Becoming One

All are to become “one” with the Father, the Son, and the holy ghost. It is a distant goal, to be accomplished after being “added upon” for a long time. To become “one” will be to reach the end of a long journey. All can be given promises of that end; all can receive covenants that will bring them there. But arrival will “be a great while after [they] have passed through the veil” for “it is not all to be comprehended in this world” (TPJS, 348). One may be initiated, but to enter in will be “a great work to learn our salvation and exaltation even beyond the grave.”¹ The ideal of being “one” with the Father, Son, and holy ghost is, for mankind, something that is distant, to be sought after, to be kept before them, but not to be obtained until some time later. But to be “one” with each other is another matter. Being “one” is required for Zion to return. Zion is required for the Lord to dwell among His people again. He is going to return to a Zion, no matter how few may be involved. He will come even if only two or three gather in His name (see Matthew 9:14). Zion may be small, but it will, nonetheless, be Zion before He can visit with her.²Do not watch for iniquity in each other. If you do, you will not get an endowment, for God will not bestow it on such (T&C 117:4). Belief in Christ necessarily means belief in the Father. To believe Christ is to accept His message of the Father’s primacy and authority. One sees in these three members of the Godhead a full establishment of interconnected roles and responsibilities. The Father ordains the plan; it is He who presides. The Son implements the plan; it is He who makes the required sacrifice to save us. The holy ghost activates the plan; it is the “fire” of the holy ghost which makes new, cleanses, and perfects the man’s understanding. These three are “one” and united. They provide mankind with the possibility for salvation and exaltation.³