Introduction

The purpose of this book

The apostle Paul often spoke of knowledge of the Lord as a mystery.¹ Why is the character of God not widely known and so infrequently lived, even among Christians? Perhaps the answer to both questions lies in the true motives of many of those who practice Christianity. How many people seek Jesus in order to better learn and live his will, and how many are merely seeking for ways to inject his power and peace into what they want instead? How many people are seeking Jesus to find better ways of being, and how many are merely seeking for a way to feel better about how they already are? It is hard to find God when you are searching for something else.

The purpose of this book is to provide powerful truths that enable you to learn more about Jesus and become more like him than you otherwise could. There is no topic of greater importance in the gospel of Jesus Christ than the character of Christ. The content of the Lord’s character defines the nature of God, the means of salvation, the quality of eternal life, the power of God, and the reasons why all people should seek to become as he is. The purpose of creation is to provide a means for each person to perceive, value, acquire, and share more of God’s attributes. The acquisition of the attributes of God is the key to greater and longer-lasting joy in and after this life. You learn more about God as you live up to what you already know.

If you are already religious, the arguments and scriptures presented in this book will help you see the limits of your present beliefs and offer more effective alternatives in your quest to draw nearer to God. If you are not yet religious, you will find the description of the gospel as provided in this book to make a lot more sense than the versions you have heard before. In any case, this book will empower you to radically increase the progress you can make towards greater and longer-lasting joy in your life through augmenting your ability to learn about and live like Jesus.

Chapter summaries

Chapter One introduces the gospel as a process of learning about and becoming more like God, framing this process as living up to what you know about Jesus in order to learn more about him.

Chapter Two makes the case that everything good comes from becoming more like God, and that the more like him you become, the greater your joy, peace, and power will be.

Chapter Three explains salvation and eternal life, showing that both are obtained through learning about and living like Jesus Christ.

Chapter Four presents the power of God as a function of learning about and living like Jesus, describing how God’s power and authority come from his character and can’t exist outside of his purpose.

Chapter Five describes how Jesus learned what the Father was like during his life and presents that process as the example we are to follow. Chapter Six defines justification and sanctification, explaining justification as the decision to submit fully to God as you presently understand him, and sanctification as the process of learning more about Jesus while remaining reconciled to him.

Chapter Seven frames God’s commandments as instructions for building a model of his character and following it in your own life.

Chapter Eight makes the case that you can actually live up to your understanding of how Jesus is, and that you must do so in order to receive forgiveness of your sins and enjoy freedom from guilt.

Chapter Nine presents the definition of submission to God, showing how rare it is to find a Christian who has actually fully adopted the purpose of God.

Chapter Ten delineates what you must do to be born again, what it consists of, and why it is desirable.

Chapter Eleven presents the qualifications for, purpose of, source of, and effects of baptism.

Chapter Twelve makes the case that you know less about God than you think, that you can know much more, and why you should strive to do so.

Chapter Thirteen describes a list of significant barriers that prevent you from learning more about God and what you can do to overcome them.

Chapter Fourteen explores the need to update, extend, and correct your model of the character of Jesus Christ as you learn more about him.

Chapter Fifteen analyzes the important distinction between commandments in the form of rules, principles, and character, making the case that you cannot really know the Lord until you know and live his character.

Chapter Sixteen shows the difference in conditions and outcomes between the different relationships God has with his servants, friends, and sons.

Chapter Seventeen explores the scriptural idioms of the face and presence of God as metaphors for teaching the importance and process of adopting his purpose.

Chapter Eighteen defines the scriptural idiom of “the words of eternal life” so as to show why they should be sought for, where they are found, and how they are obtained.

Chapter Nineteen elucidates how names and titles work in God’s kingdom, what the name of Christ is, how you take it upon yourself, and why you should.

Chapter Twenty extends application of the idea of the name of Christ by defining the scriptural idioms that use it, including “calling upon the name of God,” “swearing by the name of God,” and “believing on the name of God.”

Chapter Twenty One lists some of the many scriptural metaphors of justification and sanctification as horizontal and vertical objects, including the two pieces of the cross, the judgment bar of God, the rod of iron, and the carrying bars of the Ark of the Covenant.

Chapter Twenty Two explores the scriptural metaphor of clothing as an application of the themes of justification and sanctification.

On cited sources

Along with verses from the Bible, this book cites from other sources which are not universally accepted as scripture by all Christians. It is acknowledged that these verses will not be recognized as authoritative by most. It is hoped, however, that their use will support the fact that these ideas were not plucked out of thin air, and that the reader will open-mindedly consider their content even if they are unfamiliar with or unconvinced by their source.

For those curious about the sources cited, brief summaries are listed below.

The Book of Mormon is a record of several peoples led from the Old World to the Americas in ancient times. The book records God’s dealings with them from 2200 BC to 421 AD, at which time their record was buried by the commandment of God in order to protect it during an all-encompassing civil war destroying their society. In 1827, God directed a man named Joseph Smith to the record and inspired him to translate it into English. Though the Book of Mormon is considered scripture by the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and other Mormon churches, those who find value in it are no more compelled to subscribe to a particular church than those who believe in the Bible are compelled to be Catholic.

The Doctrine and Covenants is a record of the dealings of God with Joseph Smith and his followers during his life. While much of the book consists of text of questionable value to those in different times and circumstances than its authors, the book contains many valuable expositions of gospel principles in unrivaled clarity and content.

The Books of Moses and Abraham are accounts by each author reproduced through revelation to Joseph Smith.

Several books originally included in the King James and earlier Bibles but later removed by most Protestant denominations are cited here where the ideas therein are expressed more clearly than can be found elsewhere.