The Holiness Code

The Commandments of God

The Holiness Code

Over the past few years, I have had to contend with the fact that today’s society considers God’s commandments oppressive, irrelevant, meant for a different culture and a different people, outdated, a law handed down by an oppressive God -- a different God than the God of Jesus -- not rooted in grace, or simply too restrictive. I have had to stand up often by myself in defense of God’s commandments in the face of hostile detractors. Throughout my many years of theological studies, I have had to defend my convictions repeatedly. This defense of God’s commandments led me to a crisis of faith. As I stood alone in my defense, I realized that I no longer fit within the framework of Protestant/Catholic theology. I soon would find out that I actually did not stand alone; others stood and still stand with me.

Historically, throughout the Old Testament, New Testament, and Book of Mormon, we see that false prophets had one teaching -- one lie -- in common. These false prophets all taught against God’s commandments. These false prophets instructed God’s children to follow a different way of life, one they considered more liberating and less oppressive. Sadly, today’s society continues to perpetuate this lie and deceive God’s children, telling them that God’s commandments are not necessary, that there are other ways of living life, on one’s own terms, free from consequences, for self-gratification. Today’s society is no different from the era of false prophets of yore, teaching that by doing away with God’s commandments, they also can do away with sin and guilt. There is much confusion about how God’s commandments should be followed and applied to one's life. I hope to help others see through the deception and lies of today’s culture by exposing the true underlying nature of God’s commandments.

The purpose of this essay is to give the reader a deeper and more meaningful understanding of how God’s commandments should be understood and followed. Over the past several months, I have given speeches and spoken with individuals about the deeper meaning of God’s commandments. In previous essays, I have written about Restoration, and throughout those papers, I loosely have written about God’s commandments. In this article, I intend to take a more comprehensive approach to God’s commandments. I pray that those who read this short essay will gain a deeper understanding of how the commandments should be understood and followed.

To begin to understand God’s commandments, we first need to understand where they are found within Scripture. They are located within the Torah, also known as the Pentateuch in Greek, and the Law of Moses. Torah is the Hebrew name used for the compilation of the first five books of the Bible, also called the Books of Moses. It is said that God gave these books to Moses, face to face, letter by letter. They are considered the holiest of all of God’s revelations to mankind. The word Torah means “instruction” or “teachings,” which we often translate as “law.” Unfortunately, when we see the word law, many of us automatically think of a judge, gavel in hand, ready to punish us for disobedience. Much is lost in translation. The Torah is God’s instruction book, His instruction book on holiness, how to become like Him. It is a book of instructions meant to bring one into communion with God. It is meant to elevate one’s spiritual life. This is how one should approach his or her understanding of God’s commandments, as an instruction book on holiness. The very nature of the Torah is paternal, a parent’s loving instructions to His children, meant to enhance, not restrict, their lives by helping them navigate the pitfalls of life, thereby keeping society in harmony.

The word commandment is translated from the Hebrew word mitzvot, which means to commune, join, or be yoked. The idea is that when one fulfills a commandment, one communes, is joined, or is yoked with the one who ordained that precept: God. From the onset, the Torah and the commandments found therein became our instruction book on how to become holy and commune with God. They are meant to be our education and training in life. They are not meant to be seen as mere rules on do’s and don’ts to restrict our lives – the carnal context in which they often are placed today. They are intended to elevate one’s spiritual life. By obeying them, we convert our lives into acts of spiritual worship. It is obvious that if one does away with God’s commandments, one loses the conduit needed to commune with God -- His very instructions on how to become holy, as He is Holy. This is why we have to keep the commandments central in our lives -- so we can commune with God as living acts of spiritual worship. And yet, there is more to understanding God’s commandments.

The commandments consist of a binary set of precepts, i.e., they are divided into two sets of governing laws, or instructions: laws/instructions concerning one's relationship with God and laws/instructions concerning one’s relationship with mankind. For the rest of this essay, I will replace the word laws with instructions to help convey the commandments’ true spiritual nature. All God’s commandments are fulfilled within this binary set of instructions. The essence of all commandments is two-fold: keeping one in a proper relationship with God and keeping one in a proper relationship with mankind. We often speak of the two most significant commandments: loving God and loving your neighbor. In fact, these two instructions are necessary to fulfill all of God’s commandments, as these two precepts hold them all together. When religious leaders tried to ensnare Jesus with the question of what is the greatest commandment, Jesus’ answer demonstrated His binary understanding of the commandments. Jesus said it is to love your God, but that the second is like the first and just as important as the first: to love one’s neighbor. The religious leaders were impressed because the average person would not have added the second commandment and would not have equated it with the first. Thus, Jesus reminds us that all commandments have this binary relationship of loving both God and mankind.

Another understanding of the commandments is the concept of being joined, or yoked, together. The commandments become one’s yoke with God. Within the essence of the commandments is the nature of communion, of joining, or being yoked. The idea of being yoked together is that the two being yoked are working together to accomplish a task. The word yoke in Hebrew reminded people of God’s commandments. The idea of being yoked reminded the children of God that they were not on their own while navigating life, that by obeying God’s commandments, they were yoked with Him. The idea of being yoked reminded the Jewish people that God was walking alongside them, helping them deal with life’s circumstances. God’s commandments became mankind’s way of allowing Him to walk alongside them throughout life, helping them bear their burdens. As noted earlier, false prophets often teach one to forsake God’s commandments in favor of false teachings and false idols. Thus, when people abandon God’s commandments, they are left to face life’s circumstances on their own, apart from God. When one seeks to follow God’s commandments, he or she is yoked with God, who works alongside those trying to obey His commandments. To abandon God’s commandments is to disassociate oneself from God.

God has given humanity the priesthood, and His work within humanity always has taken place through the priesthood. A priest is God’s instrument on earth, used to elicit His restoration of mankind. Priests work on behalf of God by serving mankind through worship and intercession. What goes unnoticed is that God’s priests work within the framework of the commandments, worshiping God and serving mankind. Thus, the priests of God will find themselves within God’s commandments. It is important to note that one cannot merely worship God at the expense of one’s neighbor, or vice versa. A true believer lives within the binary requirements of all commandments, serving God and mankind. To truly live God’s commandments, one must serve within the priesthood, which is important because it reminds us of the priesthood’s importance and where it finds its instructions. The commandments are located within the Levitical Code, which is said to contain 613 Divine Levitical instructions. Notice that these commandments are part of the Levitical Code found within the priesthood. The commandments are part of God’s Levitical Code, meant for His priesthood. These commandments found within Leviticus are known as the Holiness Code, or the Priestly Code, a reminder of their actual intended purpose. Thus, those called by God will find their purpose and instructions within God’s commandments. They will live within the framework of His commandments as priesthood believers. This simple, yet significant, fact often goes unnoticed. I mention it to show the importance of the priesthood and the significance of the commandments as instructions for God’s priesthood believers. To abandon God’s commandments would put one outside the bounds of God’s priesthood -- on their own, apart from God, unable to fulfill his or her real intended purpose. Let me explain how God’s commandments guide us into achieving our real intended purpose in this life and the life to come.

Those who have had the Holy Ghost conferred upon them by someone authorized through the priesthood will find God’s commandments to be essential for maintaining and increasing the power of the Holy Ghost within their lives. The phrase “enduring to the end” is often used, but I prefer to use the term sanctification, which is the process of returning to one’s real intended purpose -- the process of making one holy. Through the process of living God’s commandments, the Holy Ghost is quickened and strengthened within the lives of believers, elevating their spiritual lives to a higher plane. It is God’s commandments that become our instruction book on becoming holy, while at the same time strengthening our inner spirits and connecting the Holy Ghost with God. Once we begin to make these connections with God, we can begin to sanctify our lives. God’s commandments guide us toward becoming the beings that we were intended to become from the onset, so we begin to change our lives and influence the lives of those around us. Thus, every time we adhere to even the simplest of God’s commandments, we create a union with God, and that union feeds our spirit. Every time we feed our spirit, we become more like God, and we begin to fulfill our real intended purpose in life: to become Holy as I am Holy, as God said. We become like God, in every sense, which is our ultimate intended purpose in this life and the life to come. The commandments become our Holiness Code to become Holy as God is Holy. To sanctify our lives and elicit our real intended purpose in life, we need to adhere to God’s commandments, our instruction book on holiness.

Thus, God’s commandments are not to be understood as a series of do’s and don’ts, but rather as our instruction book on how to elicit our real intended purpose in this life and the life to come. Today’s society is still teaching us to go against God’s commandments, and many of us are failing to grasp the true nature of God’s commandments. Rather than focus on God’s commandments as “what you can’t do,” one should focus on “why we must do” Understanding the “why” should be one’s motivation for adhering to God’s commandments. Once we understand why God has given us His commandments, we then can begin to learn to embrace them and follow them, allowing them to reveal our real intended purpose in life: to become Holy as God is Holy.

I can say much more, but I will leave it here as food for thought. My goal is to get God’s children to see God’s commandments as a way of elevating their spiritual lives -- as a way of fulfilling their real intended purpose in life: to become like God. With so many detractors and false prophets denying the importance of God’s commandments, people often need to be reminded of their real intended purpose and true nature. I hope to encourage those who have set God’s commandments aside to rethink their real intended purpose and embrace them once again. For those who have adhered to God’s commandments, I pray that this essay will serve as encouragement to continue down the path toward sanctification, on the way to reaching your real intended purpose in this life and the life to come.

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