I found this paper that I wrote at BYU, and thought I should share... One of the doctrines that I am most thankful to know about is the Nature of God and our potential to become like him. It is misunderstood or often not understood at all. I did a lot of research on this at a time in my life where I was one who was confused by the conflicting doctrines that different Christian religions offer.
Today there is much debate in the Christian world over the nature of God. Some gospel scholars say that God the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost are all one being. Others claim that Jesus Christ embodies the Father and that the Holy Ghost is a separate spirit. It is not surprising that one of Satan's main tactics is to attack a person's very perception of God for if we don't know Him, how can we realize our potential to become like Him? As a member of the true church, I know, nothing doubting, that the God head is constituted by three different beings, each completely unified in purpose.
Many would argue that this directly contradicts scriptures in the Bible, and even scriptures in our own Book of Mormon. John 10:30 says, "I and my Father are one." In Mosiah 15:4 it reads, "And they are one God, yea, the very Eternal Father of heaven and of earth." The scriptures are full of passages that claim that God the Father and Jesus Christ are one. How can we explain this seemingly contradiction of our beliefs?
It is necessary to understand the roles of Jesus CHrist to understand the nature of God. Jesus Christ is in fact our Father -- when we are baptized, we are spiritually born of him, and "[we] shall be called the children of Christ, His sons, and His daughterss." (Mosiah 5:7) Jesus Christ is also the Son, and in this way, He is the advocate between us and our Heavenly Father. When we stand in our imperfection to be judged, He will plead our case before the Father, if we will only utilize the atonement here. Jesus Christ really is, ultimately, the Father and the Son.
Elder Jeffery R. HOlland said, "One of the first and foremost articles of faith in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints says, "We believe in God the Eternal Father, and in His son, Jesus Christ, and in the HOly Ghost." We believe these three divine beings, constituting a single godhead are united in purpose, manner, testimony and mission. We believe them to be filled the same godly sense of mercy and love, justice and grace, patience, forgieness, and redemption. I think it is accurate to say we beleie they are one in every significant and eternal aspect imaginable, except believing them to be three persons combined in one substance, a Trinitarian notion not set forth in the scriptures, because it is not true."
The Father, Son, and Holy Ghost are one in that they are completely unified in purpose and mission. In Genesis 2:24 it says, "Therefore shall a man leave his father and his mother and he shall cleave unto his wife: and they shall be one flesh." This scripture refers to a man and wife being completely unified in mission and purpose; it doesn't literally mean that they become one body, with one dwelling inside the other. If this scripture isn't literal, perhaps all scriptures may not be literal. All the passages of scripture that suggest that the Godhead is one may ust as well mean that they are one in purpose and mission, not one in body.
Luckily, we are not left to wonder what the scriptures mean; we have prophets of God who have the authority to interpret for us the "mysteries of God." (D&C 10:64). In Doctrine and Covenants 130:22 it reads, "The Father has a body of flesh and bones as tangible as a man's; the son also; but the Holy Ghost has not a body of flesh and bones, but is a personage of Spirit. Were it not so, the Holy Ghost could not dwell in us." This coupled with Joseph Smith's first vision makes the nature of God a fundamental doctrine of the LDS church that cannot be misconstrued in any way. In Joseph Smith History 1:17 it reads, "I saw two personages, whose brightness and glory defy all description, standing above me in the air. One of them spake unto me, calling me by name, and said, pointing to the other - This is my beloved Son. Hear Him!"
From modern day revelation, the testimony of Joseph Smith, and our perception of the roles of Jesus Christ, we can understand the nature of the Godhead. With this knowledge we can understand more fully what we have the potential to become and who we can rely on as the source of our salvation.
