D&C 93:20-30

93:20-23 - We know that the Savior started out with no knowledge of who he was or what he was to do, but it was revealed to Him as he grew in righteousness, quite quickly I might add. The Lord says that we also “shall receive of his fullness,… you shall receive grace for grace.” It’s a step by step process. It won’t happen overnight, but it is possible for it to happen rapidly. But I think that the main message here is that Christ received a fullness of the glory of the Father and we can receive that same fullness, to the same extent that Christ did, and that’s a little overwhelming because we are imperfect, and in most instances very flawed, and to imagine that we can eventually be on the same level of righteousness as the Savior is quite the idea. Satan wants us to think that we are so different from Jesus that we could never be even remotely like him, like an emulate from a distance type of idea, but that’s not true, we can be just like him in righteousness. The Lord tells us that he “was in the beginning with the Father, and am the Firstborn… Ye were also in the beginning with the Father.” It might seem to be contradictive to say “in the beginning” but in another instance talk about immortality and eternity. The disconnect comes from the word “beginning” to which the IM teaches, “As explained in Doctrine and Covenants 29:30-33, the Lord used the word beginning only because finite mortals cannot grasp completely that all things are eternal. The word beginning may refer to the time when we began as the spirit offspring of God or to the time when the earth began as a temporal sphere. The Prophet Joseph Smith taught that the intelligent part of man has always existed: ‘The spirit of man is not a created being; it existed from eternity, and will exist to eternity. Anything created cannot be eternal.’”

93:24-29 - Here’s where things get really deep. The Lord defines truth as “knowledge of things as they are, and as they were, and as they are to come.” This begs the question, how are things really? What does that even mean, it can be considered in such an abstract way that it doesn’t make sense. The IM gives another vantage point to consider when teaching, “Eternal truth is revealed by the Spirit. Speaking of eternal truth, Elder Neal A. Maxwell said: ‘For those who believe we are all going to be around forever, it is both natural and wise to concern ourselves with such questions and also with such principles which are also going to be around forever. The definition of truth given in 1833 about things ‘as they are,’ ‘as they were,’ and ‘as they are to come’ is related to another scripture: ‘… for the Spirit speaketh the truth and lieth not. Wherefore, it speaketh of things as they really are, and of things as they really will be… plainly, for the salvation of our souls…’ Note the presence of that powerful adverb really. The gospel of Jesus Christ and the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints deal plainly with realities –‘things as they really are, ‘and ‘things as they really will be.’’ President Spencer W. Kimball stated: ‘If we live in such a way that the considerations of eternity press upon us, we will make better decisions. Perhaps this is why President Brigham Young once said that if he could do but one thing to bless the Saints, he believed it would be to give them ‘eyes with which to see things as they are.’ It is interesting to note how those last words reflect the words of the scripture in which truth is described as ‘knowledge of things as they are, and as they were, and as they are to come.’ Jacob reminds us also that ‘the Spirit speaketh the truth… of things as they really are, and of things as they really will be.’ The more clearly we see eternity, the more obvious it becomes that the Lord’s work in which we are engaged is one vast and grand work with striking similarities on each side of the veil.’” When I first was listening to his, I didn’t hear “eternal truth is revealed by the Spirit,” I heard “eternal truth is revealed to our spirit.” I don’t know why it was so profound to me but it was. And both ways, I think, are true, the Holy Ghost speaks to our spirit and the Holy Ghost reveals eternal truths. It might have seemed so profound to me because the way I heard it implies that eternal truth is something that we understand spiritually, not something that we can think of logically or rationalize out or experiment with until we somehow come to the correct answer. Eternal truth is something that is taught to our spirit by the Holy Ghost and any understanding about eternal truths comes as we work it our spiritually. I guess what I’m trying to say is that to understand and accept an eternal truth, we must be in tune spiritually and worthy of the companionship of the Holy Ghost so that that truth and understanding can be revealed to us because it’s not something we are magically going to be able to come with and understand all by ourselves. What I heard was further emphasized later on in other discussions. It doesn’t come all at once, but step by step, and “he that keepeth his commandments receiveth truth and light, until he is glorified in truth and knoweth all things. Man was also in the beginning with God. Intelligence, or the light of truth, was not created or made, neither indeed can be.” The IM comments “Elder John A. Widtsoe noted that ‘intelligence as used by Latter-day Saints has two chief meanings… First, a man who gathers knowledge and uses it in harmony with the plan of salvation is intelligent. He has intelligence… Second, the word when preceded by the article an, or used in the plural as intelligences, means a person, or persons, usually in the spiritual estate. Just as we speak of a person or persons, we speak of an intelligence, or intelligences.’ We know very little about the concept of intelligence. President Joseph Fielding Smith said: ‘Some of our writers have endeavored to explain what an intelligence is, but to do so is futile, for we have never been give any insight into this matter beyond what the Lord has fragmentarily revealed. We know, however, that there is something called intelligence which always existed. It is the real eternal part of man, which was not created or made. This intelligence combined with the spirit constitutes a spiritual identity or individual.’”

93:30 - Here’s the part that validated my understanding of truth being taught to our spirits. It’s really abstract for me, but the Lord says, “All truth is independent in that sphere in which God has placed it, to act for itself, as all intelligence also; otherwise there is no existence.” This is an example of why I really appreciate having study material because otherwise, not only would I not have understood that (and I kind of still don’t) but it would have absolutely no value for me at this point. The IM says, “Absolute truth is independent and understood only by the spirit.” The IM goes on to quote President Spencer W. Kimball as teaching, “The earth is spherical. If all the four billion people in the world think it flat, they are in error. That is an absolute truth, and all the arguing in the world will not change it. We learn about these absolute truths by being taught by the Spirit. These truths are ‘independent’ in their spiritual sphere and are to be discovered spiritually, though they may be confirmed by experience and intellect. The great prophet Jacob said that ‘the Spirit speaketh truth… Wherefore, it speaketh of things as they really are, and of things as they really will be.’ We need to be taught in order to understand life and who we really are. The Gods organized and gave life to man and placed him on the earth. This is absolute. It cannot be disproved. A million brilliant minds might conjecture otherwise, but it is still true. And having done all this for his Father’s children, the Christ mapped out a plan of life for man- a positive and absolute program whereby man might achieve, accomplish, and overcome and perfect himself. Again, these vital truths are not matters of opinion. If they were, then your opinion would be Justas good as mine, or better. But I give you these things, not as my opinion- I give them to you as divine truths which are absolute. Some day you will see and feel and understand and perhaps even berate yourself for the long delay and waste of time. It is not a matter of if. It is a matter of when. Experience in one field does not automatically create expertise in another field. Expertise in religion comes from personal righteousness and from revelation. The Lord told the Prophet Joseph Smith: ‘All truth is independence in that sphere in which God has placed it.’ A geologist who has discovered truths about the structure of the earth may be oblivious to the truths God has given us about the eternal nature of the family. If I can only make clear this one thing, it will give us a basis on which to build. Man cannot discover God or his ways by mere mental processes. One must be governed by the laws which control the realm into which he is delving. To become a lumber, one must study the laws which govern plumbing. He must know stresses and strains, temperatures at which pipes will freeze, laws which govern steam, hot water, expansion, contraction, and so forth. One might know much about plumbing and be a complete failure in training children or getting along with men. One might be the best of bookkeepers and yet not know anything of electricity. One might know much about buying and selling groceries and be absolutely ignorant of bridge building. One might be a great authority on the hydrogen bomb and yet know nothing of banking. One might be a noted theologian and yet be wholly untrained in watchmaking. One might be the author of the law of relativity and yet know nothing of the Creator who originated every law. I repeat, these are not matters of opinion. They are absolute truths. These truths are available to every soul. Any intelligent man may learn what he wants to learn. He may acquire knowledge in any field, though it requires much though and effort. It takes more than a decade to get a high school diploma; it takes an additional four years for most people to get a college degree; it takes nearly a quarter-century to become a great physician. Why, oh, why do people think they can fathom the most complex spiritual depths without the necessary experimental and laboratory work accompanied by compliance with the laws that govern it? Absurd it is, but you will frequently find popular personalities, who seem never to have lived a single law of God, discoursing in interviews on religion. How ridiculous for such persons to attempt to outline for the world a way of life!” I absolutely resonated with what President Kimball said here. I’ve been in medicine all my adult life and looking at the spiritual growth from a more clinical setting was something that I understood. First was the concept of truth being taught to our spirits. I’m a logical person, I like to think things through, I want for everything to make sense. But I remember in the beginning of my blog through the Book of Mormon reading a quote by JS which said something to the effect of “if you only mentally understand the gospel then you’re missing out on experiencing the greater spiritual understanding that comes with it,” or something like that. As I let go of thinking things through first and instead sought to receive the teachings spiritually, then they logically began to make sense to me. I could never have thought or deduced my way to understanding who God is or who I am to Him, yet when I received it spiritually, I also began to understand it mentally. A certain degree of knowledge and understanding can come through mere mental thought processes, but when absorbed and filtered from the Holy Ghost to our spirits, knowledge and  understanding fills our whole being, giving us more mentally than we ever could have concluded on our own. I also loved when President Kimball said, “Why, oh, why do people think they can fathom the most complex spiritual depths without the necessary experimental and laboratory work accompanied by compliance with the laws that govern it?” This was very powerful to me, and an excellent standard to measure the opinions of other people.