President Dallin H. Oaks on the Trinity, Our first article of faith states that “we believe in God the Eternal Father, and in His Son Jesus Christ, and in the Holy Ghost.”  We join other Christians in this belief in a Father and a Son and a Holy Ghost BUT WHAT WE BELIEVE ABOUT THEM IS DIFFERENT FROM BELIEFS OF OTHERS.  WE DO NOT BELIEVE WHAT THE CHRISTIAN WORLD CALLS THE DOCTRINE OF THE HOLY TRINITY.

“In his first vision Joseph Smith saw two distinct personages two beings thus clarifying that the then prevailing beliefs concerning God and the godhead were not true.”  (John 1:18)

In contrast to the belief that God is an incomprehensible and unknowable mystery, we believe that the truth about the nature of God and our relationship to Him is knowable and is the key to everything else in our doctrine. (9-1:04)

The Bible records Jesus’ great intercessory prayer where he declared that “this is life eternal that they might know thee, the Only True God, and Jesus Christ whom thou has sent.”  

We understand our relationship to the members of the godhead from what is revealed about the Plan of Salvation. Questions like, where did we come from, why are we here, and where are we going are answered in what the Scriptures call the Plan of Salvation, the Great Plan of Happiness, or The Plan of Redemption. The Gospel of Jesus Christ is central to this plan.    

As spirit children of God, in an existence prior to mortality, we desired a destiny of eternal life, but progressed as far as we could without a mortal experience in a physical body.  To provide that opportunity our Heavenly Father presided over the creation of this world where, deprived of our memory of what preceded our mortal birth we could prove our willingness to keep His commandments and experience and grow through the other challenges of mortal life. (5:07) (1 Cor. 15:46, Zechariah 12:1)   

The Fathers plan anticipated and provided ways to overcome all of those barriers.  Knowing the purpose of God’s Great Plan we now consider the perspective roles of the three members of the god-head in that plan.

We begin with the teaching from the Bible. In concluding his second letter to the Corinthians the Apostle Paul makes this almost off-hand reference to the godhead of Father, Son, and Holy Ghost.  “The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of God, and the communion (fellowship) of the Holy Ghost be with you all.”  

This Biblical Scripture represents the god-head and references the all defining and motivating love of God the Father, the merciful and saving mission of Jesus Christ, and the fellowship of the Holy Ghost.  It all begins with God the Father. While we know comparatively little about Him, what we know is decisive in understanding His Supreme Position, our relationship to Him, and his superintending role in the Plan of Salvation, the Creation, and all else that follows. (7:03) (John 1:3, Colossians 1:15-17)

As Elder Bruce R. McConkie wrote just before his death “In the ultimate and final sense of the word, there is Only One True and Living God.  He is the Father, the Almighty Elohim, Supreme Being, the Creator and Ruler of the Universe.” He is the God and Father of Jesus Christ as well as all of us.  

President David O. McKay taught that “the first fundamental truth advocated by Jesus Christ was this, that behind, above, and over all there is God the Father Lord of heaven and earth.”

What we know of the nature of God the Father is mostly what we can learn from the ministry and teachings of His Only Begotten Son Jesus Christ.

As Elder Jeffery R. Holland has taught, one of the paramount purposes of Jesus’ ministry was to reveal to mortals “what God our Eternal Father is like, to reveal and to make personal to us the true nature of His Father, our Father in heaven.”

The Bible contains an apostolic witness that Jesus was the express image of His Father’s person, which merely elaborates Jesus’ own teachings that “He that hath seen me hath seen the Father.” (8:49)

God the Father is the Father of our spirits. We are His children. He loves us and all that He does is for our eternal benefit.  He is the author of the Plan of Salvation, and it is by His power that His Plan achieves its purposes for the ultimate glory of His children.  (Eph. 2:1-5; 5:6-8)

To mortals the most visible member of the godhead is Jesus Christ.  A great doctrinal statement by the First Presidency in 1909 declares Him to be “the firstborn among all the sons of God, the first begotten in the spirit, and the only begotten in the flesh.” The Son, greatest of all, was chosen by the Father to carry out the Fathers plan, to exercise the Father’s power to create worlds without number and to save the children of God from death by his resurrection and from sin by his atonement. (9:59)    

This supernal sacrifice is truly called the central act of all human history.  On those unique and sacred occasions when God the Father personally introduced the Son, He has said “This is my beloved Son, hear him.”      

Thus it is Jesus Christ, Jehovah the Lord God of Israel, who speaks to and through the prophets.  So it is when Jesus appeared to the Nephites, after His resurrection, he introduced himself as “God of the whole earth.”

So it is that Jesus often speaks to the prophets of the Book of Mormon, and to the Latter-day Saints as the Father and the Son.  A title explained in the First Presidency’s inspired doctrinal exposition just a hundred years ago. (2 Nephi 31:21 BOM). All 3= One True God

The third member of the god-head is the Holy Ghost also referred to as the Holy Spirit, Spirit of the Lord, and the Comforter.  He is the member of the god-head that is the agent of personal revelation.  As a personage of spirit He can indwell in us and preform the essential role of communicator between the Father and the Son, and the children of God on earth. (11:27)

Many scriptures teach that His mission is to testify of the Father and the Son.  The Savior promised that Comforter will teach us all things, bring all things to our remembrance and guide us into all truth. Thus the Holy Ghost helps us discern between truth and falsehood, guides us in our major decisions, and helps us through the challenges of mortality.  He is also the means by which we are sanctified, that is, cleansed and purified from sin.

So how does understanding this heavenly revealed doctrine about the god-head and the plan of salvation help us with our challenges today?

Because we have the truth about the god-head, and our relationship to them, the purpose of life, and the nature of our eternal destiny, we have the ultimate road map and assurance for our journey through mortality.

We know who we worship, why we worship, we know who we are and what we can become.  We know who makes it all possible and we know what we must do to enjoy the ultimate blessings that come through God’s Plan of Salvation.

How do we know all of this? We know by the revelations of God through His prophets and to each of us individually.  Attaining what the Apostle Paul described as “the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ.” Requires far more than acquiring knowledge.  It is not even enough for us to be convinced of the gospel.

We must act and think so that we are converted by it.

In contrast to the institutions of the world which teach us to know something, the Plan of Salvation and the Gospel of Jesus Christ challenge us to become something.  

As President Thomas S. Monson taught us in our last general conference, “essential to the plan of salvation is our Savior Jesus Christ.  Without His atoning sacrifice all would be lost.  It is not enough however merely to believe in Him and His Mission, we need to work and learn search and pray, repent and improve. We need to know God’s laws and live them.  We need to receive His saving ordinances.  Only by doing so will we obtain true eternal happiness.  

From the depths of my soul and in all humility, President Monson declared, I testify of the great gift which is our Heavenly Fathers Plan for us.  It is the one Perfect Path to peace and happiness both here and in the world to come.  

I add my testimony to that of our beloved Prophet, President, I testify that we have a Heavenly Father who loves us.  I testify we have a Holy Ghost who guides us, and I testify that Jesus Christ, our Savior, who makes it all possible, In the name of Jesus Christ [Plan 8X] [Blood 0]