Doctrine and Covenants Commentary - Section 93

by Don R. Hender

Scriptural Text [& Editorial]
Commentary & Explanation
Footnotes ~ References ~ JST
           SECTION 93

Revelation given through Joseph Smith the Prophet, at Kirtland, Ohio, May 6, 1833. HC 1:343-346.

    1—5, All who are faithful shall see the Lord;
    6—18 John bore record that the Son of God went from grace to grace until he received a fulness of the glory of the Father;
    19-20, Faithful men, going from grace to grace, shall also receive of his fulness;
    21—:22, Those sho are begotten through Christ are the Church of the Firstborn;
    23—28, Christ received a fulness of all truth, and man by obedience may do likewise; 29—32, Man was in the beginning with God;
    33—35, The elements are eternal, and man may receive a fulness of joy in the resurrection;
    36—37, The glory of God is intelligence;
    38—40, Children are innocent before God because of the redemption of Christ;
    41—53, The leading brethern are commanded to set their families in order.
1 VERILY, thus saith the Lord: It shall come to pass that every soul who aforsaketh his bsins and cometh unto me, and ccalleth on my name, and dobeyeth my voice, and keepeth my commandments, shall esee my fface and gknow that I am;

2 And that I am the true alight that lighteth every man that cometh into the world;

5 Steps to God 
At a Christmas gathering, Elder Spencer Kimball recited D&C section 93 verse 1. He pointed out in the verese 5 steps of coming unto God.

1) Forsaketh Sin (Repent)
2) Come unto Christ (Have faith, believe in Christ)
3) Call on Christ's name (Prayer)
4) Obey God's voice (Live by the spirit)
5) Keep God's commandments (Obey God's commandments)

The verse promises that they who do this shall see Christ's face and be given to know that He Is.

3 And that I am ain the Father, and the Father in me, and the Father and I are one—
4 The Father abecause he bgave me of his fulness, and the Son because I was in the world and made cflesh my dtabernacle, and dwelt among the sons of men.
5 And I was in the world and received of my Father, and the aworks of him were plainly manifest.

6 And aJohn saw and bore record of the fulness of my bglory, and the fulness of cJohn's record is hereafter to be revealed.
7 And he bore record, saying: I saw his glory, that he was in the abeginning, before the world was;

8 Therefore, in the beginning the aWord was, for he was the Word, even the messenger of salvationa—
9 The alight and the Redeemer of the world; the Spirit of truth, who came into the world, because the world was made by him, and in him was the life of men and the light of men.
10 The worlds were amade by him; men were made by him; all things were made by him, and through him, and of him.

11 And I, John abear record that I beheld his bglory, as the glory of the Only Begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth, even the Spirit of truth, which came and dwelt in the flesh, and dwelt among us.
12 And I, John saw that he received not of the afulness at first, but received bgrace for gracea;
13 And he received not of the fulness at first, but continued from agrace to grace, until he received a fulness;
14 And thus he was called the aSon of God, because he received not of the fulness at the first.

Concerning this Life Only 
When it speaks that the Christ Child did not receive a fulness at first, it is speaking concerning this mortality only. For this is the same so is Jehovah, the Father of the Creation of Heaven and Earth who had in that respect, already receive the fulness of the power and glory of the Father in the premortal realm. Yet like all, when he came into this temporal estate, he do grew and developed in respect to this mortality as did all who entered therein, developing from grace to grace until he grew into the fulness of that stature of God among us in mortality.

The prophet Nephit was once asked, 'Knowest thou the condescension of God?' (1 Nephi 11:16) That God was Jehovah who is the God of Creation of the Heaven and the Worlds of this 'second estate'. He is the same as Jesus Christ. Understanding the 'Condescension of God' speaks of the status of Jehovah being that God appoint over us by the anointing of the Father from the beginning before the foundation of the world prior to the creation of the heavens and the worlds without number.

 12a he received not the fulness at first, but received grace for grace Care ought be taken that one does not diminish the greatness and diety of Jehovah due to his condescension. Jesus Christ is he who created the heavens and the earths of this second estate. He is the Father of that Creation from before the foundation of the world. Though he was but a spirit being, he did all, creating all things and is in all things of this second estate from its beginning. Now it is true that like us all, he too did need to condecend to the fall, he needed to come into mortality just as any of so did to obtain his body and gain this experience. How great some of us must have also been in that premortal realm also. But once he came to earth, assumed this mortality and took upon himself the flesh, he too did begin as all do so begin. And this is what John speaks of. Not that Christ was not Jehovah, not that Christ was not God, our God of the Old Testament, but that in his 'fall', in his condescension, he too began as a babe, with the vail drawn and thus like us all, he too received not of his fulness at first when he was a child. But like unto us, he too received grace for grace and he too progressed in his understanding according to the development of man in the flesh. This did not diminish his Godhood, but it was in the fulfillment of it. He it was who was the Father of all Creation, the Father of Heaven and Earth. As its creator he was also he upon whom the Father set the responsibility for its redemption. What he created he did redeem. Only they who pertain unto this creation do minister unto it (D&C 130:5). It required that one from among us be so endowed from the beginning with the fulness of the power of the Father to thus effect the creation, the administration and the ministration to and of this second estate. It is this estate that is for the purpose for the spirit children of the Father to come and work out their eternal salvation. The Father could not do it for in the law of eternal progression he had progressed beyond it, he being already exalted, a glorified celestial being of flesh and bone housed spirit unto eternal glory. He would not, he could not devolve back to the estate of this temporal mortality which this second estate is. He stood in advance of it. Only could he select one from among his spirit children to assume the responsibility of its creation and redemption. And this He did by selecting His Firstborn Son in the Spirit, who was Jehovah who is the same as Jesus Christ.
15 And I, aJohn, bear record, and lo, the heavens were opened, and the Holy Ghost descended upon him in the form of a dove, and sat upon him, and there came a voice out of heaven saying: This is my bbeloved Son.
16 And I, John, bear record that he received a fulness of the glory of the Father;
17 And he received aall bpower, both in heaven and on earth, and the glory of the Father was with him, for he dwelt in him.
18 And it shall come to pass, that if you are faithful you shall receive the afulness of the record of John.

19 I give unto you these sayings that you may understand and know how to worship, and aknow what you worship, that you may come unto the Father in my name, and in due time receive of his fulness.
20 For if you keep my acommandments you shall receive of his bfulness, and be cglorified in me as I am in the Father; therefore, I say unto you, you shall receive dgrace for grace.
21 And now, verily I say unto you, I was in the abeginning with the Father, and am the bFirstborna;
22 And all those who are begotten through me are apartakers of the bglory of the same, and are the cchurch of the Firstborn.

 21a I was in the beginning with the Father, and am the Firstborn Christ states of himself that he is the Firstborn of the Father meaning that he was the first born spirit son of God the Father, our elder brother in all respects from the beginning. He had been with the Father long before any of the rest of us. He is the true heir of the kingdom of the Father and through Him we may also inherit that kingdom and that glory. This statement corresponds to that which the apostle John so states at the beginning of his gospel where he states, 'In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. The same was in the beginning with God." ~ John 1:1
This tesimony of who Jesus Christ is was had in the early Christian church and as late as the Ecclesiatical History of Eusebius in 325 A.D. it was still spoken of. (Ecclesiastical History, Book 1, Chapter 2 paragraph 2, Bishop Eusebius of Ceasarea) Though the divergent apostate traditions of Christianity have muddled this clear understanding of who Jesus Christ was from the beginning, giving their own creative philosophical and intellectual interpretations, we know that it is so simple, clear and true from the very Word and mouth of the Lord himself here in the Doctrine and Covenants.
23 Ye were also in the beginning with the Father; that which is aSpirit, even the Spirit of truth;
24 And atruth is bknowledge of things as they are, and as they were, and as they are to come;
25 And whatsoever is amore or less than this is the spirit of that wicked one who was a bliar from the beginning.

26 The Spirit of atruth is of God. I am the Spirit of truth, and John bore record of me, saying: He breceived a fulness of truth, yea, even of all truth;
27 And no man receiveth a afulness unless he keepeth his commandments.
28 He that akeepeth his commandments receiveth btruth and clight, until he is glorified in truth and dknoweth all things.

29 Man was also in the abeginning with God. bIntelligence, or the clight of dtruth, was not ecreated or made, neither indeed can be.
30 All truth is independent in that asphere in which God has placed it, to bact for itself, as all intelligence also; otherwise there is no existence.

31 Behold, here is the aagency of man, and here is the condemnation of man; because that which was from the beginning is bplainly manifest unto them, and they receive not the light.
32 And every man whose spirit receiveth not the alight is under condemnation.
33 For man is aspirit. The elements are beternal, and cspirit and element, inseparably connected, receive a fulness of joy;
34 And when aseparated, man cannot receive a fullness of joy;
35 The aelements are the btabernacle of God; yea, man is the tabernacle of God, even ctemples; and whatsoever temple is ddefiled, God shall destroy that temple.

36 The aglory of God is bintelligence, or, in other words, clight and truth.
37 Light and truth forsake that aevil one.

38 Every aspirit of man was binnocent in the beginning; and God having credeemed man from the dfall, men became again, in their infant state, einnocent before God.
39 And that awicked one cometh and btaketh away light and truth, through cdisobedience, from the children of men, and because of the dtradition of their fathers.
40 But I have commanded you to bring up your achildren in blight and truth.

41 But verily I say unto you, my servant Frederick G. Williams, you have continued under this condemnation;
42 You have not ataught your children light and truth, according to the commandments; and that wicked one hath power, as yet, over you, and this is the cause of your baffliction.
43 And now a commandment I give unto you—if you will be delivered you shall set in aorder your own house, for there are many things that are not right in your house.

44 Verily, I say unto my servant Sidney Rigdon, that in some things he hath not kept the commandments concerning his children; therefore, first set in order thy house.
45 Verily, I say unto my servant Joseph Smith, Jun., or in other words, I will call you afriends, for you are my friends, and ye shall have an inheritance with me—
46 And I called you aservants for the world's sake, and ye are their servants for my sake—

47 And now, verily I say unto Joseph Smith, Jun.—You have not kept the commandments, and must needs stand arebuked before the Lord;
48 Your afamily must needs repent and forsake some things, and give more earnest heed unto your sayings, or be removed out of their place.
49 What I say unto one I say unto all; apray always lest that wicked one have power in you, and remove you out of your place.

50 My servant Newel K. Whitney also, a bishop of my church, hath need to be achastened, and set in border his family, and see that they are more cdiligent and concerned at home, and pray always, or they shall be removed out of their dplace.
51 Now, I say unto you, my friends, let my servant Sidney Rigdon go on his journey, and make haste, and also proclaim the aacceptable year of the Lord, and the bgospel of salvation, as I shall give him utterance; and by your prayer of faith with one consent I will uphold him.

52 And let my servants Joseph Smith, Jun., and Frederick G. Williams make haste also, and it shall be given them even according to the prayer of faith; and inasmuch as you keep my sayings you shall not be confounded in this world, nor in the world to come.
53 And, verily I say unto you, that is is my will that you should ahasten to btranslate my scriptures, and to cobtain a dknowledge of history, and of countries, and of kingdoms, of elaws of God and man, and all this for the salvation of Zion. Amen.