Sons of God

The scriptures use the terms, sons and daughters of God, in two ways. In one sense, we are all literal spirit children of our Heavenly Father. In another sense, God’s sons and daughters are those who have been born again through the Atonement of Christ.[1]

Setting aside the debate between scholars as to the meaning and appearance of the term sons of God in the Bible texts (see, for instance, the summary found in Wikipedia), we can look to what latter-day prophets have declared:

All human beings—male and female—are created in the image of God. Each is a beloved spirit son or daughter of heavenly parents, and, as such, each has a divine nature and destiny. Gender is an essential characteristic of individual premortal, mortal, and eternal identity and purpose.[2]

Those prophets, seers, and revelators have also proclaimed: “In the premortal realm, spirit sons and daughters knew and worshipped God as their Eternal Father and accepted His plan by which His children could obtain a physical body and gain earthly experience to progress toward perfection and ultimately realize their divine destiny as heirs of eternal life.”[3]

What will the sons of God do with their noble birthright as they accept God’s plan and progress toward perfection and ultimately realize their divine destiny? President George Albert Smith taught that “we are not here to while away the hours of this life and then pass to a sphere of exaltation; but we are here to qualify ourselves day by day for the positions that our Father expects us to fill hereafter.” President Russell M. Nelson addressed the sons of God in his General Conference address “The Price of Priesthood Power.” He closed his talk with “My dear brethren, we have been given a sacred trust—the authority of God to bless others. May each one of us rise up as the man God foreordained us to be—ready to bear the priesthood of God bravely, eager to pay whatever price is required to increase his power in the priesthood. With that power, we can help prepare the world for the Second Coming of our Savior, Jesus Christ.”[4]

See also Latter Day Light, “Sons and Daughters of God”

Not to be confused with the term Son of God

Jesus is the Son of God. His biological father was God, the Father. As Son of God, Jesus represents the Father and acts as his agent in all things. See “Son of God.”