He said, "He that receiveth you receiveth me, and he that receiveth me receiveth him that sent me. He that receiveth a prophet in the name of a prophet shall receive a prophet's reward; and he that receiveth a righteous man in the name of a righteous man shall receive a righteous man's reward." (Matthew 10:40 - 41)

Mankind has traditionally ignored the prophets living in their times and sometimes have killed them. If there are prophets and apostles living today, which I am convinced there are, it behooves all of us to "receive" them. To find out who they are and to determine if they are true prophets we need to ask in prayer. (see Matthew 7:7 and James 1:5)

It may be easier to think that it doesn't matter which church we all belong to, just as long as we are living in a way that we believe is righteous. I think that this philosophy is a mistake, for the Lord said, >"Not every one that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven; but he that doeth the will of my Father which is in heaven." (Matthew 7:21)

Now, regarding your question about God the Father once being human like us and how that goes against the Bible and Book of Mormon teaching that he is never changing is a great observation on your part but an interesting contradiction.

To me, it isn't inconsistent to realize that we are offspring of God as the scriptures make clear > (see Romans 8:16-17, Hebrews 12:9, John 20:17, Acts 17:29, Job 38:7 and others). It is a great blessing to know that we have the divine potential to "Be ye therefore perfect, even as your Father which is in heaven is perfect." (Matthew 5:48)

To me, it is not difficult to understand that as we are "heirs of God" and can be "glorified with him" that our generation is part of what the Lord means when he says "the course of the Lord is one eternal round" (Book of Mormon | 1 Nephi 10:19). By this, I mean, that there were generations before this, in which our Heavenly Father progressed to perfection, as he now is offering for us.

The concept that God was once as we are is a doctrine that really generates a whole lot of criticisms from those who would oppose the LDS faith. It actually was given in vision to the 5th president and prophet of the Church, Lorenzo Snow. He writes, "The Spirit of the Lord rested mightily upon me-the eyes of my understanding were opened, and I saw as clear as the sun at noonday, with wonder and astonishment, the pathway of God and man. I formed the following couplet which expresses the revelation, as it as shown me.... As man now is, God once was; As God now is, man may be". (Eliza R. Snow, P 46)

Now the statement in the scriptures, "For behold, I am God; and I am a God of miracles; and I will show unto the world that I am the same yesterday, today, and forever;" (Book of Mormon | 2 Nephi 27:23) is one of three such statements in the Book of Mormon. The other two (1 Nephi 10:18 and 2 Nephi 2:4 are not referring to God but to the Spirit or Holy Ghost. Even though this could be interpreted as meaning the nature of God, I believe, it refers to the unchanging nature of the gospel. To me, this is an important concept, that the gospel does not change.

I certainly hope this helps.

Sincerely,

Donny Osmond


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