President Oaks Just Said the Quiet Part Out Loud - Family, Gender, And Godhead

President Oaks, true doctrine, and why Latter-day Saints should stop apologizing for the Restoration Why the Godhead, revelation, and restored truth make us different without making us non-Christian Eternal marriage, family, gender, and the danger of lowering the ideal President Christofferson on why repentance is not shame—it is becoming Elder Bednar on True, Eternal Doctrine

 Raw Transcript:

Yes, the church is true. Just like the gospel is true, the church is true. I know there's a cultural regurgitation of this idea. Well, the gospel is true.
That doesn't mean the church is true.
No, the church is true. I've been saying that for years. We're getting it direct here from President Oaks. And of course,
it's in the Doctrine of Covenants in section one right at the beginning. So I we're going to go over that and talk about why what that means and why the
church is true. We've got some real delivery of truth of real meat here from
President Oaks, from President Kristofferson, and from Elder Bedar that we're going to cover things that we don't always hear at your own ward or
even stake level. So this episode is brought to you by the Warriors of Tiana Men's Retreat. This is coming August
13th through 15th in Rush Valley, Utah, just south of Tilla. Very excited about this. A lot of great activities,
fantastic presentations, bonding. We're going to go over centered masculinity.
You and I both know that the messaging out there for men is typically negative, and this is the opposite. This is not a
therapy session. This is not a self-help session. This is gospel- centered
masculinity. This is a retreat about identity, purpose, responsibility, and a gospel- centered masculinity. To find
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Go at the top to warriors, and the spots are going quickly, but I would love to see you there. Here we go.
All right. So, is the church true? Yes, the church is true. Often times in the halls of the chapels or in in class at
the fast and testimony meeting or or a talk, we get this uh this idea that we want to where we want to separate the
eternal truths of the gospel from cultural issues and maybe bad decisions by leaders in the church. So, hey, the
gospel is true, but that doesn't mean the church is true. And I think we need to be really careful about that because it's not true. That is a cultural
fallacy. The church is true. And it is the only true and living church on the
earth. Also, I want to cover that as well. And President Oaks lays it down here clearly because obviously I think
that he's getting that feedback. People saying the same thing, trying to separate these truths one from another.
and and and it's not right. It's not true. So, yes, the church is true. I've been saying this for years and I can say
it easily and confidently because it's in scripture. It's in section one of the Doctrine of Covenants. But, President Oaks goes over this very clearly. We're
going to cover a few things that he said at this mission leader training event along with President Kristofferson and Elder Bedar. really lay down these
eternal truths that we don't often hear and and and really reference it. They're
they're they're the gospel and and so it's very nice to hear this
directly from them on each each of these doctrinal points. So, let's cover this.
First, I want to go to President Oaks, of course. And here it says there's a an article in the church news. It says that President Oaks teaches three
characteristics of the only true and living church. Now, there are a couple of Well, let's read the sub the subtitle
here. We have a unique, this is what President um Oak said. We have a unique and true testimony of Christ. That is
the key to everything else. Now, remember, he is teaching and and Elder Kristofferson, President Kristopherson and Elder Bedar are teaching the mission
leaders here who are going to be training the missionaries. So this is so refreshing to hear this and to reset
things clearly based on eternal truths and yes the true church is true and it
is the only true and living church. That is not saying that there are not other truths in other churches and that goes
beyond Christianity. That goes into Judaism and even Islam etc or Hinduism, Buddhaism. There are truths there. But
our church is the only true and living church because it only is the only one with a true authority with a priesthood.
That that's number one. And number two, it is the only one with a prophet receiving revelation living church.
And so we I think that we need to be really careful when we try to, you know, yes, there are cultural issues there.
Yes, there are bad mistakes, but we need to reframe that in a way that's not the gospel is true, but the church isn't true. That that doesn't work. That
that's not correct. It's not doctrinally doctrally correct. And and and he's going to President Oaks is going to make
this very very clear. And all you have to do is go to the scriptures here to section one, first section of the
Doctrine of Covenants. And this is verse 30. It says, "And also those to whom these commandments were given might have
power to lay the foundation of this church." Talking about building the church, restoration, and to bring it forth out of the obscurity and out of darkness.
So obscurity and darkness is the existing Christian environment that you're in in in the United States in the in the first half
of the 19th century. That doesn't mean that Christianity was bad. And the darkness isn't the darkness overall of Christianity. It's what's not unveiled.
It's not It's what's not revealed. And it is the nature of God and all of the restoration truths that we now have is
6 minuteswhat that is saying. And it's okay to say that. It's important to say that. We want that distinction. Yes, we're Christian and I will fight for that always.
But we are distinct and we are peculiar and we are different and and that we
also want to fight for because we do want that that separation not from uh saying that we're Christian in my
mind because otherwise the you know what's really popular right now is going online and and everybody uh all the
influencers are out there going with this whole Trinity thing, right? It's it's the trinity versus the godhead and the creeds and the abominations. And
these are all true things. These are all true. But but that is not all of what the difference is in with Christianity.
And so so to say that we're not Christian because we we don't believe in the Trinity and all the other Christian religions, most of them believe in the Trinity, therefore we're not Christian.
And to agree with that, I think is a big mistake.
And if you want to say we're noncredle Christians, great, fine. But that the the nature of God is not the only thing
when someone says, "I'm Christian," that people are thinking about. As an example, if someone came up and said, "Well, are you Christian? Are you um are you Muslim? Are are you Jewish?" etc.
Well, of those categories, what are you going to say? Because what they're really asking is, "Do you believe in Christ?" Yes, you do. The Church of Jesus Christ
of Latter-day Saints. So, it's not just a matter of in their mind. Now, you dig a little bit deeper and sure, the nature of God is different. And so, then you
say, "Well, we're not creedle Christians. We don't believe in the same nature of God that you do." And if that's what you're defining as
Christian, you can define that way if you want, but we believe in Christ and therefore we're Christian. And if we
eed that ground, then then we are allowing others and the world perspective and missionary efforts to
say, "Well, this isn't even a Christian religion." And that's a big mistake. I think it's a big mistake. And then one of the
responses I get from that all the time when I when I bring this up is, "Well, Greg, what do we care about what the government thinks or what we care about what what the rest of the world thinks?"
And that's such a reclusive myopic put yourself in the corner and bundle up and and curl up kind of an attitude to me.
No, we are going to profess because the very first thing people think of is is are you Christian is going to be do you believe in Christ? Do you believe that
Christ is your redeemer? And we can't seed that. That's not necessarily our definition, but that's the world's definition. And and so when you're
communicating and you're putting things out in policy, you're putting things out in uh whatever it is in into into the ether.
Yes, we're Christian. We're noncredle Christians. Anyway, I'm getting off on a tangent here. So
verse 30 talking about the restoration is bring it forth out of obscurity and out of darkness. That includes the nature of
God. the only true and living church upon the face of the whole earth. Yes, we do believe that and we don't need to
get squirmish or or try to work our way around that in speaking with others. You don't need to do that. Think about being
a missionary. Think about being a full-time missionary. You better have that clarity when you're out talking to other Christian denominations because you're going and then you need to back it up.
But it is, as we would say, the only true and living church upon the face of the whole earth, which with which I, the Lord, am well pleased, speaking unto the
church collectively and not individually. So yes, the church is true.
The church is true because it has the authority and it has a revelation from God and it is the and it has the
restoration of these things that that have been given to us. Okay, so this is where we get uh with President Oaks. He
starts off and he says he delivers some real truths here strongly, right? In a revelation given
to the prophet Joseph Smith in 1831, the Lord referred to the church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, this is section 31, as the only true and living church upon the face of the whole earth.
This is what President Oak says. And then he gives this little nugget. The fashional opinion of this age is that all churches are true.
And you got to be able again, what do we talk about? We talk about walking the edge of the sword.
You have to be truth is found on the edge of the sword, not on sliding down on either side. It is the only true and
living church. And there are truths and goodness in other denominations. And speak speaking specifically here of
other Christian denominations. That doesn't mean that there this isn't the true the one true and living church and it is fashionable to go out there and
say, "Well, we're all, you know, it's all the same thing." No, it's not.
You have to show the distinctness. You have to lean into the peculiarities. You have to lean into what is different also
about the church. that that is key while we build bridges and look at commonalities as we build relationships with other denominations.
So you can do both at the same time. I don't know why that seems so hard. You can do both at the same time. He goes on
here to say if that is so right as if if it's so then he goes on to say pretty much this exact thing in in much better
words. He says, "If that is so, if they're all true, then all religious messages that identify differences in religious doctrines like ours are
unimportant." And we kind of are getting in that area. I This is what I see, especially online. We're kind of getting
into that area a little bit. That conclusion, he says, can cause us and others a serious loss of religious
freedom. In other words, expression and expressing what those differences are, which are the eternal truths that were
restored to Joseph Smith and the prophets.
He goes on to say, what does it mean that the restored church of Jesus Christ is the only true church? And he goes on, he gives us three examples. The church
of Jesus Christ has the fullness of his doctrine. This is the revelation.
And he goes on to some very basic truths. We lived as spirits before we came to this earth.
This mortal life has a purpose. Our highest destiny is to become like our heavenly parents. This is exaltation.
13 minutesNot not just believe, not just feel the love of God, but to become like our
heavenly parents. That is the entire purpose of the church is to bring us to that point of exaltation. That's the
entire purpose of the atonement is to bring us to exaltation. apart from the resurrection, right? The resurrection is
also for for everyone. So that along with bringing everyone hopefully, which is what God would want, bringing as many
people to exaltation as possible. And then he goes into the family. President Oak said that the church of Jesus Christ
is properly known as a family centered church. Properly known. But what is not well understood is that our family
centeredness is not just focused on our earthly relationships but is a matter of a fundamental theology.
Right? This this is part to me this is part of the doctrine of Christ in many ways. I I it it's it's the temple. It is a fundamental matter of theology for us.
It goes on here. The article says, "Under God's plan, the mission of his restored church is to help all obtain exaltation in the celestial kingdom.
That is the purpose of the church. That can only be accomplished through an eternal marriage between a man and a woman." Now, look, this is the what what
starts to happen. So, there are people that are single, especially today, and and there are fewer people that are
getting married and many people are getting married later. And so we start to hear these messages and and then
there's a group of people that are do not fit in that category right now or maybe they never will in this life.
And so some people say, "Oh, well, we should never say this." And and some would even say some would
even say, "Oh, you're using this as a club, President Oaks, for traditional marriage and not everybody fits into this definition.
You're using this as a bully club. like the family proclamation.
You cannot let first things be made as second things. As CS Lewis said, you can't do that. You always have to keep
the ideal. And it's not a matter of trying to offend anyone or using it as a bully club. It is holding on to eternal
truths. And so very clearly he says the o that can only be being exaltation that can only be accomplished through an
eternal marriage between a man and a woman.
That is the ideal in this life or the next. But you don't give up the ideal.
And I just love that he is putting that out there.
Keep the ideal out there. And if you're single, you should be advocating for that as well because that is the idea
and the ideal, the idea of the greatest fulfillment that you're going to have eternally. And if it's not now, it is eventually if you are righteous. Right?
Then he says, and this goes along with our dismal fertility rate. And yes, the Latter-day Saints do a little bit of a better job, but we're just a little
behind the rest of the world. We're just a little bit behind and going in the same direction on this. He says that a knowledge of God's plan gives Latter-day
Saints a unique perspective on marriage and children. We look on the bearing and nurturing of children as part of God's plan.
Multiply and replenish the earth, right?
And a sacred duty of those given the power to participate in it. the sacred duty. It's a commandment.
Dealing truth. Thank you. Dealing truth.
He says, "At a time of political, legal, and social pressures for changes that would alter the definition of marriage,
deemphasize its importance, confuse gender, or homogenize the differences between men and women."
Hallelujah. Our eternal perspective sets us against such changes.
There is so much here and and again this is to the I I would love to hear this these exact words of the entire church but this is going to these mission
leaders and they are laying down the doctrine and making sure that then these mission
leaders can turn around and lay down this doctrine to these missionaries and give them a big part of this is not
just a matter of what are you going to teach? You may not even get into some of these things as a missionary uh in in
the mission field, but you can teach it to the missionaries and build a foundation of doctrine with
them in the time that they are out there on their missions instead of letting the world and our
universities do it. So that that's the way I see it and and and what I'm guessing it's all it is. I'm guessing
that they are attempting to do here with all of this doctrinal uh dispensing
here of uh to to to these mission leaders. We believe that we must contend for the kind of families that provide
the best conditions for the development and happiness of children, all of God's children. And all of this is possible.
This isn't the end. It's not all there is. Right? All of this is possible because he says all of this will occur
because of God's great love for his children. He's going to give us the opportunity.
It's fair for all because all will be given the knowledge and the opportunity in this life or the next.
But the outcome is not equal. Otherwise, you're you're dismissing agency and that will never happen. It is made possible because of the atonement and
resurrection of Jesus Christ. Secondly, and I'm not going to go into this as much, but he's he's the G church of Jesus Christ has his priesthood
authority. And third, the church of Jesus Christ has a unique testimony of Christ. So, this is going into um how we
see the atonement and how what that means and it providing the opening of the way for exaltation. And he goes into
this nature of God. We have a unique and true testimony of Christ. This is the key to everything else. Our knowledge of
the nature of God. He's talking about the Godhead and the relationship between the father and the son.
It's what distinguishes us from the formal creeds of other Christian denominations
of other Christian denominations. So you see how he's doing this.
We are separating ourselves by doctrine while considering ourselves Christian.
That is the way. And and and I'm speaking up a little bit more right now because of all of the feedback and push
back I get from what happened with the Department of War. Just follow the words of the prophets. Has nothing to do with
wanting to be a part of a group. I I think that's I'll use the word silly. I think it's silly for a group that has been separated our our entire heritage.
I I think that's a silly thing. I think there are some people that might feel that way that they want to be a part of the group, but to lay that out as the
reason why we should be called Christian is is well, like I said, I think it's silly. Then I posted this paragraph that
he mentioned here, this quote earlier on social media because it's it's fantastic. He says we are not grounded in the wisdom of the world or the philos
philosophies of men. All right. This is mostly c coming out of the academy. This is mostly coming out of the universities and then pouring out through the media
and then out into the institutions in the west and especially in the United States. We do not participate in that.
That's saying we are not grounded in that wisdom. Not that type of wisdom.
It's the wisdom of the world. However traditional or respected they may be, they get that respect from institutional
backing primarily through the universities.
Our testimony of Jesus Christ is based on the revelations of God to his prophets and to us individually.
This makes us different in greater or lesser measure from the teachings of many in various Christian denominations
and in other philosophies. just just fantastic truth that that he's laying out here.
This is I have got this marked and copied and it's it's it's I wish I could have heard the entire thing.
Now, without further ado, we're going to move on to President Kristofferson here.
Just a couple of things that he had mentioned that I think are fantastic and and he is my favorite speaker
personally. Here's the headline. And President D. Todd Kristofferson teaches about the joy of repentance. True repentance should be the focus of
missionary labors to bring God's children to Christ. So he's putting repentance front and center. And and and
we have demonized this idea of repentance for so long. in and it's more of a Protestant type even a Catholic
type of repentance where we're beating ourselves up over it or it's fire and hell and damnation and it's no it's it's
improving, right? Repentance is simply improving and repentance is becoming. We have a purpose behind that. That is to
become like our heavenly parents. The article mentions here that teaching that repentance is possible is the good news.
Now, I've been talking about this for several years now about the good news and what that is. The good news if you
do not have an understanding of the fall and the circumstances that we find ourselves in, if you don't realize that
things are difficult uh and are are that way because of our distance from God, then you have no
reason to look at the good news as good news. Good the the good news is is what the gospel mean that's what gospel
means. It comes from the old English God spell, gospel, good spell or good news
or as we get in the Old Testament, good tidings. Well, also in the New Testament, good tidings of great joy, right? That is the good news. What is
the good news? The good news is that Christ is coming down to the earth and taking on the sins of the world and resurrecting.
That that that's the good news. And so using the idea of repentance here with the idea of the atonement gives us a
24 minutesdifferent perspective than many have because of the idea of becoming. We don't look at repentance and and forgiveness just as a just as
transactional. There is a spiritual economy I believe by the way. But it it's it's it's it's a matter of purpose
for each of us individually to repent so that we can become like our heavenly parents. And when you take on that
perspective, it changes everything. And then I love what he says here. He said, "President Christopherson said the call to repentance implies first that divine
law exists." So we need to realize that there is law.
There is spiritual law and we can align ourselves with it as God does
or we can rebel against it. It's completely up to us and we have the agency to do that. But law exists and order exists
and we just decide whether or not we're going to align ourselves with it or not.
25 minutesThat's all it is. Then sin is when you don't align yourselves with that truth, when you don't align yourselves with that order. And you get to make the choice on that.
Second, accountable persons have broken at least some of those laws, right? So, we're all accountable over eight years
old, most of us. And third, the benefit is forgiveness means there is a savior who atoned for sins and can't extend the
mercy. So, the mercy of God and the atoning sacrifice of Jesus Christ does not apply to those that don't repent.
That should be a clear doctrine in everyone's mind. If we don't repent, then we haven't pulled the powers of the atonement to us.
It is the power of of Gethsemane is only for those who repent.
And when you repent of something, you truly repent of something, then that draws on the power of of the atonement of Jesus Christ. And then he says this
lastly, I want to cover this. The goal is not just to return to heavenly father. It is to return in a condition to dwell with him eternally. So it's not
just a matter of of meeting God again. It is are you going
to be able to dwell with him? Because no unclean thing can be in the presence of God. And that's not a mean God, a mean parent.
That is not what that is at all.
It is again are you aligning yourself with truth and order or or not?
And and as you align yourself with truth and order, then that allows you to be the type of being that can dwell with God.
Lastly, I want to cover Elder Bedar and a couple of things. He does such a great job about, you know, he always brings up doctrine and talking about how to learn
doctrine and and wants to clarify things. I think that it's I I really appreciate that with him and and I think
that President Oaks and President Kristofferson and Elder Bednar are especially
um gifted and feel I think that part of their mantle is to make sure that proper doctrine is dispensed to the church and to the world.
So he answers four questions about learning and teaching true doctrine. He says gospel teaching should be centered
on heavenly father and his plan. It's important to bring this up because we don't always talk about the father. We
have moved in the last 30 years or more from talking about heavenly father and Jesus
Christ to just talking about using the term god. and and and that's the way most of Christianity does, right? They
they just because for them it's all the same thing. It's all the same being, different persons, but the same being.
28 minutesFor us, it's not.
And for example, in the temple, we are not returning to Jesus Christ. We're returning to the father. That's who we're meeting at the veil. It's Christ
that allows us to do that. Is the mediator of that of the plan of salvation.
And all of the glory should be going to the father. That's what Jesus taught us.
And we usually take then the premortal war in heaven and and gobble that up because we are not understanding the
roles of the father and the son. It's the father's plan. It's not Jesus's plan.
Right? It's not like the father comes out and says, "Okay, well, who's got a good idea of how to do this? What should we do?" And Jesus comes up and says,
"Hey, I've got a good idea. let's do this. And and Lucifer comes up and says, "No, I don't like that at all. Let's do this instead." That's not the way it is.
It is the father's plan. It is Jehovah, Jesus Christ, who volunteered to be the atoning sacrifice.
It's not Jesus's plan.
That's another doctrinal point that seems to get muddled up quite a bit.
And why is doctrine so important? Well, he he quotes Joseph Smith here when Joseph says, "If we start right, it is
easy to go right all the time. But if we start wrong, it is a hard matter to get right." And the church hasn't always
been perfect even on that. But that's a true principle. It It's much more difficult to turn something. And as something moves and gets larger and gets
built in culturally as a a an apparent truth, it it's hard to turn it around. I
love this part right here. This is uh this is a couple that I know. I've been in their home. I think we had dinner with them. I can't remember for sure,
but uh they're from Ecuador and fantastic fantastic people.
Fantastic family.
This is really just kind of a it brought a smile to my face when when I saw them here. So here is so here are the four questions he had, right? What is true
doctrine? He answers true gospel doctrine is eternal truth revealed by God. And then he gives us the
universality of these truths. True doctrine is applicable to all God's children in all places and at all times.
True doctrine is enduring and does not change.
Two, what are the sources of true doctrine? The word which you hear is not mine, but the father's which sent me.
So, Elder Bednar is going over this again. Where is the doctrine coming from? It's not even from Jesus Christ.
Ultimately, it is from the father.
It was the father's plan. It is the father that dispenses the truth.
Everything the Savior spoke and taught, Elder Bednar says, was in perfect harmony and alignment with the doctrine
of his father because Jesus Christ had to align himself also with truth and with order just like we have to do.
Number three, how can we learn true doctrine? Revelation is conveyed through the Holy Ghost, the witness of and messenger of the father and the son. All
missionaries have a personal responsibility to pray, study, ponder, and learn for themselves true doctrine by the power of the Holy Ghost. This is it's it's powerful to me because this is
what I learned. This is what my mission president taught me. And and and where I really built a foundational
knowledge and relationship with God was on my mission. And I'm sure that's true for many of you as well. So speaking
directly to these leaders and about what this what the testimony and the truths that need to be developed, the eternal truths that need to be taught then
understood by the missionaries is something that rings very very true to me. And you can see here and this is why I love this so much with the the
doctrine. I think it's so important in speaking with Jeff Strong and others who've talked about why people leave the church. I think and he agrees with me on
this. I think that there is a real need to teach the doctrine. We don't teach the doctrine enough, the basic eternal
truths that are being laid out here in in these three talks especially.
And this is what Boyd Ker said here. You can see it on the screen in the background there. It says, "True doctrine understood
changes attitudes, attitudes and behavior." So some people say, "Well, we don't want to bring that up because it might offend somebody." Can't do that. You do it with love.
You teach with love, but you teach the truth.
The study of the doctrines of the gospel will will improve behavior quicker than a study of behavior will improve behavior.
Right? So, you've got the therapeutic world, and I'm not saying that's all bad, but man, we're moving into that world pretty quickly. Uh, versus the
spiritual world of true doctrines and what that can mean. And so an understanding of these true doctrines to me helps root people in the gospel and in the true church.
And number four, how should we teach true doctrine?
Well, for the missionaries, he says each missionary has an individual responsibility to proclaim true doctrine
by the power of the Holy Ghost. He adds that the gospel instructions should be are accurate,
simple, clear and grounded in the scriptures and repeated teachings of prophets and apostles.
And because the role of the Holy Ghost is to bear witness of all truth, gospel teaching should be centered on heavenly
father and his plan on the Lord Jesus Christ.
Right? It's not just God and his infinite and eternal atonement and on the restoration of the gospel in the latter days. Bingo.
That is the nature of God and the eternal truths that were brought back through Joseph Smith primarily that make us distinct.
So, I just really enjoyed these talks or the portions of them that we've got here in these articles and maybe it's found somewhere else. I couldn't find the
whole thing, but uh truth just being meat meat being delivered. It just when you hear it, I
and and I think many of you feel the same way I do. It's just it's so true.
It rings so true. And I don't understand why it gets messy, why we why we want to push it away so much. And we do, right?
That that happens. And we get in battles about exaltation. And some people don't want to mention it because well is everyone going to be exalted or they
don't want to mention marriages between a man and a woman and that is a requirement for exaltation.
No, you teach it with love with a clear understanding of the doctrine of invitation and opportunity that everyone has.
We can all get there. Everyone has that chance. The fairness is not found
focused on the end where everything is supposed to be the same with the same outcome as they call it today. Equity
that is a forced outcome that can only be achieved with the loss of agency.
Rather the opportunity and the fairness is the fairness given to everyone for as
an opportunity and an invitation and the knowledge to choose it for themselves if they want to. That's where the fairness lies. It's not in the end.
It it's at the beginning. Right from the get-go, there is a fairness that is given to everyone to choose and use their agency.