Jesus Christ is the source of all good things on this earth. If any person does any good thing, it is by the gifts and power of Christ. Satan is the father of all lies and other evil. If any person on this earth does an evil thing, it is because he or she has yielded to the temptation of Satan. The agency of man is to choose at each moment between the gifts and power of Christ and the gifts and power of Satan. (Moroni 10:24–25; Moses 4:3–4; 2 Nephi 2:26–29) Below is a sequencing of the basic gifts and power of God available to mankind. Receiving each gift is prerequisite to receiving the next gift.
1. The light of Christ. A radiation from Christ which is the law by which all things in the universe are governed. It enables men to live, breathe and be intelligent; to tell the truth, to do good things for one another. It manifests itself in the form of conscience.
2. The Gospel message. Enables persons to understand how to enter into the New and Everlasting Covenant of God in order to do greater good. It is manifest unto men by the preaching and teaching of prophets, in scripture, and in the whisperings of the Holy Spirit.
3. The witness of the Holy Ghost. Assurance to the heart and mind that Christ lives and that the Gospel message is true. It manifests itself in the voice of conscience, but a stronger, augmented conscience. Conscientious persons readily accept this witness, for they already recognize the voice of God.
4. Faith in Jesus Christ. Faith is willing trust and obedience to someone or something. Faith in Jesus Christ exists first in trust in and obedience to the Holy Ghost, who is the messenger from the Father and from our Savior. Afterward it may also exist in trust in and obedience to direct personal instruction from the Father or the Son, but only as led by the Holy Ghost. Faith is a gift in that the prerequisite is having a message from God, but that gift does not fulfill faith. Faith in Jesus Christ is fulfilled or manifest only in wholehearted obedience to a specific message from God.
5. Baptism by water. The formal act of accepting the New and Everlasting Covenant by being immersed in water under the hand of one authorized by God. It is \efficacious only to those who have accepted the witness of the Holy Ghost that the Gospel is true, and who do make the promises of the covenant.
6. The Gift of the Holy Ghost. The constant companionship of the Holy Ghost, to lead one into all truth and to all righteousness. It comes only to those who make the covenant of baptism knowing and intending to keep the promises of the covenant, and only by the laying on of hands by one having authority from God. It manifests itself in the voice of the augmented conscience.
7. Hope in Christ. Faith in Jesus Christ encourages one to hope for celestial gifts and blessings. As one thus hopes, he or she has the gift of hope. Without this hope, faith will not endure. Hope is fulfilled and manifested in a determination to be faithful, to endure to the end, come what may.
8. The gifts of the Holy Ghost. Special gifts and power from God to do specific good acts in and for the kingdom of God. Some of the standard gifts are enumerated in D&C 46. They are manifest through the Gift of the Holy Ghost.
9. The Holy Priesthood. Received by the laying on of hands to work in behalf of God to do supernatural good for others within specially prescribed bounds (keys). This power manifests itself through the Gift of the Holy Ghost.
10. The Holy Endowment. A further bestowal of priesthood, received in the temple by the laying on of hands. (“Endowment” means gift.) Specific gifts of knowledge and power are bestowed. These gifts are manifest and usable only through the Gift of the Holy Ghost.
11. Eternal marriage. Received only in the temple, and is the final stage of receiving the Melchizedek Priesthood. Specific gifts and powers (keys) are bestowed. These are manifest and usable only through the Gift of the Holy Ghost.
12. Charity. All other gifts are foundation for this greatest and culminating gift. Charity is the pure love of Christ manifest in power unto blessing everything and everyone around the bearer of this gift. To have this charity is to have become just, keeping all the laws of God; to have become merciful, to forgive all others their trespasses and to pay the penalty thereof whenever possible; and to have gained the power of Christ, our covenant Father. To have this charity is to be as Christ, one with Him. It manifests itself in everything one is and does, physical or spiritual. To live in this gift is to have “endured to the end.”