This blog has focused on the love of Heavenly Father in past posts. We live in a world where we don't have the physical presence of God with us every day. Most of us don't actually get the opportunity to see Him, either. We know that some have. The scriptures have testified of such. But the majority of the population doesn't see Him.
This physical separation requires us to rely on faith in order to establish a relationship with God. Yet we are born without a knowledge of God. So how are we supposed to have faith in order to establish a relationship with God if we don't know about Him. We must be taught about God in order to begin to have faith.
There is a problem with this. There are many different beliefs about God. Some don't believe there is a God. Some believe God is whatever you want Him to be. Some believe God has no physical form and is everywhere and in everything all at once. We as members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints recognize that Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ have physical bodies that have been perfected, whereas the Holy Spirit that testifies of God has not yet received a physical body and only has a spiritual body.
We have the same complication when it comes to differing doctrines of religion. There are many beliefs about baptism, sacrifice, commandments, and the other doctrines of religion. How are we to learn what is in fact the true doctrines and the truth about God when there are so many differing beliefs?
We fortunately have three different ways of distinguishing between the truth and that which is misguiding. The first is the scriptures. These precious books of truth help set us on the course towards God. They are valuable tools for learning the personality and characteristics of our precious Savior and God the Eternal Father.
The second tool we have at our disposal is personal revelation. As we live according to the teachings of the Savior Jesus Christ, we develop an ability to feel the promptings of the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit testifies of all truth, be they eternal or temporal. So having access to these priceless promptings can direct us in our gaining knowledge of God and the many other true doctrines.
The third of these valuable tools is prophets and apostles, special witnesses of God called by Him to testify to the world of all truth. The scriptures are in fact guidance and direction from God written through the hands of His apostles and prophets. These men carry a divine mandate to testify of Jesus Christ and His atoning sacrifice. This divine mandate brings with it a special connection with God that allows them to receive guidance and direction in all truth for the world.
None of these gifts that help us learn the truth about God and His doctrines are complete without the other two. Scriptures can be misinterpreted. We can also easily misunderstand our own promptings or the direction we receive from prophets and apostles. But when we receive a witness from all three of these sources of guidance, we can know with absolute certainty that what we have received is the truth. So it is that we need all three.
With this knowledge we can ascertain the need for prophets and apostles in these days in which we live. I want to spend a little time focusing on apostles and prophets in our day in blogs following this one. I don't know yet how many blog entries it will take. But I hope that, when I am through, my readers will see why we have a need for prophets and apostles. And I hope they will know where they can look to find them.
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