Discussing Callings and Elections

Discussing Callings and Elections:

I have chosen to use Strong's Concordance or Strong's Lexicon in an attempt to get at the original meaning of these words. We talk about them a lot in the LDS Church, but many of us don't seem to know what they really mean.

Calling:

Strong's G2821: A call or an invitation to a feast or to God. The divine invitation to embrace salvation from God. A call or invitation to return to God's presence someday.

Strong's G2564: To invite. To give a name to. To be given a new name or a new title.

Elect:

Strong's G1588: Chosen by God. The Messiah is called "elect", as appointed by God to the most exalted office conceivable. Choice, select, i.e. the best of its kind or class, excellence preeminent. All are called, but few are Chosen or Elected by God for the greatest Positions, Callings, Blessings, and Gifts.

Election:

Strong's G1589: The act of picking out or choosing. The act of God's free will by which before the foundation of the world He decreed His blessings to certain persons. This definition tells us that many Elections or Blessings or many of His Choices or Gifts were decreed by God long before this earth was founded. The Elect or the Elected is a person chosen by God to receive some kind of Gift, Calling, Position, or Blessing from God. The Chosen One received an Election from God or was chosen by God before the foundation of the world. There are different kinds of Elections just as there are different kinds of Callings.

Strong's G1586: To choose or to choose out of a group. God choosing one for an office or a position. God setting us apart to a Holy Purpose or making us Choice. This implies receiving a New Calling or a Higher Calling from God. What happens when we vote and elect somebody to an office? Well, we choose that person to assume a new exalted position in the community; or that person is chosen by the public to serve the public. It's the same concept, except when God elects or chooses the Chosen One, it's meant to be an Eternal or Everlasting choice or election. God plays for keeps.

To Make:

Strong's G4160: To construct, form, or fashion. To make ready or to prepare. To produce, to bear, to shoot forth. To be fruitful or to produce fruit. To appoint or to ordain. To do rightly, to do well, to carry out God's plan, or to execute God's plan. To do a thing unto God. To perform a promise unto God. To author something. To have regard for, to care for, or to make provision for. To choose to open our hearts and minds to God.

Sure:

Strong's G949: Stable, fast, firm, trusty. Valid and therefore inviolable. Unshaken and constant. If God makes something Sure, then that thing becomes Permanent, Eternal, and Everlasting. You can count on it to hold fast and firm.

Pass Me the Ammunition, Please:

A friend of mine likes to call this the Doctrine of Becoming; in other words, the Doctrine of Becoming Like God, or the Doctrine of Returning to God.

Hugh Nibley says that it's all about Repentance and Forgiveness. If you stop doing those two things, then you are in real trouble.

D&C 76: 50-70:

50 And again we bear record – for we saw and heard, and this is the testimony of the gospel of Christ concerning them who shall come forth in the resurrection of the just --

51 They are they who received the testimony of Jesus, and believed on his name and were baptized after the manner of his burial, being buried in the water in his name, and this according to the commandment which he has given --

52 That by keeping the commandments they might be washed and cleansed from all their sins, and receive the Holy Spirit by the laying on of the hands of him who is ordained and sealed unto this power;

53 And who overcome by faith, and are sealed by the Holy Spirit of promise, which the Father sheds forth upon all those who are just and true.

54 They are they who are the church of the Firstborn.

55 They are they into whose hands the Father has given all things --

56 They are they who are priests and kings, who have received of his fulness, and of his glory;

57 And are priests of the Most High, after the order of Melchizedek, which was after the order of Enoch, which was after the order of the Only Begotten Son.

58 Wherefore, as it is written, they are gods, even the sons of God --

59 Wherefore, all things are theirs, whether life or death, or things present, or things to come, all are theirs and they are Christ's, and Christ is God's.

60 And they shall overcome all things.

61 Wherefore, let no man glory in man, but rather let him glory in God, who shall subdue all enemies under his feet.

62 These shall dwell in the presence of God and his Christ forever and ever.

63 These are they whom he shall bring with him, when he shall come in the clouds of heaven to reign on the earth over his people.

64 These are they who shall have part in the first resurrection.

65 These are they who shall come forth in the resurrection of the just.

66 These are they who are come unto Mount Zion, and unto the city of the living God, the heavenly place, the holiest of all.

67 These are they who have come to an innumerable company of angels, to the general assembly and church of Enoch, and of the Firstborn.

68 These are they whose names are written in heaven, where God and Christ are the judge of all.

69 These are they who are just men made perfect through Jesus the mediator of the new covenant, who wrought out this perfect atonement through the shedding of his own blood.

70 These are they whose bodies are celestial, whose glory is that of the sun, even the glory of God, the highest of all, whose glory the sun of the firmament is written of as being typical.

Joseph Smith, Teachings of the Prophet Joseph Smith, selected and arranged by Joseph Fielding Smith, p.366:

I am going on in my progress for eternal life. It is not only necessary that you should be baptized for your dead, but you will have to go through all the ordinances for them, the same as you have gone through to save yourselves. There will be 144,000 saviors on Mount Zion, and with them an innumerable host that no man can number. Oh! I beseech you to go forward, go forward and make your calling and your election sure; and if any man preach any other Gospel than that which I have preached, he shall be cursed; and some of you who now hear me shall see it, and know that I testify the truth concerning them.

End of quote.

If we try to lead a man to any other Church than the one that Joseph Smith and Jesus Christ established, then we shall be cursed. If we forsake the Saving Ordinances that we have received in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, then we shall be cursed.

Bruce R. McConkie, Doctrinal New Testament Commentary, 3 vols., 3:, p.327, 329, 330:

What is meant by calling? And who are the called of God?

To be called is to be a member of the Church and kingdom of God on earth; it is to be numbered with the saints; it is to accept the gospel and receive the everlasting covenant; it is to have part and lot in the earthly Zion; it is to be born again, to be a son or a daughter of the Lord Jesus Christ; to have membership in the household of faith; it is to be on the path leading to eternal life and to have the hope of eternal glory; it is to have a conditional promise of eternal life; it is to be an inheritor of all of the blessings of the gospel, provided there is continued obedience to the laws and ordinances thereof.

Within this over-all framework, there are individual calls to positions of trust and responsibility, but these are simply assignments to labor on the Lord's errand, in particular places, for a time and a season. The call itself is to the gospel cause; it is not reserved for apostles and prophets or for the great and mighty in Israel; it is for all the members of the kingdom.

The call originates with God, is available because of his grace and goodness, and is offered to various peoples and nations according to his will and on his divine timetable. From the day of Jacob to the coming of Christ the house of Israel was the called and chosen people of the Lord. During the day of his mortal ministry our Lord limited the call to the lost sheep of the house of Israel. (Matt. 10:5-7.) After his resurrection he commanded his ministers to make the call available to all men. (Mark 16:15-16.) But only those who actually receive the gospel, who make the everlasting covenant, who cleave unto the truth and strive to live in harmony with the revealed word, only these are numbered among those whom the scriptures name as the called of the Lord.

Now what is meant by making a calling sure?

All blessings promised in connection with the callings of God are conditional; they are offered to men provided they obey the laws upon which their receipt is predicated. (D. & C. 130:20-21.) "For all who will have a blessing at my hands," the Lord says, "shall abide the law which was appointed for that blessing, and the conditions thereof, as were instituted from before the foundation of the world." (D. & C. 132:5.)

It follows, then, that when the law has been lived to the full, the promised blessing is guaranteed. "I, the Lord, am bound when ye do what I say; but when ye do not what I say, ye have no promise." (D. & C. 82:10.) Accordingly, when a man lives the law that qualifies him for eternal life, the Lord is bound by his own law to confer that greatest of all gifts upon him. And if by a long course of trial and obedience, while yet in this life, a man proves to the Lord that he has and will abide in the truth, the Lord accepts the exhibited devotion and issues his decree that the promised blessings shall be received. The calling, which up to that time was provisional, is then made sure. The receipt of the promised blessings are no longer conditional; they are guaranteed. Announcement is made that every gospel blessing shall be inherited.

End of quote.

We have to become and remain members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in order to have our Calling Made Sure.

1 Timothy 6:12: Fight the good fight of faith, lay hold on eternal life, whereunto thou art also called, and hast professed a good profession before many witnesses.

The Saints in every Gospel Dispensation are Called unto Eternal Life.

Bruce R. McConkie, Doctrinal New Testament Commentary, 3 vols., 3:

What is meant by election? Who are the elect of God? To what have they been elected? And why?

Election is akin to and synonymous with calling, and in a general sense the elect comprise the whole house of Israel. (Isa. 45:4; 65:9.) Jesus and Paul and Peter speak of the elect as the saints, as the faithful believers, as those who love the Lord and are seeking righteousness. (Matt. 24:22; Mark 13:20; Luke 18:7; Col. 3:12; 2 Tim. 2:10; Titus 1:1.) And the Lord in our day has promised to gather and save his elect. (D. & C. 29:7; 33:6; 35:20.) Paul speaks of the elect along with the called, setting forth that they are foreordained to be like Christ, that their conduct here is justified, and that they shall be glorified hereafter. (Rom. 8:28-30.) Peter specifies that their high status is "according to the foreknowledge of God the Father" (1 Pet. 1:2), and Isaiah assures us that great blessings shall flow to them during the Millennial Era. (Isa. 65:22.)

But in the most express and proper usage of terms, "The elect of God comprise a very select group, an inner circle of faithful members of the Church. . . . They are the portion of church members who are striving with all their hearts to keep the fulness of the gospel law in this life so that they can become inheritors of the fulness of gospel rewards in the life to come.

"As far as the male sex is concerned, they are the ones, the Lord says, who have the Melchizedek Priesthood conferred upon them and who thereafter magnify their callings and are sanctified by the Spirit. In this way, 'They become the sons of Moses and of Aaron and the seed of Abraham, and the church and kingdom, and the elect of God.' " (Mormon Doctrine, 2nd ed., p. 217.) See Commentary II, pp. 267-269, 271-278, 283-285.

What is meant by making an election sure?

It is with election as with calling: the chosen of the Lord are offered all of the blessings of the gospel on condition of obedience to the Lord's laws; and they, having been tried and tested and found worthy in all things, eventually have a seal placed on their election which guarantees the receipt of the promised blessing.

What is meant by having one's calling and election made sure?

To have one's calling and election made sure is to be sealed up unto eternal life; it is to have the unconditional guarantee of exaltation in the highest heaven of the celestial world; it is to receive the assurance of godhood; it is, in effect, to have the day of judgment advanced, so that an inheritance of all the glory and honor of the Father's kingdom is assured prior to the day when the faithful actually enter into the divine presence to sit with Christ in his throne, even as he is "set down" with his "Father in his throne." (Rev. 3:21.)

Baptism is the beginning of personal righteousness; it opens the door to celestial exaltation; it puts us on the path leading to eternal life. As Nephi expressed it, when we enter "the gate" of "repentance and baptism" and receive "a remission" of our sins "by fire and by the Holy Ghost," we are then on the "straight and narrow path which leads to eternal life."

Nephi then asks if we have thereby done all that is necessary to gain that glorious reward, and answers with an emphatic, No! "Ye must press forward with a steadfastness in Christ," he says, "having a perfect brightness of hope, and a love of God and of all men. Wherefore, if ye shall press forward, feasting upon the word of Christ, and endure to the end, behold, thus saith the Father: Ye shall have eternal life." (2 Ne. 31:17-21.)

What is the relationship between celestial marriage and having one's calling and election made sure?

In the same sense that baptism opens the door and starts repentant persons traveling on the path leading to eternal life, so also does celestial marriage. This holy order of matrimony also opens a door leading to celestial exaltation. "In the celestial glory there are three heavens or degrees; And in order to obtain the highest, a man must enter into this order of the priesthood [meaning the new and everlasting covenant of marriage]; And if he does not, he cannot obtain it. He may enter into the other, but that is the end of his kingdom; he cannot have an increase." (D. & C. 131:1-4.)

As everyone who has been married in the temple knows, those so united – by the power and authority of the holy priesthood and by virtue of the sealing power restored by Elijah – are promised an inheritance of glory, honor, power, and dominion in the kingdom of God. But, as with baptism, all the promises are conditional; they are specifically and pointedly stated as being contingent upon the subsequent faithfulness of the participating parties. If they keep the commandments after celestial marriage, their union continues in the life to come; if they do not conform to the standards of personal righteousness involved, their marriage is not of force when they die and they revert to their separate and single status.

As we have already seen, making one's calling and election sure comes after and grows out of celestial marriage. Eternal life does not and cannot exist for a man or a woman alone, because in its very nature it consists of the continuation of the family unit in eternity. Thus the revelation on marriage speaks both of celestial marriage (in which the conditional promises of eternal life are given) and of making one's calling and election sure (in which the unconditional promise of eternal life are given) in one and the same sentence.

End of quote.

Remember, you do NOT step off the path or quit the Church of Jesus Christ after having your Calling and Election Made Sure. Instead, you are given a New Calling to go out and use your newly received gifts to help bring people to Jesus Christ and His Church. You can't bring people to the one without bringing them to the other.

D&C 132 tells us that we have to continue “to abide in the covenant” after having our Calling and Election Made Sure and after having our Celestial Marriage sealed by the Holy Spirit of Promise, or we can lose our blessings. Therefore, you have to remain a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, or your Calling and Election are forfeited. As Hans Solo said to Luke Skywalker, “Don't get cocky, kid.”

Getting Ripe:

Joseph Smith, Teachings of the Prophet Joseph Smith, selected and arranged by Joseph Fielding Smith, p.298:

Now for the secret and grand key. Though they might hear the voice of God and know that Jesus was the Son of God, this would be no evidence that their election and calling was made sure, that they had part with Christ, and were joint heirs with Him. They then would want that more sure word of prophecy, that they were sealed in the heavens and had the promise of eternal life in the kingdom of God. Then, having this promise sealed unto them, it was an anchor to the soul, sure and steadfast. Though the thunders might roll and lightnings flash, and earthquakes bellow, and war gather thick around, yet this hope and knowledge would support the soul in every hour of trial, trouble and tribulation. Then knowledge through our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ is the grand key that unlocks the glories and mysteries of the kingdom of heaven.

Compare this principle once with Christendom at the present day, and where are they, with all their boasted religion, piety and sacredness while at the same time they are crying out against prophets, apostles, angels, revelations, prophesying and visions, etc. Why, they are just ripening for the damnation of hell. They will be damned, for they reject the most glorious principle of the Gospel of Jesus Christ and treat with disdain and trample under foot the key that unlocks the heavens and puts in our possession the glories of the celestial world. Yes, I say, such will be damned, with all their professed godliness. Then I would exhort you to go on and continue to call upon God until you make your calling and sure for yourselves, by obtaining this more sure word of prophecy, and wait patiently for the promise until you obtain it, etc.

End of quote.

Beware that some of the people who have had their Calling and Election Made Sure or who have received the Second Comforter are in fact now crying out against the Prophets and Apostles saying that the LDS Apostles have fallen and are no longer receiving revelation from God. Thus, these LDS Apostates are ripening for the damnation of hell. Such will be damned with all of their professed godliness, according to Joseph Smith.

Church of the Firstborn:

Anti-Christs can easily distort this concept in order to promote their personal agenda. Many of the anti-Christs will tell us publicly that they are the Davidic Servant, or a Prophet of God, or one of the 144000, or a translated messenger from Heaven, or a member of the Church of the Firstborn, in order to lead us away from the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.

Even among the Latter-day Saints, this concept is often seen from different perspectives.

George Reynolds and Janne M. Sjodahl, Commentary on the Book of Mormon, edited and arranged by Philip C. Reynolds, 7 vols., 1:, p.228:

The Church of the Firstborn. "Let me explain what the Church of the Firstborn is. It is the first Church that ever was raised up upon this earth; that is, the firstborn Church. That is what I mean; and when God, our Father, organized that church, he organized it just as his Father organized the church on the earth where he dwelt; and that same order is organized here in the city of Great Salt Lake; and it is that order that Joseph Smith, the prophet of God, organized in the beginning in Kirtland, Ohio. Brother Brigham Young, myself, and others were present when that was done; and when those officers received their endowments, they were together in one place. They were organized and received their endowments and blessings, and those keys were placed upon them, and that kingdom will stand for ever." (Heber C. Kimball, J. of D., vol. 5, p. 129)

End of quote.

Hebrews 12: 22-23:

22 But ye are come unto mount Sion, and unto the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, and to an innumerable company of angels,

23 To the general assembly and church of the firstborn, which are written in heaven, and to God the Judge of all, and to the spirits of just men made perfect.

Christ is the Firstborn, so this “Church of the Firstborn” is Christ's Church.

The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is an extension of the Church of the Firstborn and also an introduction or an initiation into the Church of the Firstborn.

The way I see it is that the Church of the Firstborn is the church that we were baptized into and confirmed or sealed into while in Heaven in the pre-mortal realms. The Church of the Firstborn is the Kingdom of God in Heaven. Our spirit bodies would have needed baptism and confirmation into the Church of the Firstborn while in Heaven in prelude or preparation for the baptism and confirmation of our physical bodies into the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints while in this mortal earthly life. The LDS Church is the Kingdom of God here on this earth right now.

While here in this mortal life, we can receive Election or a Choosing from God back into the Church of the Firstborn signifying that when we die we will go to Paradise or Zion in the spirit world and signifying that when we are resurrected from the dead we will remain and already be members of the Heavenly Church and return to the Church of the Firstborn in the Celestial Kingdom from whence we came.

Jesus Christ seems to see Himself and His Church as being one and the same thing; therefore, the Church Membership is often described as The Body of Christ. Christ often describes His Churches or His Gospel Dispensations as the Brides, and then describes Himself as the Bridegroom. Jesus Christ truly sees Himself and the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints as being one and the same thing, because He has married the two together for all Eternity. Therefore, when a person divorces himself from the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, he is in fact divorcing himself from Jesus Christ. These are hard sayings for anyone who has apostatized or been excommunicated from the LDS Church; but, they are the truth, if the LDS Scriptures are true.

The scary part is that it's possible before the resurrection from the dead to apostatize from the Church of the Firstborn just as it is possible to apostatize from the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. One has to remain true and faithful to Christ and His Churches in order to reap the all rewards at the end. It's possible for a person to torpedo his Calling and Election Made Sure. That's how people become Sons of Perdition and end up in Outer Darkness.

If a person refuses to remain loyal to the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints after having his or her Calling and Election Made Sure, then that person is running the risk of becoming a Son of Perdition.

I also believe that it is fully possible for a woman to rebel against the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints after having her Calling and Election Made Sure; and, she will indeed become a Daughter of Perdition if she persists in that course.

God is no respecter of persons. If a daughter of God wants to abandon Jesus Christ and His Church, she will be granted her wish, if that's her heart's desire, even if she has had her Calling and Election Made Sure, Seen Christ, or been inducted back into the Church of the Firstborn. It doesn't matter whether she abandons the LDS Church or abandons Jesus Christ, because in the end the net result will be the same. Christ will say to her at the Judgment Day, “I never knew you. Depart from me ye that work iniquity.”

If you are a man and deliberately walk away from the Oath and Covenant of the Priesthood in the LDS Church, Christ will say the same thing to you at Judgment Day no matter how many miracles you might have performed before you chose to walk away from the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.

Be Careful About Boasting and Bragging:

If God has given you Pearls or Mysteries, be careful how you choose to share them. If God has given you a Gift, He can also take it away. If you have received a Testimony of the Gospel or a Testimony of the LDS Church, you can lose that testimony if you are not careful.

Alma 12: 9-11:

9 And now Alma began to expound these things unto him, saying: It is given unto many to know the mysteries of God; nevertheless they are laid under a strict command that they shall not impart only according to the portion of his word which he doth grant unto the children of men, according to the heed and diligence which they give unto him.

10 And therefore, he that will harden his heart, the same receiveth the lesser portion of the word; and he that will not harden his heart, to him is given the greater portion of the word, until it is given unto him to know the mysteries of God until he know them in full.

11 And they that will harden their hearts, to them is given the lesser portion of the word until they know nothing concerning his mysteries; and then they are taken captive by the devil, and led by his will down to destruction. Now this is what is meant by the chains of hell.

Be careful whom you share your sacred experiences with. The only legitimate reason to share sacred experiences is to build Zion, which at this point happens to be The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. We know that in each Gospel Dispensation, Jesus Christ sees Himself and His Church as being one and the same thing.

If you are sharing your sacred experiences for any other purpose than to build up the Kingdom of God here on this earth, then you are committing a sin and are in need of some serious repentance. If you are not leading people to Jesus Christ and His Church, the LDS Church, then you are in fact leading them somewhere else instead. You will be held accountable for your actions, especially if you have received the Second Comforter or had your Calling and Election Made Sure. By separating ourselves or distancing ourselves from the Church of Jesus Christ, we are in fact separating ourselves and distancing ourselves from Jesus Christ, the head of His Church.

Expanding One's Mind and Understanding:

I have learned and come to know that there are many different Callings that we can receive from the Lord. Women naturally receive different Callings than the men do.

There are also many different Elections, Gifts, Blessings, or Promises that we can receive from the Lord also.

The Election or Promise from the Lord that an individual will one day enter into the Celestial Kingdom is available to every baptized and faithful Latter-day Saint, male or female.

There is every indication that the Elections or Gifts that we call the Gift of the Holy Ghost and the Second Comforter are open to every baptized and confirmed Latter-day Saint, male or female.

Other Elections, such as the Sealing Power or the Oath and Covenant of the Priesthood are available to the LDS males on an individual basis. These kinds of Elections can be Made Sure or Made Eternal by God on an individual basis.

The Election or Promise of having one's Celestial Marriage Made Sure or Made Eternal (and thus the Highest Degree in the Celestial Kingdom or the Highest Exaltation in the Celestial Kingdom) is ONLY available to an LDS couple, male and female, who have been sealed together by the Sealing Power in the Temple of God. This Election or Promise is only available to married LDS couples. Single individuals cannot apply for this Gift let alone receive it.

Only married LDS couples can receive this version of Eternal Life, the highest form of Exaltation. Their Temple Marriage or Celestial Marriage will have to be sealed by the Holy Spirit of Promise before this married couple will receive this Gift from the Lord.

If a man or a woman has received his or her Calling and Election Made Sure, then the next logical step for the individual is to pursue that same Gift or Election for his or her own spouse, so that their Celestial Marriage can be Made Sure as well.

All things in their own proper order.