Purpose of a body

[Hemidakota]

Thanks...

[Guest HEthePrimate]

Do you like chocolate? I like chocolate, and I also like other things, like the warmth of the sun on my face, cool breezes, mountain air, playing in the water, gardening, riding a bike, throwing a ball, and smelling flowers. To me, those things are part of a "fullness of joy," and it's possible we need a physical body to fully enjoy them.

[Tough Grits]

Yes, our bodies experience (or process) sensations. That is part of being human.

I need my car to get to work.

But my car does not drive itself.

I have to get in, and manipulate all the controls and make correct decisions in getting to my destination.

If I fail to obey the rules, or if I go the wrong way...then I won't get to where I need to go.

Sure, my body is like a fleshy computer that can process all sorts of information and senses. However, without the spirit...our bodies would be like a car with no driver. Empty. No switches being pushed, no dials being turned, and nothing being engaged.

The whole reason we were sent to earth, is so that our spirits would be able to progress.

How do we progress? By confronting choices, and making the right decision.

There is NO denying that our bodies provide us with many opportunities to choose between carnal desires or spiritual righteousness.

But it is the spirit that decides. It is the spirit that is increasing.

Sure, some of us have increasing bodies...but that has to do with all the junk we consume!!!!!! LOL LOL :D:D:D

It is our spirits that have to prove themselves...not our bodies. However, it is our bodies that provide us the opportunities to prove ourselves...as it is our bodies that are tempted by the desires of the flesh.

So, having a gentle breeze blow across our skin is a wonderful sensation.

But that is ALL that it is. Just a sensation. It provides no opportunity to choose between good and evil.

However, there those that enjoy other sensations of the flesh that absolutely provide an opportunity to choose between good and evil.

Those are the times that we must allow our spirits to overcome the desires of the flesh in order to make righteous choices.

I think this is just a matter of what each of us know to be true by our own understandings.

It is my personal belief that we were sent here to prove ourselves valiant...first, and foremost.

All the other innocent pleasures that come along the way are merely a bonus.

But we cannot forget that our first priority is to prove ourselves, progress, and become like Christ.

Though sitting in the sun, smelling the flowers, and feeling a cool breeze may be wonderful and poetic...none of those things are really proving ourselves.

True joy, for me, will be if in the end I have lived my life in such a way that I am able to live with my family forever.

I LOVE landscaping and being in my yard...but at the last day...none of it will have mattered if I cannot live in Heavenly Father's kingdom with my little family.

I think we are all agreeing, but we are each seeing this matter from very interesting and unique perspectives.

I am not trying to discredit the small parts that make the whole...I just know that if I am ever going to get to where I want to go, then I need to focus on the goal...not the incidentals along the way. I need to focus on having a valiant spirit, progressing, becoming like Christ, and remaining on the straight and narrow.

We all know this earth life was to gain bodies. But we also know that it is our spirits that need to progress. Our spirits were already living in Heavenly Father's kingdom. But we had to leave so that we (our spirits) could progress. Our bodies are the means by which we can attain (or fail to attain) progression and Heavenly father's kingdom.

[VisionOfLehi]

VOL:

Consider the following:

LDS.org - Liahona Article - The Power to Change

From that talk:

There are many kinds of addictions, and it is difficult for someone who has one of these serious addictions to change because some of them are mind-altering. A recent article on addiction said, “In the brains of addicts, there is reduced activity in the prefrontal cortex, where rational thought can override impulse behavior.”5 Some addictions can control us to the point where they take away our God-given agency. One of Satan’s great tools is to find ways to control us. Consequently, we should abstain from anything that would keep us from fulfilling the Lord’s purposes for us, whereby the blessings of eternity may hang in jeopardy. We are in this life for the spirit to gain control over the body rather than the other way around.

So, this means that if our body is in control of things right now -- we are to change those circumstances through our willingness to submit to the Grace of Christ, which gives us commandments on what to do and the power to carry out those commandments (His loving counsel).

This, tomk, explains what I've been trying (poorly!) to say!

The body is in control, and can have control! But that's not the intended way (I think my first comment said that the GOAL is to have the spirit in control.)

I don't think we can master, perfectly, our spiritual control until the Resurrection, though.

I like the car analogy, Tough, but I tend to think of it as a wild horse, instead! We can tame the horse, and teach it to response quickly and easily, but without training and care the horse will revert to its wildness. (Okay, I don't know anything about horses, but there's always that "untameable" horse in stories that just HAPPENS to obey the lead character.)

And, to be a little odd, once we're Resurrected, we're no longer a rider on a horse, but a rider AND the horse. (Yes... A Centaur. LOL!)

Okay, bedtime!

[lilered]

Toms original question has certaintly brought out many great comments. It seems to me that much of the discussions have centered more around our earthl body & spirit and less about the purposes for having an exalted body.

Does it make sense that an exalted body will also serve to house (be a temple) for our exalted spirit?

As such, would we not then also have the ability to see, touch, hold, etc. one another? We could also then able to be transported to another dimension or worlds and be able to be seen by other mortals.

[skalenfehl]

lilered, when we resurrect, our spirits and our bodies will be forever united as one soul, never again to be corrupt or become corrupted when exalted.

[Hemidakota]

Encyclopedia of Joseph Smith's Teachings dealing with Exaltation:

See also Eternal Life

Exaltationa-Smith, Joseph, Jr.TP 1 God brings low before He exalts. (Joseph Smith, History of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, 7 Vols. 1:216)

Exaltationa-Smith, Joseph, Jr.TP 2 You, who do the will of the Lord and keep His commandments, have need to rejoice with unspeakable joy, for such shall be exalted very high, and shall be lifted up in triumph above all the kingdoms of this world. (Joseph Smith, History of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, 7 Vols. 1:299)

3 Therefore let your heart be comforted; live in strict obedience to the commandments of God, and walk humbly before Him, and He will exalt thee in His own due time. (Joseph Smith, History of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, 7 Vols. 1:408)

Exaltationa-Smith, Joseph, Jr.TP 4 God exalts the humble, and debases the haughty. (Joseph Smith, History of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, 7 Vols. 6:74)

Exaltationa-Smith, Joseph, Jr.TP 5 The question is frequently asked "Can we not be saved without going through with all those ordinances [of the temple], &c.?" I would answer, No, not the fullness of salvation. Jesus said, "There are many mansions in my Father's house, and I will go and prepare a place for you." House here named should have been translated kingdom; and any person who is exalted to the highest mansion has to abide a celestial law, and the whole law too. . . .

Exaltationa-Smith, Joseph, Jr.TPI have tried for a number of years to get the minds of the Saints prepared to receive the things of God; but we frequently see some of them, after suffering all they have for the work of God, will fly to pieces like glass as soon as anything comes that is contrary to their traditions: they cannot stand the fire at all. How many will be able to abide a celestial law, and go through and receive their exaltation, I am unable to say, as many are called, but few are chosen. (Joseph Smith, History of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, 7 Vols. 6:184, 185)

Man, Potential of, to Become Like Heavenly FatherExaltationa-Smith, Joseph, Jr.TP 6 How consoling to the mourners when they are called to part with a husband, wife, father, mother, child, or dear relative, to know that, although the earthly tabernacle is laid down and dissolved, they shall rise again to dwell in everlasting burnings in immortal glory, not to sorrow, suffer, or die any more, but they shall be heirs of God and joint heirs with Jesus Christ. What is it? To inherit the same power, the same glory and the same exaltation, until you arrive at the station of a god, and ascend the throne of eternal power, the same as those who have gone before. What did Jesus do? Why, I do the things I saw my Father do when worlds came rolling into existence. My father worked out His kingdom with fear and trembling, and I must do the same; and when I get my kingdom, I shall present it to My Father, so that He may obtain kingdom upon kingdom, and it will exalt Him in glory. He will then take a higher exaltation, and I will take His place, and thereby become exalted myself. So that Jesus treads in the tracks of His Father, and inherits what God did before; and God is thus glorified and exalted in the salvation and exaltation of all His children. It is plain beyond disputation, and you thus learn some of the first principles of the gospel, about which so much hath been said.

Exaltationa-Smith, Joseph, Jr.TP When you climb up a ladder, you must begin at the bottom, and ascend step by step, until you arrive at the top; and so it is with the principles of the gospel—you must begin with the first, and go on until you learn all the principles of exaltation. But it will be a great while after you have passed through the veil before you will have learned them. It is not all to be comprehended in this world; it will be a great work to learn our salvation and exaltation even beyond the grave. . . .

Exaltationa-Smith, Joseph, Jr.TP. . . Knowledge saves a man; and in the world of spirits no man can be exalted but by knowledge. So long as a man will not give heed to the commandments, he must abide without salvation. If a man has knowledge, he can be saved; although, if he has been guilty of great sins, he will be punished for them. But when he consents to obey the gospel, whether here or in the world of spirits, he is saved. . . .

. . . All will suffer until they obey Christ himself. (Joseph Smith, History of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, 7 Vols. 6:306-7, 314)

Exaltationa-Smith, Joseph, Jr.TP 7 Truth, virtue, and honor, combined with energy and industry, pave the way to exaltation, glory and bliss. (Joseph Smith, History of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, 7 Vols. 6:425)

Footnotes

683. Observation about Ezra Booth, Hiram, Ohio, September 1831.

684. Letter to William W. Phelps in Missouri, written from Kirtland, 27 November 1832.

685. Letter to Vienna Jacques, Kirtland, 4 September 1833.

686. Letter to James Arlington Bennett, Nauvoo, 13 November 1843.

687. Sabbath address, Nauvoo, 21 January 1844.

688. King Follett Discourse, Nauvoo, 7 April 1844.

689. Letter to Joel H. Walker, Nauvoo, 1 June 1844.

[VisionOfLehi]

What book is this, Hemi?

[Misshalfway]

Not much difference according to the scriptures:

The glory of God is intelligence, or, in other words, light and truth. (D&C 93:36)

Intelligence, or the light of truth, was not created or made, neither indeed can be. (D&C 93:29)

Light of truth, is the light of Christ, which proceeds from God through Christ (Doctrine and Covenants 88). It is intelligence, and it is light and truth. We can increase in this until we know all things.

That which is of God is light; and he that receiveth light, and continueth in God, receiveth more light; and that light groweth brighter and brighter until the perfect day. (D&C 50:24)

See also, Guide to the Scriptures: Light, Light of Christ

Regards,

Vanhin

Light has to be an actual physical part of a resurrected/exalted body. God the Father certainly is absolutely and literally filled with light. And as Alma 5 talks about, the light of Christ literally shines in our eyes as we become more sanctified. I think this is absolutely fascinating and beautiful. The light that comes thru righteousness and truth and obedience.....this is an amazing thing that not only ones spirit is filled with light and truth but that the actual flesh is filled with light as well.

[Hemidakota]

What book is this, Hemi?

Encyclopedia of Joseph Smith's Teachings by Donald Q. Cannon, Larry E. Dahl, Joseph Smith

[Hemidakota]

To add more clarity for those who do not have a understanding each glory's requirements, a Bishop posted this quick snapshot, sometime this year to his local website;

1. The Telestial glory is for those who do not receive the gospel of Jesus Christ or the testimony of Jesus or the prophets of God, and who live sinful lives (see D&C 76:81–88, 98–103).

Requirements for the Telestial Kingdom

• they who received not the gospel of Christ, neither the testimony of Jesus (v. 82)
• they who deny not the Holy Spirit (v. 83)
• they who say they are some of one, and some of another—some of Christ and some of John, and some of Moses—but received not the gospel, neither the testimony of Jesus, neither the prophets, neither the everlasting covenant (vv. 99-101)
• they who are liars and sorcerers, and adulterers, and whoremongers, and whosoever loves and makes a lie (v. 103; Rev. 22:15 adds murderers)

READ D&C 76:99-101

2. The Terrestrial glory is for the honorable people of the earth who are deceived and for those who are not valiant in the testimony of Jesus Christ (see D&C 76:71–79).

Requirements for the Terrestrial Kingdom

• Died without the law (v. 72)
• Visited by the Son in the Spirit World, received not the Gospel in the flesh but did in the Spirit World (v. 73-4) “they felt it by the Spirit” (See D&C 137)
• Honorable men of the earth (v. 75)
• They receive His glory, but not the fullness of His Glory (v. 76)
• Not valiant in the testimony of Jesus (v. 79)

Melvin J. Ballard said: “Now those who died without law, meaning the pagan nations, for lack of faithfulness, for lack of devotion in the former life, are obtaining all that they are entitled to. I don't mean to say that all of them will be barred from entrance into the highest glory. Any one of them who repents and complies with the conditions might also obtain celestial glory, but the great bulk of them will only obtain terrestrial glory.” ("The Three Degrees of Glory," in Melvin J. Ballard: Crusader for Righteousness (Salt Lake City: Bookcraft, 1966), p. 221.)

3. The Celestial glory is reserved for those who obey the commandments and receive the ordinances, overcome all things by faith in Jesus Christ, and become pure in heart (see D&C 76:50–70).

Requirements of the Celestial Kingdom:

• Receive the testimony of Jesus (v. 51)
• Believe on His name (we might say faith) (v. 51)
• Baptized (v. 51)
• Keep the commandments (v. 52)
• Receive the Gift of the Holy Ghost (v. 52)
• Overcome by faith (v. 53)
• Sealed by the Holy Spirit of Promise (v. 53)

The doctrine in D&C 137 in light of the Celestial Kingdom:

In these verses the principles upon which the doctrine of salvation for the dead rests are announced for the first time in this dispensation. They are:

• first, that the doctrine applies only to those who “died without a knowledge” of the gospel;
• second, that God must read the hearts of those concerned and affirm that had the gospel come to them in mortality they would have accepted it;
• and third, that God must judge that not only would they have accepted the gospel but that they would have done so “with all their hearts,” meaning that they would have endured valiantly and faithfully to the end.

Who is invited to receive this blessing and see this vision?

Here is what Joseph Smith said:

“I could explain a hundred fold more than I ever have of the glories of the kingdoms manifested to me in vision, were I permitted, and were the people prepared to receive them” (Teachings, 305).

On another occasion he said:

“God hath not revealed anything to Joseph, but what He will make known unto the Twelve, and even the least Saint may know all things as fast as he is able to bear them” (Teachings, 149)