Doctrines and Principles for Our Lives

There is so much to learn in section 19 of the Doctrine and Covenants. Doctrines and principles contained in this section are of great importance to our salvation. It was specifically for Martin Harris but we can apply much of it to ourselves. An important message contained in this revelation is that God is in the details of our lives. He knows us and He loves us.

Jesus is All We Need

Doctrine and Covenants 19:1, reads, “I am Alpha and Omega, Christ the Lord; yea, even I am he, the beginning and the end, the Redeemer of the world.”

Jesus is the beginning and the end. We start with Him and we end with Him. That’s all we need . We just need Jesus.

He began the work and He finished the work. While we do live in this mortal world, we don’t need anything “of the world” because all the “things” of this world are temporary. Jesus offers us what is permanent. If we will turn to Him and trust Him, that is all we truly need. He will show us the way back to our Father.

In 19:3, we learn that Jesus has all power. Satan does not have more power than Jesus Christ. During the millennium, Satan will be bound and he will not be able to deceive, tempt, or destroy anyone.

Thankfully, we do not have to wait until the millennium to bind the adversary. We can begin to bind him today. Even right now. To the extent that we are trying to keep the commandments of God, we remove power from the devil. The more we commit ourselves to obeying the commandments and using the atonement of Jesus Christ to repent and change, the less power Satan will have to tempt or mislead us. As we turn to Jesus and use His power, we can overcome anything Satan may throw at us.

We Do Not Need to Suffer

Further study of section 19 teaches us that if we will turn to Jesus and repent, we will not need to suffer needlessly. If we will use the atonement of Jesus Christ and lay our sins at His feet, we will not have to pay the price for those sins. The Savior has already paid the price, so we don’t need to.

If we choose not to repent, then we are left to ourselves and will have to pay for each and every sin we have committed. We will have to suffer even as Jesus suffered–trembling because of the pain, bleeding from every pore, and suffering both body and spirit.

16 For behold, I, God, have suffered these things for all, that they might not suffer if they would repent;

17 But if they would not repent they must suffer even as I;

18 Which suffering caused myself, even God, the greatest of all, to tremble because of pain, and to bleed at every pore, and to suffer both body and spirit—and would that I might not drink the bitter cup, and shrink—

The answer is to repent and use the power of the atonement of Jesus Christ so we don’t have to experience that kind of suffering.

Repentance is Change

Sometimes, the word repentance provokes a heavy, frightening, or distraught feeling. Repentance may make us feel like we are in “trouble.” We may want to do all we can to avoid having to repent, including pretending we don’t need to.

But repentance shouldn’t feel heavy or impossible. In fact, repentance should feel like a blessing, because it is. Repentance simply means change. We are trying to change. We are trying to become someone different. We are trying to shed our “natural” being in favor of our spiritual self.

The Lord commands us to repent. He wants us to change. He wants us to learn as we go through mortality to become like Him. Since Jesus Christ was the only sinless being, He is our best example of who to become.

It is not impossible to change. It is not impossible to repent. We may have made some choices that make repentance long, hard, and even painful, but not impossible.

Becoming perfected in Jesus Christ is a process that takes time and effort and growing pains. When we repent, we use the atonement of Jesus Christ and avoid unnecessary suffering.

God Knows Us

One of the important messages in Doctrine and Covenants 19 is that God knows us individually. He knows our thoughts, our hearts, and our weaknesses.

Martin Harris was asked to mortgage his farm to pay for the publication of the Book of Mormon. He had a beautiful farm that took years to build. He’d worked hard to make his farm successful and here was the Lord asking him to risk it.

Martin was asked not only to risk his financial well-being but also his reputation with his family and friends. The Lord knew Martin so well and He gave him some very specific commandments, including not to covet his own property, to pray vocally in public as well as in secret, to declare glad tidings among all the people he would see, to be humble, to trust in God, not to revile against revilers, and to teach the plain and precious truths of the gospel of Jesus Christ.

The Lord knew Martin intimately and He knows each one of us, too. He knows our strengths and our weaknesses. He knows the desires of our hearts. He knows our thoughts and our intentions. He knows our feelings. He knows who we want to become.

If we will turn to Him with full purpose of heart and trust Him, He will teach us all we need to know. He will show us our weaknesses (Ether 12:27) so we can overcome them and make them strengths. He will show us our talents and how to use them to bless the lives of others. He will help us and guide us to make decisions that will ultimately someday bring us back home to Him.

Pray Always

In verse 38, it says, “Pray always, and I will pour out my Spirit upon you, and great shall be your blessing—yea, even more than if you should obtain treasures of earth and corruptibleness to the extent thereof.”

If we make it a consistent practice to pray, the Lord will pour out His spirit upon us. Our blessings will be greater than the treasures of the earth. With His spirit, we will be able to overcome temptation and the deceptions of the adversary and find our way back to Heavenly Father.

“Verily, verily, I say unto you, ye must watch and pray always, lest ye be tempted by the devil, and ye be led away captive by him” (3 Nephi 18:15).

If we are praying always or, in other words, are keeping our thoughts focused on the Lord, we will have strength to combat Satan and his temptations. Keeping the Lord foremost in our heart and in our mind helps us to keep our baptismal covenants and stay true to Him.

Endless and Eternal

When we read about endless or eternal punishment we may think that means punishment that will last forever.

“10 For, behold, the mystery of godliness, how great is it! For, behold, I am endless, and the punishment which is given from my hand is endless punishment, for Endless is my name. Wherefore—

11 Eternal punishment is God’s punishment.

12 Endless punishment is God’s punishment.

We learn from these verses that endless or eternal punishment is God’s punishment. It does not mean punishment that lasts forever and has no end. It will be punishment that God decides. It is His punishment because Endless and Eternal are His names.

Important Doctrine and Principles

Doctrine and Covenants 19 is filled with important doctrines, such as the atonement of Jesus Christ, and principles that will bring us peace in this life and teach us what we need to do to be able to someday return to Heavenly Father.

This revelation, most likely received in summer 1829, was directed at Martin Harris but has applications for all of us. A careful reading and further study will teach us valuable doctrines and principles as well as insights about what we indivdually need to be doing.