The Church of the Fristborn
The Lord calls to his “church” in the introductory chapter of his “book of commandments” or the Doctrine and Covenants. These are the people with whom he made a covenant in our generations of time. To whom is the Lord speaking when he calls to the “people of my church?” Is he talking to the members of the Church is Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints? Or is he speaking to a subset of that group, or to someone entirely different?
I have wondered the meaning of the word “church” in this verse and others for some time. Given its context in the opening section of the Doctrine and Covenants, most would believe the Lord is addressing members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. It was 1831 at the time Joseph Smith received this revelation (Section 1), and the church was organized the previous year. However, as I have pondered this revelation, that conclusion never felt like it fit well. It feels like is not the whole picture. “Hearken, O ye people of my church,” the Lord declared (D&C 1:1). Anyone can be baptized into a church, and there are many who claim to be members of his church. Yet, it is one thing to become a member of a chartered organization that the world calls a “church” and quite another to become a disciple of Christ and become part of his “church.” What does it really take to be part of the Lord’s church?
Defining "Church"
Defining “Church” in the Lord’s Way
In order to understand to whom the Lord is speaking, we first have to understand how he uses the word “church” in the scriptures and revelations he gives. What we will find is that his definition of “church” is very different than ours. In the world today, we view churches as any structured organization that has a charter or a 501c3. Churches have registered names, congregations, a building with brick and mortar, a scheduled worship service, policies and procedures, doctrines, preachers such as bishops or pastors, leaders such as apostles or executive boards, etc. To the Lord, none of these things matter. This may be hard for us to accept or understand, but these are all worldly or mortal aspects of worship.
The Lord defined the word “church” in a revelation to Joseph Smith two years before the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints was established. The Lord addressed Joseph after the initial 116 pages of translated manuscript were lost by Martin Harris in 1828. In that revelation, the Lord says, “Behold, this is my doctrine – whosoever repenteth and cometh unto me, the same is my church. Whosoever declareth more or less than this, the same is not of me, but is against me; therefore he is not of my church. And now, behold, whosoever is of my church [one who has repented and come unto Christ], and endureth of my church [continues to repent and seek Jesus Christ and follow his doctrine] to the end, him will I establish upon my rock, and the gates of hell shall not prevail against them” (D&C 10:16-17 [10:67-69], emphasis added).
The Lord is very clear on his “doctrine” about his church. To repeat: “Whosoever repenteth and cometh unto me, the same is my church.” That’s it. There’s nothing else to be part of his church. To declare that more is required than that is to deviate from God’s true doctrine. We see how many of the religions of the world add criteria or prerequisites to this definition. In order to be baptized you have to do this or do that. As a missionary for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, I used to require that a person adhere strictly to the health codes of the church, that they attended church a certain number of times, and that they were of a committed disposition prior to letting them be baptized and therefore become an official member of the church. I also thought that they had to believe and adhere to all of the tenants of the church in order to be a member and stay a member. As a missionary and leader in the church years later, I believed those were the prerequisite criteria to show that they had truly repented and came to Christ. Yet in reality, what I was doing was adding criteria and prerequisite to the doctrine of Christ.
The Lord further defines his “doctrine” in 3 Nephi 5 [11:31-34]. “I will declare unto you my doctrine…. Whoso believeth in me, and is baptized, the same shall be saved; and they are they which shall inherit the kingdom of God. And whoso believeth not in me, and is not baptized, shall be damned.” This has an interesting parallel to the previous scriptures in D&C 10. His doctrine calls for true repentance and coming unto Christ through the correct mode of ordinances and sacrifices. Joseph Smith and Oliver Cowdry had not yet been baptized when Joseph received the revelation in D&C 10. Joseph and Oliver were later baptized in May 1829, about a month after the receiving of that revelation. Their baptism was unto God and not into a church.
Did the Lord consider Joseph as part of the Lord’s church prior to his baptism? He acted and functioned as the prophetic mouthpiece for God many years before baptism, as well as had personal face-to-face encounters with the Lord and his angels prior to his baptism. Baptism is an essential ordinance to come unto Christ and true discipleship leads to baptism. Yet there must be something other than baptism that constitutes becoming part of the Lord’s church.
Membership In the Lord’s Church
Notice the Lord’s use of the phrase, “the same is my church,” in D&C 10. The Lord stated that ANY repentant person, “whosoever,” becomes the church. The Lord does not mention any required buildings, charters, structures, ledgers, etc. He simply calls for repentance and faith in Jesus Christ. He’s looking for a simple yet profound relationship between the Savior and the individual.
The church is the person who 1) repents, 2) comes unto Christ, and 3) endures in Christ. Therefore, the church is the disciple and the disciple is the church. Membership is written upon the fleshy tablets of his or her heart, not in dockets and on rolls of a chartered organization. Now we can’t forget the directive of the Lord to the ancient Nephites (see 3 Nephi 5 [11:31-34]) where he said baptism by the commission or authority of Christ is also required as part of his doctrine.
Baptism is not the entrance into the Lord’s church. Coming to Christ does lead one to baptism, but it is not the entrance into holy communion with him. Baptism is the entrance into almost every other church, including the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Baptism is an ordinance that comes as a natural consequence of obedience to God, but should not be seen as the “ticket in” to his church. Understanding the Lord’s definition of the word “church” also gives greater meaning to Joseph’s revelation on priesthood in D&C 4:6 (D&C 84:34), “They become the sons of Moses and of Aaron and the seed of Abraham, and the church and the kingdom and the elect of God.”
The Lord said to the Nephites, “How be it my church, save it be called in my name? for if a church be called in Moses’ name, then it be Moses’ church: or if it be called in the name of a man, then it be the church of a man; but if it be called in my name, then it is my church, if it so be that they are built upon my Gospel” (3 Nephi 12 [27:8]). Those who are members of the Lord’s church are not just called by his name outwardly, but also inwardly. They worship Christ in purity of heart. If they worship another person or entity, no matter what the name of their church is, then they are members of some other church. If my adoration and worship, my thoughts and mind, are focused on a prophet or an apostle, then perhaps it is that man’s church in which I have membership. Being a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is not the same as being a disciple of the church of Jesus Christ as described in D&C 10. True prophets and apostles will lead people to Christ’s church.
The Church of the Firstborn
The Lord speaks directly to the heart of his worshiper. If you are truly of his church than you worship him alone, and none else. You hear his voice. As I think about members of his true church as we read in scripture and members of all the churches of the world, I am reminded of those 3-D hidden pictures where you have to focus your eyes just right to see the hidden image embedded on a 2-D pattern. Though there are intricate and repetitive designs that clutter the picture, you only see the true image as you adjust your eyes correctly. Then it jumps out in surprising detail and you wonder how you didn’t see it before.
So it is with the “church” of Christ as defined by the world and conversely as defined by the Lord. The parameters and perspectives are different, but membership may overlap. Just like the 3-D picture, much of the true image is embedded and hidden within the other. There are members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints found within the Lord’s church as he defines it. Yet they are not the same church. One has much greater depth and life (true and living) than the other. One is a communion “with the general assembly and church of the Firstborn, and…the communion and presence of God the Father, and Jesus the mediator of the new covenant” (D&C 3:9 [107:19]); the other is a scaffolding to learn truth in this mortal world, hopefully guiding us to the church of the Firstborn.
The members of the Lord’s church of the Firstborn may be found within the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, but they may also be found within any other church. In fact, they may not be members of any earthly church. Anyone can join a physical church, but only the pure in heart can become part of the church of the Firstborn. You can fake your way into any earthly church, but you cannot fake your way into the Lord’s church. Nephi tells us that the Lord alone is the keeper of the gate to his church and kingdom.
O then, my beloved brethren, come unto the Lord, the Holy One. Remember that his paths are righteousness. Behold, the way for man is narrow, but it lieth in a straight course before him, and the keeper of the gate is the Holy One of Israel: and he employeth no servant there; and there is none other way, save it be by the gate, for he cannot be deceived; for the Lord God is his name. And whoso knocketh, to him will he open, and the wise, and the learned, and they that are rich, which are puffed up because of their learning, and their wisdom, and their riches; yea, they are they, whom he despiseth; and save they shall cast these things away, and consider themselves fools before God, and come down in the depths of humility, he will not open unto them. But the things of the wise and the prudent, shall be hid from them forever; yea, that happiness which is prepared for the Saints.
2 Nephi 6 [9:41-43]
Paul describes the church of the Firstborn as those whose names are “written in heaven” (Hebrews 12:23). The Lord further defines his church as follows: “And now verily I say unto you, I was in the beginning with the Father, and am the first born; and all those who are be gotten through me, are partakers of the glory of the same, and are the church of the first born” (D&C 82:4 [93:21-22]). The Lord would like to have the physical church and the church of the Firstborn be one church, but because of our limitations and weaknesses, it is not. Unless we are born again in Christ and truly become his disciples, his sons and daughters, we cannot become a part of his church.
Through the ages there has been many that have become members of that true church. The Lord told a group of high priests in 1832 that they were of that church. A small group including Joseph and Hyrum Smith, Sidney Rigdon, Newel K. Whitney, Reynolds Cahoon, and Joseph Coe, were told, “Ye are the church of the first born” (D&C 75:4 [78:21]). In fact, the power and authority of the Melchizedek priesthood holds the keys to bring people into that church. “The power and authority of the higher or Melchizedek priesthood, is to hold the keys of all the spiritual blessings of the church—to have the privilege of receiving the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven—to have the heavens opened unto them— to commune with the general assembly and church of the first born, and to enjoy the communion and presence of God the Father, and Jesus the Mediator of the new covenant” (D&C 3:9 [107:18-19]). If we are not bringing the humble follows of Christ to the church of the Firstborn, we are not fulfilling the covenant of our priesthood responsibilities. We cannot inaugurate them into that church, only the Lord can do that. But we can lead them to Christ, and he takes it from there.
Membership in one church does not mean membership in the other. One can be a member of a temporal church–such as the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints–yet not be a member of Christ’s church, the church of the Firstborn. And likewise, a person may be a member of the church of the Firstborn, and yet not be a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, or a member of any other church. An angel said to Nephi, “Behold, there is, save it be, two churches: the one is the church of the Lamb of God, and the other is the church of the Devil” (1 Nephi 3 [14:10]).
I guess there is just one question left for us to ask: to which church do we really belong?