Blessed by Priesthood Authority and Power

By Elder D. Todd Christofferson

Of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles

Church members use the power of God in serving and blessing others in the Church, at home, and across the world.

Our witness to the world is that the holy priesthood of God is essential in accomplishing His work of salvation and exaltation, that He has restored the priesthood to the earth for that purpose, and that it is administered by The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.

The Necessity of Priesthood Authority and Power

Jesus Christ is the head of the Church. The Church is the instrument He has created to accomplish the essential work of redeeming mankind in this last gospel dispensation just as in the dispensation when He lived upon the earth. Through the Church:

He can proclaim His gospel across the world.
He can offer baptism and all other covenants—even a covenant path to His celestial kingdom.
He can unite families for eternity.
He can offer the gifts of salvation, even to those who have died without them.
He can minister to the physical needs of God’s children in the present.

To accomplish these grand purposes, and to prepare for the Savior’s return, the Church needs God’s ongoing direction, authority, and power. The Church is the “true and living church” (Doctrine and Covenants 1:30) because Christ invests it with His leadership and power through His priesthood, “the Holy Priesthood, after the Order of the Son of God” (Doctrine and Covenants 107:3).

But for this holy priesthood, the Church would essentially be a secular organization, doing good in the world but powerless to achieve the ultimate purpose of preparing the sons and daughters of God for the joy of eternal life in His presence. With this priesthood, and the keys to direct the work of this priesthood, there is both authority and order in the Church.

“In the Church, all priesthood authority is exercised under the direction of those who hold priesthood keys.

“Worthy male Church members receive priesthood authority through priesthood conferral and ordination to priesthood offices. All Church members can exercise delegated authority as they are set apart or assigned to help accomplish God’s work.”

Through priesthood keys, the Lord’s priorities will always prevail. No one can sustain a personal agenda that is not in harmony with His direction. No one can succeed in priestcraft, seeking personal gain and a personal following.

Priesthood also plays a critical role in the homes of Church members. President Dallin H. Oaks, First Counselor in the First Presidency, taught, “The principle that priesthood authority can be exercised only under the direction of the one who holds the keys for that function is fundamental in the Church, but this does not apply in the family.” Fathers preside and exercise the priesthood in their family—counseling, holding family meetings, giving priesthood or healing blessings to family members or others, and so forth—without the direction or authorization of someone who holds priesthood keys.

“The same principle applies when a father is absent and a mother is the family leader. She presides in her home and is instrumental in bringing the power and blessings of the priesthood into her family through her endowment and sealing in the temple.”

The Restoration of the Priesthood in Our Day

May 15, 1829

The restoration of priesthood authority in this last dispensation proceeded in an orderly, step-by-step progression. As the foundational scripture for our dispensation, the Book of Mormon, was being translated in 1829, the Lord began putting His priesthood structure in place. In response to Joseph Smith and Oliver Cowdery’s prayerful inquiry concerning baptism, the resurrected John the Baptist appeared and conferred upon them the Aaronic Priesthood, which priesthood “holds the keys of the ministering of angels, and of the gospel of repentance, and of baptism by immersion for the remission of sins” (Doctrine and Covenants 13:1). With that authority, Joseph and Oliver baptized one another and later others as the Church was formally organized.

Soon after May 15, 1829

Not long after John the Baptist’s appearance, the ancient Apostles Peter, James, and John appeared and conferred the higher, or Melchizedek, priesthood, including “the keys of my kingdom, and a dispensation of the gospel for … the fulness of times” (Doctrine and Covenants 27:13; see also 128:20).

April 3, 1836

Additional needed priesthood authority came next when, in the Kirtland Temple, three ancient prophets, Moses, Elias, and Elijah, appeared to Joseph and Oliver and committed unto them the keys of the gathering of Israel and of the work that pertains to the temples of the Lord (see Doctrine and Covenants 110:11–16).

Summer 1829–April 1835

Revelations now canonized in the Doctrine and Covenants instructed the Prophet Joseph Smith regarding ordination of men to offices of the higher (Melchizedek) and the preparatory (Aaronic) priesthoods; the appointment of priesthood officers, such as bishops; and the organization of priesthood quorums and councils.

1835–1973

Prophetic direction continues to guide priesthood organization and function in the Church. For example, Seventies quorums were organized in the Kirtland era to assist the Quorum of the Twelve. After the great exodus to the West and the dispersion of Church members across broad geographical areas, these quorums were assigned to function in the stakes of the Church.

1973–Present

Under the administrations of Presidents Spencer W. Kimball (1895–1985), Ezra Taft Benson (1899–1994), and Gordon B. Hinckley (1910–2008), the Seventies and their quorums began to function directly under the Quorum of the Twelve at the general Church level and in Church areas. Quorums at the stake level were then discontinued. Today, twelve quorums of General Authority and Area Seventies assist the Apostles “in building up the church and regulating all the affairs of the same in all nations” (Doctrine and Covenants 107:34). Additional quorums of Seventies can be created as the Church expands.

Elder Christofferson greets brothers Sampson and Daniel Amako in Gambia, West Africa, in February 2022.

Priesthood: The Power to Bless

In a word, the purpose of the priesthood authority and power that Jesus Christ restored is to bless. It enables Church members to use the power of God in serving and blessing others in the Church, at home, and across the world. Members join the Savior in accomplishing His work of salvation and exaltation, employing divine gifts and power far beyond their own to help the kingdom of God grow to fill the earth (see Doctrine and Covenants 65:2, 5–6).

The Lord has explained that “this greater [Melchizedek] priesthood administereth the gospel and holdeth the key of the mysteries of the kingdom, even the key of the knowledge of God.

“Therefore, in the ordinances thereof, the power of godliness is manifest.

“And without the ordinances thereof, and the authority of the priesthood, the power of godliness is not manifest unto men in the flesh” (Doctrine and Covenants 84:19–21).

Ordinances, of course, are the priesthood-administered ceremonies or sacraments by which we make covenants with God, beginning with baptism and continuing through the covenants received in the house of the Lord. It is in keeping these covenants that we are transformed from “natural” men and women into saints (see Mosiah 3:19) by the atoning grace of Christ and become both justified and sanctified—guiltless and spotless—before God (see Doctrine and Covenants 20:29–31; 3 Nephi 27:16–20).

This quote from “The Restoration of the Fulness of the Gospel of Jesus Christ: A Bicentennial Proclamation to the World,” by the First Presidency and Council of the Twelve Apostles, expresses a fitting summation:

“We declare that The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, organized on April 6, 1830, is Christ’s New Testament Church restored. This Church is anchored in the perfect life of its chief cornerstone, Jesus Christ, and in His infinite Atonement and literal Resurrection. Jesus Christ has once again called Apostles and has given them priesthood authority. He invites all of us to come unto Him and His Church, to receive the Holy Ghost, the ordinances of salvation, and to gain enduring joy.”