Declare Glad Tidings

Of tenets thou shalt not talk, but thou shalt declare repentance and faith on the Savior and remission of sins by baptism, and by fire, yea, even the Holy Ghost. DOCTRINE & COVENANTS 19:31

The early missionaries of this dispensation were called to go into the world and “declare glad tidings” (D&C 31:3). That is, they were to teach Jesus Christ and him crucified, as revealed by a modern prophet, Joseph Smith. Likewise today our missionaries are called upon to teach “a portion of [Christ’s] word” to earth’s inhabitants (Alma 12:9) — the first principles and ordinances of the gospel and what investigators must know in order to inquire of God and learn the truth for themselves by revelation. Tenets are doctrines, teachings, or dogma. Doctrine and Covenants 19:31 essentially teaches us that in delivering the message of the Restoration to the world, we need not (and should not) dot every doctrinal “i” or cross every theological “t.” It is the simple and straightforward proclamation of divine truth that leads to lasting conversion. (Robert L. Millet and Lloyd D. Newell. Draw Near Unto Me: Daily Reflections on the Doctrine and Covenants. 59)