Other Notes on Faith

Volume One—Chapter Eleven OTHER NOTES ON FAITH

#An Exercise in Gospel Terminology

Faith is a nonspecific term. When referring to deliberate or revealed “faith,” one need not have in mind any one particular commandment or gift of the Spirit. Hence, “deliberate faith” may consists of deliberate charity, deliberate patience, deliberate mercy, deliberate humility, deliberate testimony of the Book of Mormon, deliberate testimony of the prophet Joseph, etc. Similarly, “revealed faith” may consist of revealed charity, revealed patience, revealed mercy, and all the rest.

Another scriptural term used infrequently to refer to the sum of a man’s spiritual gifts is his “intelligence.” Consider especially D&C 130:18-19: “Whatever principle of intelligence we attain unto in this life, it will rise with us in the resurrection. And if a person gains more knowledge and intelligence in this life through his diligence and obedience than another, he will have so much the advantage in the world to come.” This same term (intelligence) is, of course, also used to refer to the unembodied essence of man.

Yet another word meaning the same as a man’s accumulated spiritual gifts is “glory.” Consider the well known verse D&C 93:36: “The glory of God is intelligence, or, in other words, light and truth.” This verse teaches that God’s glory is the same as his intelligence. Intelligence here refers to the sum of all his divine attributes. These attributes are manifest in his light, the light of Christ. God’s glory is the same as his

light. We will consider the concept of light later in this volume.

#Faith and the Learning of Spiritual and Secular Truths

Thus far, we have applied the principle of deliberate faith—the deliberate and willing obedience to God’s laws—to the consequent acquisition of revealed faith which consists of gifts of the Spirit or increments of the attributes of God. We previously concluded that spiritual knowledge—the acquisition of a testimony of spiritual truth—is also an attribute of God. Hence, as we have already illustrated, the application of deliberate faith is a necessary step in acquiring a testimony of a spiritual truth (for example, a testimony of the Book of Mormon).

What about the application of the concept of deliberate faith to the acquisition of secular knowledge? Deliberate faith operates much the same way in secular matters as it does for spiritual matters. Here on earth we are all provoked to action based on our hopes or expectations that our actions will lead to specific outcomes. Our expectations regarding the acquisition of secular knowledge is a primary driving force behind our secular study. The “deliberate” element of secular learning, analogous to deliberate faith, must include the diligent, purposeful, focused attempts to read, ponder, and reason. Then follows the analogous “gift of learning.”

Secular learning occurs both with and without the help of the influence of the Spirit. If the learner seeks the influence and help of the Spirit and is worthy of his ministrations, secular learning can occur in the form of gifts of the Spirit. Otherwise, the secular learning will occur by natural processes. We previously discussed the consequences of learning secular knowledge with and without the Spirit’s help.2

Joseph Smith probably had in mind the concept of deliberate faith, as applied in both secular and spiritual matters, when he defined faith as “the moving cause of all action in yourselves and . . . in all other intelligent beings” (Lectures on Faith, 1:11-12).

Revealed faith, then, can consist of secular truths or spiritual truths. One important difference is encountered between revealed faith as secular truth and revealed faith as spiritual truth. Only in secular matters is it possible to extinguish all doubt. When we experience things with our physical senses, we may dispel all doubt and eliminate all uncertainty. This is not possible in matters of the Spirit. While we remain on earth, there will always be an element of doubt in spiritual matters regardless of the amount of revealed faith we acquire. It will always be necessary to exercise deliberate faith. This is the nature of mortality.

#Is Faith an “All or Nothing” Phenomenon?

Are there different degrees or levels of faith? Do some individuals have stronger faith than others? The answer obviously is yes. Does this apply to both types of faith? For example, as a group of investigators sets out to learn whether or not the Book of Mormon is a true and an authentic record, does each member of the group apply the same degree of deliberate faith? Does each possess the same degree of spiritual character available to test the Book of Mormon? And what of the investigators who recently have successfully tested Moroni’s promise (Moroni 10:3-5) and have received a revealed testimony of the book? Do they all have the same degree of revealed testimony? Does the individual who has just begun to receive a witness of the Book of Mormon have the same revealed faith in the book as the individual who has undertaken a many-year study of the book? It is clear that there are various levels of both types of faith.

The Book of Mormon speaks of a “particle of faith,” “much faith,” “strong faith,” “exceeding faith,” and “exceedingly great faith.” Although we may have begun to receive a gift of revealed faith, there is always room for improvement. Our obligation is to continue the process of prayer, fasting, searching out the words of God, experimenting upon those words, laboring over them, repenting of our shortcomings and consequently building and expanding our revealed faith in all areas.

As we begin to acquire spiritual gifts in various areas (revealed faith), we might also expect to be tested or tried in our nascent faith by the circumstances of mortality.3

Adversities are “built in” to this mortal experience. Infrequently, it seems, the omniscient Lord himself chooses to deliberately test us (Ether 12:6). More often these tests occur as a natural part of this mortal experience. If we pass the test of adversity, we are judged worthy of greater gifts of revealed faith. The acquisition of revealed faith is an incremental, self-perpetuating process.

#Perfect Faith?

One might suppose that if an individual were to possess all gifts of the Spirit in their completeness, he would never be required to “experiment upon the word.” His obedience would not need a “deliberate” element. He would not have to exercise deliberate faith. He would truly “know” all spiritual truth. He would not doubt. He would have a perfect knowledge. He would have no inclination to disobey. He would be converted to a point beyond disobedience or sin. Though he may possess spiritual character in abundance, he would have no further need of it. He would experience no opposition to his obedience to the Lord’s commands. It would be easy and natural to obey.

Is this blessed state possible here in mortality? It is not. There are at least two major impediments to such perfect faith:

1. There will always remain an element of doubt, requiring us to exercise an element of deliberate faith. It is the nature of this mortal existence that we live outside the physical presence of the Father and the Son. While here on earth, we cannot know for certain of our eternal future. We cannot confirm with our physical senses the spiritual concepts we cherish.

Parenthetically, sometimes even experiencing a thing with our five senses does not dispel all doubt. For example, the act of planting a seed and seeing it sprout does not provide us with a perfect knowledge that planting other seeds will invariably result in sprouts. Watching a specific seed sprout does increase our confidence. We believe more strongly that another planted seed will also sprout. But, it does not provide us with sure knowledge. Also, our five senses can be deceived in many ways.

2. Suppose an individual were blessed with a personal visitation from the Father or the Son. Could we then say deliberate faith would no longer be necessary in his quest to consistently obey the commandments? In spite of perfect knowledge of the reality of God, confirmed by his five physical senses, it would still be necessary for him to exert deliberate obedience. Why? It is because of the pulls and temptations produced by that natural, ungodly part of each of us. Even though a personal visitation of the Lord would be a phenomenal blessing, it would not eliminate the necessity of ongoing spiritual growth in the “old fashioned way.”

The fact is that few, if any, of us will receive a personal visitation from a divine being. None of us will completely overcome our natural-man selves while we are still on earth. We may earn more and more gifts of the Spirit, but there will never be a time when we will not have to exercise our deliberate faith. This is the nature of mortality.

#Faith in the Eternities

Now, suppose we venture briefly into an area where we are without scriptural resource. In mortality, we have concluded we will never acquire perfect faith. It will always be necessary to exercise deliberate faith. But what about in the eternal realm?

What about the Father and the Son? Certainly the Father and the Son have perfect faith. They possess all of the spiritual gifts to perfection. They have no inclination whatever to sin. While they possess spiritual character in abundance, it seems they don’t need to call upon it. They don’t need to exercise deliberate faith, as they already possess all attributes. We seem to be painting a picture here, for the Father and the Son, of an eternal life of ease. My spiritual intuition tells me this is not the case.

We have been taught by the Lord there must needs be opposition in all things (2 Nephi 2:11). Without opposition we cannot grow. We grow as we are tested and overcome adversity. Are the Father and the Son growing? Are they doing so without opposition? Are they being tested? Do they have opposition in their lives? Does a constant need to overcome opposition produce a continuous increase in their spiritual character?

These questions must remain largely unanswered. We know little about the spiritual growth of the Father and the Son. But I intuitively imagine they must be experiencing constant growth. What a dismal prospect eternity would be if we were to reach some type of plateau and just remained there forever without growing. Just how the Father and Son are growing, or in what areas, we do not know. As to the question of ongoing opposition in their lives, we also know nothing. It would not be surprising to me, however, to learn that the Father and the Son do face opposition. I believe it likely that their spiritual character is ever growing as a result of their constantly overcoming opposition and adversity. I feel it unlikely they live a life of ease. I would rather predict that their lives are ones of grand and exciting challenges.

#Faith as Power—The Third Type of Faith

Please consider carefully the following scriptural passage and determine how you might define the word faith when it is used here. When Jesus’s disciples came to him and inquired as to why they had been unable to help a man possessed of an evil spirit, he explained to them it was: “Because of your unbelief: for verily I say unto you, if ye have faith as a grain of mustard seed, ye shall say unto this mountain, remove hence to yonder place; and it shall remove; and nothing shall be impossible unto you” (Matthew 17:20).

Obviously the Lord used hyperbole in his reference to the “mustard seed” and in his reference to moving “this mountain.” But the scriptural promise to be able to move mountains is apparently not a mere rhetorical expression. Rather, it is a promise capable of literal fulfillment. By faith both Enoch and the Brother of Jared literally removed mountains. In Moses’s account of the prophet Enoch, Moses wrote: “And so great was the faith of Enoch that . . . the earth trembled, and the mountains fled, even according to his command” (Moses 7:13). The prophet Ether wrote: “For the brother of Jared said unto the mountain Zerin, Remove—and it was removed. And if he had not had faith it would not have moved” (Ether 12:30).

What are we to learn from these passages about faith? Just what exact form of faith allowed Enoch and the brother of Jared to work these miracles? Did they utilize their own faith? Did the Lord let them borrow his faith? Did they use deliberate faith? Revealed faith?

We have defined faith as the character to deliberately obey and as the set of revealed gifts of the Spirit each of us has acquired. It is made clear in the scriptures that faith is also personal power. Apparently, this power comes from the combined, cumulative effects of many revealed gifts of the Spirit. We may regard the faith itself as a gift of the Spirit. The prophet Mormon reported, “And Christ hath said: If ye will have faith in me ye shall have power to do whatsoever thing is expedient in me” (Moroni 7:33).

It is important to understand that personal power, the same power that God possesses, is not coercive power. In God’s plan, there is no such thing as personal power to force another to do anything against his will. In righteousness, no man can coerce another man, indeed any other intelligence, to do anything against his will. He can only earn the respect of another and then make a request. Then the other will obey, and the man thereby has power. The essence of his power lies in the honor and

esteem in which he is held by others.

The acquisition of this type of faith, this power, is based on obedience to eternal principles and the noble god-like stature accorded the recipient of many gifts of the Spirit. He comes to be respected and esteemed by other intelligences. They revere him for the type of individual he has become. They come eventually to honor him and accept his counsel. They obey him. This is perhaps the basis of the non-coercive personal power that goes by the name of “faith”—faith as power.

Enoch and the brother of Jared did not force the dramatic changes in the mountains and rivers of their time. Rather, they made a request of the intelligences embodied by those mountains and rivers, and they were obeyed.

This faith is the power by which God operates. It is the power by which the worlds have been created. It is the power by which all things exist. Joseph Smith taught that faith is “the principle by which Jehovah works, and through which he exercises power over all temporal as well as eternal things” (Lectures on Faith, 1:16).

Elder Bruce R. McConkie wrote, “Faith is the power of God himself” (A New Witness for the Articles of Faith, 209).

What is the relationship of this personal power to the priesthood? For those providing administrative leadership in his earthly kingdom, the Lord allows a special blessing. He allows them, based on their worthiness and diligence, to borrow and utilize his powers for use in his kingdom of God. His authorization to borrow his power is the priesthood. On the other hand, faith as power consists of each individual’s own personal powers which spring from their cumulative revealed faith. It is not borrowed power. This power is the personal possession of each individual. One’s power varies from that of all other men and women according to one’s obedience and spiritual gifts.

Joseph Smith taught that because of Joshua’s faith, he (Joshua 10:12) was able, in the sight of all Israel, to command the sun and moon to stand still (Lectures on Faith, 1:21-23). Examples of the personal power we call faith may also be seen in the Book of Mormon. Consider Lehi’s powerful preaching to his rebellious sons, causing their frames “to shake before him” (1 Nephi 2:14). The story of Nephi’s being bound with cords by his brothers is also interesting to consider. Nephi and his brothers were returning from Jerusalem to the valley of Lemuel, having recruited Ishmael and his family. Nephi’s brothers became angry with him. They tied him, intending to leave him “in the wilderness to be devoured by wild beasts.” Nephi petitioned the Lord for strength to burst the cords, justifying his request, “according to [his] faith.” He was, of course, granted his freedom (1 Nephi 7:16-18). It is not clear here whether the Lord utilized his own power to free Nephi or Nephi used his own personal power, but Nephi may well have used his own. Other notable examples of personal power in the Book of Mormon may be found (see, for example, 1 Nephi 17:48-55; 1 Nephi 18:14-21; Alma 14:25-28; and Helaman 5:40-45).

#The First Principle of the Gospel—Is It Deliberate Faith or Revealed Faith?

Our primary focus in the Church is the man Jesus Christ. Well did Nephi write, “We talk of Christ, we rejoice in Christ, we preach of Christ, we prophesy of Christ, and we write according to our prophecies, that our children may know to what source they may look for a remission of their sins” (2 Nephi 25:26). We pattern our life after him. He is our exemplar. He is the Lord of our lives.

The first principle of the gospel is, of course, faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. Article of Faith 4 reads, “We believe that the first principles and ordinances of the Gospel are: first, Faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. . . .” Let us consider an interesting question: What precisely is the first principle of the gospel? Is it deliberate faith in the Lord Jesus Christ or revealed faith in the Lord Jesus Christ?

We begin the process of acquiring faith in the Lord Jesus Christ by deliberately committing ourselves to his gospel and commandments. We “experiment upon” his words through study, prayer, fasting, and diligent obedience. We submit our will to his.

In this labor, we strive to understand him and his atoning death. This is the process of exercising our deliberate faith in him. This is basic. This is surely part of the first principle of the gospel.

As we exercise our deliberate faith in the Lord Jesus Christ through our deliberate obedience to his commands, a sacred and profound change comes over us. We become more like him. At the same time, he actually begins to reveal himself to us. Through personal revelation, we eventually come to know him and enjoy a deeply personal, intimate relationship with him. We no longer regard him only as a God or a noble character in the scriptures. He is not far removed from us, out of our reach, or hopelessly well above us. Rather, he becomes our personal, intimate friend and confidant. We lose all doubt that he lives and loves us. This relationship can only come to us by personal revelation. It is a gift of the Spirit of God. You cannot truly know the Savior without personal revelation from the Spirit of God. This is the revealed gift of faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. It is also a testimony of the Lord Jesus Christ.5 Surely this is also part of the first principle of the gospel.

As we consider the blessed privilege of receiving a revealed witness of Jesus, we should turn the question of King Benjamin into an exclamation: “How knoweth a man the master whom he has served!” (adapted from Mosiah 5:13). This supernal gift of the Spirit is sufficiently important that John the Revelator said of it, “And this is life eternal, that they might know thee the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom thou hast sent” (John 17:3).

So, let us ask the question again. What exactly is the first principle of the gospel? Is it deliberate faith, or revealed faith? Is it the character to obey the Savior’s commandments when our spiritual knowledge is still lacking? Or, is it our revealed shared attributes and personal relationship with him? Surely it is both.

#Fun with the Scriptures

Now that you are aware of the various usages of the word faith—the three different types of faith—in the scripture, let us consider a few specific verses. As you read each verse, ask yourself what type of faith is being referred to in each. I will venture a speculative opinion after each passage, but your ideas are as good as mine.

Hebrews 11:6, referring to God: “But without faith it is impossible to please him.” Probably both types of faith. Why is it impossible to please God if an individual has no faith? Because God yearns for the individual to return home, and without faith— without spiritual growth—it is impossible to do so. One might argue that since the process begins with deliberate faith, perhaps the former is more likely to be applicable here.

Hebrews 11:17: “By faith Abraham, when he was tried, offered up Isaac: and he that had received the promises offered up his only begotten son.”

Deliberate faith.

1 Nephi 1:20. In this verse, Nephi is writing about his father Lehi: “And when the Jews heard these things they were angry with him; yea, even as with the prophets of old, whom they had cast out, and stoned, and slain; and they also sought his life, that they might take it away. But behold, I, Nephi, will show unto you that the tender mercies of the Lord are over all those whom he hath chosen, because of their faith, to make them mighty even unto the power of deliverance.”

Faith as power.

1 Nephi 2:19: “And it came to pass that the Lord spake unto me, saying: Blessed art thou, Nephi, because of thy faith, for thou hast sought me diligently, with lowliness of heart.”

Deliberate faith.

2 Nephi 33:7. Nephi says of himself late in his ministry: “I have charity for my people, and great faith in Christ that I will meet many souls spotless at his judgmentseat.”

Revealed faith—revealed faith in the Lord Jesus Christ

Jacob 4:6. The prophet Jacob writes: “Wherefore, we search the prophets, and we have many revelations and the spirit of prophecy; and having all these witnesses we obtain a hope, and our faith becometh unshaken, insomuch that we truly can command in the name of Jesus and the very trees obey us, or the mountains, or the waves of the sea.”

Revealed faith with an allusion to faith as power.

Jacob 4:11: “Wherefore, beloved brethren, be reconciled unto him through the atonement of Christ, his Only Begotten Son, and ye may obtain a resurrection, according to the power of the resurrection which is in Christ, and be presented as the first-fruits of Christ unto God, having faith, and obtained a good hope of glory in him before he manifesteth himself in the flesh.”

Revealed faith.

Moroni 12:6. The prophet Moroni wrote: “Dispute not because ye see not, for ye receive no witness until after the trial of your faith.”

The circumstances of mortality will try both our deliberate and our revealed faith. Adversities will surely “shake” our faith.

Enos 1:12. After Enos had prayed to the Lord all day and all night: “And it came to pass that after I had prayed and labored with all diligence, the Lord said unto me: I will grant unto thee according to thy desires, because of thy faith.”

Deliberate faith.

Mosiah 8:18: “Thus God has provided a means that man, through faith, might work mighty miracles; therefore he becometh a great benefit to his fellow beings.”

Faith as power.

Mosiah 24:16. The Lord said to the people of the senior Alma in the wilderness: “And it came to pass that so great was their faith and their patience that the voice of the

Lord came unto them again, saying: Be of good comfort, for on the morrow I will deliver you out of bondage.”

Revealed faith, or perhaps both.

#The Fruits of Faith

Revealed faith is the sum total of the gifts of the Spirit possessed by an individual who, by his obedience, has qualified to receive those gifts. This faith is simply the most valuable possession an individual may receive during his spiritual progression. A man’s faith is his spiritual progress. As a man acquires revealed faith, his heart is changed. He becomes a new person; he becomes more like God.

The spiritual gifts possessed by a man may also be referred as the “fruits” of his faith. They are the beautiful, blessed, delicious, and spiritually nutritious product—the fruits—of his manifesting deliberate faith.

In perhaps a slightly more restricted context the “fruits” of a man’s faith are referred to as the great blessings that flow to the particularly diligent individual who acquires and retains many gifts of the Spirit—great faith. In this context, the fruits of faith are the loftiest and most sublime of all the gifts of the Spirit. The possessor of all these “fruits” is well along the path toward exaltation. Examples include revelations, miracles, visions, changing of hearts, manifestations of angels, redemption, and eventually exaltation. Those spiritual gifts most often mentioned in the context of the fruits of faith include:

Miracles. Only through deliberate and revealed faith can miracles occur. The Lord is able to do all things according to his will for the children of men, if they exercise faith in him. Miracles are not given to unbelievers in order to produce faith. Rather, they are provided by the Lord to believers as a reward for their faith (Ether 12:12).

Hope and charity. Hope and charity are two gifts of the Spirit which can only be bestowed when they are “added upon” the individual who has already attained the gifts of the Spirit to a considerable degree. They are simply two more spiritual gifts that may be received by the already spiritually accomplished individual.

It is clear that our eventual exaltation is contingent upon our receiving in sequence the gifts of much faith, including hope and charity. The prophet Moroni testified: “Wherefore there must be faith and if there must be faith there must also be hope; and if there must be hope there must also be charity. And except ye have charity ye can in no wise be saved in the kingdom of God, neither can ye be saved in the kingdom of God if ye have not faith, and neither can ye if ye have no hope” (Moroni 10:20-21, italics added).

The apostle Paul taught that of the gifts of faith, hope, and charity, the greatest is charity: “And now abideth faith, hope, charity, these three; but the greatest of these is charity” (1 Corinthians 13:13). It seems likely that charity is “the greatest” in the sense that an individual with the gift of charity has usually attained a more advanced state of spiritual development than those without charity. This important gift is one given as an increment added upon the already great faith (revealed faith) of a devout and diligent believer. Charity may not be “greater” in an absolute sense, though it is certainly one of the most important gifts of the Spirit.

It is clear that the gifts of hope and charity are given by the Spirit only to those who are worthy. They are sequential stages in our spiritual progression and are essential incremental acquisitions if a man is to be exalted.6

And what is the ultimate implication of the acquisition of faith in all of its forms? An individual who persists in his righteous pursuit of faith will eventually come to know all that God knows. He will possess all that God possesses including the same powers God commands. He will have earned “faith unto salvation” (1 Peter 1:5). He will live forever with God. He will be exalted and eventually become as God is.

See chapter 15, The Concept of Light.

2 We discussed the matter of secular learning with and without the influence of the Spirit of God in “Acquiring Secular Knowledge with and without the Help of the Spirit” in chapter 1, Truth and Knowledge.

3 We will discuss this matter further in chapter 14, The Power of God.

For additional commentary on “Testimony of the Lord Jesus Christ” see our previous discussion of that topic in chapter 8, The Blessings of Spiritual Gifts.

5 What exactly is hope and what is charity? Are they related to one another, and if so, how? How are they acquired? For a discussion of the important gift of hope, see “Two Little-Appreciated Gifts of the Spirit” in chapter 10, Deliberate Faith and Revealed Faith. The doctrine of charity will be discussed in some detail in a future volume.