The Godhead: God, Jesus Christ, and the Holy Ghost

The very first Article of Faith of the Mormon Church is very definitive and quite simple in stating our belief concerning God: We believe in God, the eternal Father, and in his Son, Jesus Christ, and in the Holy Ghost.

Mormons believe that God is all-powerful (Alma 26:35, pg. 275), all-knowing (Mosiah 4:9, pg 155), and that His Spirit can be felt by all people, everywhere (Psalms 139:7-12). He possesses an absolute perfection of all good attributes; He is merciful, loving, patient, truthful, and does not judge us by our outward appearance. While Mormon Church members look to the scriptures for instructive information about God, their primary knowledge concerning His nature comes from revelations given to modern prophets like Joseph Smith.  In a vision, Joseph Smith saw God the Father and his Son, Jesus Christ.  They are separate personages, but are both united in perfection and purpose.

Mormons worship Heavenly Father as God, pray to Him in the name of His Son, Jesus Christ, and realize that we are literally his children (Acts 17:29).  He loves us and knows each of us personally.  The Mormon Church issued this statement in 1995:

All human beings—male and female—are created in the image of God. Each is a beloved spirit son or daughter of heavenly parents, and, as such, each has a divine nature and destiny.

God has created this earth and this universe for us so that we could come here and gain experiences that would enable us to become perfect just as He is perfect (see Matthew 5:48).  Mormons call this plan the Plan of Salvation.

Jesus Christ is the central figure of Mormon doctrine and practice. His is the central name in the true name of the Mormon Church, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Every Mormon has a firm testimony that Jesus Christ is the Savior and Redeemer of the world and that only through His sacrifice in the Garden of Gethsemane and on the cross can mortal man be saved in the Kingdom of God. Jesus Christ and His teachings are the central focus of all Mormon scripture: the Book of Mormon, the Bible, the Doctrine and Covenants, which contains the words of Jesus to modern Prophets, and the Pearl of Great Price.

In January 2000, Mormon President Gordon B. Hinckley and the other Apostles of the Mormon Church published The Living Christ as their testimony to the world about Jesus Christ. It reads in part:

We bear testimony, as His duly ordained Apostles—that Jesus is the Living Christ, the immortal Son of God. He is the great King Immanuel, who stands today on the right hand of His Father. He is the light, the life, and the hope of the world. His way is the path that leads to happiness in this life and eternal life in the world to come.

Jesus Christ is the Son of God and the only perfect person to have ever lived.  Before He came to earth, He ruled as Jehovah. One earth, His Father was God and His mother was Mary. (see Luke 1:32, 35).  He lived and taught in Judea and “went about doing good” (Acts 10:38).  He suffered for our sins, died on the cross, and was resurrected on the third day.  Mormons refer to this central act as the Atonement, or the at-one-ment of mankind and God.

Jesus’ teachings and revelations to His prophets form the core of Mormon doctrine and practice.  He is the perfect exemplar for all mankind.  Through His Atonement, all mankind will be resurrected, too, and will be judged according to their deeds.  Those who have repented of their sins and followed Christ by being baptized and “doing good” will be saved from their sins by the Atonement and will inherit Eternal Life in God’s Kingdom.

Jesus Christ is the head of the Mormon Church and He directs it through His Prophets.  Today, He stands at the right hand of His Father (Acts 7:55) as our Savior, our Redeemer, our Advocate with the Father, and our Judge.  He will come again at the end of the world to begin the Millennium, a thousand years of righteousness when He will personally reign on the earth as King of Kings.

The third individual personage who reigns as part of the Godhead is the Holy Ghost, also called the Holy Spirit, or just the Spirit.  The revelations given to Joseph Smith make it clear that he differs from God and Jesus because unlike them, he does not have a body:

The Father has a body of flesh and bones as tangible as 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 (D&C 130:22).

The Holy Ghost can have a great affect in a person’s life, provided they live worthy to have the Holy Ghost as their companion. Mormons believe that the Holy Ghost will not remain with an unclean or unworthy person (see 1 Corinthians 3:16-17).  In the lives of individuals, the Holy Ghost performs four very important functions:

The Holy Ghost is such an uplifting power and source of necessary gospel knowledge that to have His constant companionship and influence is the greatest gift a person can receive in mortality. Because of the Holy Ghost’s importance in God’s plan of salvation, Jesus taught that no sin is greater than the sin against the Holy Ghost (Matthew 12:31-32). A latter-day revelation explains that “blasphemy against the Holy Ghost, which shall not be forgiven in the world nor out of the world, is in that ye commit murder wherein ye shed innocent blood, and assent unto my death, after ye have received my new and everlasting covenant, saith the Lord God” (Doctrine and Covenants 132:27).