Obedience

In the article on faith the compelling attributes, characteristics, and perfections of God are described. Coming to understand God's perfections and great love, capacity, and desire to help us enables us with perfect faith and a great desire to strive to know and do His will in all things, and to obey His voice always. The Savior became our Redeemer by suffering the will of the Father in all things from the beginning. We attain a righteous influence and fulfill our life's missions similarly, by coming to know and then to be obedient to the will of the Lord in all things. Let's review God's perfections and the principle of obedience more fully:

• God's Perfections: We choose to obey God's will because he has the power to keep His promises to us; He is God today and will be God from everlasting to everlasting. We obey His will because of His goodness and mercy, in whom there is no variableness or changing. We obey His will because He is a God of truth and does not and cannot lie. We obey His will because He is no respecter of persons and as we voluntarily act in accordance with His will we are assured His promises of eternal progression. We obey His will because of His perfect love for us. We obey His will because He is omniscient and does not make mistakes when He commands us; His judgement is perfect and sound, and He is perfectly just as He exercises judgment over us. Finally, we obey His will because He never asks anything of us that we cannot do, nor that will not result in our personal progression and greater light and happiness.
• Revelation: God promised us that He will send us light and truth just as fast as we are able and willing to receive it, which is the pathway to happiness. The receipt of this light is conditioned upon our obedience to live according to the light or revelations we receive. Hence, the windows of heaven are opened wide through obedience and are closed through disobedience. As we become both willing and obedient the windows of heaven open to us and the blessings of revelation distill upon us as the dews from heaven. We receive the Holy Ghost as our constant companion and as a fullness of God's knowledge distills upon us, we receive an unchanging scepter of righteousness forever. The ability to receive continuing revelation from God is required for our exaltation.
• Disobedient Example: King Saul was a man whom the Lord chose to reign over Israel. Saul started out right before the Lord and the Lord would have established his kingdom upon Israel for ever, but Saul was disobedient and the Lord rent the kingdom of Israel from Him and gave it to another who was better and more obedient than Saul. Similarly, no matter how gifted, talented, and fair we may be, if we become a law unto ourselves and choose the path of disobedience over humble submission to God's will, we fall and cannot be exalted unless we fully repent and fully embrace obedience.
• Obedient Example: We read the following about Christ in Luke 22:41-44: "And he was withdrawn from them about a stone’s cast, and kneeled down, and prayed, saying, Father, if thou be willing, remove this cup from me: nevertheless not my will, but thine, be done. And there appeared an angel unto him from heaven, strengthening him. And being in an agony he prayed more earnestly: and his sweat was as it were great drops of blood falling down to the ground." "For I came down from heaven, not to do mine own will, but the will of him that sent me." Through obedience Christ became the light and life of the world. He trusted and loved God perfectly and drunk the bitter cup which the Father gave Him. He glorified the Father by taking upon himself the sins of the world and became the perfect example of one willing to submit Himself fully to the will of the Father in all things from the beginning. By so doing He became the Redeemer of the world. Similarly, we fulfill our missions in life as we also submit obediently to the Lord's will in all things -- each and everyday of our lives.
• Promises to Us if We are Obedient: In John we read, "If ye love me, keep my commandments," and "He that hath my commandments, and keepeth them, he it is that loveth me: and he that loveth me shall be loved of my Father, and I will love him and will manifest myself to him." Through obedience to His voice (his will) we qualify to receive continuing revelation and to see His face. In the book of Mosiah (2:41) we read, "And moreover, I would desire that ye should consider on the blessed and happy state of those that keep the commandments of God. For behold, they are blessed in all things, both temporal and spiritual; and if they hold out faithful to the end they are received into heaven, that thereby they may dwell with God in a state of never-ending happiness. O remember, remember that these things are true; for the Lord God hath spoken it. Obedience leads to a continual flow of blessings, light, faith, and knowledge until we receive Eternal Life.
• Pure Flow of Blessings: All the blessings, happiness, power, and worlds without number that God enjoys are predicated upon His obedience to the laws which govern heaven. "There is a law, irrevocably decreed in heaven before the foundations of this world, upon which all blessings are predicated—And when we obtain any blessing from God, it is by obedience to that law upon which it is predicated." (D&C 130: 20-21) We too may receive a pure flow of blessings, just as fast as we can come to live the laws upon which those blessings are predicated. We can come to enjoy a happy Zion state, just as swiftly as we choose to live the celestial laws of love upon which it is predicated (see Divine Drummer).

God said, "For behold, this is my work and my glory -- to bring to pass the immortality and eternal life of man." (Moses 1:39) God's perfect objective for each of us is to help raise us to a state that we can enjoy all the blessings and happiness that He and His Son enjoy. Therefore, we can place our full trust in God because His desires concerning us and His capacity to help us is perfect. He is capable of helping us become like Him, conditioned upon our perfect obedience to Him and upon repentance. Disobedience leads to lost blessings and opportunities to grow further to be like Him. Obedience leads to growth and to the fulfillment of our missions in this life. And, as we successfully keep God's commandments and do His will, we come to live by every law of heaven. It is by obedience to these laws that we grow to experience God's love and blessings both temporally and spiritually and progress to a state of never-ending happiness wherein we can dwell with God in a perfect heavenly state forever.