Faith and Priesthood

During General Conference a few years ago, I was struck by something said by Bishop Richard Edgley – “Because of my faith, I have activated the power of the priesthood that I hold and have been a partaker of the sweetness of the gospel and have embraced the saving ordinances.” (Faith –The Choice is Yours, https://www.lds.org/general-conference/2010/10/faith-the-choice-is-yours?lang=eng). According to Bishop Edgley, faith is what activates priesthood power. There is a very close relationship between faith and priesthood power. In some cases, the two principles of faith and priesthood are essentially the same.

Faith can be understood to be a covenant between God and man. The elements of such a covenant are:

1) The object, purpose, or final outcome of the covenant

2) The terms of the covenant, or what the two covenanting parties agree to do
3) Evidence that the covenant is valid and in force, such as a written revelation or simply a witness from the Holy Ghost
4) Man’s responsibility to do the physical work of the faith-covenant, to persevere through trials of the faith-covenant, to do the mental and spiritual work of praying, believing and hoping that God will do his part of the covenant
5) Fulfillment of the covenant where the original objective is accomplished

Joseph Smith understood that man may progress through successive points of faith (TPJS, p. 51) or degrees of faith (Lectures on Faith 7:9). He also understood that faith is a principle of power and that it was by His faith that God created the earth and the heavens and that by His faith he continues to govern all creation and existence:

13) As we receive by faith, all temporal blessings that we do receive, so we, in like manner, receive by faith all spiritual blessings, that we do receive. But faith is not only the principle of action, but of power, also, in all intelligent beings, whether in heaven, or on earth. Thus says the author of the epistle to the Hebrews. (11:3):

14) Through faith we understand that the worlds were framed by the word of God: so that things which are seen were not made of things which do appear.

15) By this we understand that the principle of power, which existed in the bosom of God, by which the worlds were framed, was faith; and that it is by reason of this principle of power, existing in the Deity, that all created things exist—so that all things in heaven, on earth, or under the earth, exist by reason of faith, as it existed in HIM.

16) Had it not been for the principle of faith the worlds would never have been framed, neither would man have been formed of the dust—it is the principle by which Jehovah works, and through which he exercises power over all temporal, as well as eternal things. Take this principle or attribute, (for it is an attribute) from the Deity and he would cease to exist.

17) Who cannot see, that if God framed the worlds by faith, that it is by faith that he exercises power over them, and that faith is the principle of power? And that if the principle of power, it must be so in man as well as in the Deity? This is the testimony of all the sacred writers, and the lesson which they have been endeavoring to teach to man.

24) Faith, then, is the first great governing principle which has power, dominion, and authority over all things: by it they exist, by it they are upheld, by it they are changed, or by it they remain, agreeably to the will of God. Without it, there is no power, and without power there could be no creation, nor existence! (Lectures on Faith 1:13-17, 24)

To summarize, faith is a covenant and a trial, has progressive levels, is a principle of power in man and is the power of God by which he creates and governs worlds. Priesthood is also a covenant and a trial, has progressive levels, is a principle of power in man and is the power of God by which he creates and governs worlds.

According to the Doctrine and Covenants, there is an “oath and covenant which belongeth to the priesthood. Therefore, all those who receive the priesthood, receive this oath and covenant of my Father, which he cannot break, neither can it be moved.” (D&C 84:39-40). When a man receives the priesthood, he is put under covenant. A covenant between man and God typically puts the man in a position of being tried or tested to see if he will fulfill his part of the covenant. Once the covenant, or faith-covenant, has been fulfilled, then the man is called ‘faithful’. A man must be faithful in obtaining progressive levels of priesthood, or fulfilling priesthood faith-covenants – “For whoso is faithful unto the obtaining these two priesthoods of which I have spoken [or fulfilling the covenant trials of two levels of priesthood], and the magnifying their calling, are sanctified by the Spirit unto the renewing of their bodies.” (D&C 84:33).

Joseph Smith revealed information about the ancient prophet Melchizedek and how faith, trials, covenants, and priesthood orders were all closely interrelated:

26) Now Melchizedek was a man of faith, who wrought righteousness; and when a child he feared God, and stopped the mouths of lions, and quenched the violence of fire.

27) And thus, having been approved of God, he was ordained an high priest after the order of the covenant which God made with Enoch,

28) It being after the order of the Son of God; which order came, not by man, nor the will of man; neither by father nor mother; neither by beginning of days nor end of years; but of God;

29) And it was delivered unto men by the calling of his own voice, according to his own will, unto as many as believed on his name.

30) For God having sworn unto Enoch and unto his seed with an oath by himself; that every one being ordained after this order and calling should have power, by faith, to break mountains, to divide the seas, to dry up waters, to turn them out of their course;

31) To put at defiance the armies of nations, to divide the earth, to break every band, to stand in the presence of God; to do all things according to his will, according to his command, subdue principalities and powers; and this by the will of the Son of God which was from before the foundation of the world.

32) And men having this faith, coming up unto this order of God, were translated and taken up into heaven. (JST Genesis 14:26-32)

The priesthood obviously has different levels to it. We frequently talk about two levels known as Aaronic and Melchizedek. Joseph Smith explained some of the differences between the different levels of priesthood:

Answer to the question, Was the Priesthood of Melchizedek taken away when Moses died? All Priesthood is Melchizedek, but there are different portions or degrees of it. That portion which brought Moses to speak with God face to face was taken away; but that which brought the ministry of angels remained. All the prophets had the Melchizedek Priesthood and were ordained by God himself. (TPJS, p. 180-181)

Joseph Smith said that “There are three grand orders of priesthood referred to” in Hebrews chapter 7 (TPJS, p. 322). These three orders likely correspond to the lesser (or Aaronic) priesthood, the greater (or Melchizedek) priesthood, and the “mysteries of the kingdom” that are referred to in D&C 84:18-26. Alma the Younger referred to three portions of “the word” using the same descriptors used in D&C 84 (the descriptors are lesser, greater, and mysteries) – “And therefore, he that will harden his heart, the same receiveth the lesser portion of the word [first level]; and he that will not harden his heart, to him is given the greater portion of the word [second level], until it is given unto him to know the mysteries of God [third level] until he know them in full.” (Alma 12:10). I would bet that the three grand orders of the priesthood and the three portions of “the word” all align with “the three principal rounds of Jacob’s ladder—the telestial, the terrestrial, and the celestial glories or kingdoms, where Paul saw and heard things which were not lawful for him to utter” (TPJS, p. 305). I would also bet that different degrees of faith that Lectures on Faith talks about would also align with the three degrees of glory. If you put it all into a table, it would look like this:

Portion of The Word Alma 12	Order of Priesthood Hebrews 7, D&C 84	Kingdom of Glory Jacob’s Ladder, D&C 76 and 88	Degree of Faith Lectures on Faith
Lesser portion	Lesser, Aaronic	Telestial	Principle of action
Greater portion	Greater, Melchizedek	Terrestrial	Principle of power
Mysteries of God	Mysteries of the kingdom, the knowledge of God, key and power of an endless life	Celestial	To lay hold upon eternal life, power to create or organize element and intelligence

If you mapped it all onto the layout of the tabernacle of Moses, it would something like this:

Like faith, priesthood is a principle of power in man, as described here – “No power or influence can or ought to be maintained by virtue of the priesthood, only by persuasion, by long-suffering, by gentleness and meekness, and by love unfeigned; By kindness, and pure knowledge, which shall greatly enlarge the soul without hypocrisy, and without guile” (D&C 121:41-42).

Brigham Young described priesthood as “the law by which the worlds are, were, and will continue for ever and ever. It is that system which brings worlds into existence and peoples them, gives them their revolutions—their days, weeks, months, years, their seasons and times and by which they are rolled up as a scroll, as it were, and go into a higher state of existence” (DBY, 130). President Marion Romney also understood that God’s priesthood is the power by which he created the earth – “Well, the priesthood, as I have come to understand it through studying, is power. It’s the power that God used in the Creation. It is the power that he used to feed the people in the days of Moses.” (Priesthood, https://www.lds.org/general-conference/1982/04/priesthood?lang=eng).

Here are some additional passages of scripture, which all happen to be from The Book of Mormon, that describe the relationship between faith, power and priesthood orders:

20) I, Nephi, will show unto you that the tender mercies of the Lord [this is a description of the Lord fulfilling his part of a faith-covenant] are over all those whom he hath chosen [you are chosen after you pass a trial of faith], because of their faith [because of doing the work of their faith-covenants], to make them mighty even unto the power of deliverance [they are given powers associated with the celestial level]. (1 Nephi 1:20)

17) And it came to pass after I, Nephi, having heard all the words of my father, concerning the things which he saw in a vision, and also the things which he spake by the power of the Holy Ghost [the power of the Holy Ghost is more or less the same as the power of the priesthood], which power he received by faith [the work of a faith-covenant] on the Son of God—and the Son of God was the Messiah who should come—I, Nephi, was desirous also that I might see, and hear, and know of these things, by the power of the Holy Ghost, which is the gift of God unto all those who diligently seek him, as well in times of old as in the time that he should manifest himself unto the children of men. (1 Nephi 10:17)

10) But behold, when the time cometh that they shall dwindle in unbelief, after they have received so great blessings from the hand of the Lord—having a knowledge of the creation of the earth, and all men, knowing the great and marvelous works of the Lord from the creation of the world; having power given them to do all things [this is the power to control elements at the celestial level] by faith [by doing the work and passing the trials of faith-covenants]; having all the commandments from the beginning, and having been brought by his infinite goodness into this precious land of promise—behold, I say, if the day shall come that they will reject the Holy One of Israel, the true Messiah, their Redeemer and their God, behold, the judgments of him that is just shall rest upon them. (2 Nephi 1:10)

3) And this is the manner after which they were ordained—being called and prepared from the foundation of the world according to the foreknowledge of God, on account of their exceeding faith and good works; in the first place being left to choose good or evil; therefore they having chosen good, and exercising exceedingly great faith [what degree of faith is this – 1^st or 2^nd?], are called with a holy calling [3^rd or celestial level of faith, priesthood and glory], yea, with that holy calling which was prepared with, and according to, a preparatory redemption for such.

4) And thus they have been called to this holy calling [advanced to the 3^rd level] on account of their faith [on account of fulfilling the 1^st and 2^ndlevels], while others would reject the Spirit of God on account of the hardness of their hearts and blindness of their minds, while, if it had not been for this they might have had as great privilege as their brethren.

10) Now, as I said concerning the holy order, or this high priesthood, there were many who were ordained and became high priests of God [the 3^rd level]; and it was on account of their exceeding faith and repentance, and their righteousness before God, they choosing to repent and work righteousness rather than to perish;

11) Therefore they were called after this holy order, and were sanctified, and their garments were washed white through the blood of the Lamb. (Alma 13:3-4, 10-11)

28) And Alma and Amulek came forth out of the prison, and they were not hurt; for the Lord had granted unto them power [celestial level, or power to create], according to their faith which was in Christ [or, according to the fact that they fulfilled the faith-covenants corresponding to the telestial and terrestrial levels]. And they straightway came forth out of the prison; and they were loosed from their bands; and the prison had fallen to the earth, and every soul within the walls thereof, save it were Alma and Amulek, was slain; and they straightway came forth into the city. (Alma 14:28)

35) And a portion of that Spirit dwelleth in me, which giveth me knowledge, and also power according to my faith and desires which are in God. (Alma 18:35) [Notice the relationship between spirit, knowledge, power, faith and desire!]

10) Behold it was by faith that they of old were called after the holy order of God. (Ether 12:10) [Could it be that “the holy order of God” is the third grand order of priesthood, corresponding to a celestial glory, and that men, and women, reached that level after fulfilling the degrees of faith corresponding to telestial and terrestrial glories?]

33) And Christ hath said: If ye will have faith in me [or, if you have a faith-covenant and pass the associated trials] ye shall have power to do whatsoever thing is expedient in me. (Moroni 7:33)

7) And ye may know that he is, by the power of the Holy Ghost; wherefore I would exhort you that ye deny not the power of God; for he worketh by power [God fulfills his part of a faith-covenant], according to the faith of the children of men [or, as people fulfill their part of a faith-covenant], the same today and tomorrow, and forever. (Moroni 10:7)

Faithful in Keeping the Commandments

The word ‘commandment’ comes from Latin roots that mean ‘to put or give something into another person’s hand’. The roots of the word ‘commandment’ also mean ‘to give charge’. The first three elements of a faith-covenant can be considered a commandment (or a charge to do something). When we complete or fulfill a faith-covenant (the fifth element of a faith-covenant), then we can say that we have been “faithful” (“faith-covenant-fulfilling”). When God completes or fulfills his part of a covenant, he is also faithful. The five elements of a faith-covenant (or pistis) can be understood like this:

The “Commandment” (Charge given by God into your hand):

   1. The agreed-upon actions of the contract outlined in the covenant

   2. Mutually understood “substance” or purpose of the covenant

   3. Binding “evidence” (a handshake, signature, or appropriate other token or tokens)

The Trial, Work, and Hope:

   4. The trial of the covenant, which means that you have to do the “work” of the covenant; this part of the covenant is a functional “hope” – that is, acting or living as though the terms of the covenant were already fulfilled

Fulfillment or Faithfulness

   5. The conclusion or fulfillment of the terms of the covenant; at this point, the parties of the contract are said to be “faithful”

Here is a well-known story of Nephi (son of Lehi) retrieving the brass plates from Laban that exemplifies the process of receiving a “commandment” (faith-covenant) from God and keeping the “commandment” to the point that he was “faithful” and the covenant was fulfilled:

2) And it came to pass that [Lehi] spake unto me, saying: Behold I have dreamed a dream, in the which the Lord hath commanded me that thou and thy brethren shall return to Jerusalem.

3) For behold, Laban hath the record of the Jews and also a genealogy of my forefathers, and they are engraven upon plates of brass.

4) Wherefore, the Lord hath commanded me that thou and thy brothers should go unto the house of Laban, and seek the records, and bring them down hither into the wilderness. (1 Nephi 3:2-4)

[This describes most of the agreement (that part that Nephi and his brothers would have to do) and the purpose or objective of the commandment-faith-covenant; the evidence is the dream that Lehi had where he very likely saw and spoke with the Lord about this covenant assignment]

5) And now, behold thy brothers murmur, saying it is a hard thing which I have required of them; but behold I have not required it of them, but it is a commandment of the Lord.

6) Therefore go, my son, and thou shalt be favored of the Lord, because thou hast not murmured.

7) And it came to pass that I, Nephi, said unto my father: I will go and do the things which the Lord hath commanded, for I know that the Lord giveth no commandments unto the children of men, save he shall prepare a way for them that they may accomplish the thing which he commandeth them. (1 Nephi 3:5-7)

[Nephi describes the Lord’s part of the agreement – He will prepare the way for the commandment-faith-covenant to be accomplished]

After Nephi’s brother Laman made an unsuccessful attempt to ask Laban for the brass plates, Laman and Lemuel were ready to go back their camp in the desert without having fulfilled the commandment. This would be a trial of their faith-covenant. This is what Nephi said about giving up at this point:

15) But behold I said unto them that: As the Lord liveth, and as we live, we will not go down unto our father in the wilderness until we have accomplished the thing which the Lord hath commanded us.

16) Wherefore, let us be faithful in keeping the commandments of the Lord (1 Nephi 3:15-16)

After making a second unsuccessful attempt (another trial of their faith-covenant) to get the plates from Laban by offering to purchase them, Laman and Lemuel were really mad. They started to beat Nephi and Sam with a stick (or a rod). Had they beat Nephi and Sam enough they would have killed them or seriously injured them to the point that they would not be able to get the plates. God was faithful in keeping his part of the agreement by sending an angel to stop the beating before it progressed too far and encourage them to try to get the plates again:

29) And it came to pass as they smote us with a rod, behold, an angel of the Lord came and stood before them, and he spake unto them, saying: Why do ye smite your younger brother with a rod? Know ye not that the Lord hath chosen him to be a ruler over you, and this because of your iniquities? Behold ye shall go up to Jerusalem again, and the Lord will deliver Laban into your hands. (1 Nephi 3:29)

Nephi went back to get the plates alone. He “was led by the Spirit, not knowing beforehand the things which I should do.” (1 Nephi 4:6). “The Lord that is faithful” (Isaiah 49:7) did prepare a way for Nephi to accomplish the covenant given to him. Nephi found Laban drunk in the street, severed his head and then put on Laban’s clothes in order to pretend that he was Laban and get the plates, which he successfully did. After returning to their camp in the desert, Nephi commented how he and his father had been faithful (fulfilled the faith-covenant) in keeping the commandments (faith-covenant) that the Lord had given to them:

20) And it came to pass that thus far I and my father had kept the commandments wherewith the Lord had commanded us.

21) And we had obtained the records which the Lord had commanded us, and searched them and found that they were desirable; yea, even of great worth unto us, insomuch that we could preserve the commandments of the Lord unto our children.

22) Wherefore, it was wisdom in the Lord that we should carry them with us, as we journeyed in the wilderness towards the land of promise. (1 Nephi 5:20-22)

The Way - Faith

Faith is at the beginning of The Way. To be more specific, “faith in the Lord Jesus Christ” (4^th Article of Faith) is the beginning of The Way. The word ‘faith’ seems to take on different meanings in the scriptures. Joseph Smith understood that the word ‘faith’ has a spectrum of meaning, as implied in his statement about a man who “arrives at that point of faith where he is wrapped in the power and glory of his Maker and is caught up to dwell with Him” (TJPS, p. 51) and in this statement in Lectures on Faith – “And what constitutes the real difference between a saved person and one not saved, is the difference in the degree of their faith: one's faith has become perfect enough to lay hold upon eternal life, and the other's has not” (Lectures on Faith 7:9). The scriptures make some attempts to differentiate these different degrees, points, or levels of faith. For example, in addition to plain faith, they talk about “a particle of faith” (Alma 32:27), “exceeding faith” and “exceedingly great faith” (Alma 13:3), and “strong faith” (Moroni 7:30).

At a very basic level, faith means belief – a mental and perhaps also an emotional acceptance of some principle. If the principle is true, then our belief would be rooted in some sort of spiritual confirmation. In other words, the work of the spirit is involved in acquiring belief in truth. In our case here, the principle of faith, or truth, would be that Jesus is the Christ and has power to redeem us from the fall. In the church, we would call this level of faith or belief a testimony. A more advanced level of faith can be called a “principle of action” (Lectures on Faith 1:6). This is where belief motivates us to action or works, because “faith without works is dead” (James 2:20). This level of faith is where we make lifestyle changes. It is fairly physical in nature. We physically begin to do things to keep “thou-shalt” commandments and we physically stop doing other things to keep “thou-shalt-not” commandments. This type of faith is observable and even quantifiable. Another, even more advanced, level of faith can be called a “principle of power” (Lectures on Faith 1:19). This level of faith is almost indistinguishable from power of the priesthood. Faith as a principle of power is where we work with our minds, hearts, and words. It is fairly spiritual in nature and requires a high degree of familiarity and alignment with God and the power of his spirit. This type of faith is not easily observable and is more qualitative. Another level of faith, which could be thought of as being at least equivalent to, or else as a part of, faith as a principle of power, is faith “to lay hold upon eternal life” and to be “wrapped in the power and glory of his Maker and [be] caught up to dwell with him.”

My friend LeGrand Baker has explained how the word ‘faith’ can also mean covenant or the process of entering into and fulfilling a covenant.

In the New Testament, “faith” is translated from the Greek word pistis, which is all about making and keeping covenants. In Paul’s time, pistis was not a religious term. It was used either as a diplomatic word that had to do with making a treaty, or else as an economic term that had to do with securing the validity of a contract. The closest modern English equivalent in meaning is probably “contract”— a legally binding contract.

Early Christians shifted the focus of pistis to a religious term, and in time reduced it to mean simply believing without any further reference to the covenant, its object, or its evidence. Consequently, in today’s common usage the meaning of “faith” often slides along a continuum that ranges from wishing hard to just anticipating without any substantiating covenant to support the anticipation.

Paul defined pistis with succinct precision when he wrote:

11) Now pistis [our Bible translation reads “faith”] is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen (Hebrews 11:1).

The closest English equivalent to pistis is “contract.” Just as with a legal contract, there are five parts of Paul’s definition of pistis. Three are stated. Two are implied because they are obviously so necessary that they are simply presupposed.

1. (presupposed by Paul) There must be a covenant or contract that defines the agreement and the methodology by which it will be accomplished.

 2. There must be a mutually understood “substance,” that is the object, objective, purpose, assurance, or intent of the covenant.

 3. There must be binding “evidence” (a handshake, signature, or appropriate other token or tokens) that validates the agreement and guarantees the fulfillment of the covenant.

 4. The next is a functional “hope.” That is, taking the covenant at full value and acting or living as though the terms of the covenant were already fulfilled.

 5. (implied by Paul) Finally, the conclusion or fulfillment of the terms of the covenant.

Pistis (faith) always indicates such a covenant and the covenantal process—whether formal and explicit, or informal and implicit— because a covenant is the foundation of pistis. Were it not for the covenant, “faith” would only be acting on prior experience, or just wishing. But with the covenant “faith” is power. (http://www.legrandlbaker.org/2014/02/12/1-nephi-219-legrand-baker-a-meaning-of-faith/)

One other aspect of “faith unto salvation” (1 Peter 1:5), or pistis, which ought to be mentioned, is the “trial of your faith” (1 Peter 1:9). Once a covenant of faith has been entered into with God, there is a period of trial before the covenant is fulfilled and God bestows the previously conditionally-promised gift. This period of trial is analogous to the 4^th part of a Paul’s definition of pistis above – “acting or living as though the terms of the covenant were already fulfilled.” Moroni commented that “you receive no witness until after the trial of your faith.” (Ether 12:6). ‘Witness’ means attestation of fact from personal knowledge, a person who knows or sees anything, and it comes from the Germanic root word ‘wit’, which means to know. When the process of a faith-covenant is fulfilled, knowledge or even perfect knowledge is what is gained. With that in mind, Moroni could have said, “you do not receive perfect knowledge until after the trial period of the process of your faith-covenant.” A new and higher degree of faith-covenant may then begin.

 Alma the Younger explained how a faith-covenant becomes perfect knowledge by comparing the object of the faith covenant to a seed. He said that the object of the faith-covenant is to “believe in the Son of God, that he will come come to redeem his people, and that he shall suffer and die to atone for their sins” (Alma 33:22). Through a process of experimenting with the idea, fact, belief or truth, by letting it set in your heart, allowing the Spirit of the Lord to work with you, feeling the truth grow and recognizing it (see Alma 32:27-33), then you reach a point where your “knowledge is perfect in that thing, and your faith is dormant” (Alma 32:34). The covenant process of faith has been fulfilled in this one thing, which is to know whether or not Jesus is truly the Christ. However, there is more work to do and a greater faith-covenant process to complete in order to be fully converted to Christ and fully developed spiritually, such that you have within you “a tree springing up unto everlasting life” (Alma 32:41).

 
In The Book of Mormon, we are told how the brother of Jared completed a faith-covenant process that resulted in knowledge. After he had climbed up to the top of a mountain with 16 stones in his hands, he prayed, asking the Lord to touch the stones in order to light them up. “[A]nd he saw the finger of Jesus, which, when he saw, he fell with fear; for he knew that it was the finger of the Lord; and he had faith no longer, for he knew, nothing doubting.” (Ether 3:19).