Purpose of the Priesthood

To Obtain a Promise of Eternal Life and to Sit Down in the Kingdom of the Father

As implied above, the ultimate purpose of priesthood, or the work of God, is to bring to pass the eternal life of man, “to be received into the kingdom of the Father to go no more out, but to dwell with God eternally in the heavens.” (3 Nephi 28:40). (Note: for our purposes we will consider the terms ‘redemption’, ‘salvation’, ‘eternal life’ and ‘exaltation’ to be equivalent and interchangeable.) Jesus defined what eternal life is during the great intercessory prayer that he offered in connection with his atoning sacrifice – “And this is life eternal, that they might know thee the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom thou hast sent.” (John 17:3). To know God is, in my own words, to become like him by developing the same godly attributes that he has, in particular the attribute of charity, and to be brought back into his presence and speak to him face to face. The prophet Mormon encouraged us to “pray unto the Father with all the energy of heart, that ye may be filled with this love, which he hath bestowed upon all who are true followers of his Son, Jesus Christ; that ye may become the sons of God; that when he shall appear we shall be like him, for we shall see him as he is; that we may have this hope; that we may be purified even as he is pure. Amen.” (Moroni 7:48). The brother of Jared had obtained charity and exercised sufficient faith to part the veil so that “Lord showed himself unto him, and said: Because thou knowest these things ye are redeemed from the fall; therefore ye are brought back into my presence; therefore I show myself unto you.” (Ether 3:13).

We can look at eternal life in two ways. One way is “to be received into the kingdom of the Father to go no more out, but to dwell with God eternally in the heavens”, which happens after the “resurrection of the dead, and … eternal judgment.” (Hebrews 6:2). The other is to be redeemed like the brother of Jared, enter into the presence of God while in this life and receive the “promise that [God] hath promised us, even eternal life.” (1 John 2:25). Joseph Smith described this other aspect of eternal life as “The more sure word of prophecy”, which “means a man’s knowing that he is sealed up unto eternal life, by revelation and the spirit of prophecy, through the power of the Holy Priesthood.” (D&C 131:5). This blog will deal more with the purpose of the priesthood as it relates to what Joseph Smith said regarding the more sure word of prophecy and what Christ said regarding seeing the face of God through the priesthood and its ordinances in this life rather than receiving eternal life in the next life.

Build Zion, Undo the Works of the Devil, do God’s Will

John Taylor described some intermediate purposes of the priesthood:

What is this priesthood given us for? That we may be enabled to build up the Zion of our God. What for? To put down wrong and corruption, lasciviousness, lying, thieving, dishonesty, and covetousness, with every kind of evil, and also to encourage faith, meekness, charity, purity, brotherly kindness, truthfulness, integrity, honesty, and everything that is calculated to exalt and ennoble mankind, that we may be the true and proper representatives of God our Father here upon the earth, that we may learn to know his will and do it; that his will may be done on earth as in heaven. (Teachings: John Taylor, Chapter 13)

Essentially, as stated by John Taylor, part of the purpose and work of the priesthood is to build Zion (as stated earlier), to undo the work of the devil (corruption, lasciviousness, etc.), to develop godly attributes, and to learn God’s will (through revelation) and do it. Notice that he said that by being engaged in this priesthood work, that God’s will may be done on earth as it is in heaven, which is a reference to the Lord’s prayer – “Our Father which art in heaven, Hallowed be thy name. Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done in earth, as it is in heaven.” (Matthew 6:9-10). This implies that the Lord’s prayer is a priesthood prayer, or that it is a prayer asking for priesthood power to do the priesthood work of building Zion and overcoming the devil.

Priesthood as Association with Heaven (and as the Building of Zion)

When John the Baptist ordained Joseph Smith and Oliver Cowdery to the Aaronic Priesthood, he said that that Aaronic Priesthood “holds the keys of the ministering of angels” (D&C 113:1). This implies that that there is a close relationship between being ordained to the priesthood and having an association with angels. Doctrine and Covenants 107 elaborates on this association between mortal priesthood holders and those in heaven:

18) The power and authority of the higher, or Melchizedek Priesthood, is to hold the keys of all the spiritual blessings of the church—

19) To have the privilege of receiving the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven, to have the heavens opened unto them, to commune with the general assembly and church of the Firstborn, and to enjoy the communion and presence of God the Father, and Jesus the mediator of the new covenant. (D&C 107:18-19)

So both the Aaronic and Melchizedek Priesthoods have something to do with those of us who are mortal priesthood holders having a relationship with those in heaven, including God the Father and Jesus Christ. John Taylor understood and spoke about how those of us who hold priesthood on earth need to be aligned with and work with priesthood holders living in heaven or in the spirit world:

“God has organized a priesthood, and that priesthood bears rule in all things pertaining to the earth and the heavens; one part of it exists in the heavens, another part on the earth; they both co-operate together for the building up of Zion, the redemption of the dead and the living, and the bringing to pass the ‘times of the restitution of all things;’ [see Acts 3:21] and as they are thus closely united, it is necessary that there should be a communication between the one and the other, and that those on the earth should receive instructions from those in the heavens, who are acquainted with earthly as well as heavenly things, having had the experience of both, as they once officiated in the same priesthood on the earth.” (Teachings: John Taylor, Chapter 13)

“It is the intercourse and communication of the priesthood in heaven, that gives power, life, and efficacy to the living priesthood on the earth, and without which they would be as dead and withered branches: and if any man has life, or power, it is the power and life of the priesthood, the gift and power of God communicated through the regular channels of the priesthood, both in heaven and on earth; …” (Teachings: John Taylor, Chapter 13)

“The priesthood in the heavens are uniting with us to bring about these purposes, and as they are governed by the same principle, that our works may agree—that there may be a reciprocity of action, and that God’s will (so far as we are concerned) may be done on the earth as it is in heaven. It is this which we have to learn, and this which we must do to fulfil our calling, and render our works acceptable in the sight of God and of the holy angels, and also in the sight of our brethren, who are associated with us in the priesthood in the kingdom of God on the earth.” (Teachings: John Taylor, Chapter 13)

In those statements, John Taylor not only described the priesthood association between men and angels, but he also described another significant purpose of the priesthood – “the building up of Zion”. Nephi (son of Lehi), prophesied about the work of building Zion that would be done by those who would accept the restored gospel, including the Book of Mormon, in the latter-days:

And blessed are they who shall seek to bring forth my Zion at that day, for they shall have the gift and the power of the Holy Ghost; and if they endure unto the end they shall be lifted up at the last day, and shall be saved in the everlasting kingdom of the Lamb; and whoso shall publish peace, yea, tidings of great joy, how beautiful upon the mountains shall they be. (1 Nephi 13:37)

John Taylor said that building Zion is a work of the priesthood and Nephi talked about those who would seek to bring forth Zion after the translation and publication of the Book of Mormon. Nephi was prophesying about latter-day priesthood holders. In connection with doing the priesthood work of building Zion (or at least seeking to build it), the latter-day priesthood holders would have the gift of the Holy Ghost and the power of the Holy Ghost, which again shows how intertwined the priesthood is with the Holy Ghost.