The Light of Christ
The divine light that fills the immensity of space, gives life to all things, and enlightens every soul born into the world.
Before any missionary knocks, before any covenant is made, before any ordinance is performed, God has already reached toward His children. There is a light shining in every human heart — not a vague metaphor, but a real, divine influence proceeding from the presence of God. The scriptures call it the Light of Christ. It is the reason a child raised without a Bible still recoils from cruelty, the reason the conscience accuses the wrongdoer in the dark, and the reason the truth, when at last it is heard, so often sounds like something the soul already knew. To understand this light is to understand how near God is to every person who has ever lived.
This is not a doctrine assembled from fragments. It is taught plainly, repeatedly, and powerfully across the Old and New Testaments, the Book of Mormon, and the Doctrine and Covenants. Every claim that follows can be read directly from the word of God.
The Light That Is In All Things
The most complete revelation on this subject is the great discourse on light in the eighty-eighth section of the Doctrine and Covenants. There the Lord declares that there is a light in the sun, the moon, the stars, and the earth, and that this same light is the power by which they were made. He then identifies its source: it is the light of Christ, who is in all things and through all things. The Lord traces this light to its origin and reach:
Doctrine and Covenants 88:11–13
“And the light which shineth, which giveth you light, is through him who enlighteneth your eyes, which is the same light that quickeneth your understandings; which light proceedeth forth from the presence of God to fill the immensity of space—the light which is in all things, which giveth life to all things, which is the law by which all things are governed, even the power of God who sitteth upon his throne, who is in the bosom of eternity, who is in the midst of all things.”
Read that again and weigh what it claims. This light proceedeth forth from the presence of God — it is not separate from Him but flows out of Him. It fills the immensity of space — there is no corner of creation it does not reach. It giveth life to all things and is the law by which all things are governed. The same influence that orders the courses of the stars also quickens your understanding and enlightens your eyes. The Light of Christ is not a small or sentimental idea. It is the animating principle of the universe and the medium through which the power of God touches everything that exists, including you.
The True Light That Lighteth Every Man
When the Apostle John opened his Gospel, he reached for the same truth. He testified that in the Word — in Christ — was life, and that this life was the light of men. That light, he insists, is not the private possession of a chosen few. It shines on everyone:
“In him was life; and the life was the light of men. And the light shineth in darkness; and the darkness comprehended it not. … That was the true Light, which lighteth every man that cometh into the world.”
Notice the sweep of John’s words: the true Light lighteth every man that cometh into the world. Not every believer; not every member of a covenant people; every man. From the moment a soul enters mortality, this light is shining upon it. The darkness of a fallen world cannot extinguish it — the darkness simply fails to comprehend it. This is John’s witness that the influence described in Doctrine and Covenants 88 is personal and universal: Christ Himself is the light by which every human being is given the capacity to see.
This is why the gospel has never depended on inventing a moral sense in those who hear it. It awakens one that was already there.
The Spirit of Christ and the Conscience
The prophet Mormon makes the practical meaning of this light unmistakable. Teaching his people how to judge between good and evil, he grounds their ability to do so in a gift that has been given to every person:
“For behold, the Spirit of Christ is given to every man, that he may know good from evil; wherefore, I show unto you the way to judge; for every thing which inviteth to do good, and to persuade to believe in Christ, is sent forth by the power and gift of Christ; wherefore ye may know with a perfect knowledge it is of God.”
Here is the Light of Christ at work in the moral life. The Spirit of Christ is given to every man — this is the basis of conscience itself. Mormon continues by giving the test for distinguishing one light from its counterfeit: everything that invites and persuades to do good, to love God, and to serve Him is of God, while that which persuades to evil and to deny Christ is of the devil (see Moroni 7:17–19). Every honest pull toward goodness, every inward insistence that mercy is better than cruelty and truth better than a lie, is the Light of Christ at work, drawing the soul toward its Maker.
This is why no one stands without witness. The conscience is not merely a product of upbringing; it is a divine endowment, a beam of the true Light reaching the soul and bidding it to choose the good.
Truth, the Word, and the Light That Cannot Be Darkened
The Lord ties this light to truth and to His own word. In the eighty-fourth section, after warning against treating sacred things lightly, He declares that His Spirit enlightens every person who will receive it:
Doctrine and Covenants 84:45–46
“For the word of the Lord is truth, and whatsoever is truth is light, and whatsoever is light is Spirit, even the Spirit of Jesus Christ. And the Spirit giveth light to every man that cometh into the world; and the Spirit enlighteneth every man through the world, that hearkeneth to the voice of the Spirit.”
The chain the Lord forges here is breathtaking in its simplicity: the word of the Lord is truth; truth is light; light is Spirit; and that Spirit is the Spirit of Jesus Christ. To love truth is therefore to love Christ’s light, and to hearken to that light is to begin to follow Him. And again the universal reach is affirmed — the Spirit giveth light to every man that cometh into the world.
This light has one further quality that ought to fill the believer with confidence: it cannot be put out. Abinadi, standing before a wicked king on the eve of his own martyrdom, testified of the Redeemer’s triumph over death and bondage in these words:
“He is the light and the life of the world; yea, a light that is endless, that can never be darkened; yea, and also a life which is endless, that there can be no more death.”
A light that is endless, that can never be darkened. The darkness of John’s prologue could not comprehend it; the darkness of the grave could not hold the One who is its source. Whatever the night of a particular soul, the Light of Christ is shining still, undiminished, waiting to be hearkened to.
The Light of Christ and the Gift of the Holy Ghost
It is vital not to confuse the Light of Christ with the gift of the Holy Ghost, for the scriptures carefully distinguish them. The difference is not in worth but in measure, conditions, and reach.
The Light of Christ is universal and unconditional in its bestowal. As we have seen, it is given to every man that cometh into the world (John 1:9), it is the Spirit of Christ given to every man to know good from evil (Moroni 7:16), and it enlightens every man through the world (D&C 84:46). No ordinance precedes it and no covenant is required for it. It is the standing inheritance of every child of God.
The gift of the Holy Ghost is greater, and it is conferred. It is bestowed by the laying on of hands by those holding authority, and only upon those who have first received the Light of Christ far enough to repent and be baptized. Where the Light of Christ leads a soul to recognize good and to come to Christ, the gift of the Holy Ghost grants the constant companionship of a personage of Spirit, sanctifies, testifies of the Father and the Son, and leads into all truth. The Light of Christ is the herald; the Holy Ghost is the abiding guest. The one prepares the soul; the other dwells within it.
Seen rightly, the two are a single unfolding work of God. The Light of Christ is given to all so that all may be drawn toward the good and toward Christ; the gift of the Holy Ghost is offered to those who, having followed that light to the waters of baptism, are ready to receive a fuller measure of His Spirit.
The Dawn Before the Day
Gather the testimony together and a single, overwhelming truth emerges. The light that fills the immensity of space and gives life to all things is the very same light that quickens your understanding and whispers in your conscience that you ought to do good. The power that governs the stars is the power that stirs the heart of a stranger to mercy. From the presence of God it proceeds, through Jesus Christ it comes, and to every soul it reaches.
This means that no person is ever truly abandoned. Wherever a human being has lived — in any age, on any continent, within or without the reach of the preached word — the Light of Christ has been shining upon that soul, bidding it toward goodness and toward its Redeemer. It is God’s reach toward every child of His, the proof that His love is not rationed to a fortunate few.
And it is only the beginning. The Light of Christ is the dawn — the first grey light on the horizon that tells the world the sun is coming. It is enough to see by, enough to walk by, enough to find the road that leads to the waters of baptism. There the fuller day breaks, when the gift of the Holy Ghost is conferred and the Spirit takes up His abode in a sanctified heart. The dawn was never meant to be the whole of the day; it was meant to call the traveler toward the rising sun.
So if you have ever felt, even faintly, the pull toward what is good and true and merciful, you have already felt the Light of Christ. It is not your own invention. It is God Himself, shining in you, calling you home. Hearken to that light, follow where it leads, and it will bring you to the One from whom it proceeds — the true Light, endless and undarkened, the life of the world.
“He is the light and the life of the world; yea, a light that is endless, that can never be darkened” (Mosiah 16:9).