The WHY behind all the commandments

As members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints there are many laws and commandments that we follow and observe to keep. Oftentimes, many of us ask the question WHY?

Why can't I date until I'm 16? Why can't I drink coffee, tea, alcohol, or wine? Why can't I have sex until I'm married? Why don't we go to bars, or clubs? Why are we honest with others? Why do we still keep the 10 commandments as well as the higher law? Why? Why? Why? The list goes on and on. So many whys.

The answers are actually quite simple. The answer to the why is a two-fold answer. The first reason is because we are being trained and taught obedience to the laws of eternity. For us to really progress and become as God in the hereafter, we must become perfectly and precisely obedient to all the higher laws, or such a responsibility will not be granted unto us. We must learn obedience in the little things, so to be offered responsibility over the greater things.

The second reason, which is often looked over in the church, is that everything we do is to enable us to serve in the temple. We pay a 10% tithe, we are honest in our dealings with our fellowmen, we obey the word of wisdom, the law of chastity, the law of the fast, etc. We are baptized, endowed, given the priesthood and given the garment to wear, all to serve in the temple. We must live perfectly upright and righteous to be worthy to enter the Lord's house and perform sacred saving ordinances for God's children. This is why we live and act the way we do as members of Christ's church. Otherwise, there is not sufficient reason to live all of these laws just to go to church or be a part of an organization like church. Sinners can attend church and are invited to do so without consequence or shame. Sinners who have repented and become whole without spot are invited to serve in the Lord's house. Granted, none of us are perfect nor can we be in this life, but where our heart lies and what our actions say is what matters in terms of serving the Lord in his holy house, and if deemed worthy by one of his representatives, then we are permitted to enter.

To be a god vs. a God

Today, I would like to dive into the God we know, what it means to be a god, and how there are varying degrees of godhood.

First off, I am going to define in the most pure form what it really means to be a god and the difference between a god and a God: To be a god means that priesthood power has been given unto you by a God, and that the intelligences honor the power that has been given unto you. Now, depending on the degree of the power given unto you entitles you the ability to command the intelligences, the elements, and matter to organize, to create, to change, or to destroy. In this regard there are varying degrees of bestowal and authority. While, at the same time a God receives his priesthood power from the intelligences themselves, and acts independent of other Gods because of the honor the intelligences have given unto him (D&C 29:36). A God of this nature has all power and authority given unto him to command and organize the intelligences, however, it is much more difficult to reach this nature of Godhood. To do so you have to prove yourself by showing that you will not only obey the higher laws of eternity with exactness now, but will do so for the eternities. If not, you will be stripped of your Godhood and removed from your office. The intelligences will no longer honor you, and your power will become void (Alma 42:13).

Diving in further, I will now discuss the how it is that Satan is a god, and the differences with how Christ is a god, how we are gods, and how oneday Christ will become a God and we will too.

1. The godhood of Satan
Satan is very proud of the fact that he has priesthood powers given unto him. He parades himself about on the earth calling himself the god of this world. Through priestcraft and false means, he persuades men and women to give him more power and honor, by subjecting their will unto his. He encourages men to create their own gods of worship, and deny the true and living God. He teaches all manner of false doctrine, and vanities, and encourages all who heed his voice that the laws of eternity are not real, nor in effect. In this manner he teaches that there is no God, no sin, and therefore no consequence. By his cunning and craft, he carefully leads his followers down into hell and spiritual bondage. Now is Satan really a god? The answer is yes. He has power and priesthoods given unto him by a God. Why has he be given such power we might ask? The answer is: for the greater designs of God and his plan. Satan is a key player in this plan. He does not realize that his power is only temporary though, and it will be stripped from him by God and Christ at the completion of this plan, and according to the laws of eternity and justice, which he has failed to honor.

Now the power given unto enables him to have power over the waters, and the ability to perform miracles like those shown unto Moses (Ex 7:11-12, 20-22; and 8:5-7), and the ability to tempt and try men. Because Satan has priesthood powers (in proper terms priestcraft powers)--enchantments, sorcery, magic, healing, and miracles can be performed. This is why miracles could be performed in the name of Beelzebub, and have them come to pass. However, Satan's power over the intelligences is limited to those that follow him. He does not have the honor of all intelligences. Thus when his miracles are performed they are lacking in perfection and completion and cannot be made whole except by the insertion of one of his subjects (demons) into that thing. He performs these "miracles" through priestcraft (false priesthood power) means by bestowing his subjects with temporal bodies into those mortals he subjected and brought under his reign. For this reason, anytime a demon was cast out, the miracle ceased and the man was placed back as he was before, and his imperfection (broken arm or leg, or whatever it was, suddenly became manifest again). (Now at the same time if a demon was cast out, and the individual was commanded to be healed in the name of Christ, then the intelligences, honoring the representative of Christ and true priesthood power, obeyed and became whole and complete as they were meant to function. In the words of Cleon Skousen in the Meaning of the Atonement: "You have not performed as you ought to of since the birth of this man. Into your proper places now!"  In this manner, the elements and intelligences became whole and complete in a perfect manner, according to the perfection of this Telestial world).

This is why we are warned over and over again, to not fall into temptation and give Satan any power over us. For as soon as we are in his power, and have given our will over to his, he can do with us as he wishes, and even place multitudes of demons within us. This was a problem since the beginning (with him gaining power over the serpents and tempting Mother Eve), and is still prevalent today in every country in the world. The priestcrafts of Satan, as well as his demons are still present today and practiced by his servants throughout the world today.

2. The godhood of Christ
Now, how is Christ a god? And how is his godhood different from Satan's?

First off, Christ is different from Satan, in that everything he has done and does, is in line with the Father's will, and the laws of eternity. Because of this, in the premortal realms he, along with many of us, were given power and priesthoods on loan from the Father. Under the direction of the father, we commanded and helped organize the intelligences, spiritual element and matter into orderly, beautiful things. As we were faithful, and acted in accordance with higher laws, treating our priesthood powers with respect and reverence, the Father gave us additional priesthoods and powers. Now in our growth and progression in the premortal realms, there came a point when we had grown as far as we could achieve with God's priesthood power, acting as god's under his reign, that it was time for us to become as he is: God's of our own. To do this, a grand council was set in place. One in which was proposed a plan to become a God. However, for it to work, one of us had to perfectly satisfy the demands of justice and make a purchase us from it's demands. Once this payment was made and completed in it's entirety, that individual would be granted Godhood by the intelligences, and to those who had also honored all the covenants, laws, and ordinances set forth by God, would be granted Godhood as well.

Thus, at the completion of this plan, there would be another grand council (graduation ceremony) in the which Christ would become a God and those of us, who had walked up to every law, ordinance, and covenant we had made on this earth and had entered into the new and everlasting covenant of celestial marriage would be granted Godhood as well. As we become Gods ourselves, we will be crowned with the ability to to organize, form and create spiritual matter and element into things of celestial order, and beauty (D&C 75:5).

We will graduate from being gods with priesthood power on loan from God, to God's ourselves, where the honor the intelligences give unto us will be our own power.

Those who have not walked up to every ordinance, covenant, and law and have instead lived lesser laws of a telestial, and terrestial nature, or even have only made covenants of baptism and endowment, will not receive this level of Godhood at this time, and instead will remain as angels to God.

Satisfying the Demands of Justice

Since my initial study on the Atonement of Christ I have inquired of the Lord to learn more about the demands of Justice and how they work in conjunction with Christ's sacrifice and how he was able to satisfy these demands and overcome them completely.

Before beginning, it is important to note and understand that there are laws of eternity that supersede God in his power and majesty, of which God is bound to, and he must keep perfectly, or he would cease to be God (See Alma 42:13). In such regards, God walks a razor thin edge to maintain his Godhood. In the words of Cleon Skousen in The Meaning of the Atonement "No other church dares preach this doctrine!" To teach that there are laws of eternity that go above and beyond God, that even he is bound to, and that he could fall from his Godhood if he did not obey them with exactness. God's observance and honor to these laws gives him his power (D&C 29: 36) and thus he remains God, for he honors these laws perfectly and always has.

The Law of Justice is one of these eternal laws. This law demands a payment and sacrifice to be made anytime a law of eternity is broken. Any disobedience or willful rebellion (sin) against a law of eternity sears and brands our mind and heart with intense pain, discomfort, and sorrow. This is the Law of Justice in action. This is true even if we have not heard or been taught those laws here in mortality. In the premortal realms our spirits were taught these laws and remember them even if our mortal minds do not. And even before our spirits were taught them, our intelligences were taught them. These laws have been branded into the very fiber of our beings and we are held accountable to them.

Now, as we have heeded and obeyed these divine laws, we have received additional light, knowledge, glory, and higher laws. With these higher blessings have come higher responsibilities over other intelligences, and spiritual element and matter. At the same time, over the eons any degree of disobedience to these higher laws has caused glory, light, intelligence, and responsibility to be removed from the individual. This has always been, and will always be the case. At any given moment of time in our existence we are always growing or diminishing in light.

As the eons have passed, many of us have done well in choosing obedience and light. Of us, there was one who has grown in obedience and light far beyond what all of us had achieved and was at the point ready to be crowned with glory and eternal lives to rule and reign over his own kingdom. He had reached the seventh heaven of perfection. This individual was ready to become as God, completely empowered to govern the intelligences to create, to change, to destroy and to have this power entirely for himself and no longer on loan from God, nor the intelligences, but given by the intelligences themselves. And so a grand council and commencement and bestowal of authority was called and God posed the age old question, to begin this commencement ceremony: "Whom, shall I send (Abr 3:27)?" Two individuals who had risen through the ranks in intelligence, light, and honor stepped forward to volunteer. The first was Jehovah. He was the firstborn of the Father and had been with him from the beginning. He was perfectly like the Father, and we all honored and respected him. The other candidate, was also a very suitable candidate: Lucifer. This was a man who had also grown in light and intelligence through the eons. He had become one of power and authority in the realms of God. Because of this, he had many followers. However, when he had stepped forward, he seemed to have misunderstood God's proposal and the whole purpose of this grand council, thinking that God was retiring from his position as God and was giving up his honor and power to another, and so he asked to have God's power for himself (Abr 3:27-28). He misunderstood the laws of eternity, thinking that the law of agency was a trivial thing and did not matter: "I will save them all, that not one soul will be lost. Therefore, give me thine honor (Moses 4:1-2)." On the contrary, Jehovah understood what God was asking, and stated that he did not want God's power "The glory and honor be thine forever." 'You keep your power, your throne, dominion, and principalities. They are yours. But if the time has come for us, thy children, to have our own power, throne, dominion, and principalities, then I will step up and enable thy children to partake of the glory that thou hast. If this is thy desire, thy work, and glory, then I will do thy will and make it happen.'

With such a response, God said: "I will choose the first (Abr 3:27)." And so it began. The plan was in motion for Jehovah to become as God and for us as well, in due time.

Now in order for the whole plan to work, and for Jehovah to be granted Godhood by God and the Intelligences, it was required of him to be tested one final time in mortality to see if he was truly ready to be given full power over the intelligences to be able to create his own spiritual entities. He would be tested, tempted and tried, just as man would be. But this time on his final sojourn on earth, he would be required to obey every law of eternity with exactness. He had to be without sin completely in order to overcome every law of eternity, including the Law of Justice. This was the final step to becoming as God is. He had to prove to all the intelligences that he was capable of such a responsibility. This proving ordeal was the way set in place whereby one could become as God. Why? Because the honor of governance over the intelligences is one only the intelligences can grant. To be honored by them, one must first honor them and the laws of eternity by which they are bound (D&C 29:36).

For some reason, that I do not know yet, Jehovah desired to come to this earth to satisfy the laws of eternity, including the Law of Justice for not just himself, but for all of God's spiritual children who were included in this plan. How great his love for us! Now this desire and plan was possible because of how the laws of eternity work. Once a law has been successfully lived and obeyed with exactness and there are no debts demanded to be paid by the Law of Justice for that law, then honor, light, intelligence is added to that individual and a higher law is given and they are no longer required to obey the lesser law. This continues onward until every law has been kept with exactness, and the only remaining law is that of Justice. Once all laws have been kept perfectly, and the individual has proven themselves, then the Law of Justice has no claim on that individual anymore. Honor is then given by the intelligences to that individual and power is given unto them to set in place their own rules of conduct, and laws to those who wish to reside in the presence of that being. This being the case, any wishing to reside in the presence of that individual, who is perfect, must walk up to every law, ordinance, and covenant perfectly that is set by that individual to avoid being delivered up unto the Law of Justice and cast out of the presence of he who is perfect. It seems light, obedience, and honor provide our intelligence and spirit a place of safety, rest, happiness, and joy. Being in the presence of one who is holy provides a safe haven environment for our soul, away from the loneliness, eternal torment, pain, misery, and darkness of the realms where the Law of Justice has full effect.

And so Jehovah came to this world. He walked perfectly and lived a life free from sin. And then he did the unimaginable, the unfathomable, the impossible: He performed an atoning sacrifice and gave himself up to experience the full weight of the Laws of Justice, including having the presence of the Father withdrawn from him for a brief period. To experience something like that in full measure, makes me shudder, and would make me want to cry out in extreme pain, terror, and sadness. Wow! He was willing to do that for me!? That crowning moment of experiencing darkness and hell to it's full extent completed the debt of the demands of Justice for sin and disobedience. With that key moment, it was finished. Jehovah had done it! And in that moment he became The Christ. He had conquered the unconquerable. He overcame all that would keep us from being in God's presence and now his presence as well. Then as a final expression of love, he opened the gates of death with the Key of Resurrection allowing our spirits to be reunited with our bodies so that we could truly become like God.

With the demands of justice now paid in full, the intelligences deemed Jehovah worthy of godhood and honored him by allowing him to have command and dominion over the intelligences, and all spiritual element and matter. He was now authorized by the intelligences to set in place his own laws, ordinances and covenants consistent with the higher laws for his debtors to now make payment to. As part of this new bestowal of power, and contract if those now under Christ's debt walked up to every law, ordinance, and covenant they made with him, then they would be free from all debts and indebted to no man or law. However, if they failed and fell short in any measure whether big or small then justice would require that they suffer, and suffer even as Christ did (D&C 19:1-19). Christ's mercy would only apply to them if they met all his terms and conditions.

This plan was laid out in the premortal realm and we agreed to the terms and conditions set forth. Our acceptance to these terms and agreements and our choosing to cast our lot with Jehovah and follow him granted us the right to be born on this earth and experience mortality ourselves. As we came to this earth the Lord established some essential laws for our well being and to enable other spirits to come to this earth. The law was given to multiply and replenish the earth. This law was given to all living creatures and to those things which had intelligence (Moses 2). Overtime additional laws were given. One of the first was the Law of Obedience and Sacrifice. This was given to Adam as the symbol and payment necessary to repent of ones sins. This law required that the firstlings of the flock without blemish were to be offered up upon an altar unto the Lord. Other laws were then given: the Law of the Gospel, the Law of Chastity, the Law of Consecration, among others. The Law of the Gospel provided means whereby one might receive a forgiveness of sin. Part of this required that Adam and his seed to exercise faith in Jesus Christ and believe that he would be their Savior and save them from their sins as well as the demands of Justice. Additionally, the individual was then to enter the waters of baptism and be immersed in the water as a sign and covenant before God that they were willing to follow Christ and bear his name upon their hearts. To help them accomplish this covenant, the Lord bestowed the Gift of the Holy Ghost upon them. These things were given unto Adam, and even he was baptized (see Moses 6:52-62). The Law of Chastity required that as they reproduced and brought offspring into the world, they kept the family unit alive and at the heart of reproduction. The Law of Consecration required that they had all things in common one with another to avoid pride from overcoming them.

When Christ came to the earth and performed the Atonement for mankind, he met the demands of justice perfectly by suffering spiritually for those who would inherit the Celestial kingdom, the Terrestrial kingdom, and lastly those who would inherit the Telestial kingdom. He did this in 3 phases in the garden. But to be complete he also had to suffer the demands of justice upon the flesh and experience the pains of mortal law even unto death. But prior to dying, he descended below all things and experienced the pains and spiritual suffering of those who were damned and cast out of the Father's presence as naked intelligences into outer darkness. This forth and final phase and pain he went through qualified him to say that he 'descended below all things.' For he truly did.

At this point, the Lord declared that the altar sacrifices made by man and the laws given to Moses were now fulfilled. Although, keeping the ordinance of baptism as a requisite for entering the kingdom of God, the Lord established a new law of sacrifice and payment to repent: That of a broken heart and contrite spirit (see 3 Ne 9: 20). This new law and sacrifice is in force today, and is required of all of God's children if they wish to to enter God's presence and be freed from the demands of justice.