Chapter 7—Strange Doctrine
The majority of Bible and Book of Mormon verses referencing strangers or strange things do not address a national foreigner in our midst as much as they describe covenant makers who claim to be of Christ and have access to truth, but do not know God. It is a costly mistake. “My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge” (Hosea 4:6).
The Saints have got to become proficient in the laws of God before they can meet the Lord Jesus Christ, or even the city of Enoch.
“Worship of the true God is rarely done away. Rather, as a rule people worship the true God alongside the false gods . . . This happy medium enables man to satisfy both his carnal instincts and his spiritual aspirations . . . Worship of the true God and the false god [can] become fused” as false gods “assume the authenticity and endorsement that belongs to the true God.” It’s not going to be easy to untangle ourselves from all the diversion, distortion, and deceit but it is possible. It has been done before by Enoch, Abraham, Noah, Lehi, and many other righteous individuals who kept their eye single to His glory, not the glory of conspiring men who seek to rob them and God of His children’s exaltation.
As hearts get set on the world, distractions pave the way for variance to creep in. Given the Lord’s repetitive declaration that ordinances cannot be changed without serious repercussion, if we are worthy of Zion then ordinances today should be identical to those God restored. If ordinances have been altered from what God revealed, then the covenant is broken and we can expect curses to ensue, as happened anciently.
The earth also is defiled under the inhabitants thereof; because they have transgressed the laws, changed the ordinance, broken the everlasting covenant. (Isaiah 24:5)
Isaiah gave the process of destruction: Once laws are transgressed, ordinances are changed. Without returning to what God revealed, the covenant that maintains order and bestows godliness is broken. Without godliness, there is no priesthood. Without priesthood’s power, God’s promises are void. Without His protection, our destruction is sure.
Isaiah must be taken seriously. Jesus called his writings “great” and commanded us to “search them diligently” because they pertain to our day. “Ye ought to search these things. Yea, a commandment I give unto you that ye search these things diligently; for great are the words of Isaiah. For surely he spake as touching all things concerning my people which are of the house of Israel; therefore it must needs be that he must speak also to the Gentiles. And all things that he spake have been and shall be, even according to the words which he spake” (3 Nephi 23:1–3).
That Isaiah’s words are frequently paraphrased in modern revelation confirms their application today. The Doctrine & Covenants preface explains our predicament:
The day cometh that they who will not hear the voice of the Lord, neither the voice of His servants, neither give heed to the words of [true] prophets and apostles, shall be cut off from among the people; for they have strayed from mine ordinances and have broken mine everlasting covenant. They seek not the Lord to establish his righteousness, but every man walketh in his own way, and after the image of his own god, whose image is in the likeness of the world, and whose substance is that of an idol, which waxeth old and shall perish in Babylon . . . which shall fall. (D&C 1:14–16)
The Dead Sea Scrolls explain that failing to preserve the ancient order results in spiritual blindness and misunderstanding. People “had not seen by removing all the ancient things and creating new ones, by breaking asunder things anciently established.” Blindness and breaking the covenant go hand in hand. Grievous consequences follow when we trifle with knowledge.
My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge. Because thou hast rejected knowledge, I will also reject thee, that thou shalt be no priest to me. Seeing thou hast forgotten the law of thy God, I will also forget thy children. (Hosea 4:6)
Pride prohibits priesthood power and authority. Power in the priesthood prevents curses. Altering ordinances affects priesthood. Ordinances and “rights of priesthood are inseparably connected with the powers of heaven” (D&C 121:36), so preserving what God revealed is crucial.
That they may be conferred upon us, it is true; but when we undertake to cover our sins, or to gratify our pride, our vain ambition, or to exercise control or dominion or compulsion upon the souls of the children of men, in any degree of unrighteousness, behold, the heavens withdraw themselves; the Spirit of the Lord is grieved; and when it is withdrawn, Amen to the priesthood or the authority of that man.
We have learned by sad experience that it is the nature and disposition of almost all men, as soon as they get a little authority, as they suppose, they will immediately begin to exercise unrighteous dominion. Hence many are called, but few are chosen. (D&C 121:36–37, 39–40)
Many prophets warn that those in the last days are also at risk of transgressing laws, modifying ordinances, forsaking sacred doctrine, and transforming God’s holy word. Moroni saw our day then soberly asks his future readers, “Why have ye transfigured the holy word of God that ye might bring damnation upon your souls? Behold, the Lord hath shown unto me great and marvelous things concerning that which must shortly come at that day when these things shall come forth among you. Behold, I speak unto you as if ye were present and yet ye are not. But behold Jesus Christ hath shown you unto me, and I know your doing” (Mormon 8:33–35).
Having seen our latter-day dispensation in vision, Moroni’s abridgment included those parts of Nephite history that apply to our day, in hopes that we would not repeat the same mistakes that caused his people’s utter destruction. Moroni continues speaking to us:
I know that ye do walk in the pride of your hearts; and there are none save a few only who do not lift themselves up in the pride of their hearts, unto the wearing of very fine apparel, unto envying, and strifes, and malice, and persecutions, and all manner of iniquities; and your churches, yea, even every one, have become polluted because of the pride of your hearts.
For behold, ye do love money, and your substance, and your fine apparel, and the adorning of your churches, more than ye love the poor and the needy, the sick and the afflicted.
O ye pollutions, ye hypocrites, ye teachers who sell yourselves for that which will canker, why have ye polluted the holy church of God? (Mormon 8:36–38)
Moroni calls latter day people hypocritical ‘pollutions.’ Pollutions transfigure God’s holy word and pose a real threat to our salvation. He prophesied that in the last days all “churches, yea, even every one” become polluted because of it. None are exempt. Some interpret these verses as pointing to other denominations, but this is not what Moroni said. He specifically told his readers that your churches are guilty of changing the path to God.
The gospel-possessing covenant makers and nation are a source of pollution in the last days. Blind or unaware—but not claiming ignorance of the law—their priests defiantly asked, “In what way have we polluted thee?” (Malachi 1:7). God answers that He cannot accept their corrupted form of worship. “O ye pollutions, ye hypocrites, ye teachers who sell yourselves for that which will canker, why have ye polluted the holy church of God?” (Mormon 8:38). After being shown a vision of the future, Moroni records seven sins that have infiltrated people and churches today.
1. Why have ye built up churches unto yourselves to get gain?
2. Why have ye transfigured the holy word of God, that ye might bring damnation upon your souls?
3. Why have ye polluted the holy church of God?
4. Why are ye ashamed to take upon you the name of Christ?
5. Why do ye not think that greater is the value of an endless happiness than that misery which never dies—because of the praise of the world?
6. Why do ye adorn yourselves with that which hath no life, and yet suffer the hungry, and the needy, and the naked, and the sick and the afflicted to pass by you, and notice them not?
7. Yea, why do ye build up your secret abominations to get gain and cause that widows should mourn before the Lord, and also orphans to mourn before the Lord, and also the blood of their fathers and their husbands to cry unto the Lord from the ground, for vengeance upon your heads? (Mormon 8:33–40)
Pollution comes from unclean hands, impure hearts, and defiled spirits. Being unclean distances us from God and disqualifies priests from having their sacrifices accepted. Lehi rebuked Jerusalem’s priests and Samuel the Lamanite called out the corrupt priesthood too because
ye have rejected the truth and rebelled against your holy God; and even at this time, instead of laying up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where nothing doth corrupt and where nothing can come which is unclean, ye are heaping up for yourselves wrath against the day of judgment. (Helaman 8:25)
Ezekiel confirms that priests and churches are polluted. “Shepherds of Israel” who “feed themselves” instead of those under their care are cursed (Ezekiel 34:8). Intoxicated with self-righteousness, they lapse in judgment and His gospel suffers. Through Ezekiel, God reprimands obstinate leaders who could have eaten from good pastures and “drunk of the deep waters” of God’s word but chose to drink the wine of delusion. Their liberal ideas and progressive reforms trample what God revealed, contaminating His word and making once-pure waters unfit for drinking.
Seemeth it a small thing unto you to have eaten up the good pasture, but ye must tread down with your feet the residue of your pastures? and to have drunk of the deep waters, but ye must foul the residue with your feet? And as for my flock, they eat that which ye have trodden with your feet; and they drink that which ye have fouled with your feet. (Ezekiel 34:18–19)
Being unsanctified, unclean feet make waters filthy and impure. Waters “of filthiness” that Lehi saw in vision represent “the depths of hell” (1 Nephi 15:27, 12:16). Foul and deep waters form the “awful gulf [that] separated the wicked from the tree of life and also from the saints of God” (1 Nephi 15:28). Being unclean voids sacrifices, forfeits promised blessings, and keeps us shut out of God’s kingdom.
He doth not dwell in unholy temples; neither can filthiness or anything which is unclean be received into the kingdom of God. (Alma 7:21)
Teaching commandments of men pollutes His gospel, defiles truth and scripture, breaks the covenant, and offers that which cannot nourish our soul. By feeding their own interests and muddying the path by careless insolence, priesthood power departs as they neglect what was entrusted to them, heaping greater condemnation upon themselves and all who partake with them.
Pollution comes from within. His gospel is ‘transfigured’ at the time the Book of Mormon already has “come forth among you” (Mormon 8:33–34), a rebuke no church can escape. God’s people must preserve His holy word, keeping it pure and intact regardless of others’ actions. No person, government, nation, or organization can alter ordinances or doctrines except those entrusted with them. God warned against a very grievous sin:
Let not that which I have appointed be polluted by mine enemies by the consent of those who call themselves after my name. (D&C 101:97)
Moroni wrote to us because his warning is for us. Similarities exist between those whom Moroni addresses and those in a great and spacious building in Lehi’s dream. Both are lifted up in pride, distracted by worldly pursuits. They adorn themselves, their churches, and their properties while there are still poor among them. “They take the foremost places in meetinghouses and banquets” and “love for men to call them by their ecclesiastical titles,” and they “find fault with those who don’t conform to their exterior” worship. “They themselves covet the things of the world” and detest the poor among them. “Their fear of political repercussions outweighs their love of spiritual obligation. The converts to their form of religion, whom they go to great lengths to gain, they make twofold more a child of hell.” Their hypocrisy “appears incurable.”
A terrible gulf, “even the word of the justice of the Eternal God” (1 Nephi 12:18), separates multitudes “feeling their way towards that great and spacious building” (1 Nephi 8:26) from the tree of life. Believers of truth are mocked, shamed, and pressured to let go of their hold on His pure word. Those who succumb to the pressure stray from God’s path. Only those who “caught hold of the end of the rod of iron” and continually held to God’s word partook of eternal life (1 Nephi 8:30, 11:25).
Instead of holding to the word of God, they hold fast to deceit. “They profess that they know God but in works they deny him, being abominable, and disobedient, and unto every good work reprobate” (Titus 1:16). To deny God is more than just not believing He exists. We deny God His glory by performing ordinances in a manner incongruent with His revealed way or permitting the spiritually unprepared to participate in sacred rites. We deny Him as we fail to receive what He offers, or neglect to realize that there is more we can do or become. Instead of changing ourselves to bend to truth, many seek to bend truth. “There are many who have been ordained among you whom I have called but few of them are chosen” (D&C 95:5).
Covenant makers rebel by denying more of His power in their lives and neglecting to receive the fulness He offers. Denying God and His gospel’s sure foundation render people and nation “good for nothing but to be cast out and to be trodden down under foot” (3 Nephi 16:15). Losing knowledge caused the Jews to “reject the stone upon which they might build and have [the] safe” and “only sure foundation.” So, we are asked, “how is it possible that these, after having rejected the sure foundation, can ever build upon it, that it may become the head of their corner?” (Jacob 4:15–17).
Only two centuries after the resurrected Christ set His gospel in order on this land, we are told
there were many which professed to know the Christ and yet they did deny the more parts of his gospel, insomuch that they did receive all manner of wickedness and did administer that which was sacred unto him to whom it had been forbidden because of unworthiness. (4 Nephi 1:27)
The “more part” includes further light and knowledge most refuse. And Christ’s doctrine—presented as truth but mixed with the ‘precepts of men’—has become watered down and corrupted again today. It is almost impossible to reverse a church’s wayward direction once it succumbs to the temptation to alter His word or rites.
Malachi delivers a severe indictment against priests whose “lips should keep knowledge and they should seek the law at God’s mouth” (Malachi 2:7), but they do not. ‘Keep’ means to possess, guard, and protect. Priests have an obligation to protect the path to God. Instead, by cunning and subtle means, knowledge has become altered, ignored, or despised.
We are to seek the law “at His mouth,” not from precepts, proposals, and propaganda of men. Priests are to become “the messenger of the Lord” (Malachi 2:7) but they must live up to it. Confusion occurs if a king directs a messenger to bring someone to him, but en route the messenger modifies the message or alters the map that leads to the king. Certainly it would be a mistake worthy of death, for such foolishness puts the entire Kingdom at risk. Likewise, priests are commanded to not alter God’s message, to protect His path, and to be vessels of pure truth, but they can fail. By relying on their own counsel and councils instead of seeking direction from God’s mouth, their version of priesthood cannot obtain His blessings, thereby losing the fulness of His gospel, additional scripture, and continued revelation. It is sobering that churches can continue to thrive in outward appearance long after God’s power has departed.
In the last days, priesthood power is removed from hardened Gentiles by their own willful rejection of it. That we haven’t received greater knowledge, records, and gifts offered means we have not yet qualified by repenting. “There are records which contain much of my gospel which have been kept back because of the wickedness of the people” (D&C 6:26). We qualify by being true and faithful to what He has given.
And when they shall have received this, which is expedient that they should have first, to try their faith, and if it shall so be that they shall believe these things then shall the greater things be made manifest unto them. And if it so be that they will not believe these things, then shall the greater things be withheld from them, unto their condemnation.
Behold I was about to write them . . . but the Lord forbade it, saying, I will try the faith of my people. (3 Nephi 26:9–11)
We are on trial to prove how we respond to His revealed word. Even at the time of Restoration, Joseph had “great difficulty in getting anything into the heads of this generation . . . even the Saints are slow to understand” because they cling to erroneous beliefs or traditions. He mourned,
I have tried for a number of years to get the minds of the Saints prepared to receive the things of God; but we frequently see some of them, after suffering all they have for the work of God, will fly to pieces like glass as soon as anything comes that is contrary to their traditions. They cannot stand the fire at all. How many will be able to abide a celestial law and go through and receive their exaltation, I am unable to say, as many are called, but few are chosen.
In 1832, two years after the LDS church was organized, the “whole Church, even all” was condemned for vanity, unbelief, and taking lightly sacred “things you have received,” including the Book of Mormon, The Pearl of Great Price, and Joseph Smith’s translation and teachings.
Your minds in times past have been darkened because of unbelief, and because you have treated lightly the things you have received—which vanity and unbelief have brought the whole church under condemnation. And this condemnation resteth upon the children of Zion, even all. (D&C 84:54–56)
We are condemned not just for vanity, but also for unbelief. “Vain imaginations and pride” are another way of saying vanity and unbelief (1 Nephi 12:18). Vanity is an emptiness, a pursuit of unfruitful desires. Vanity takes a self-centered approach to the gospel, putting ourselves as decision makers instead of the Lord. Vanity takes the Lord’s name in vain by saying or doing things that He has not authorized, or by not living up to our covenant obligations.
Many who believe in Christ are stuck in unbelief. Unbelief denies us the opportunity to obtain heavenly gifts. As the precursor to faith, unbelief embraces the delusion that our standing before God is better, or more assured, than it really is. Most importantly, unbelief is not believing God and what He revealed, trusting the arm of flesh instead.
We cannot access power in the priesthood until we rend the veil of unbelief. If we do not believe God when He proclaims that He cannot tolerate sin, modification to ordinances, and deviating doctrines then we remain in unbelief and we do not have faith in Him. Many believe man’s interpretation of the gospel or trust leaders merely because of their position, but if we refuse to ask God what is true, we are not exercising faith in Him. This unbelief keeps us condemned by our vanity and unbelief.
Ezra Taft Benson and Dallin Oaks admitted this condemnation still has not been lifted. Our condemnation can be lifted individually, so we must not wait for an organization to secure it for us. This is the beauty of the gospel—we are in charge of our salvation. “The Lord states that we must not only say but we must do. We have neither said enough nor have we done enough with this divine instrument [scripture]—the key to conversion. As a result, as individuals, as families, and as the Church, we sometimes have felt the scourge and judgment God said would be ‘poured out upon the children of Zion’ because of our neglect of this book.” If condemnation remains, even greater judgments await.
Taking scripture lightly is just one of several reasons for this serious rebuke. Condemnation also results from (1) not repenting and turning to the Lord; (2) not remembering the new covenant; (3) not sufficiently honoring covenants and scripture; (4) not remembering former commandments and revelations; and (5) vainly making covenants by not doing what God requires (D&C 84:53–58). Because we are always given a way to “accomplish the thing which the Lord hath commanded” us (1 Nephi 3:7), the next verse tells us how our condemnation can be lifted:
And they shall remain under this condemnation until they repent and remember the new covenant, even the Book of Mormon and the former commandments which I have given them, not only to say, but to do according to that which I have written. (D&C 84:57)
Sanctification (which comes only from faithful repentance, exacting obedience, and true spiritual conversion) removes condemnation. Ordinances point to this transformation, so modifying them in any degree is a damning offense. To alter what is sacred impedes salvation and trifles with souls, a serious abomination we are emphatically warned against:
The things of God are of deep import; and time, and experience, and careful and ponderous and solemn thoughts can only find them out.
Thy mind, O man! if thou wilt lead a soul unto salvation, must stretch as high as the utmost heavens, and search into and contemplate the darkest abyss, and the broad expanse of eternity—Thou must commune with God . . . None but fools will trifle with the souls of men.
Obtaining the blessings of salvation is a process and a responsibility that rests solely on each individual. No one can secure it for us. Satan’s premortal proposal allowed complacency alongside a promise of salvation but it was “unlawful” so God refused. No person (regardless of their position or office) and no amount of tithing, optimism, attendance, or participation has the power to grant salvation. It comes from Christ alone. Trusting others keeps our soul in peril.
“The keeper of the gate is the Holy One of Israel; and he employeth no servant there; and there is none other way” (2 Nephi 9:41), “neither is there salvation in any other: for there is none other name under heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved” (Acts 4:12).
“Work out your own salvation with fear and trembling. For it is God which worketh in you both to will and to do of his good pleasure” (Philippians 2:12–13). To fear is to reverence. “Fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom” (Proverbs 9:10). “The Lord is a friend to those who fear him. He teaches them his covenant” (Psalm 25:14, NLT).
“He who is humble and contrite in spirit and trembles at my word” is “the one to whom I will look” (Isaiah 66:2, ESV). “His children will come trembling” and “they will follow the Lord” (Hosea 11:10, NIV). Those who tremble have high regard for God and His word. We tremble as we truly realize that we are sinners who need—but cannot obtain—salvation without Christ. Our responsibility is to seek God and do what is required for Him to remove our condemnation so that we can “preach the everlasting gospel among the nations” (D&C 36:5) to glorify Him.
Cry repentance, saying, Save yourselves from this untoward generation and come forth out of the fire, hating even the garments spotted with the flesh . . . Every man which will embrace it with singleness of heart may be ordained and sent forth, even as I have spoken. I am Jesus Christ, the Son of God. (D&C 36:6-8)
The commandment to ‘save ourselves’ requires genuine repentance through separating from the world and its ways. “Go ye out from among the wicked. Save yourselves. Be ye clean that bear the vessels of the Lord” (D&C 38:42) by humbly and penitently pressing nearer to Him. We must be “cleansed every whit” to obtain the power in priesthood required to work miracles in His name (3 Nephi 8:1).
Today’s iniquities are the same ones that tempted other dispensations, so we are just as susceptible to falling and failing as they were. In 1938 Joseph Fielding Smith observed these same sins and warned,
It is a very apparent fact that we have traveled far and wide in the past 20 years. What the future will bring I do not know. But if we drift as far afield from fundamental things in the next 20 years, what will be left of the foundation laid by the Prophet Joseph Smith? It is easy for one who observes to see how the apostasy came about in the primitive church of Christ. Are we not traveling the same road?
Modern parallels to the early Christian apostasy were also noted by J. Reuben Clark, who encouraged everyone to wake up to these very real threats. “Read your books. A startling parallel exists between the course that is coming in to us today and the course that was in the early Church, so startling that one becomes fearful.” Realizing our awful situation is necessary to “work out your own salvation with fear and trembling” (Mormon 9:27). A decade before, Clark had soberly warned,
I tell you, we are beginning to follow along the course of the early Christian church. So long as that church was persecuted from without, it prospered, but when it began to be polluted from within, the church began to wither.
There is creeping into our midst, and I warn you brethren about it, and I urge you to meet it, a great host of sectarian doctrines that have no place amongst us. The gospel in its simplicity is to be found in the revelations, the teachings of the Prophet [Joseph Smith] and the early leaders of the Church.
Clark’s comments came just twenty years after numerous changes to ordinances, garments, and scripture were implemented, a testimony to how quickly a church can unravel once modifications are tolerated. Except for the very few, covenant makers historically have always failed to obtain Zion. Well aware of the dangerous direction the church and nation were heading, Verlan Anderson affirmed this danger decades later:
Religious history testifies that, with the single exception of the inhabitants of the City of Enoch, no people to whom the gospel has been given have remained faithful to their covenants for more than a few generations. Time after time the Lord has established his Church among a group who have lived his commandments for a few years and then fallen away, thus bringing upon themselves his judgments.
This cycle of human folly, which so many prophets have noted, has repeated itself with such consistent regularity that any group which finds itself to be the favored recipients of the gospel would do well to assume that their own apostasy is certain and the only question about it is how long it will take . . . The fact that the Lord has found it necessary to restore his gospel so many times is in itself evidence of the regularity with which apostasy has occurred because the only thing which will cause the destruction of his Church is the wickedness of its members . . .
The Church is in deep trouble because seldom, if ever, has any group been as prosperous as it is today . . . To fail to consider the possibility that the members of the church are again ‘falling away’ would be to ignore one of the most thoroughly documented lessons of history.
Boyd Packer voiced his concerns: “In recent years I have felt, and I think I am not alone, that we were losing the ability to correct the course of the Church . . . Both Alma and Helaman told of the church in their day. They warned about fast growth, the desire to be accepted by the world, to be popular, and particularly they warned about prosperity. Each time those conditions existed in combination, the Church drifted off course. All of those conditions are present in the Church today. Helaman repeatedly warned, I think four times he used these words, that the fatal drift of the church could occur ‘in the space of not many years.’ In one instance it took only six years.”
Because numerous bold warnings went unheeded, the Lord’s “vineyard has become corrupted every whit; and there is none which doeth good save it be a few; and they err in many instances because of priestcrafts, all having corrupt minds” (D&C 33:4). “The Lord looked down from heaven upon the children of men to see if there were any that did understand and seek God. They are all gone aside, they are all together become filthy. There is none that doeth good, no, not one. Have all the workers of iniquity no knowledge? . . . [They] call not upon the Lord” (Psalm 14:2–4).
To believe we are not vulnerable, capable of error, or likely to fail keeps us at ease, an attitude that we are warned to avoid.
Others will [Satan] pacify and lull them away into carnal security, that they will say, All is well in Zion; yea, Zion prospereth, all is well—and thus the devil cheateth their souls, and leadeth them away carefully down to hell. (2 Nephi 28:21)
They are pacified by believing they are Zion, that their prosperity and “carnal security” are a sign of divine favor, but “the devil cheats” them with lies. “Woe be unto him that is at ease in Zion” (2 Nephi 28:24) because all is not well. Idolatry is rampant and Satan has “deceived the hearts” (Deuteronomy 11:16) and diverted minds of people and priest.
Believing that a church cannot stray keeps us in unbelief. Alma tells how Nephites who once “had the word of God preached unto them . . . had fallen into great errors.” Their worship evolved such that Alma “began to sicken because of the iniquity of the people” whose hearts were led “to bow down to dumb idols” and not “observe the [ordinances] . . . They did pervert the ways of the Lord in very many instances.” We must realize that they were still devoted to their version of Christ’s gospel, having churches that met weekly and offered members the opportunity to stand at the pulpit to express their testimonies and gratitude that the Lord had “elected us to be thy holy children . . . We thank thee, O God, for we are a chosen people unto thee, while others shall perish.” Then they “returned to their homes, never speaking of their God again until they had assembled” at church next week. Alma said this prideful “infidelity”—combined with hearts set on gold, silver, fine goods, costly apparel, and “vain things of the world”—is “gross wickedness” (Alma 31:8, 1, 10, 16, 18, 23–28, 30). Again, “Go ye out from Babylon” (D&C 133:14).
A church and people stray when they compromise with or conform to the world. The commandment is simple but temptation is strong, so “let the church repent of their sins, and I, the Lord, will own them. Otherwise, they shall be cut off” (D&C 63:63). Jacob and Nephi belabored this point, prophesying of future events where almost all, including those who profess His name, unwittingly fight against Zion by tolerating or supporting Babylon’s ways.
God rebukes covenant makers for their wickedness, adultery, idolatry, and whoredoms. Strange (H2114) means adulterous. Not understanding all meanings of adultery may lead us to believe this sin is only to be taken literally or is not applicable. Strange things are a form of idolatry or adultery. Being unfaithful includes more than sexual indiscretion. Some speak of ‘knowing’ another in a sexual sense, but strange also means ‘to know,’ as in being acquainted with (that which is not of God) or having a heart belonging to another (idolatry). No wonder God uses adultery and harlot imagery since divine blessings require living the law of chastity and being faithful to Him. His gospel encourages “being honest, true, chaste, benevolent, virtuous, and in doing good to all men” (Articles of Faith 13). Chaste means pure, unadulterated, or uncorrupted.
Whoredoms set our heart on something besides God, leading us to embrace strange things. “Thou shalt have no other gods before me” requires that God always has utmost priority in our lives. “Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, with all thy might, mind, and strength; and in the name of Jesus Christ thou shalt serve him” (D&C 59:5). It is “the first commandment” (Mark 12:30). Nephi warns that those who have His gospel will even oppose the few who forsake the world to follow Christ.
The moment truth and righteousness are established, the devil immediately tempts us with convincing counterfeits. Many who start on the right path end up in the great and spacious building serving Babylon, “the whore of all the earth” (2 Nephi 10:16). This building is populated by “the multitude of the earth” who bought into “the world and wisdom thereof.” Although it is lifted up for a time, because of pride “it fell and the fall thereof was exceedingly great” (1 Nephi 11:35–36).
That the ‘great and spacious’ building is great refers to its vast power and influence, enticing pull, distinguished rank, and preeminence. A spacious building has plenty of room to house all the pride, vanities, deceptions, distractions, philosophies of men (even those mingled with scripture), fine apparel, worldly possessions, and all who prefer materialism and idols over true wisdom. In other words, spacious is opposite the narrow path to God. Clearly there is a distinction between those who believe they are God’s and those who are transformed to become His disciples. Their response to “the word of God” separates those in the strange building from the tree of life.
The large and spacious building, which thy father saw, is vain imaginations and the pride of the children of men. And a great and a terrible gulf divideth them; yea, even the word of the justice of the Eternal God, and the Messiah who is the Lamb of God, of whom the Holy Ghost beareth record, from the beginning of the world until this time. (1 Nephi 12:18)
More specifically, the gulf is “the word of the justice” that is “awful,” “great, and terrible” because it keeps many from eternal life if they have chosen to not be judged by mercy (1 Nephi 15:28, 12:18). Where our mind and heart are determines which side we are on.
Whosoever will may lay hold upon the word of God, which is quick and powerful, which shall divide asunder all the cunning and the snares and the wiles of the devil, and lead the man of Christ in a strait and narrow course across that everlasting gulf of misery which is prepared to engulf the wicked. (Helaman 3:29)
Since there is “none other way” than coming to Christ (2 Nephi 31:21), anything that differs from His path—in any degree—is not of God. There are only two churches, so anything not precisely aligned with God’s will and way belongs to Satan’s great and abominable church.
There are save two churches only; the one is the church of the Lamb of God and the other is the church of the devil. Wherefore, whoso belongeth not to the church of the Lamb of God belongeth to that great church, which is the mother of abominations; and she is the whore of all the earth . . . I beheld the church of the Lamb of God and its numbers were few because of the wickedness and abominations of the whore who sat upon many waters. (1 Nephi 14:10–12)
The great and abominable church will meet the same demise as the great and spacious building—a devastating fall “into the pit which they digged to ensnare the people of the Lord. And all that fight against Zion shall be destroyed, and that great whore, who hath perverted the right ways of the Lord, yea, that great and abominable church, shall tumble to the dust and great shall be the fall of it” (1 Nephi 22:14). Modern revelation adds that their fall comes “by devouring fire.”
Our response to God’s word is what divides those who profess to be His people from those who truly came to know Him. “The ox knoweth his owner, and the ass his master’s crib, but Israel doth not know, my people doth not consider” (Isaiah 1:3). Man cannot know someone whom he has not served or “is far from the thoughts and intents of his heart” (Mosiah 5:13). Only those who seek Christ as teacher and serve Him as master can truthfully claim to know Him. We are servants of whomever we obey, electing to “sin unto death” or be “obedient unto righteousness” (Romans 6:16).
Zeal is not enough. “It is dangerous to have zeal without knowledge” (Proverbs 19:2, NET Bible). We must know Him. The Hebrew yada, “to know,” has covenant application. Knowing the Lord in the truest and deepest sense requires that our covenants are both made with integrity and ratified by heaven. Many do not know the Lord but still believe they hold priesthood power, have exaltation, and work in His name. Knowing Him requires that He knows us, having a familiar relationship that enables us “to exercise faith in him unto eternal life.” The importance of the relationship—that Christ knows us and we truly know Him—cannot be underestimated. Eternal life requires knowledge of God.
Here, then, is eternal life—to know the only wise and true God. (John 17:3)
Many who claim knowledge, credentials, or authority will be denied entrance into the kingdom of God because they took His name in vain—the same vanity that condemns them. Covenant makers must “let your ‘yes’ be yes, and your ‘no’ be no, or you will be condemned” (James 5:12, NIV). This condemnation “shall remain” until we remember and obey the commandments “which I have given them, not only to say, but to do according to that which I have written” (D&C 84:57). “When you make a vow to God, do not delay to fulfill it . . . It is better not to make a vow than to make one and not fulfill it” (Ecclesiastes 5:4–5). Only the pure in heart who remember Him, hearken to Him, and do what He requires are transformed in His image to inherit celestial glory. If we do not do what we covenant to do, penalties must be invoked.
Ignorance of what the Lord requires is not a valid excuse, for we are obliged to understand these things before we enter into a covenant. To not understand keeps us condemned by treating sacred things lightly. Because we are promised guidance from the Holy Ghost if we sincerely ask God, lacking knowledge is never justified.
The Targum explains, “My people have not considered or understood how to return to my law.” They remain condemned for making, but not fulfilling, their covenant obligations. “Choose ye this day to serve the Lord God who made you” (Moses 6:33). We can serve the Lord or remain in wickedness with hearts and minds set on false traditions (Joshua 24:15). Ultimately it is our choice to receive blessings or curses.
Jesus asked, “Why do ye call me Lord, Lord, and do not the things which I say?” (Luke 6:46). The repetitive “Lord, Lord” implies He is our master and teacher, but that is not enough. Even the traitor Judas called Jesus “Master.” “Not every one that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven, but he that doeth the will of my Father which is in heaven” (Matthew 7:21). Jesus warned, “Many will say to me in that day: Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in thy name, and in thy name have cast out devils, and in thy name done many wonderful works? And then will I profess unto them: I never knew you; depart from me” (3 Nephi 14:21–23). Alternately, “Then will I say, Ye never knew me. Depart from me ye that work iniquity” (Matthew 7:22–23, JST).
What could be more devastating than to hear Jesus say, “You never knew me” and “I never knew you.” Additional scripture confirms these two translations are compatible. Mosiah’s record links both verses then adds more detail of this final judgment. At the second trump,
then shall they that never knew me come forth and shall stand before me. And then shall they know that I am the Lord their God, that I am their Redeemer; but they would not be redeemed. And then I will confess unto them that I never knew them; and they shall depart into everlasting fire prepared for the devil and his angels. (Mosiah 26:25–27)
Over a century ago, John Taylor warned church members that these verses in Matthew 7’s damning rebuke is pointed at them.
You say that means the outsiders? No, it does not . . . This means you, Latter-day Saints, who heal the sick, cast out devils, and do many wonderful things in the name of Jesus. And yet how many we see among this people . . . become careless and treat lightly the ordinances of God’s house and the Priesthood of the Son of God; yet they think they are going by and by, to slide into the kingdom of God; but I tell you unless they are righteous and keep their covenants they will never go there. Hear it, ye Latter-day Saints! Hear it, ye Seventies and ye High Priests!
In Matthew 7, Jesus said not knowing Him is ‘working iniquity.’ Iniquity is not hearing, asking, or knowing God. Qumran’s community defines the wicked as those who “have neither inquired nor sought after Him concerning His laws that they might know the hidden things in which they have sinfully erred and matters revealed they have treated with insolence.”
The penalty is steep: Those “puffed up in the pride of their hearts, and all those who preach false doctrine” and “pervert the right way of the Lord . . . shall be thrust down to hell” (2 Nephi 28:15–16).
Malachi issued four indictments against those who were charged to preserve His word: (1) They depart from the right way. (2) Instead of turning people to God they “stumble at the law” by transforming His word, encouraging reliance on men, and lacking understanding. (3) They corrupt ordinances, laws, and priesthood. (4) They “have not kept my ways, but have been partial in the law,” meaning they treat things lightly and do not fulfill their covenants (Malachi 2:8–9).
When deception is subtle, false doctrines are not so easily detected. Sherem, an anti-Christ, had a “perfect knowledge of the language of the people,” which allowed him to “use much flattery and much power of speech” (Jacob 7:4). He accused the righteous Jacob of the very thing Sherem was guilty of, saying, “Ye [Jacob] have led away much of this people that they pervert the right way of God and keep not the law of Moses which is the right way” (Jacob 7:7). Sherem and Jacob both claimed to know “the right way” to God, and Sherem wrested scripture to justify his erroneous claim. Sherem flattered and convinced the people in his attempt to “overthrow the doctrine of Christ” (Jacob 7:2).
The doctrine of Christ affirms that ritual ordinances are symbolic and that valid ordinances require heaven’s ratification. The baptism of fire, receiving personal revelation through the gift of the Holy Ghost, and being sanctified are necessary to know God. Joseph adds, “To become a joint heir of the heirship of the Son, one must put away all his false traditions.”
If doctrine that can lead us into the Lord’s presence is not taught, if power in the ordinances is not realized, or if saving truths are trampled, are we much different than Sherem? A simple test is to consider what is taught in your church. Is the doctrine of Christ the main focus? Is the necessity of a baptism of fire to enter the path to eternal life preached? Do we understand that ritual is not synonymous with realizing power of an ordinance? Are we asked to support ideas that embrace or originate from Babylon? Are we encouraged to become holy and sanctified? If so, are we taught the right way to obtain it? Are we taught that outward works are sufficient for salvation? Are we taught to turn to Jesus Christ alone for salvation or are we encouraged to rely on leaders instead, neglecting to put our faith in the Lord? Are we penalized for teaching these subjects or discouraged from seeking these blessings? Is scripture taught primarily or do we rely on stories instead? Is seeking further light and knowledge through the veil forbidden, even though God commands us to seek it? When we live His doctrine, rewards of knowledge, revelation, miracles, and mysteries are poured out. “Mysteries are for those who master the first laws and ordinances of the gospel.”
Satan encourages loss of essential doctrines to “cheat their souls and lead them away carefully down to hell” (2 Nephi 28:21). By tempting us to believe that a watered-down gospel is sufficient, Satan “grasps [us] with his awful chains, from whence there is no deliverance” (2 Nephi 28:22). The Dead Sea Scrolls say that “the Angel of Darkness leads all the children of righteousness astray and . . . all their sins, iniquities, wickedness, and all their unlawful deeds are caused by his dominion in accordance with the mysteries of God.” Attempting to “overthrow the doctrine of Christ” is the mark of an antichrist (Jacob 7:2).
Satan doth stir up the hearts of the people to contention concerning the points of my doctrine; and in these things they do err, for they do wrest the scriptures and do not understand them. (D&C 10:63)
There is no deliverance for the rebellious because the very doctrine of Christ they refuse is “the way, and there is none other way . . . whereby man can be saved in the kingdom of God.” It is the “only and true doctrine of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost” (2 Nephi 31:21). The tragic reality is that His restored gospel has not been preserved by those entrusted with it, keeping many estranged from God’s presence.
Instead of remaining steadfast to what He revealed, many are “carried about with every wind of doctrine by the sleight of men and cunning craftiness” of deceivers (Ephesians 4:14). It was prophesied: “The time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine but after their own lusts shall they heap to themselves teachers, having itching ears and they shall turn away their ears from the truth and shall be turned unto fables” (2 Timothy 4:3–4) that are not founded on truth. They attempt to “annul the words of the righteous” (1 Enoch 98:14). We must avoid “diverse and strange doctrines” (Hebrews 13:9). “Hold fast the faithful word” as revealed, for many (even covenant makers) do not preach sound doctrine (Titus 1:9–10). Again the warning: “Do not allow yourself to be defiled by strange kinds of knowledge.” “Whoso treasureth up my word shall not be deceived” (Mark 13:26, JST).
Many follow men whom they mistakenly believe speak for God, keeping them estranged. God's people discern well. “A stranger will they not follow, but will flee from him” because they hear and know His voice (John 10:5). Jesus said,
If God were your Father, ye would love me . . . He sent me. Why do ye not understand my speech? even because ye cannot hear my word. Ye are of your father the devil, and the lusts of your father ye will do. He . . . abode not in the truth because there is no truth in him . . . for he is a liar, and the father of it. And because I tell you the truth, ye believe me not . . . He that is of God heareth God’s words: ye therefore hear them not because ye are not of God. (John 8:42–47)
If tradition and leaders alone are sufficient to replace scripture, God would not have commanded Lehi’s family to engage in such a risky feat to retrieve these ancient records (1 Nephi 3–4). Correctly understanding God’s word is necessary to preserve truth. Without true points of Christ’s doctrine, error is perpetuated while keeping the unsuspecting at ease—and all churches suffer from it.
Too many of our churches function as secular entertainment centers with religious morals slapped on top when they should be functioning as the living, breathing body of Christ. Too many churches have succumbed to modernity, rejecting the wisdom of past ages, treating worship as a consumer activity and allowing parishioners to function as unaccountable, autonomized members.
The sad truth is that when the world sees us [Christians], it often fails to see anything different from nonbelievers . . . It’s no wonder that our children are forgetting what it means to be Christian and it’s no surprise that we are bringing in no converts. If today’s churches are to survive the new dark age, they must stop being normal . . . [and] again become the peculiar people we were always meant to be.
Yet many are content and complacent, believing that merely saying His name, taking sacramental emblems, or participating in ordinances is enough to receive all things. It isn’t, so “wo be unto him that is at ease in Zion!” (2 Nephi 28:24, Amos 6:1).
‘At ease’ means being complacent or free from worry. Being at ease is to slacken, be without restraint, or to lack difficulty. While at first this may be puzzling, it is significant. Lehi and Nephi both had a vision of the tree of life, whose fruit could only be enjoyed by those who successfully navigated the strait and narrow path. “The way for man is narrow, but it lieth in a straight course before him” (2 Nephi 9:41). A straight line is the quickest way to reach a goal because it does not deviate, but God’s path is also narrow and strait—to be confined, to have a degree of difficulty, or to be close or intimate. Significantly, ‘strait’ is in contrast with ‘ease’:
At Ease Strait
Free from restraint Constrained, held together
Lacking difficulty Difficult
Undisturbed state (asleep) Afflicted
Moving, free flowing Strict, rigorous, not crooked
Able to change Fixed and without variance
To feel secure In a state of need
To remove a responsibility Close and intimate
Being at ease is the opposite of being on the strait and narrow path to eternal life. To believe that we are free from restraint encourages alteration, modification, and loss of truth, but keeping within the narrow bounds that God has wisely set brings real freedom. “God doth not walk in crooked paths; neither doth he vary from that which he hath said, Therefore, his paths are strait and his course is one eternal round” (D&C 3:2). He is “the same today as yesterday and forever” (D&C 35:1).
The strait and narrow path is Christ’s gospel, so being at ease hinders us from receiving its blessings. We cannot live life on our own terms and expect the Lord to bless us. That the only path to God is difficult and strict tells us that tests and trials are necessary in His plan. We cannot avoid difficult trials while seeking eternal life because that is the only path. We should not complain when the Lord arranges these experiences because tests prove our loyalty and willingness to faithfully submit to all things. Without recognizing wisdom in life’s trials, “it would be impossible for [us] to exercise faith in Him” (Lectures on Faith 4:11).
His path requires repentance that leads to a purifying baptism of fire—a remission of sins that is rarely synonymous with ritual baptism. Those ‘at ease’ have not received a remission of sins, even if they have been immersed in water. Power in ordinances—sealed by heaven (not merely administered by man)—is required to lift our condemnation so that we can progress forward on the path to eternal life.
Wherefore, do the things which I have told you I have seen that your Lord and your Redeemer should do; for, for this cause have they been shown unto me, that ye might know the gate by which ye should enter.
For the gate by which ye should enter is repentance and baptism by water; and then cometh a remission of your sins by fire and by the Holy Ghost. And then are ye in this strait and narrow path which leads to eternal life; yea, ye have entered in by the gate . . . The keeper of the gate is the Holy One of Israel and he employeth no servant there; and there is none other way save it be by the gate; for he cannot be deceived, for the Lord God is his name. (2 Nephi 31:17-18, 9:41)
“It is as easy to give heed to the word of Christ, which will point you to a straight course to eternal bliss as it was for our fathers to give heed to this compass,” or Liahona, that “would point unto them a straight course to the promised land . . . it did work for them according to their faith in God (Alma 37:40, 44). It is “the path of righteousness,” even “the path which leads to the kingdom of God” (Alma 7:19).
It is a lengthy process to be proven true and faithful. Our sins must be remitted “by fire and by the Holy Ghost” prior to entering. Without God’s purging fire, we are not on the path. A common belief is that ritual ordinances are eternally valid immediately, but this is rarely the case—a spiritual transformation is always required. We participate in ordinances when we think we are ready, but our ordinances are ratified and their power bestowed only when God knows we are ready.
Failing to teach the need for ratified ordinances or minimizing truth (whether by ignorance, lack of understanding, disinterest, or rebellion) “perverts the right way of the Lord” (2 Nephi 28:15). “A man can receive nothing except it be given him from heaven” (John 3:27). Without the doctrine of Christ, we cannot be sanctified, so we should seek whatever God requires to obtain it. Forsaking a life of ease to endure the strait and narrow path leads to eternal life. It is His doctrine because He set “the example” and is “the great Mediator . . . [He] is the way and there is none other way” (2 Nephi 31:16, 2:28, 31:21).
No wonder Satan works so hard to buy false priests and twist doctrine—our eternal life is on the line! But do we work as hard to obtain it? The first ordinances prepare us to part the veil where we can receive further light and knowledge. “The question is frequently asked, Can we not be saved without going through with all those ordinances? I would answer, No, not the fulness of salvation.”
Salvation comes by living the doctrine of Christ. “This is my gospel—repentance and baptism by water, and then cometh the baptism of fire and the Holy Ghost, even the Comforter, which showeth all things and teacheth the peaceable things of the kingdom” (D&C 39:6).
After ye have gotten into this strait and narrow path, I would ask if all is done? . . . Nay; for ye have not come thus far save it were by the word of Christ with unshaken faith in him, relying wholly upon the merits of him who is mighty to save . . . Ye must press forward with a steadfastness in Christ, having a perfect brightness of hope, and a love of God and of all men. . . If ye shall press forward, feasting upon the word of Christ, and endure to the end, behold, thus saith the Father: Ye shall have eternal life. (2 Nephi 31:19–2)
Footnotes and sources can be found HERE.