Holiness

Man’s purpose is not only to learn the nature and kind of being God is, as discussed in the article on faith, but is then, by faithful conformity to His laws and ordinances, to progress to that high state of exaltation wherein man becomes perfect as the Father is perfect. Christ is the example of perfect faith to which we look, because through faith He became a just and holy being made perfect, possessing all the characteristics, attributes, and perfections of God. What then are the laws that govern holiness, or in other words, the path we must trod in order to acquire each characteristic, attribute, and perfection of our God? Is this not Christ’s invitation to all men? Yes!

The laws of holiness include obedience, sacrifice, gospel, chastity, and consecration. Perfection of any characteristic or attribute of Christ comes by understanding and then by applying these laws unto the perfection of the desired characteristic or attribute. For example, if you desire to become perfectly kind, as Christ is kind, the laws of holiness offer the solution to realize perfect kindness. If you apply those laws toward acquiring the attribute of perfect kindness, then you will not just strive to be kind, but will become kindness, as Christ is kindness.

Let us observe how we develop holiness or attain any perfect attribute of Christ, be it kindness, mercy, or another attribute:

1.    Obedience: Jesus taught that only through obedience to a principle do we release blessings associated with that principle unto ourselves. Obedience then, helps us to attain a measure of belief and faith in the “goodness” of a principle.

2.    Sacrifice: to experience the blessings of obedience toward a law or principle, we are required to sacrifice everything that acts in opposition to it. The law of sacrifice also suggests the Lord requires us, from time to time, to offer other sacrifices which are designed to enable us to attain faith that can be obtained in no other way. For example, Abraham’s offering his son was a supreme sacrifice that enabled him to attain sufficient faith to lay hold upon Eternal Life.

3.    Gospel (faith, repentance, baptism, Holy Ghost): Through obedience and sacrifice we obtain a measure of faith in a principle; then, we can apply the Law of the Gospel to perfect that principle within us. Examine how this process works.

• Faith: As we place our faith in the Savior to become like Him in a particular trait (mercy, kindness, and so forth), we then begin to strive to be like Him in that thing—knowing that through His atonement we can become as He is.  
• Repentance: this is the striving process; as we link our repentance or earnest strivings to faith in Christ’s atonement, God sends His Spirit and enables His power within us. This is an ongoing process until we become perfect in that thing.
• Baptism: our baptism represents a covenant we make to God to become like Jesus and to obey God’s commandments and to follow his Spirit. When we make this important covenant (at baptism and during the partaking of the sacrament) to truly be like Jesus—to be merciful, kind, and so forth—we invoke in our behalf a powerful reciprocal covenant from God. For example, when we covenant to become perfectly kind as Jesus is kind and we earnestly strive to do so (repentance), God then pours forth his Spirit to us.
• Holy Ghost: the gift of the Holy Ghost is God’s reciprocal covenant to us wherein He has promised that as we place faith in his Son and strive to acquire any of his Son’s attributes, God will then send his Spirit to teach us more perfectly until we attain that thing. We will not be left alone to overcome the darkness within us. Rather, as we continue to strive to forsake our sins, and to continually call upon the Lord (placing faith in the Savior), and Keep God’s Commandments (follow his Spirit), then the trait we are striving for will become perfected within us. After this occurs the Holy Ghost will ratify to our soul that the attribute of Christ we were striving for is now a part of us. It has become us. If we were striving to become perfectly merciful or kind, as Christ is merciful and kind, then through the full application of the law of the Gospel, we too become perfectly merciful and kind. We no longer strive, but simply are that thing. We repeat this process to attain each of Christ’s characteristics, attributes, and perfections. This is the meaning of becoming holy. As we strive to become so, we preserve the Spirit of the Lord unto ourselves.

4.     Chastity: this is a literal law as well as shadow and type. We each have been given the gift to procreate, a gift that is bound by the Law of Chastity. If you break the law of chastity, then you adulterate your sacred gift of procreation. This gift to procreate and the law of chastity are a shadow in type in that they teach us that all of God’s gifts are to be used only within the bounds or laws in which he has authorized them to be used. Any exception to this rule results in the adulteration of a perfect gift. For example, if you were to receive the gift of perfect kindness through the exercise of obedience, sacrifice, and the law of the gospel, perfect kindness would then be a gift to you as much so as the gift to procreate. You would then be at liberty to create more kindness in the world—so long as you do not exceed the bounds God has attached to the gift of kindness. For example, if you were to use kindness to obtain illegal or unlawful gain from another, this would be an adulteration of the gift. Each characteristic and attribute of Christ that you attain to is a pure gift from God. You are then to create more of this gift in the world, but you are to do so—within the bounds the Lord has set.

5.     Consecration: once you receive any perfect gift from God, such as kindness, and you begin to create more kindness in the world through your service to others, you then become a light that attracts others to you. As this occurs, you are to share with them the source from whence your light comes and to turn others fully to Christ. As you turn others fully to Christ—who alone is the author and finisher of their faith and salvation—you fulfill the Law of Consecration, to consecrate your gifts, to the building of the Lord’s Kingdom and toward the establishment of of the pure utopian city, even Zion, wherein their are no rich or poor and where everyone’s gifts and talents are counted as sacred blessings and gifts of Zion.

Pursuing the path of Holiness is the only means by which we can preserve the Spirit of the Almighty unto ourselves. For as we keep the laws of holiness—obedience, sacrifice, gospel, chastity, and consecration—we also keep sacred covenants with God. He, in turn, keeps His covenant with us, to send His Spirit to strengthen us, comfort us, guide us, and to teach us more perfectly the things of the Kingdom. Through His Spirit we are then made perfect.  As we increasingly think and act like Jesus, the attributes of the natural man slip away and are replaced by the heart and the mind of Christ. This is to know Christ--to become as He is.

And as we earnestly strive to become like Him, if we remain clean and continue to obey His voice and His commandments, along the way we will attain sufficient faith and earn sufficient trust that we will be enabled to part the veil and to converse with the Lord Jesus Christ—who will then enable us to finish our faith. This blessing does not require our perfection, but proof that we are fully on the path and will never depart from it. After we enter His presence, as the finisher of our faith, the Savior may require an extraordinary sacrifice, as he did with Abraham, which will be designed to enable us with sufficient faith to lay hold upon Eternal life, and to then be invited or introduced by the Savior into the presence of the Father. Anyone who is so introduced is then ordained with great power and becomes an eternal member of the family of God. This is what it means to see God’s face and to receive eternal life.

Summary

Faith is the primary cause of action among all intelligent beings. We are excited to action with the assurance or hope for a desired outcome. As a principle of action, faith excites us toward the attainment of temporal or physical needs such as food, water, shelter, an avocation, and to the attainment of knowledge and intelligence.

Faith is also a principle of power. Through God’s word the worlds were framed and created. Because of God’s characteristics, attributes, and perfections, He has gained the trust, respect, and obedience of the organized intelligences and they will do as He asks with an assurance or faith that their obedience leads to their eternal progression. Through faith in Christ we can invoke God’s power in our lives today, as have countless saints and prophets who have lived on this earth.

Moreover, we can become independent in our faith and power, as Christ and the Father are independent in their faith—through the laws of holiness. To become as the Father and the Son, is to be saved or exalted; it is eternal life. The surest thing we can do to insure Eternal Life is to get and keep the Spirit of the Lord! With His Spirit, we gracefully move down the path of redemption, without having to over-think things. To receive His Spirit we must forsake sin, call upon the name of the Lord, and obey the Lord’s Spirit and commandments. By so doing we will see Christ’s face and enter into His presence where He will be the Second Comforter to us and will be the finisher of our faith and salvation, unto the receiving of Eternal Life.

Compiled from three primary sources: Lectures on Faith (by Joseph Smith Jr.), Meaning of the Atonement (by Cleon Skousen), and What Grandfather Taught About the Law of Holiness (by David Alma Christensen).