🕊️ “The Only True Church” — A Heavenly One
🕊️ “The Only True Church” — A Heavenly One
Every Latter-day Saint has heard it: “We’re the only true and living church on the face of the earth.”
But what if the Lord in D&C 1:30 was describing something far bigger than a single organization?
What if He was talking about a heavenly church — a spiritual family of all who truly follow Him?
🌿 The Heavenly Pattern
In D&C 10:67-68, the Savior defines His church in one clear sentence:
“Whosoever repenteth and cometh unto me, the same is my church.”
That’s it. No brand names, no membership cards. The same Spirit breathes through every soul who turns toward Christ.
When we add “more or less” than that, He warns, we risk stepping outside His real church.
Paul said the same thing:
“Ye are no more strangers and foreigners, but fellow-citizens with the saints, and of the household of God.”— Ephesians 2:19
Every repentant heart belongs to that household.
⚖️ Two Churches — Two Directions
Nephi’s angel declared there are only two churches (1 Nephi 14:10):
the Church of the Lamb and the church of the devil.
That can’t mean there are only two denominations on earth; it means there are two directions every soul can face — toward love or toward pride.
Moroni put it plainly:
“Every thing which inviteth to do good… is of God.” — Moroni 7:16
So when a Catholic feeds the hungry, or a Baptist sings of Jesus, or a Muslim gives to the poor, they are moving with the Lamb of God.
When any of us use religion to boast or exclude, we slide toward the other church.
🧺 Wheat and Tares in Every Field
Christ’s parable of the wheat and the tares (Matthew 13:37-43; D&C 86) reminds us that both grow together in the same field.
The “field,” He said, “is the world.”
Every religion — ours included — has wheat and tares, light and shadow.
The separating belongs to Christ and His angels, not to our testimonies.
🗣️ Beware the Rameumptom
The Zoramites once prayed, “Thou hast separated us from our brethren… we are thy holy children.” (Alma 31:12-21)
Sound familiar?
Every time we boast that only our group is “true,” we climb the same Rameumptom.
Christ warned, “He that hath the spirit of contention is not of me.” (3 Nephi 11:29)
Zion will be built by the humble, not the proud.
✨ The True Church Is Alive Wherever Love Is
Jesus told His apostles not to stop a man casting out devils in His name:
“He that is not against us is for us.” — Mark 9:40
He was teaching them that His authority is larger than their circle.
The Spirit of Christ moves freely across boundaries, gathering all who repent and love.
John saw that day when “other sheep” would become one fold, one Shepherd (John 10:16).
That’s the “only true and living church” — living because the Spirit is alive in it, true because it reflects His love.
🕊️ The Invitation to Us
Maybe the Lord’s words in D&C 1:30 were never meant for boasting, but for building.
We were called to help bring the heavenly church “out of obscurity and darkness,” not to claim ownership of it.
Let’s measure our “trueness” not by boundary lines but by fruit:
“By this shall all men know that ye are my disciples, if ye have love one to another.” — John 13:35
If love is the test, then every person who loves God and neighbor already shares in His true church.
Our task is to walk humbly with them, building Zion together.
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