Q: What is the nature of God and the Trinity?
We believe that the Trinity (or Godhead, as we more commonly refer to them) is composed of three separate and distinct perfect Beings—God, the Father; his Son, Jesus Christ; and the Holy Ghost (Acts 7:55-56; Article of Faith 1). We believe our Heavenly Father, and Jesus Christ have a body that is made of flesh and bones just like ours (D&C 130:22); however, they have bodies and are no longer subject to death, sickness, or pain. The Holy Ghost does not have a body of flesh and bones, rather he has a spirit body (D&C 130:22), but he looks like a normal person (1 Nephi 11:11). All three are perfect and can be spoken of as God collectively and separate gods individually. Their entire focus is to help each of us return to the Father, and become like Him (Moses 1:39).
Our Heavenly Father is the father of the spirits of all those who have, or ever will be born into this world (Abraham 3:22-23, Moses 6:51). He is Jesus Christ’s literal father. He oversaw and directed the creation of the world upon which we now live (Moses 1:32). To him, we pray and He answers our prayers in his own time and in his own way. He loves us and has provided a plan whereby, we, his spirit children, can come to earth, receive a body, experience adversity, and have the opportunity to return to Him (Abraham 3:23-27). He knew beforehand that we would make mistakes. These mistakes would make us imperfect and as he is perfect, we could not return to live with him again. So, he provided a way that our mistakes could be erased. To accomplish this he provided his son, Jesus Christ, to set right, everything that would prevent us from being perfect, our sins included (Moses 6:53-62).
Jesus Christ, is the literal Son of God and his mother was mortal (Luke 1:28-38, Alma 7:10). As such, Christ, was enabled to experience mortality as we do. He suffered sickness, pain, hunger, and temptation. Nevertheless, he lived a perfect life. This allowed him to suffer and ultimately die for our imperfections (Alma 7:11-13). In this way, he has the ability to set us at one with the Father again and allow us to return to live with the Father. As a free gift, through his atonement and subsequent resurrection, he provides every person born into this world a resurrected and perfect body. But, to return to the Father’s presence, Christ requires us to believe that He can in fact save us, repent of our sins, be baptized in his prescribed way, be given the gift of the Holy Ghost, and then endure in faith until the end of our mortal lives. If we do this with his constant help, we will be granted a place in the Father’s kingdom (3 Nephi 27:14-22).
To help us find Jesus Christ, accept his teachings, and then continue in his prescribed way, God provided the Holy Ghost. The Holy Ghost is the third member of the Godhead. He has many functions, but he helps God’s children to return to Him by helping them find Jesus Christ, teaching them truth line upon line if they desire to learn more, and ultimately purifying and refining them in their journey of being a disciple of Jesus Christ (1 Nephi 10:17-19).
I am grateful for these immortal perfect beings. I know that I am the Father’s son and that he has provided a way for me to become like Him through his Son and that the Holy Ghost will help me in this endeavor.