The Blessings of Priesthood Authority and Power

By Elder D. Todd Christofferson

Of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles

God’s priesthood has been restored in our day to bless all of His children.

restoration of the Melchizedek Priesthood

Youth often ask questions about the priesthood. Regarding the priesthood, our witness to the world is:

The holy priesthood of God is essential in accomplishing His work of salvation and exaltation.
God has restored the priesthood to the earth.
The priesthood is administered by The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.

Why We Need 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. Through the Church, He can:

Proclaim His gospel across the world.
Offer baptism and all other covenants—even a covenant path to His celestial kingdom.
Unite families for eternity.
Offer the gifts of salvation, even to those who have died without them.
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.

Without this holy priesthood, the Church would essentially be a secular organization like many others, doing good in the world but powerless to achieve the purpose of preparing God’s children 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.”

Restored in Our Day

As 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 prayer concerning baptism, the resurrected John the Baptist appeared and conferred upon them the Aaronic Priesthood, which “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 others as the Church was formally organized.

Not long afterward, 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!” (see Doctrine and Covenants 27:12–13; 128:20).

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

The Power to Bless

In a word, the purpose of priesthood authority and power that Jesus Christ restored is to bless. It enables all 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” (Doctrine and Covenants 84:19–20).

Ordinances are priesthood-administered ceremonies 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).

“The Restoration of the Fulness of the Gospel of Jesus Christ: A Bicentennial Proclamation to the World,” by the First Presidency and Quorum 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.”