What We Believe

The Holy Ghost Testifies of Truth

The Holy Ghost is the third member of the Godhead. He is a personage of spirit, without a body of flesh and bones (see D&C 130:22). He is often referred to as the Spirit, the Holy Spirit, the Spirit of God, the Spirit of the Lord, or the Comforter. He works in perfect unity with Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ.¹

As a personage of spirit, the Holy Ghost can be in only one place at a time, but His influence can be everywhere at the same time.²

President Joseph Fielding Smith (1876–1972) taught, “Through the Holy Ghost the truth is woven into the very fibre and sinews of the body so that it cannot be forgotten.”³

It is also through receiving the Holy Ghost when we repent and are baptized that we may be sanctified. Sanctification is the process of becoming free from sin—pure, clean, and holy—through the Atonement of Jesus Christ (see Moses 6:59–60). We are sanctified as we yield our hearts to God (see Helaman 3:35).

1. The Holy Ghost “witnesses of the Father and the Son” (2 Nephi 31:18). It is only through the power of the Holy Ghost that we can receive a sure testimony of God the Father and His Son, Jesus Christ.⁴

2. The Holy Ghost testifies of truth, and it is through His power that we “may know the truth of all things” (Moroni 10:5).

3. The Holy Ghost teaches us all things and brings to our remembrance all we have learned of the Lord and His gospel (see John 14:26).

4. The Holy Ghost will “show unto [us] all things what [we] should do” (2 Nephi 32:5). He can guide us in our decisions and protect us from physical and spiritual danger.

5. As we hunger to know the words of eternal life and allow these words to sink deep into our hearts, the Holy Ghost will open our minds and hearts to greater light and understanding.⁵

6. We are blessed with gifts of the Spirit through the Holy Ghost. These gifts bless our lives and the lives of those we love and serve. (See 1 Corinthians 12:1–12; Moroni 10:8–18; D&C 46:11–33.)

7. The Holy Ghost is known as the Comforter because He can fill us with “hope and perfect love” (Moroni 8:26).

8. Adam was the first on earth to be baptized and receive the Holy Ghost (see Moses 6:64–66).

9. Through the power of the Holy Ghost, we become sanctified as we repent, are baptized and confirmed, and strive to obey God’s commandments (see Mosiah 4:1–3; 5:1–6).

Notes

1. See True to the Faith (2004), 81–82; Preach My Gospel (2004), 90–91.

2. See Gospel Principles (2009), 32.

3. Joseph Fielding Smith, Doctrines of Salvation, ed. Bruce R. McConkie, 3 vols. (1954–56), 1:48.

4. See 1 Corinthians 12:3; True to the Faith, 82.

5. See Enos 1:3; Preach My Gospel, 18.

To learn more about our basic beliefs, visit Mormon.org (available in many languages).

“The Holy Ghost shall be thy constant companion, and thy scepter an unchanging scepter of righteousness and truth; and thy dominion shall be an everlasting dominion, and without compulsory means it shall flow unto thee forever and ever” (D&C 121:45–46).

After I, Nephi, having heard all the words of my father, … which he spake by the power of the Holy Ghost, which power he received by faith on the Son of God— … I, Nephi, was desirous also that I might see, and hear, and know of these things, by the power of the Holy Ghost, which is the gift of God unto all those who diligently seek him” (1 Nephi 10:17).

Photo illustrations by Craig Dimond, David Stoker, Welden C. Andersen, Derek Israelsen, Matthew Reier, and Christina Smith; illustration of Nephi by Jerry Thompson; Adam and Eve, by Lonni Clarke