In the prior chapter, PERFECTION was identified as one end of the LAW that Christ answered. Coming to this conclusion naturally invites us to more thoroughly consider how He answered it. Such is the purpose of this chapter. In later chapters, what His answer to this end means for us will also be considered.
It has been previously noted that unto every kingdom is given a law with certain bounds and conditions, and that all who abide not in those conditions are not justified. In a related passage, the Lord instructs that all who secure a blessing at His hand must abide the law appointed for that blessing, and the conditions thereof (see D&C 132:5). Hence, to obtain God’s greatest gift (see D&C 14:7), we must abide the law that governs where God is. In preparation for this strict celestial standard, the Lord gives us charge to be perfect “even as your Father which is in heaven is perfect” (JST Matthew 5:50).[1]
Taken literally, this duty is staggering. It bewilders even the most devout disciple. Perhaps, more than others, this celestial standard weighs heavily upon the true disciple because only he or she truly senses what is at stake. Thus, this command must be patiently and appropriately viewed as no person, save Jesus only, has ever concluded this life fully justified, sanctified, and preserved by law. While in mortality, we mustn't become overzealous about what is yet to be done—it is far more important that we are headed in the right direction than knowing how long it is going to take us to get there. When it comes to perfection, we must view it—although afar off—with an eye of faith and see “this mortal body and corruption raised to incorruption” (Alma 5:15);[2] we must gaze into the eternities and view our potential to know as God knows and be known as He is known.
But, however anxious this dictate may make us, we are not at liberty to mitigate the directive by making it “measure down” to our fallen nature. The command is to be taken literally and every effort should be made to comply. Robert Millet (1989) rightly observed:
We are never justified in lowering the lofty standard held out to followers of the Christ. Nor are our actions or attitudes approved of God if we suggest that the Savior did not mean what he said when he called us to the transcendent level of perfection. Our task is not to water down the ideal, nor to dilute the directive. Rather, we must view our challenge with perspective, must see things as they really are, but also as they really can be (p. 89).
This command to be perfect applies not only to us, but it applied to God’s Son as well who, more than any of His children, was of a mind to work out His own salvation with fear and trembling (see Philippians 2:12; compare Mormon 9:27) and “supplications with strong crying and tears unto him that was able to save him from death” (Hebrews 5:7).[3] Atonement for the sins of others required a payment by One who first possessed the capacity to save Himself. Without that capacity, Christ could not save us. Thus, of particular significance to Him whose personal salvation rested in His own perfection, it was requisite that Jesus be fully obedient to gospel law and free from sin. Expressing this requirement, Elder McConkie (1981) commented:
He had to work out his own salvation by doing on earth the will of the Father in all things. ‘Though he were a Son,’ Paul says, ‘yet learned he obedience by the things which he suffered’ (Heb. 5:8), meaning that ‘The Lord Omnipotent’ himself had to overcome the world and stand against all opposition before he could (and again it is Paul’s language) be ‘made perfect’ (Heb. 5:9) in the ultimate and absolute sense of the term; that is, ‘perfect, even as your Father which is in heaven is perfect’ (p. 54).
To the time that Jesus matured and demonstrated His capacity to suffer temptations of every kind and yet remain without sin (see Hebrew 4:15; compare 1 Peter 2:22), the very Plan of Redemption hung in the balance. The upholding of all things was fixed on the moment when He alone would purge our sins (see Hebrews 1:3) and resuscitate the dead. Thus, it was not only in Gethsemane, on Golgotha, or in the Tomb that the great Plan of Redemption was wrought out. In preparation for those hours of agony wherein He fully paid the penalty for broken law, Christ lived in pre-mortality (McConkie B. R., 1981, p. 208), and thirty-three years in mortality, in complete, sinless perfection—an essential accomplishment for Him to answer the ends of the law and consummate an infinite atonement.
From this broader perspective, Christ began His work of redemption in His first estate, an estate where He was known as Jehovah. He continued it in mortality, in His suffering, by His death, and through His resurrection. And as His works never cease, His redemptive work, in preparation for that time when He shall place all things under His feet (see D&C 88:114), will not cease. Not only were His final days in mortality triumphant as rightly observed by any Christian but, as is often overlooked, His entire pre- and post-mortal existence has been miraculous; incredible beyond belief.
To more fully appreciate the miracle of Christ’s perfection, it is helpful to consider the declaration of the messenger to the prophet Nephi: “Look and behold the condescension of God” (1 Nephi 11:26)! Notwithstanding His unique primeval status, Christ was born of a virgin and inherited, from her, attributes of mortality. In this condescension, His primeval judgment was taken away (see Acts 8:33) and He came as man, taught Elder James E. Talmage (1982), to experience—all the natural conditions of mortality; He was born as truly a dependent, helpless babe as is any other child; His infancy was in all common features as the infancy of others; His boyhood was actual boyhood, His development was as necessary and as real as that of all children. Over His mind had fallen the veil of forgetfulness common to all who are born to earth, by which the remembrance of primeval existence is shut off. The Child grew, and with growth there came to Him expansion of mind, development of faculties, and progression in power and understanding (p. 105).
The sacred record further reports that He grew up with His brethren and served under His stepfather. He was often portrayed as characteristic in appearance—possessing neither form, comeliness, nor beauty that the multitude should desire (see Isaiah 53:2). So common was His appearance that the multitude esteemed Him stricken, smitten of God (see Isaiah 53:4).[4] Notwithstanding that He came “in his glory, in his might, majesty, power, and dominion” (Alma 5:50; compare Alma 9:26, 13:24), the Son of God “emptied” Himself of these attributes in mortality, thus, was God veiled in flesh.[5] But, as He “grew up to manhood,” taught President Lorenzo Snow (1901), “it was revealed unto Him who He was, and for what purpose He was in the world” (p. 3). Isaiah compared His development to a tender plant under the personal care of a Gardener (see Isaiah 63:2). Of His childhood, the New Testament is brief and simply expresses that He “increased in wisdom and stature, and in favor with God and man” (Luke 2:52).
Notwithstanding these mortal characteristics inherited from His mother, the Son of Man “spake not as other men, neither could he be taught; for he needed not that any man should teach him” (JST Matthew 3:24-25). Notwithstanding that He “was made in the likeness of men” (Philippians 2:7), Christ was no ordinary man. He was God Almighty, the King of heaven and earth (see Alma 5:50) and, in the same sense that all mortal men have fathers (McConkie B. R., 1981, p. 294), He was sired by God and partook of the same nature and is a member of the same house and lineage of His Eternal Father (McConkie B. R., 1981, p. 9). Concerning their relationship, as cited by Elder McConkie (1981), the First Presidency and Council of the Twelve declared:
He is the Word of God or, in other words, the Divine Expression of His Father. “In every state of existence,” confirmed Elder McConkie, “he was and is the possessor and personification of every godly attribute and characteristic in its fulness and perfection” (p. 197). Thus, it is rightly concluded that the Father and Son are one “in a sense far greater than merely being one in purpose” (p. 5).The Father placed his name upon the Son; and Jesus Christ spoke and ministered in and through the Father’s name; and so far as power, authority, and Godship are concerned his words and acts were and are those of the Father (p. 64).
In the primeval world, Jehovah was God . . . the God with whom all the patriarchs conversed. In mortality, He maintained this appointed position (see Alma 9:26; compare Mosiah 15:1), but of this reality, the world was blind. Even during infancy and childhood, Christ continued to be the Light of the world and the One through whom the light was sent to fill the immensity of space (see D&C 50:27; compare D&C 88:7-13). Neither in His birth and life nor in His death and resurrection do we see that which is common. I am not suggesting that Jesus was so different from the rest of humanity that He could not live like us and be our example in all things. But viewed in proper perspective, everything about Him was unique and uncommon, and necessarily so—He was to undertake a singular work that none other could.
“None ever were perfect but Jesus,” taught the prophet Joseph Smith (1997); “and why was He perfect? Because He was the Son of God, and had the fulness of the Spirit, and greater power than any man” (p. 346). “His words and deeds,” wrote Elder McConkie (1981), “his teachings and miracles, his triumph over the tomb—all that he did and said—all things appertaining to him have neither equal nor parallel among all the billions of souls who have breathed or shall breathe the breath of life on planet earth” (p. xviii). No other person possessed the divine powers and attributes of the Father so completely. No other conception or birth will transcend the holiness and glory that attended those simple events recorded in the Gospels. No other child received the personal attention and tutoring that the Savior of mankind received from His Father. Gratefully, God took particular interest in this Son in whom His Plan of Happiness was fixed—in whom was vested salvation for Himself, for you, and for me. When all who claim to be lords and all who claim to be gods are considered, both heaven and earth must proclaim that this Man is Lord of lords, King of kings, and God of gods!
“None ever were perfect but Jesus,” taught the prophet Joseph Smith (1997); “and why was He perfect? Because He was the Son of God, and had the fulness of the Spirit, and greater power than any man” (p. 346). “His words and deeds,” wrote Elder McConkie (1981), “his teachings and miracles, his triumph over the tomb—all that he did and said—all things appertaining to him have neither equal nor parallel among all the billions of souls who have breathed or shall breathe the breath of life on planet earth” (p. xviii). No other person possessed the divine powers and attributes of the Father so completely. No other conception or birth will transcend the holiness and glory that attended those simple events recorded in the Gospels. No other child received the personal attention and tutoring that the Savior of mankind received from His Father. Gratefully, God took particular interest in this Son in whom His Plan of Happiness was fixed—in whom was vested salvation for Himself, for you, and for me. When all who claim to be lords and all who claim to be gods are considered, both heaven and earth must proclaim that this Man is Lord of lords, King of kings, and God of gods!
Ironically, it is commonly thought that Christ came as “fallen man” so that He could overcome the fall and know how to succor us in our weakness. Recently, in an effort to determine how widespread was this view, I asked my students how many believed Christ came as fallen man? Forty percent of those questioned raised their hand in the affirmative and many remained uncertain. Few deviations rob a person of faith more than this one—the humanizing of God is more than slightly destructive to our faith.
Christ may have taken on the form of man (see Philippians 2:8),[6] but He did not take on the nature of man. He may have condescended (see 1 Nephi 11:26), but He did not fall. Christ may have stepped down from grace, but He did not fall from grace. Rather, as Elder James E. Talmage (1982) reminded: “[Christ’s] advancement was from one grace to another, not from gracelessness to grace; from good to greater good, not from evil to good, from favor with God to greater favor, not from estrangement because of sin to reconciliation through repentance and propitiation” (pp. 105-106).
Christ may have taken on the form of man (see Philippians 2:8),[6] but He did not take on the nature of man. He may have condescended (see 1 Nephi 11:26), but He did not fall. Christ may have stepped down from grace, but He did not fall from grace. Rather, as Elder James E. Talmage (1982) reminded: “[Christ’s] advancement was from one grace to another, not from gracelessness to grace; from good to greater good, not from evil to good, from favor with God to greater favor, not from estrangement because of sin to reconciliation through repentance and propitiation” (pp. 105-106).
Abinadi taught that the form which Christ took upon Himself was not the form ordinarily ascribed to man. Rather, he affirmed that His image was “the image after which man was created in the beginning; or in other words, he said that man was created after the image of God” (see Mosiah 7:27). Defining what it means to be created after the image of God or after the image which man was created in the beginning, President Joseph F. Smith (1936) declared:
Man has descended from God. In fact, he is of the same race as the Gods. His descent has not been from a lower form of life, but from the Highest Form of Life; in other words, man is, in the most literal sense, a child of God. This is not only true of the spirit of man, but of his body also (p. 8).[7]
From this statement, it is to be understood that Adam was most literally a son of God—the literal offspring of His body (see Moses 6:22). And, in the day that God created him, Adam possessed a tabernacle of flesh and bone but was, nevertheless, spiritual because he remained in that sphere in which God had placed him (see Moses 3:9) and was a living soul (see 2 Nephi 9:13); immortal and incorruptible (see Alma 11:45; compare 1 Corinthians 15:44 and D&C 88:27-28). When Adam partook of the forbidden fruit, he acted outside that sphere in which God had placed him (see D&C 93:30) and, thereby, became fallen man—mortal, corruptible, and separate from God.
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With the exception of Christ, every person born to this earth has descended through this lineage and inherited death. Christ, however, did not inherit death. Rather, from Mary He inherited the power to die, or power over His life. For though He was crucified through weakness inherited from His mother (see 2 Corinthians 13:4), to Christ, death was a choice (see 1 Nephi 19:10), not a demand enforced upon Him. The same is true of all the pains, afflictions, sicknesses, and infirmities suffered by Christ—He suffered and “took upon Him” these things (see Alma 7:11-13) by choice. Attributes, traits, and expressions that are otherwise viewed as the weakness of man were capacities inherited by God through Mary that He might know, according to the flesh, how to succor His children.
Properly viewed, the qualities Christ obtained from His mother were attributes of power, not oppressive traits of a fallen nature. Although immortal and incorruptible, from His mother Christ inherited the power to suffer, bleed, and die—not in the same sense that we do these things, but rather that He might have compassion for His children, that He might atone for their sins, and that He might conquer death. The Son subjected His flesh to the will of the Father so completely that every mortal trait He possessed was adapted into its divinely intended use (see Mosiah 15:1-7). To Him, the weakness of man was strength and represented the course by which He would offer Himself as a willing sacrifice for sin and triumph over evil. Although characteristic of mortals, even His precious blood represented neither corruption nor a claim on His life. Rather, it marked His capacity to atone and satisfy the demands of justice by shedding that blood. “Without controversy, great is the mystery of godliness” (1 Timothy 3:16)!.png)
In mortality, Christ, in the most literal sense, took on the nature of His Father. Thus, the form and likeness of man which Christ took upon himself was akin to the image of man in the beginning—immortal, incorruptible, and free from sin, yet possessing power over life and death. Confirming this conclusion, Elder Joseph Fielding Smith (1954-1956) noted, “it required one who was not subject to the curse to atone for that original sin” (p. 126; Vol 1).[8] Unlike us, Christ did not experience spiritual death (see JST John 14:30). Unlike us, He never experienced personal sin and had no need for repentance (see JST Hebrews 7:26). Unlike us, in Him “dwelleth all the fulness of the Godhead bodily” (Colossians 2:9; compare D&C 93:16-17), “for it pleased the Father that in him should all fulness dwell” (Colossians 1:19). Unlike us, Christ merited the grace He received of His Father. And unlike us, “Jesus Christ: Who, being in the form of God . . . made himself of no reputation,[9] and took upon him the form of a servant, and was made in the likeness of men” (Philippians 2:6-7).
The scriptures declare that fallen man is evil continually (see Ether 3:2); is subject to the will of the devil (see D&C 29:40); is fallen and lost (see Alma 34:9); comes short of the glory of God (see Romans 3:23); is cut off from the presence of God and considered dead both as to things temporal and to things spiritual (see Helaman 14:16); is carnal, sensual, and devilish by nature (see Alma 42:10); and is an enemy to God (see Mosiah 3:19). Never, never . . . no never, was Jesus any of these!
How infinite that wisdom, the plan of holiness,
That made salvation perfect and veiled the Lord in flesh,
To walk upon his footstool and be like man, almost,
In his exalted station, and die, or all was lost (Phelps, 1985, p. 175).
Despite lacking details of Christ’s physical development, profound insight into His spiritual growth can be gained from a revelation given to Joseph Smith concerning things previously revealed to John, the Lord’s cousin. In Doctrine and Covenants 93, we read concerning Christ:
I am in the Father, and the Father in me, and the Father and I are one—
The Father because he gave me of his fulness, and the Son because I was in the world and made flesh my tabernacle, and dwelt among the sons of men.
I was in the world and received of my Father, and the works of him were plainly manifest.
And I, John, bear record that I beheld his glory, as the glory of the Only Begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth, even the Spirit of truth, which came and dwelt in the flesh, and dwelt among us.
And I, John, saw that he received not of the fulness at the first, but received grace for grace;
And he received not of the fulness at first, but continued from grace to grace, until he received a fulness;
And thus he was called the Son of God, because he received not of the fulness at the first.
And I, John, bear record that he received a fulness of the glory of the Father;
And he received all power, both in heaven and on earth, and the glory of the Father was with him, for he dwelt in him (D&C 93:3-5, 11-14, 16-17).
Interesting concepts concerning Christ as the Father and the Son are revealed in these verses. First, in the primeval world, Christ merited and was given the fulness of His Father’s power and glory. Second, as a condition of His condescension, Christ took on the form of man and, thus, became the Son of God. Third, during mortality He received of His Father and performed His Father’s works and, in this sense, was also the Father. Fourth, Christ received not His Father’s fulness at first, but received grace for grace and grew from grace to grace until He received His Father’s fulness. Finally, the Father dwelt in Him, not in person, but through the indwelling of His Holy Spirit and, thus, in the fulness of His attributes, power, glory, and purpose.
The scriptural declaration that Christ performed His Father’s works and received of His Father grace for grace is of indispensable value for we must, in like manner, come unto the Father in the name of Christ (see D&C 93:19-20). As a religious principle, grace is invariably viewed as a divine gift, or unearned favor, for which we can do nothing to merit, or as the withholding of a just punishment. Often, grace is appropriately attributed to the mercy and love of Jesus Christ extended through His atonement. However, the grace extended to the Son by His Father was not a divine gift for which Christ could do nothing to merit, nor was it the withholding of a just punishment. Rather, this grace was the enabling powers of the Father extended to Christ in response to the grace or enabling powers that Christ, in turn, extended to the children of men. Hence, the concept of “grace received for grace extended” (i.e., grace for grace) creates a reciprocal relationship between the giver and the receiver of such grace.[10] This reciprocal relationship between Christ and His Father is best expressed by McConkie and Ostler (2000) in their commentary, Revelations of the Restoration:
Grace is divine help, or in other words, enabling power and strength that comes from God. The Savior increased in grace as he lived the commandments of God and blessed the lives of others. His growth was accelerated above that of his fellowmen because of the reciprocal nature of receiving strength of the Spirit when extending grace. That is, he called upon his Father for power and strength to bless others in their need. In answer to his prayers, he was empowered and grew beyond his previous abilities, thus, receiving grace for grace. Christ was foremost in reaching out in compassion to others. Therefore, he received greater grace from God in his efforts than any other person. He increased his capacity to give with each experience, continuing ‘from grace to grace’” (pp. 672-673).
To presume that the bestowal of God’s enabling powers upon His Son required nothing on the Savior’s part is scripturally unsound for, as with all gifts, receiving is more than a passive performance (see D&C 88:33). Receiving is secured in the giving. Thus, Christ received that which His Father gave and, in turn, gave that which He received. In this, Christ set the example for us. We must likewise receive the gifts of God and, in turn, extend them to others if we are to receive grace for grace. Our receiving of these gifts must go beyond the mental exercise of simple acceptance; it must bring us “unto repentance and good works, that [we] might be restored unto grace for grace, according to [our] works” (Helaman 12:24).
Since Christ grew from grace to grace and yet always remained in a state of perfection (i.e., in that sphere in which His Father had placed Him), perfection must then be viewed as a relative state measured according to one’s adherence to light and truth received. President Brigham Young, as cited by McConkie, Millet, and Top (1992), explained:
Those who do right, and seek the glory of the Father in heaven, whether they can do little or much, if they do the very best they know how, they are perfect . . . . ‘Be ye as perfect as ye can,’ for that is all we can do . . . . To be as perfect as we possibly can according to our knowledge is to be just as perfect as our father in Heaven is. He cannot be any more perfect than he knows how, any more than we. When we are doing as well as we know in the sphere and station which we occupy here we are justified (p. 78).
We needn’t get carried away with President Young’s comments and presume that God is perfect only in a relative sense. God is the Divine Standard; perfection is measured according to His fulness. His knowledge is infinite and complete (see 2 Nephi 9:20). And He possesses an “infinity of fulness” (see D&C 109:77). However, considering President Young’s notion of relative perfection, Christ began mortality, and remained throughout, in a justified state by complete and immediate compliance to every ray of gospel light He received according to the sphere He occupied. But I suggest this was not all. [11] Elder Heber C. Kimball (1854 - 1886) also concluded that “truth is the sanctifier of those who love it and are guided by it . . . . Truth is an attribute of the nature of God. By it he is sanctified and glorified” (pp. 209, Vol. 11). “It is the truth of heaven,” confirmed Elder McConkie (1979-1981), “the very word of God, his everlasting gospel—which sanctifies the souls of men” (pp. 114, Vol. 4).[12]
Elder Wilford Woodruff (1990) further taught that “whatever law anyone keeps, he is preserved by that law, and he receives whatever reward that law guarantees unto him” (p. 10). In other words, gospel truth and law is a preserver, rewarder, sanctifier, and glorifier of those who keep it and, thus, He who was perfectly governed by celestial law was not only justified thereby, but was also “preserved . . . and perfected and sanctified by the same” (D&C 88:34). By pure truth, perfect obedience, ingenuous motive, and sacred bestowal,[13] Christ grew from perfection to perfection and was sanctified by truth and glorified by His Father until He received the fulness of His Father—a fulness that “no man receiveth . . . unless he keepeth his commandments” (D&C 93:27). “By strict obedience,” the hymn states, “Jesus won the prize with glory rife: Thy will, O God, not mine be done, adorned his mortal life” (Snow E. R., 1985, p. 195).
Elder Wilford Woodruff (1990) further taught that “whatever law anyone keeps, he is preserved by that law, and he receives whatever reward that law guarantees unto him” (p. 10). In other words, gospel truth and law is a preserver, rewarder, sanctifier, and glorifier of those who keep it and, thus, He who was perfectly governed by celestial law was not only justified thereby, but was also “preserved . . . and perfected and sanctified by the same” (D&C 88:34). By pure truth, perfect obedience, ingenuous motive, and sacred bestowal,[13] Christ grew from perfection to perfection and was sanctified by truth and glorified by His Father until He received the fulness of His Father—a fulness that “no man receiveth . . . unless he keepeth his commandments” (D&C 93:27). “By strict obedience,” the hymn states, “Jesus won the prize with glory rife: Thy will, O God, not mine be done, adorned his mortal life” (Snow E. R., 1985, p. 195).
Although the Pharisees and Sadducees were rarely united in purpose, on one occasion they were “gathered together” to confront the Lord concerning the law:
Then one of them, which was a lawyer, asked him a question, tempting him, and saying,
Master, which is the great commandment in the law?
Jesus said unto him, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind.
This is the first and great commandment.
And the second is like unto it, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself.
On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets (Matthew 22:35-40; compare D&C 59:5).
This instruction to love God with heart, might, mind, and strength may lead some to espouse the view that an emotional love of God is sufficient to be saved or to be entitled to grace. However, the love the Lord is referring to in these verses is not simply an emotional affection. This love of which He speaks is demonstrative. This love is not only felt, intellectually experienced, and verbally expressed. Rather, this love is reflected in our conduct and attitudes. President Howard W. Hunter (2002) described this love as a complete soul-stretching endeavor:
He loves the Lord with all his heart who loves nothing in comparison of him, and nothing but in reference to him, who is ready to give up, do, or suffer anything in order to please and glorify him. He loves God with all his soul, or rather with all his life, who is ready to give up life for his sake and to be deprived of the comforts of the world to glorify him. He loves God with all his strength who exerts all the powers of his body and soul in the service of God. He loves God with all his mind who applies himself only to know God and his will, who sees God in all things and acknowledges him in all ways (p. 1).
The Savior said: “If ye love me, keep my commandments” (John 14:15) and “He that hath my commandments, and keepeth them, he it is that loveth me” (John 14:21). These assertions establish that a seamlessness exists between love of God and adherence to His laws. An emotional love of God does not grant a general dispensation from obedience to His laws—the existence of one does not compensate for absence of the other. Rather, divine love is the product of obedience and devotion. Confirming this, the apostle John wrote:
And hereby we do know that we know him, if we keep his commandments.
He that saith, I know him, and keepeth not his commandments, is a liar, and the truth is not in him.
But whoso keepeth his word, in him verily is the love of God perfected: hereby know we that we are in him.
He that saith he abideth in him ought himself also so to walk, even as he walked (1 John 2:3-6; compare 2 John 1:6).
Continuing with this subject and speaking of the “law and the prophets” to the Nephites, the Lord explained: “Behold, I have given unto you the commandments; therefore keep my commandments. And this is the law and the prophets” (3 Nephi 15:10). In more recent years, we have received the Lord’s severe reminder: “And in nothing doth man offend God, or against none is his wrath kindled, save those who confess not his hand in all things, and obey not his commandments. Behold, this is according to the law and the prophets” (D&C 59:21-22). Based on the Savior’s words given to these various dispensations, I suggest the “law and the prophets” can be viewed as “a love of God as demonstrated by obedience to His commandments and a love for others as demonstrated in service to them.” Love of God is the first and great commandment and obedience to His commands is the first law of heaven. By sound application of these two principles, Christ was perfected.
To illustrate, Christ’s baptism is a textbook demonstration of His resolute compliance to gospel law and love for God. John, knowing that the person requesting baptism was beyond reproach, hesitated at the Savior’s request and forbad Him saying: “I have need to be baptized of thee, and comest thou to me? And Jesus answering said unto him, Suffer it to be so now: for thus it becometh us to fulfill all righteousness [i.e., to answer the “perfection” end of the law]” (Matthew 3:14-15). Of this event, Nephi explains: “I would ask of you . . . wherein the Lamb of God did fulfill all righteousness in being baptized with water? Know ye not that he was holy? But notwithstanding that he being holy . . . according to the flesh he humbleth himself before the Father and witnesseth unto the Father that he would be obedient unto him in keeping his commandments” (2 Nephi 31:6-7). In everything He did, Christ’s love for His Father was demonstrated by subjection to His will and law. This He did to answer the Perfection end of the law.“Who . . . can consider himself as good as our Lord? Who is as perfect? Who is as pure, and who was as holy as he was,” asked the prophet Joseph (1834)? In response, he answered:
He never transgressed or broke a commandment or law of heaven—no deceit was in his mouth, neither was guile found in His heart” (p. 152)! He descended in suffering below that which man can suffer . . . and was exposed to more powerful contradictions than any man can be. But notwithstanding all this, he kept the law of God, and remained without sin, showing thereby that it is in the power of man to keep the law and remain also without sin” (Smith J. , The Doctrine and Covenants, 1891, pp. 2, Lecture 5).
Christ was justified, sanctified, and preserved by truth, sinlessness, sacred bestowal, and perfect obedience to gospel truth and, thereby, fully answered, for himself, the end of the law that requires perfection. Because of this, the resurrected Lord declared: “Therefore, I would that ye should be perfect, even as I, or your Father which is in heaven is perfect” (3 Nephi 12:48).
Following His resurrection, Christ was in all respects perfect like unto His Father. “The attributes of one are the attributes of the other,” declared Elder McConkie (1981); “the character of each is the same; and both are possessors of the same perfections in their eternal fulness” (p. 198). What is meant by perfections, declared Joseph Smith (1891), “is the perfections which belong to all the attributes of his nature” (p. 50). In other words, explained Elder McConkie (1972), “where every attribute and every characteristic is concerned, the Lord is perfect and in him is embodied the totality of whatever is involved” (p. 7). Continuing, Elder McConkie (1981) wrote:
The Messiah is truly ‘like unto God.’ (Abr. 3:24). He was such in preexistence; he is such now as he sits on the right hand of the Majesty on high; and what is of special concern to us in our Messianic studies, he was the possessor of the same character, perfections, and attributes while he dwelt as a mortal among men. Indeed, the very fact that Jesus of Nazareth enjoyed these godly graces and manifested them in the acts of his life—as he taught truth, as he wrought miracles, as he lived without sin, and as he atoned for the sins of others—the very fact that he pursued such a course is one of the great evidences that he was all that he claimed to be: the Son of God (p. 198).
Other than Himself, Christ had no savior on whom to rely for salvation. Therefore, He answered the Perfection end of the law for Himself. Having answered this demand, the law could make no further requirements of Him. Notwithstanding, He voluntarily chose to answer the other end of the law—that end which requires uncompromising punishment for broken law.
WORKS CITED
Hunter, H. W. (2002). The Teachings of Howard W. Hunter. Salt Lake City: Deseret Book Company.
Kimball, H. C. (1854 - 1886). Journal of Discourses, 26.
McConkie, B. R. (1972, January 4). The Lord God of Joseph Smith. BYU Speeches of the Year.
McConkie, B. R. (1979-1981). The Mortal Messiah. Salt Lake City: Deseret Book Company.
McConkie, B. R. (1981). The Promised Messiah: The first coming of Christ. Salt Lake City: Deseret Book Company.
McConkie, J. F., & Ostler, C. J. (2000). Revelations of the Restoration: A Commentary on the Doctrine and Covenants and Other Modern Revelations. Salt Lake City, Utah: Deseret Book Company.
McConkie, J. F., Millet, R. L., & Top, B. L. (1992). Doctrinal Commentary on the Book of Mormon (Vol. 4). Salt Lake City: Bookcraft.
Millet, R. L. (1989). By Grace are we Saved. Salt Lake City: Bookcraft.
Phelps, J. A. (1985). O God, The Eternal Father. Hymns of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.
Smith, J. (1834, April). The Elders of the Church in Kirtland, To Their Brethren Abroad. Evening and Morning Star, 2(19).
Smith, J. (1891). The Doctrine and Covenants. Salt Lake City: George Q. Cannon & Sons, Co., Printers and Publishers.
Smith, J. (1997). Encyclopedia of Joseph Smith's Teachings. (L. E. Dahl, & D. Q. Cannon, Eds.) Salt Lake City, United States: Bookcraft.
Smith, J. F. (1936, September 19). Church News.
Smith, J. F. (1954-1956). Doctrines of Salvation (Vol. 3). (B. R. McConkie, Ed.) Salt Lake City, UT, United States: Bookcraft.
Snow, E. R. (1985). How Great the Wisdom and the Love. Hymns of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.
Snow, L. (1901, April 5). Conference Report.
Talmage, J. E. (1982). Jesus the Christ: A Study of the Messiah and His Mission according to Holy Scriptures both Ancient and Modern. Salt Lake City: Deseret Book Company.
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ENDNOTES
[1] It is often overlooked that this command to be perfect was not given to the Nephites until after they were reminded by the Lord that “in me are all fulfilled” (3 Nephi 12:46).
[2] Compare Alma 32:40, Hebrews 11:13, and Ether 12:19.
[3] Comments made in the transcript of the Joseph Smith Translation of the New Testament infers that verse 7 and 8 of Hebrews 5 are allusions to Melchizedek and not to Christ. However, Melchizedek was a “type” of Christ and Elder McConkie (1985, p. 316) appropriately connects these versus also to Christ.
[4] Then again, it is impossible to think that there was not in His appearance something of a quiet majesty that was apt to draw their gaze.
[5] The prophet Joseph Smith (1948-1950) taught that a personage of glory with a physical body can withhold the outward manifestation of his glory if he decides (pp. 392, Vol. 3); contrast D&C 129:6.
[6] Compare Mosiah 13:34. It was God who came down to make an atonement (see Mosiah 15:1) and, although He came in the form of man, Alma reminded us that he came “in his glory, in his might, majesty, power, and dominion . . . . Behold the glory of the King of all the earth; and also the King of heaven shall very soon shine among all the children of men” (Alma 5:50; compare Alma 9:26; Alma 13:24; 1 Nephi 11:28; and Mosiah 3:5). “And even after all this, they shall consider him a man” (Mosiah 3:9).
[7] In this same article, President Smith stated that “man is created in the image of God . . . , man was born of a woman, Christ was born of a woman . . . , Adam, our earthly parent, was born of a woman, the same as Jesus, and you and I” (p. 2). Brigham Young (1854-1886) likewise taught that God “created man as we create our children; for there is no other process of creation in heaven, on the earth, in the earth, or under the earth, or in all the eternities, that is, that were, or that ever will be” (p. 122; Vol. 11).
[8] Joseph Smith further taught that “all truth is independent in that sphere in which God has placed it, to act for itself, as all intelligence also” (D&C 93:30). This verse clearly describes the state of man in the beginning and prior to the fall. In every state of existence, Christ was independent in that sphere in which God placed Him, to act for Himself, and not to be acted upon (see 2 Nephi 2:26). And because He continued sinless and remained in that sphere in which God placed Him, He maintained His God-given independence and brought salvation to Himself.
[9] The Greek word for “reputation” as used in this verse is kenosis, meaning “to make empty.”
[10] This type of relationship is illustrated in a passage expressing the reciprocal relationship that exists between Christ and the Spirit of truth: “He shall glorify me: for he shall receive of mine, and shall shew it unto you. All things that the Father hath are mine: therefore said I, that he shall take of mine, and shall shew it unto you” (John 16:14-15).
[11] Compare D&C 43:9-10.
[12] Thus, concerning his disciples and all those who shall believe on Him through their word, Christ prayed: “Sanctify them through thy truth: thy word is truth . . . . And for their sakes I sanctify myself, that they also might be sanctified through the truth” (John 17:17, 19).
[13] Without sacred bestowal, there can be no sanctification. Confirming this even for Christ, Paul wrote: For him whom he did foreknow, he also did predestinate to be conformed to his own image, that he might be the firstborn among many brethren. Moreover, him whom he did predestinate, him he also called; and him whom he called, him he also sanctified; and him whom he sanctified, him he also glorified (JST Romans 8:29-30).
