I was reading in the book “The Triumph of Zion” and came across a section in chapter 3 where John illustrates three simple facts about Zion. I’m going to break these parts down.
1 – Zion is a state of being. It is being absolutely righteous.
2 – A man become a member of Zion by magnifying their priesthood and participating in and fully honoring temple covenants.
3 – This can happen whether the actual city of Zion is built or not.
If I was to break this down. First, the goal is to become a person worthy of being in Zion. Becoming absolutely righteous. Books have been written on this subject. I’m not going to do that. I think it will suffice to say, become like the Savior Jesus Christ.
Second, magnifying your priesthood and fully participating and honoring temple covenants. The first part of this is the priesthood. To keep it short, it is the rights, privileges, and powers to act in God’s name. This power is passed from one to another through a line of authority tracing back to those who received it directly from God. However, as I learn more, I realized this priesthood is best magnified when following the guidance of the Holy Ghost.
Magnifying your priesthood would be much like becoming like the Savior Jesus Christ. How could you act righteously in the name of God without abiding by his commandments. Clearly men are flawed state being carnal, sensual, and devilish. But the more we strive to become like the Savior, the more we align ourselves with the commandments of God. The more we become worthy of his holy spirit and its guidance and influence. The more we become worthy, our sins are forgiven, we desire to act in his name in righteousness.
The second half was fully participating and honoring temple covenants. There are 5 covenants made in the temple:
- The law of obedience
- The law of sacrifice
- The law of the gospel
- The law of chastity
- The law of consecration
So, this is where this gets interesting. There is the spirit of the law and the letter of the law. I think these two concepts come into play. I’m not going to expound upon the covenants that are made but speak of one as an example.
I have been striving to be “Worthy of Zion.” That’s the name of this blog. I have fasted and prayed a lot. In the last few weeks, I have found my efforts have been more consistent than before. It could also be that the regular constant effort is bearing more fruit.
Either way, as I was pondering these things, the state of being righteous, the desire to magnify my priesthood and honor temple covenants, one of my most recent experiences came to mind. I feel it was an appropriate representation of this journey of improvement.
When you participate in this world, you are exposed to an unbelievable amount of sin. We face it head on in our daily interactions, TV, movies, music, internet, and so forth. Even if we are not seeking it, sin confronts us on a daily basis. We can make choices to avoid much of it, but not all of it. As I was thinking of this, I thought of the term a guilty pleasure. The definition is: something, such as a movie, television program, or piece of music, that one enjoys despite feeling that it is not generally held in high regard. In terms of the gospel, that definition would be rewritten to say: something, such as a movie, television program, or piece of music, that one enjoys despite feeling that it disregards the commandments of God or not in alignment with the commandments of God.
I enjoy movies immensely. My idea of relaxing is to sit on the couch and turn on a movie. I have a number “guilty pleasure’s”. As I have fasted and prayed over the last few weeks, I have had less of a desire to watch those programs. I have had less of a desire to see violence, innuendo, profanity, or so-called adult language. I have consciously made efforts to partake of more wholesome programs.
There are those who feel abstaining from those things is unnecessary, excessive, or looking beyond the mark. I beg to differ. If you truly want to become like the savior, how could you voluntarily partake of those things? it is one thing to love the sinner, it is another to voluntarily participate in or partake of the sin.
As I think of Zion, it is a way of living above the current standard. I think the TV show The Chosen has illustrated this concept really well. In the time of Christ, they followed the Law of Moses. There was sin among the Jews, but because they strove so diligently to live the letter of the law, there was also a blindness to a higher level of righteousness. When Jesus taught, the people were blown away that anyone could say the things he said. That teachings could be so powerful and yet so plain and easy to understand. The law of Moses taught and eye for an eye. If you are wronged, you are justified in vengeance. Along comes Jesus teaching them to turn the other cheek and forgive seventy times seven times. Clearly this was a higher law and higher level of living.
I believe there is an equal paradigm in the way the general public or general body of the church understand righteousness or being worthy of Zion. It all centers on these simple concepts. The state of being righteous is directly relational to magnifying your priesthood and honoring your temple covenants. If you do these things, you are doing your best to follow all the commandments of God and developing a deeply personal relationship with God.
Third, all of this culminates with the fact that we can be “Worthy of Zion” whether the city of Zion is established or not. We can live our lives in complete alignment with the Savior Jesus Christ on this earth before he returns. And I think this is where the greater mysteries of the kingdom are unlocked.
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