation in fulfillment of the Father’s promise, resulting in a “mighty change” experience. It is referred to as “the gate” or entrance to the path that leads to eternal life. Most significant is that although there is a large multitude who obtain the fulfillment of the Father’s promise overall, there are regrettably few (comparatively speaking) who will find this gate, and even fewer still who will thereafter endure to the end. Christ reaffirmed this truth when he said, “Strive to enter in at the strait gate: for many, I say unto you, will seek to enter in, and shall not be able” (Luke 13:24; emphasis added). 

With that said, take heart and keep this truth and hope in mind. God is not a respecter of persons, and indeed cannot be. We are all on equal footing before Him, and He giveth to all liberally. If we diligently seek Him, we shall find and know Him, according to a law and a promise from our Father, covenanted and confirmed upon us through the laying on of hands. It does not matter if we are seeking “the right way,” per se. It matters only that our intention is sincere and authentic in our quest to find the true and living God and that we are seeking to know Him diligently and steadfastly. Dr. David R. Hawkins suggests that “if inner alignment is with integrity, and inner honesty prevails, the outcome is aligned with the prevailing intention” (David R. Hawkins, “Discovery of the Presence of God,” p. 77). 

We must seek and learn by study and also by faith, which occurs by going directly to the source of all truth for spiritual direction and knowledge. Our most significant spiritual attainments in this life arise out of this spiritual birthing; this gate. It is the most crucial of all of Heavenly Father's gifts, for all other life-saving gifts or endowments arise out of this one gift—the actual gift of the Holy Ghost, not just the ordinance by the same name. The actual enjoyment, gifts, power, and companionship of this gift as the Holy Ghost or Comforter, is given to abide in us as we pass through the gate. 

When Joseph Smith visited the president of the United States during his day, he was asked the difference between the LDS faith and all other Christian religions. Joseph's answer? “The gift of the Holy Ghost.” Legrand Richards said, “You take the Holy Ghost out of this Church, and this Church would not be any different than any other Church” (“The Gift of the Holy Ghost,” Ensign, Nov. 1979, 76). This gift is the most crucial because the Holy Ghost will cleanse, sanctify, and “show [us] all things that [we] should do” so we can know how to make our way back home into God's presence. “The principle of salvation is knowledge,” beginning with the knowledge of Jesus Christ. And entering that Divine Presence is likewise attainable in this life, as many have proven in our modern day, the days of Kirtland, and throughout history as recorded in scripture. 

Joseph Smith said, now hear it well, “It is the first principle of the Gospel to know for a certainty the Character of God, and to know that we may converse with him as one man converses with another” (Teachings of the Prophet Joseph Smith, 345). Do we believe the Prophet? If not, our progress is already being halted. This level of knowledge is one of the “greater things” (see Ether 4:13-16) we can achieve in mortality. Yet in order to obtain any of these “greater things,” we must first receive the actual gift and be born of God. 

After we are spiritually born again, there is a further sanctifying process, grace for grace and grace to grace, as we endure to the end. This enduring to the end is so much more than being active in the Church. After being “filled with the love of God,” we must “endure” in welcoming the sanctifying influence of His Spirit and love so as to be made like unto Christ. As we continue to partake of portions of His light and glory, experienced as inner, spiritual, quickening feelings, we will become infused with more of His attributes in order to attain His “likeness.” What makes the gospel come alive for us is experiencing these endowments and heavenly “vistas” while travelling this strait path during our mortal existence. 

Imagine two felons who have gone to prison for the same crime. One just “does his time” and leaves prison more hardened than when he went in. He “checked the boxes,” if you will. The other does the same time, and yet leaves with a soft and tender spirit and with the love of God in His heart. How did each endure? True, they both “endured” their time in prison. But how did they make use of that time? One chose to further harden his heart and continued to blame circumstances external to him for his predicament. The other turned directly to God through the yearnings of the soul, was given heavenly direction, and followed it.

The Search for Truth 

God is leading us through the strivings of His Spirit to give Him our hearts by degrees until we give our hearts in full, which is when we will become fully converted and born of God. 

Seeking truth may either consciously or unconsciously become initiated through the inner contemplation of a very subtle yet burning, nagging question. This question will likely be accompanied by an uneasy or unsettling feeling. 

That question is…

“Am I Right with God?” 

To answer this question will require a diligent and ongoing search for truth, even at times from the soul level. When we seek diligently the answer to this question, we will be guided through a spiritual journey of self-discovery, even unto obtaining the actual knowledge as to God’s living reality—a knowledge beyond that of faith. 

The whole process begins by seeking truth, both from within the Church and without, wherever found. President Brigham Young said, “The truth and sound doctrine possessed by the sectarian world, and they have a great deal, all belong to this Church.… There is no truth but what belongs to the Gospel.… If you can find a truth in heaven, earth or hell, it belongs to our doctrine. We believe it; it is ours; we claim it” (DBY, 2, 3). 

It is my belief that seeking absolute truth wherever it may be found is purposefully designed to keep us in a state of maintaining an open mind. Having an open mind makes us “relatable” to others and allows others to be relatable to us. This facilitates being able to more easily share the gospel of love with others. I believe that an open mind is an attribute and characteristic that is encouraged by God, to be developed in us. Without an open mind, we could not consistently receive the requisite personal revelation that is necessary to be led unto individual salvation. Truth, in all circumstances, is absolute—and Christ is the embodiment of that Truth. 

A Disclaimer 

You will find many aspects of the Truth found in this work that come from outside the LDS community. Truth, however, is truth, regardless of where it is found. President Brigham Young taught that “it is our duty and calling, as ministers of the same salvation and Gospel, to gather every item of truth and reject every error. Whether a truth be found with professed infidels, or with … any other of the various and numerous different sects and parties, all of whom have more or less truth, it is the business of the Elders of this Church … to gather up all the truths in the world pertaining to life and salvation … wherever it may be found … and bring it to Zion” (DBY, 248; emphasis added). So are we doing it? Are we gathering all Truth from throughout the world to bring it to Zion? 

I personally took President Young's admonition to heart, and many statements by the non-LDS authors quoted herein stem from my seeking Truth anywhere it can be found. Yet in this regard, I have one word of caution: Although there may be books and authors from which I may quote, it deserves to be plainly and rightfully understood that I do not endorse all things spoken by these authors or all things taught in their respective books. The things I do reference, however, I believe to be Truth, subject to the context in which the specific statements are referenced or discussed. I make no overall or encompassing endorsement of any of these books, with the exception of our canonized, LDS scripture. I leave it to the reader to discern Truth from falsehood by following the same Light of Christ that is freely given to all. 

The Prophet Joseph said, “I want the liberty of thinking and believing as I please. It feels so good not to be trammeled” (DHC, 5:340). In accord with that stance, I have placed my thoughts and beliefs on these pages. If I happen to err from your perspective, please throw a cloak of charity over any of my perceived failings and I will do the same for you as reader. My views, opinions, beliefs, and, in some cases, actual knowledge are mine alone, for which I take full and complete responsibility. You need not believe or adopt my opinions. In all cases, instead of casually absorbing what I may have to say as being truth, I encourage you to ask God directly, and by this means draw your own conclusions, supported by your own personal revelation. I have no earthly endorsements, nor do I desire, anticipate, or seek any. 

The path to God is both straight and strait. “Straight” is directional. “Strait” speaks to the narrowness of the way. The path is both simple and complex. Simple, because even a child can understand it. Simple, because we are being led to know each member of the Godhead, in a specific order: first, the Holy Ghost or the First Comforter; second, Jesus Christ or the Second Comforter; and third, the Father, who is “revealed” by the Son. An actual knowledge of our Deity can happen for all Latter-day Saints, while in mortality and in our individual lifetimes. In fact, I believe it is essential. 

Now to the complexity part. The path is complex, because although not overly cumbersome, it takes persistence, steadfastness, and diligence. This “seeking journey” of the actual Christ must become a way of life through desire, and must predominantly occupy our consciousness, every day of our lives. As our gaze is constantly fixed on Him, we are spiritually creating His eventual manifestation, likely even unknowingly, so the knowledge of His reality and power might thereby come to fruition and be fulfilled in our lives. Joseph Smith declared: 

“The extent of [our] knowledge, respecting His (God’s) character and glory, will depend upon [our] diligence and faithfulness in seeking after him, until … [we] shall obtain faith in God and power with him, to behold him face to face,” and “that it was human testimony, and human testimony only, that excited this inquiry … in [our] minds” and through the credence given to that testimony, “the inquiry … always terminated when rightly pursued, in the most glorious discoveries and eternal certainty” (Lectures On Faith, 2:55-56). 

This requisite human testimony is one of the reasons why this book contains many modern-day testimonies, in addition to the testimonies of apostles and prophets, which will naturally “excite this inquiry.” This diligence and faithfulness in “seeking Christ” cannot be overstated or over-emphasized. 

To find “the gate” or entrance to the path, which is both straight and strait, can potentially take decades, even for those who are honest and sincere. That said, finding the gate can also be instantaneous, depending solely on the candidate’s level of faith and intensity in seeking, coupled with whole repentance. I believe the latter to be the exception to the rule as the Lord will want to test our willingness first through testing our level of resolve. 

Elder Bruce R. McConkie said: “All men must receive the (actual) Holy Ghost in order to be saved. All have power to gain this holy gift, but few there be that find it” (A New Witness p. 273; emphasis added). In other words, the knowledge of God doesn’t just automatically happen. Joseph Smith spoke of the awful situation in the next life, specific to those of us who had not chosen to diligently seek the Lord while in mortality: “The disappointment of hopes and expectations at the resurrection would be indescribably dreadful” (Teachings of the Prophet Joseph Smith, p. 336). 

This unmet expectation of salvation arises, at least in part, from the “all is well in Zion” numbing prescription that the adversary keeps writing us. And we keep buying what he's selling, and proceed unaware, like lambs to the slaughter. Unless of course, we awaken to our “awful situation.” To awaken begins with an initial arousal of our overall awareness of and desire to know our standing before God. Thus, awareness will be the first focus of our spiritual journey. 

I liken the effort in finding “the gate” to the energy it takes for a space shuttle to launch from the gravity of our earth into orbit. The Atonement of Jesus Christ provides the faith (power) and His grace (ignition and subsequent fuel) needed to exit the restraints of our natural man's “gravity.” Once we make it into “orbit” through our spiritual birthing, we are set free from the previous strength and “gravity” restraints of the natural man and his heavy-laden burdens. Our journey, however, still takes us years of endowments of faith and further sanctification, thereby making us not just clean, but holy men walking this earth. Yet unless we are set free, we cannot make the journey. I have learned that the difficulty is not so much in travelling the straight and narrow path but mostly in actually finding it. The reception and enjoyment of the Holy Ghost is a gift of God unto all those who “diligently seek Him” (1 Ne. 10:17). 

Looking back, I now realize I had gone down every rabbit hole imaginable in my own seeking journey, and each time had come up empty handed. For some, there may not be a whole lot here for them, but undoubtedly for others there will surface a treasure of “aha's” and “wow's” that may have otherwise remained hidden. The points discussed in this book are based on my consciousness level. I'm sure I will present ideas that I may enhance, modify, or add to down the road. I view this as personal development. 

Regardless of the portion of truth that you may resonate with, what I can assure you is that this book is written with only the purest of intentions and love for my brothers and sisters, fellow seekers of Christ, in that these words will highlight some of the waymarks or guideposts I have encountered along my own journey. I pray they prove helpful within your own seeking journey as well. If you find any statement or point herein that does not resonate with the Light of Christ found in your heart and soul, I would admonish you to disregard it immediately and move on to those that do. 

The points of doctrine and my own personal insights have been validated and confirmed to me on countless occasions by way of the spiritual assurances provided me experientially and subjectively, through the Holy Spirit. Given the fact that I had never previously received the Holy Ghost in power in my younger years, I had decided to look elsewhere in my seeking journey, in addition to within my own LDS faith. Looking back, I now know that I had been (mostly) following the Light of Christ within me all along. And even though I had been fairly active in “the Church” throughout my life, I was definitely guilty on occasion of “going through the motions” and “checking boxes” within the overall program of the Church. 

My Inner Guide 

I was dedicated and consistent in my seeking journey, however flawed that may have been. I sought diligently in the Light of Christ, my inner guide, deep within my soul. This inner guide is sometimes referred to as our intuition or conscience. The word conscience, comes from the Latin word conscientia, or “knowledge within oneself” (https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/conscientia). Shakti Gawain gives an example of the knowledge that can be accessed through this Light of Christ in her book Developing Intuition: “You may ask for an intuitive message in your meditation one morning, but not receive any information. That evening … you may have the impulse to go into a bookstore … and find that you are drawn to a certain table of books. You pick up one of the books, open it randomly and read a paragraph. Suddenly you realize that you are reading exactly what you need to hear at this moment in your life. In fact, this is the answer to the question you had asked that morning.” 

Many times this impulse and inner yearning may go unnoticed in our conscious minds. This inner yearning, in my opinion, is what was deeply implanted in us to find and experience the love and oneness with God we once knew. This inner yearning, and the impulse to go into a bookstore, was God's light, leading and guiding with that inner spiritual nudge to act. But we must become more aware of these nudges. And then we must act, or else we are not valuing the gift of revelation that has come. And if we don't value these gifts, the gifts will eventually cease coming with the same frequency, or cease coming at all. 

This Light of Christ or intuitive voice referenced above is the same Light that awoke me one morning as I was writing this book, with two words that came into my mind. They were “Shakti Gawain.” I hadn't read any of Shakti's books for well over 15 years, but this is how the Spirit works. My journey involves, coincidentally, the exact same example given by Shakti Gawain of being spiritually led to go into a bookstore. So I obeyed the light in me, walked directly to the self-help section where I was energetically or spiritually drawn, like a laser tractor beam, to one book. In fact, it is the only book in the entire bookstore that I even touched that day. 

The book was about allowing our higher self to lead in the relationship within the dichotomy of the ego (natural man) and our higher or divine spirit within. The name of the book was Your Sacred Self, by Dr. Wayne W. Dyer. As I continued perusing the book, an aliveness came over me which I now know to have been the Light of Christ. I knew that this book was what I needed at this precise time in my life. I knew that the “God force” within me had lovingly nudged me to go to that exact bookstore at that exact time in order to obtain that exact book. This book was not the beginning, but it was certainly a beginning. What I learned over time is that we can, through using various tools, tame the beast of the natural man (ego), but because of the tenacity of the ego, there is only one who could completely overcome it, and that person is Jesus Christ. 

Further along my spiritual journey, I learned other truths. For example, I learned we are coming unto Christ in a very literal way. We are to seek Him. The Church is the scaffolding needed to work on the temple of “us.” We are the temple of God. We need to receive his gospel in order to be saved. The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints provides the necessary ordinances with the required priesthood authority, without which we could not receive the fullness of the “exceeding great and precious promises” available that were referenced by the apostle Peter (see 2 Peter 1:4). “Therefore, in the ordinances thereof, the power of godliness is manifest” (D&C 84:20-21). And for those who may have not been afforded access to these ordinances in mortality, a perfectly loving, fair, and just God shall provide the same opportunity to those in the spirit world, “that they might be judged according to men in the flesh, but live according to God in the Spirit” (1 Peter 4:6). 

Some who are struggling with issues they may have with the Church, parts of its history, or its culture (as many have had) may feel upset about the notion that the ordinances for salvation and exaltation can only be obtained from those holding the requisite Priesthood keys, performed by those holding actual authority from God. Was it any different in the primitive Church? It can definitely be a stumbling stone. We see the dysfunction within the culture of the Church and our people, and tend to, unfortunately, lump them together with the Church, its traditions, the gospel, or all three. As a result, many of us end up throwing the baby out with the proverbial bath water. I strongly caution all to stay the course. We can all overcome any issues we may have with any past negative experiences with the Church, its history, its members, leaders, or its culture by keeping our lives focused on Christ. Jesus Christ is the rock upon which we must build. “And now, my sons, remember, remember that it is upon the rock of our Redeemer, who is Christ, the Son of God, that ye must build your foundation” (Helaman 5:12). 

For those of us who may be struggling with their testimony for one reason or another with the Church, we have two choices. We can either choose to remain in and make a difference for the better or choose to fall out. If we choose to be out, our influence may be completely marginalized and our ability to effect change and bring people to Christ almost nil. We may also, more likely than not, even lose our inheritance. Study 4 Nephi intently. Even when after 200 years since Christ’s visit the wheels were coming off the cart of the Church, so to speak, the three Nephites never left the Church. They stayed on task, lifting the members wherever they could, even until the time in which “there were none [within the church] that were righteous save it were the disciples of Jesus” (4 Ne. 1:46). This is the type and pattern for us as well. 

If we choose to be in, we can inspire and make a huge impact and difference on many. If the old ship Zion is taking on water, find the holes and plug as many of them as you possibly can. Then start bailing water with all your might! Remember. It is His Church. Do all within your power, then turn any concerns you may have back over to God, in quiet acceptance and peace. Simply choose to be part of the “few, who are the humble followers of Christ” (2 Nephi 28:14). 

The Children of Zion under Condemnation 

And what will our Lord say, He who has acknowledged his displeasure with us, placing all of us as the children of Zion under condemnation (see D&C 84:54-56)? He would say what He already has said: Treasure all scripture you have been given (D&C 84:57) and “concern yourselves not with the affairs of my Church.” Your job is to “purify your hearts before me.” (See D&C 112:23-28; emphasis added). In other words, He is saying, “I am God. I've got this. This is My Church. When expedient in me, I'll steady the ark and Church of God, as God.” We must never lose sight of this. We can either make it about “out there” (i.e., “the Church,” the world, and all that we may perceive as wrong with it) or we can place our focus on that which we do have control over—purifying what's “in here,” or within our own hearts, accomplished by surrendering to and loving God. Stay the course. We have more than enough to be concerned with in purifying our own hearts, rather than worrying about all the perceived wrongs we may see in our Church, our community, and in our world. Christ said, “If they have not charity, it mattereth not unto thee, thou hast been faithful; wherefore, thy garments shall be made clean” (Ether 12:37; emphasis added). Focus on cleansing “the inside of the cup” rather than on the distractions that come from highlighting the imperfections of others, whether within or without the Church. 

Instead of criticizing, we may first want to focus on being the change we would wish to see in the overall membership of the Church and thereby inspire others to be that same change, starting at the ward level and expanding outward. Then as the children of Zion, we can work to expand that mindset, awareness, and love to the stakes, regions, and finally to the ends of the earth throughout the entire Church. The change needs to happen first within the hearts of us, the individual members. This is where Zion begins. We need to stop relying on “the Brethren” or the Church alone to spiritually spoon feed us. This is what Isaiah’s prophecy was speaking to when he addressed Ephraim’s need to be “weaned from the milk, and drawn from the breasts” (Isaiah 28:9). And this, by the way, is not a knock on “the Brethren” or the Church. It's a knock on us, the children of Zion and body of Christ. We only need turn to God, the author and finisher of our faith. As we do, the wearied traveler continues his very personal journey to Christ, and all the while the caravan of the gospel program, administered by Christ’s restored Church, moves on… 

“What does it matter if a few barking dogs snap at the heels of the weary travelers? Or that predators claim those few who fall by the way? The caravan moves on. 

Is there a ravine to cross, a miry mud hole to pull through, a steep grade to climb? So be it. The oxen are strong and the teamsters wise. The caravan moves on. 

Are there storms that rage along the way, floods that wash away the bridges, deserts to cross, and rivers to ford? Such is life in this fallen sphere. The caravan moves on. 

Ahead is the celestial city, the eternal Zion of our God, where all who maintain their position in the caravan shall find food and drink and rest. Thank God that the caravan moves on!” [Bruce R. McConkie, “The Caravan Moves On,”Ensign, Nov. 1984, p. 85].

We have the scriptures before us. The power is within us. We have the Light of Christ speaking to us, all the day long, whether we are aware or not. Many have the amplified version of this light through the Comforter given at the time of spiritual rebirth. A select few “have also a more sure word of prophecy,” which if we “take heed” and follow the “light that shineth in a dark place,” the day [will] dawn, and the day star arise in [our] hearts” (2 Peter 1:19). We have the ordinances performed by proper authority. The promises contained in the ordinances are given to us. The Prophet Joseph Smith reinforced Isaiah’s prophecy when he spoke to our slothfulness in not turning directly to God ourselves instead of becoming overly dependent on himself as the prophet. Joseph told the early Saints “that the people should each one stand for himself, and depend on no man… that righteous persons would only deliver their own souls (through faith in Christ), [and] ... said if the people departed from the Lord, they must fall—that they were depending on the Prophet [meaning, “alone on the Prophet,” without the accompanying confirming witness of the Holy Ghost], hence were darkened in their minds” (Teachings of the Prophet Joseph Smith, p. 237; emphasis added). 

As we seek and obtain the coveted spiritual rebirth, we will become securely reliant upon God through the reception, enjoyment, and power of the Holy Ghost or Comforter, who will “show unto [us] all things that [we] should do” (2 Nephi 32:5). Thereafter, no one will ever again need remind us to minister to a select few. We will desire to minister to the entire world. 

My Experiential Journey to Spiritual Rebirth 

As for my personal journey, I had arrived at a place where I decided that I would put all my belief systems on the shelf, with the exception of God. I wanted to start all over with a clean slate. Every belief system that had been poured into me since childhood was reevaluated. I just wanted to learn what the truth was from God directly so I could then follow it. I started with the temporary removal of all belief systems (and I don't recommend this as there is an easier way—that of purposefully executing the doctrine of Christ), and I began to seek God and the Truth in earnest. 

After many years, despite consistent reading of spiritual works and engaging in meditation, I eventually found myself in a spiritual panic, one of total desperation and despair. I intensely desired to know the truth and the true Messiah, yet I continued to still come up empty in my search. This despair was preceded by three trips to the emergency room spanning a period of about 18 months. On each occasion in the emergency room, I wholly believed that I was dying as I had feelings of sharp pins and needles throughout my entire body. The doctors performed EKGs, CT scans, and MRIs. They found nothing. Yet the symptoms persisted, and I just knew I was dying. This belief that I was literally facing the end of my own mortality instilled in me the desperate need to be right with God—at any and all cost. My standing before God became the only thing that mattered. 

I finally committed to pin all of my hopes for salvation on one man—Jesus Christ of Nazareth. If I were wrong about Him and ended up “going down with the ship,” so to speak, I could think of no other man as good and as kind as Jesus with whom I would rather perish, if I was to perish at all. I had been diligently seeking answers as to who or what God was for over two decades. I continued to cry out (mostly subconsciously) within my soul to God to know who or what the truth was so that I could follow it. I had desired so much and for so long to know the truth and the true Messiah, that I was “willing” to do anything and everything He asked—if He would only reveal Himself to me. I had to know Him, perhaps even to the degree that my own sanity depended upon it. My internal “soul cry” was very similar to that of King Lamoni’s father: “Yea, what shall I do that I may be born of God, having this wicked spirit [of the natural man] rooted out of my breast, and receive his Spirit, that I may be filled with joy, that I may not be cast off at the last day? Behold, said he, I will give up all that I possess, yea, I will forsake my kingdom, that I may receive this great joy” (Alma 22:15). 

Notice how this level of consecration, sacrifice, commitment, and “willingness” ties into our sacrament prayer: “that they may… witness… that they are willing to take upon them the name of thy son.” I had finally gone into the depths of humility within my repentance process and held nothing back. I stood before God figuratively naked. I eventually decided to pin all my hopes for salvation on one man, Jesus Christ the person, to the extent that if I were wrong about Him, I would rather not exist. I “burned all my boats,” so to speak, making it impossible to retreat. There was one way, and one way only, and that was through. I would have preferred annihilation, or at least so I thought. I just had to know Him. This extreme desire of having to know Him is what led me into my spiritual panic, as the knowledge of Him had not come, even after so many years of seeking. I was growing weary in my mind, and ready to spiritually faint. 

Unbeknownst to me at the time, I fulfilled a requirement in some law that had previously remained hidden from my view. I guess you could say that I had exercised, through the grace and gift provided, whole, pure, and perfect faith in Jesus Christ, relying alone upon His merits. Another way of saying this is that I did not rely, in any degree, upon my own merits or works. For years I had persistently cried out, but it had never been previously tied to the requisite “willingness” and commitment to be “all in” with Him. 

After having exercised full purpose of heart in both my repentance process and in exercising that sufficiency of faith required, the Truth was finally found. He was found! And in finding the Truth, I received unspeakable joy. I learned with a perfect brightness and clarity, a revealed perfect knowledge, through an unmistakable experience lasting several days and nights, that Jesus Christ was that Truth I had been seeking. I could speak with a new tongue. I had tasted of God’s quickening influence. Tears were shed, words of praise spoken, and even more tears flowed. 

For months, I could not stop myself from daily weeping in gratitude. I was weary and had found rest to my soul. I now KNEW! I wanted to shout it from the rooftops! Praise, tears, and more praise! I now knew with a perfect brightness of knowledge that I had been redeemed—that I had received a complete remission of all of my sins and that Jesus Christ and the Father live and are real! Christ was and is the promised Messiah! I knew that if I endured to the end in this same state of purity of heart and righteousness with which the Holy Ghost wrought in me, I would obtain eternal life. I experienced the same unspeakable joy and knowledge as delivered by King Benjamin, “that thereby whosoever should believe…, the same might receive remission of their sins, and rejoice with exceedingly great joy, even as though he had already come among them” (Mosiah 3:13; emphasis added). 

Joseph Smith referred to the Holy Ghost, as the same (i.e., experientially identical or “alike”) as given on the day of Pentecost: “There are two comforters spoken of. One is the Holy Ghost, the same as given on the day of Pentecost” (Teachings of the Prophet Joseph Smith, p.149; see also Acts 2). This was my experience. The Second Comforter, as we know, includes the personal visitation of Jesus Christ. 

My son-in-law Mark asked me if I would share again my rebirth or full conversion story with him. This is what I wrote back to him, and I wish to share it with you as well: 

I need to write down in depth that which led up to it, but there is really no way to describe the experience in words. The word Pentecostal is what was revealed to me at the time, having inquired of the Lord from my heart to know, but prior to that I had never had any experience even remotely close or similar to this one, and certainly not “Pentecostal-like.” Other words that most closely describe it but totally fail are “Manifestation,” “Partaking of his Glory,” “Indescribable Joy and Peace,” “Knowing God,” “Overwhelming Love of God,” Partaking of a “Christ Consciousness,” and experiencing “Spiritual Union with God.” It is the “taste of Oneness” for which Christ prayed to the Father for us to receive” (John 17:19-26). And through enduring to the end, we might not only taste of His everlasting glory, but have a fulness thereof throughout all eternity. 

Would this mighty experience not create a “mighty change” in all of us? Nothing else but Him thereafter would even ever matter! Even the words “mighty change” would seem like the greatest understatement ever uttered. It makes me long to return and not even remain here, Mark. I miss Him. 

(Perhaps that’s the whole point, by the way. Perhaps God wants us to miss Him so badly that we’d never desire to stray thereafter). 

Then I shared these verses with Mark from Christ out of the New Testament: 

“And for their sakes I sanctify myself, that they also might be sanctified through the truth. “Neither pray I for these alone, but for them also which shall believe on me through their word; “THAT THEY ALL MAY BE ONE; as thou, Father, art in me, and I in thee, THAT THEY ALSO MAY BE ONE IN US, that the world may believe that thou hast sent me. “And THE GLORY which thou gavest me I have given them; that they may be ONE, EVEN AS WE ARE ONE: “I in them, and thou in me, that they may be made perfect in one; and that the world may know that thou hast sent me, and hast loved them, as thou hast loved me.” 

“And I have declared unto them thy name, and will declare it: that the love wherewith thou hast loved me may be in them, and I in them” (JOHN 17:19-23, 26; emphasis added). 

Allow me to draw our attention to a question and answer by Joseph Smith as found in the Lectures On Faith that highlight this Oneness: 

“Do the believers in Christ Jesus, through the gift of the Spirit [i.e., the actual reception of the Holy Ghost], become one with the Father and the Son, as the Father and Son are one?” Smith’s Answer: “They do” (see Lecture 5:19). 

Christ Himself spoke to the above. “And I will pray the Father, and he shall give you another Comforter, that he may abide with you for ever; Even the Spirit of Truth; whom the world cannot receive, because it seeth him not, neither knoweth him: but ye know him; for he dwelleth with you, and shall be in you. At that day ye shall know that I am in my Father, and ye in me, and I in you” (John 14: 16-17, 20). 

This Oneness spoken of is to partake of a God Consciousness—to partake of Their Consciousness (see David O. McKay, “Consciousness of God, Supreme Goal of Life,” Conference Report, April 1967). It is not only to become “one in purpose,” as I had been taught my whole life. And although this heightened level of consciousness does not remain as a permanent endowment, at least in my experience, it can be enjoyed by all when we receive the Holy Ghost as a gift. 

I then shared some additional insight with Mark that, although it is not all that I experienced, it is what I can at least attempt to share, since there are no words that can convey the experience: 

The Oneness experienced was not just with the Deity, as we know Them to be, and They are real, but a Oneness seemingly with all of nature and the physical and spiritual world around me as well. The trees, the plants, the birds, and every living thing, at least in my immediate environment, seemed to be communing with me, and I too with them, through this unseen love and light which seemed to permeate all things. Everyone and everything appeared radiantly beautiful to me. 

Ultimately, spiritual rebirth can only really be described as “indescribable.” Nothing else can compare to it in this world. It includes being filled with God’s love to the degree that I became seemingly in love with all things living. My personal will seemed to have become completely intertwined with the Divine will. I wanted to hug everyone, including complete strangers, and share what I was feeling inside with them. And I often did, which truly startled some. The experience also included and was followed by an immense and profound peace that the scriptures refer to as “the peace of God, which passeth all understanding” (Philippians 4:7). 

During this experience, I felt so perfectly ready to be taken from this earth. And although I longed for my heavenly home, had I been given the option, I would have chosen to remain here to assist my family to find this same gate and to partake of the same fruit that I had enjoyed. 

The remission of sins and sure promise of eternal life as part of the Redemption of Christ when one is born of God, together with the oneness with and perfect knowledge of the Deity, particularly in terms of Their absolute, manifested reality, are the preeminent gifts obtained during spiritual rebirth. This is full conversion, even as on the day of Pentecost. This is “the knowledge of God” or “the knowledge of the Lord” spoken of in scripture that we may all obtain in mortality. 

To bake this cake of actual knowledge will require the three ingredients of intensely desiring to know God, exercising faith in Him as a real, exalted being (not one of past or future but the very Christ found in our “now” or present moment), and diligently seeking Him until He is found. We must find Him as part of our “present,” so that we may ultimately dwell in His Presence. When this “cake” is baked properly, the knowledge of God will be obtained, not just about God. Joseph taught, “For there is a great difference between believing in God and knowing Him—knowledge implies more than faith” (see Lectures On Faith, p. 77). And so it is. 

This knowledge is obtained through the experiential oneness for which Christ yearned and prayed in His great intercessory prayer. In my own experience, even though I “knew” exactly what was happening to me, the following words still came to my mind: “You are being born of the Spirit.” I found these words to be extremely self-evident as well as revealing. These words were obviously not my own thoughts, because they started with the word You. Some third party was actually speaking to my mind as I was experiencing this transcendent manifestation which filled me with spiritual fire. Was it the Father? Was it the Son? Was it the Holy Ghost? Since they are one, we could accurately affirm that the answer to the above questions to be yes, yes, and yes! 

Experiencing this oneness and obtaining the knowledge of God is what President Ezra Taft Benson meant when he said, “When you choose to follow Christ, you choose to be changed.” He described this “changed feeling” as indescribable and as something “real.” And he was right on both counts. He also described it as “one of the most widespread of Christ’s modern miracles” (Ezra Taft Benson, “Born of God,” general conference, October, 1985). Jacob suggests, “For why not speak of the atonement of Christ, and attain to a perfect knowledge of him…”? (Jacob 4:12). I say, great question! Why not? 

By way of my own witness, I was not consciously seeking to know whether the “Church was true.” I was just searching to know God or who “the Truth” was. I had found so much deception, conning, and lies in this world, and so many different religions and philosophies originating from who knows where, that I had to know Him and couldn’t leave it alone. I remember on several occasions just weeping while lying in my wife's lap telling her that I just wanted to know the Truth and who God was. I believe in part that it was in my refusal to “let it go” or give up on seeking to know the truth of God that brought me to a point of desperation, despair, and spiritual panic. It was shortly after this process that I found Him. And if I were to be completely honest with myself, I really had hoped deep down that Jesus was indeed that Truth, for I had loved Jesus deep within my heart all of my life. 

He is “the Way” by means of the light that we follow within our hearts and centers of our souls (beginning as our intuition or conscience). He is the Truth, because all truth rests, abides, and is centered in Him and in His light forever. And that light is literally found in us and throughout the immensity of space, permeating all things. He is the Life, because if it were not for His light that is in us (and in everything), together with His offering through the Atonement, none of us could abide, “for in him we live, and move, and have our being” (Acts 17:28). 

This, my first endeavor in writing, started out as a labor of love for my wife, four beautiful daughters, sons-in-law, extended family, and posterity. Then the directive came, followed by many spiritual assurances, that I was to make this available to a much broader audience. The Lord often uses the weak of the world to further his purposes. 

If we open ourselves to Christ and His light in faith, we will be guided experientially through the process, which will leave us all eternally weeping as a result of God's merciful and amazing grace, a grace for which so fully He proffers us. Oh, it is wonderful, indeed. 

Eyes to See 

For those with eyes to see, the temple endowment is symbolic of our own heroic, spiritual journey leading to the veil and the literal, tear-soaked feet of Christ while yet in mortality. It requires that our gaze be purposefully and squarely placed on the path that lies beyond the veil—our true home. Our view of this world must fade into the background. At some point during this spiritual journey, we will feel many angels around us. Our homes will feel much more like a temple than a home. If we are to spiritually understand the scope and beauty of this majestic path, and receive true vision, we must acquire eyes to see and ears to hear. This hearing and seeing starts with desire, which may be preceded by the practice of loving God as well as self-introspection and honest, inner self-inquiry. This inquiry further promotes our desire, awareness, and the softening of our hearts and the opening of our minds in a greater degree to God so that we can receive His light and spiritual understanding. It promotes the desire to be right with God at all costs. 

This is where we pause. This is where deep contemplation occurs. This is where we decide whether we're in or out. The Lord is patiently awaiting our decision in choosing the level of consecrated sacrifice and “willingness” that is required. When we choose to be “all in” with Him, He chooses to receive us by adopting us into His family as his sons and his daughters. 

We must be willing to let go of all that we think we know. Our hearts and minds must remain open to receive the light, just as little children. As this increased light and faith expands within us, it will lead us to “act in gospel belief” and actually do the things Christ did by emulating Him, or in a way, “pretending” as would a little child, that we are just like Jesus. We will be led to comfort those who mourn, to succor the weak, to lift up the hands which hang down, and to strengthen the feeble knees, and by this means we will come closer unto Christ. (See D&C 81:5-7.) These “hands on” experiences, together with proper broken-hearted repentance, then promote and bestow on us a living faith as a gift or endowment from God, through the fulfilling of the law associated with the promised blessing. 

Through this faith and light, along with our inner longing and desire to know God and His Truth, we can be led through a process to the climatic heights of full conversion and become born of God. After spiritual rebirth, we connect with and hold to a newfound yet curiously familiar spiritual feeling. We become filled with Christ’s light, and the scales fall quickly from our eyes so that we see things as they really are. We are then able to receive spiritual knowledge and understanding and grow in sanctification, grace for grace, and grace to grace. We literally become spiritually taught by God, no longer by the arm of the flesh. The path becomes deliciously real to us, and our hungering and thirsting for Christ becomes insatiable. This then leads us to acquire, through the gift of grace, additional faith. Faith is then heaped upon faith. And this mounting, cumulative faith continues to build into an eruption of spiritual knowledge. This cycle repeats itself and gradually rids us of all unbelief, while at the same time revealing the spiritual waymarks and knowledge of the straight and narrow path, which leaves us emotionally spent and spiritually in awe, unable to express in any language the shear wonderment that God, through His grace, has mercifully allowed us to behold. The ultimate step is one that each one of us must take on our own, for no one else can take it for us. And that step is to rend the veil and actually know God, eye to eye, here and now. This too is not for the faint of heart. 

I pray that these words and the intention and spirit behind them may through God's grace find their way into your hearts, that we may all receive of “that joy which is unspeakable and full of glory” (Helaman 5:44). Alma's words are therefore my words, from the depth of my soul: “Yea, and from that time even until now, I have labored without ceasing, that I might bring souls unto repentance; that I might bring them to taste of the exceeding joy of which I did taste; that they might also be born of God, and be filled with the Holy Ghost” (Alma 36:24).