The Mormon Doctrine of Deity: The Roberts-Van Der Donckt Discussion / To which is added a discourse, Jesus Christ, the revelation of God; also a collection of authoritative Mormon utterances on the being and nature of God

by B. H. Roberts

Man to Become Like Christ.

In other words, the spirit without the body is not perfect, and the body without the spirit is dead. Man was ordained in the beginning to become like Jesus Christ, to become conformed unto his image. As Jesus was born of woman, lived and grew to manhood, was put to death and raised from the dead to immortality and eternal life, so it was decreed in the beginning that man should be, and will be, through the atonement of Jesus, in spite of himself, resurrected from the dead. Death came upon us without the exercise of our agency; we had no hand in bringing it originally upon ourselves; it came because of the transgression of our first parents. Therefore, man, who had no hand in bringing death upon himself, shall have no hand in bringing again life unto himself; for as he dies in consequence of the sin of Adam, so shall he live again, whether he will or not, by the righteousness of Jesus Christ, and the power of his resurrection. Every man that dies shall live again, and shall stand before the bar of God, to be judged according to his works, whether they be good or evil. It is then that all will have to give an account for their stewardship in this mortal life. The word of God is spoken to the children of men. It has been revealed from the heavens. It is extant in the world. It is in force upon the people. Those that reject it will have to answer for it before God, the judge of the quick and the dead; while those that receive and obey the word of the Lord and keep his commandments, as I have read, shall not only come to a knowledge of the truth, but shall look upon the face of the Redeemer and shall see and know him as he is. Furthermore, they will acknowledge that it is through the atonement and power of the Savior that they are brought again unto life immortal, to enjoy eternal felicity in the celestial kingdom of God, provided they have been obedient to his commandments. The Lord continues:

The elements are the tabernacle of God; yea, man is the tabernacle of God, even temples; and whatsoever temple is defiled, God shall destroy that temple.

The glory of God is intelligence, or, in other words, light and truth.

Light and truth forsake that evil one.

Every spirit of man was innocent in the beginning, and God having redeemed man from the fall, men became again in their infant state, innocent before God.

And that wicked one cometh and taketh away light and truth, through disobedience, from the children of men, and because of the tradition of their fathers.

The word of the Lord is truth. You ask, What is truth? It is the truth that God lives. What more is truth? It is the truth that Jesus Christ is the Son of God, the Redeemer of the world; that he atoned for the sin of Adam, and that through our repentance and obedience to him we shall receive a forgiveness of our own sins, and shall be cleansed therefrom, and exalted again in the presence of God, from whence we came. It is truth that God has revealed to the world that except a man be born again he cannot see the kingdom of heaven. It is eternal truth that except a man be born of the water and of the Spirit he cannot enter into the kingdom of heaven. These are the Almighty's truths that he has revealed to the children of men, and upon these we will stand. We propose to bear our testimony to these truths, and to declare these principles to the children of men, as long as God will give us his Spirit, and we are entrusted with this mission to declare Jesus Christ and him crucified and risen from the dead, and Joseph Smith raised up by the power of God to restore the fulness of the everlasting Gospel and the authority of the Holy Priesthood to the earth in the dispensation of the fulness of times. We bear this testimony to the world, and we know that our testimony is true; for we have received of that Spirit of truth which is of God, and of which Jesus speaks here through the Prophet Joseph Smith. Therefore, our testimony is in force upon the world. Especially is it in force upon those who have yielded obedience to the message of salvation as it has been restored to the earth and declared unto you.