are they sanctified by the law, and consequently their development in spiritual knowledge and experience is not such as may warrant us in expecting that they are prepared to inherit the same degree of glory with those who have received the law of the gospel, faithfully observed all its requirements and through their obedience have become sanctified by it, and inherit the celestial glory, the highest of all. Therefore, it is written of those who die without the law: "These are they who are of the terrestrial [world], whose glory differs from that of the church of the First Born, who have received the fullness of the Father, even as the moon differs from the sun in the firmament. Behold these are they who died without law."^[P]

[Footnote P: Doc. and Cov. Sec. lxxvi, 71, 72.]

I know of nothing that is written, however, which prevents us from believing that they may, eventually, enter the celestial kingdom. Of one thing at least we may rest assured, and that is, that they will receive all the glory, all the exaltation, that their capacity can comprehend and enjoy, and they will be satisfied with the mercy and justice of God.^[Q]

[Footnote Q: See chapter on Salvation for the Dead.]

But now to return to those to whom the gospel is preached, and who can only hope for salvation from the penalties affixed to sin, by obeying the precepts and ordinances thereof. How far is their obedience taxed? What principles are they to accept, what precepts practice, what ordinances observe?

To the first question I make answer: That since Christ ransomed mankind by his own death and suffering, from an endless sleep in the grave, in order to attain the additional grace of an immunity from the consequences of our personal violations of the laws of righteousness—a forgiveness of sins—man's obedience to him must be implicit and absolute. It is the duty of man to obey the whole Gospel, all precepts, all ordinances, as far as they are made known unto him—in short, it is binding on him to live by every word which proceedeth from the mouth of God. In proof of this, I have only to add that when Jesus commanded his apostles to go into the world and preach the Gospel he said: "Go ye therefore and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost: Teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you"^[R]

[Footnote R: Matt. xxviii, 19, 20.]

There is no one single thing, however great, that man can do and then be under no further obligations to continue to observe the laws of righteousness. The reply of Jesus to the young man who came running to him saying, "Good Master, what good thing shall I do, that I may have eternal life?" was—"If you will enter into life, keep the commandments." The young man asked, "which;" that is, which of the commandments must he keep. And here I will say that by reading a little between the lines it is not difficult to see that the young man had an idea that there was some great thing he could do, and by that one act secure eternal life. But the answer of Jesus dispelled that illusion, for he said:—"Thou shalt do no murder, thou shalt not commit adultery, thou shalt not steal, thou shalt not bear false witness; honor thy father and thy mother; and thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself. The young man sayeth, all these things have I kept from my youth up; what lack I yet? Jesus said unto him, if thou wilt be perfect, go and sell all thou hast and give it to the poor, * * * and come and follow me."^[S]

[Footnote S: Matt. xix: 16-22.]

It will be observed from the foregoing that it was not enough that the young man keep the commandments in the law of Moses, not enough that he sell all that he had and give it to the poor, but he must then come and follow his Master. How much that means! But I shall not particularize, I shall sum up the matter by saying' that this case, together with the observations in the preceding chapters, plainly proves that if man would be perfect, if he would obtain the full benefits of Messiah's atonement, complete absolution from his personal violation of holy, righteous laws, as well as deliverance from the grave, his obedience to the laws of Christ— the Gospel, must be implicit, absolute.

CHAPTER VI.

PRINCIPLES AND ORDINANCES.

In this chapter I shall deal briefly and collectively with those principles that must be accepted, the ordinances that must be observed, the precepts that must be followed and the kind of a life that must be led in order to secure a forgiveness of individual sins, and obtain and grow in the favor of heaven—in short, what laws and ordinances man is required to obey in the Gospel of Jesus Christ.

I shall enter into no analysis of the respective principles spoken of, but shall merely point them out, and enter into a more particular consideration of them further on in the work.

Certain it is that faith enters into and forms a part of the Gospel. Men are required to believe in God, and in Jesus Christ: and by that I mean, not merely an assent to their existence, but an acceptance of the whole system of truth revealed by them for man's salvation. Faith of necessity is a factor in the Gospel, because it is the incentive to all action; for unless men believe in God's existence, and in the revelations and commandments which he has given them, they will consider themselves under no obligations to obey him; and hence will neglect the things which concern their salvation. It was the knowledge of this fact, doubtless, which led Paul to say: "He that cometh to God must believe that he is (i.e. exists), and that he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him."^[A] And Jesus, too, when he said: "If ye believe not that I am he (the Redeemer, the Son of God), ye shall die in your sins."^[B]—had the same thing in his mind.

[Footnote A: Heb. xi: 6.]

[Footnote B: John viii: 24.]

Hence, I say, faith is of necessity a part of the Gospel, a fundamental principle of it; and therefore much importance is given to it by the writers of Scripture. How great that importance is may be learned from the fact that Jesus said, on the one hand, "He that heareth my word, and believeth on Him that sent me, hath everlasting life, and shall not come into condemnation; but is passed from death unto life":^[C] while on the other hand He said, "He that believeth not shall be damned."^[D]

[Footnote C: John v: 25.]

[Footnote D: Mark xvi: 16.]

Belief in God and in Jesus Christ—in the sense I have described in the foregoing—when once fixed in the mind and heart, leads men to obedience to God's laws. It leads them to repentance and every other good work.

Repentance is made particularly prominent in the scheme of man's salvation. It was taught by John the Baptist in the wilderness of Judea; the main feature of his mission seemed to have been to call men to repentance. It was taught, too, by Messiah himself. On the occasion of some telling him of certain Galileans whose blood Pilate had mingled with their sacrifices, he said: "Suppose ye that these Galileans were sinners above all Galileans, because they suffered these things? I tell you nay; but except ye repent, ye shall all likewise perish."^[E]

[Footnote E: Luke xiii: 1, 3.]

Going to the time when the Apostles began to fulfill the mission given to them to preach the Gospel, it will be found that this same principle, in connection with others, is urged upon the acceptance of the people. On that occasion Peter preached a discourse in which he proved from the old Scriptures that Jesus was the Messiah, and in answer to the cries of the people, "Men and brethren, what shall we do?" he answered, "Repent and be baptized every one of you, in the name of Jesus