What's happening
This is a wide-ranging revelation given at Kirtland in late August 1831, after the leaders returned from dedicating the land of Zion. It gathers several urgent concerns of the moment — sign-seeking, sexual sin among the members, how Zion was to be obtained, and the reverence due the Lord's name — into one sustained word to a people who call yourselves the people of the Lord (v. 1) but among whom serious problems had appeared.
The tone is bracing. The Lord names sins openly: there are those among you who seek signs (v. 8); there were adulterers and adulteresses among the members (v. 14); even Sidney Rigdon is rebuked for having exalted himself in his heart (v. 55). But woven through the correction is rich doctrine: the great principle that faith cometh not by signs, but signs follow those that believe (v. 9); the promise that to those who keep the commandments the mysteries become a well of living water, springing up unto everlasting life (v. 23); the sober teaching that Zion would be obtained by purchase or by blood (v. 29); and the solemn warning to beware how they take my name in their lips (v. 61).
It is a revelation for a Church learning that gathering to Zion would not be quick or cheap, and that holiness — of conduct, of faith, of speech — was the price of belonging to the people of the Lord.
Signs follow faith, not the reverse (verses 7–12)
And he that seeketh signs shall see signs, but not unto salvation. ...But, behold, faith cometh not by signs, but signs follow those that believe. Yea, signs come by faith, not by the will of men, nor as they please, but by the will of God. — D&C 63:7, 9–10
This is the Restoration's definitive teaching on signs and faith, and it reverses the world's instinct. People crave a sign in order to believe; the Lord says faith comes first, and signs follow those that believe (Mark 16:17). The sign-seeker has the order backwards, demanding proof as a condition of faith — and he that seeketh signs shall see signs, but not unto salvation (v. 7). A sign extracted by demand saves no one; it may even come in wrath unto their condemnation (v. 11). Genuine signs — God's miraculous works — flow by faith, by the will of God, for the good of men unto my glory (v. 12), not as proofs produced on demand to satisfy doubt. Faith is the root; signs are the fruit, never the seed.
Purity, and the name not taken in vain (verses 13–18, 61–64)
The revelation turns to sin among the members with painful directness: there were among you adulterers and adulteresses (v. 14), and he that looketh on a woman to lust after her... shall not have the Spirit, but shall deny the faith (v. 16, the Sermon on the Mount, Matthew 5:28). The consequence is grave — such, unrepentant, shall have their part in that lake which burneth with fire and brimstone, which is the second death (v. 17). The Lord does not treat sexual sin as minor; it forfeits the Spirit and the first resurrection.
And He addresses the reverence due His name, a concern that runs to the heart of the Church's authority:
Wherefore, let all men beware how they take my name in their lips— For behold, verily I say, that many there be who are under this condemnation, who use the name of the Lord, and use it in vain, having not authority. — D&C 63:61–62
This is the third commandment (thou shalt not take the name of the Lord thy God in vain, Exodus 20:7) given fresh depth. To use the name of the Lord... in vain is not only profanity; it is to invoke His name having not authority — to claim to act or speak for Him without the right. That which cometh from above is sacred, and must be spoken with care, and by constraint of the Spirit (v. 64). The Lord's name is not a tool to be wielded casually but a holy thing to be handled with reverence and authority.
By purchase or by blood (verses 24–31)
The revelation gives the sober economics and politics of obtaining Zion:
Wherefore, the land of Zion shall not be obtained but by purchase or by blood, otherwise there is none inheritance for you. And if by purchase, behold you are blessed; And if by blood, as you are forbidden to shed blood, lo, your enemies are upon you... — D&C 63:29–31
Zion was to be obtained lawfully — by purchase — buying the land like anyone else, that they may not be stirred up unto anger (v. 27), rendering unto Caesar the things which are Caesar's (v. 26). The alternative, by blood, was forbidden to the Saints; if it came to that, it would mean their enemies prevailing and the Saints scourged from city to city (v. 31) — which is tragically close to what happened in Missouri. The gathering was to be not in haste, lest there should be confusion, which bringeth pestilence (v. 24). The Lord's way to Zion was patient, lawful purchase, not zeal or force.
And to those who keep the commandments through all this, a tender promise:
But unto him that keepeth my commandments I will give the mysteries of my kingdom, and the same shall be in him a well of living water, springing up unto everlasting life. — D&C 63:23
The reward of obedience is not merely information but a living spring within — a well of living water (John 4:14), the indwelling life of the Spirit welling up unto eternal life.
How the section is built
The structure moves through the concerns of a struggling people. It opens with the warning to the people of the Lord (vv. 1–6): God's word will be obeyed, the rebellious should tremble. It teaches faith and signs (vv. 7–12): signs follow faith, never produce it. It confronts sin and promises the obedient (vv. 13–23): purity required, a well of living water given. It gives the way to Zion (vv. 24–48): by purchase not blood, gather not in haste, send up your means. And it closes with reverence and rebuke (vv. 49–66): the resurrection, Sidney Rigdon corrected, the name not taken in vain, speak with care. The architecture is a pastor's honest survey of a community — naming its sins, correcting its errors, and holding out, in the middle of it, the living water reserved for the obedient.
How this sits in the documentary record
Where this lands
Section 63 is a revelation about what it actually costs to be the people of the Lord — in faith, in purity, in patience, and in reverence. Its most quoted line corrects a craving every generation knows: the desire for a sign to make believing easy. The Lord's answer is firm and freeing: faith cometh not by signs, but signs follow those that believe. Stop demanding proof as the price of faith; exercise faith, and the confirmations will follow in God's way and time. The sign-seeker, by contrast, gets nothing unto salvation — because a faith that requires proof is not yet faith.
And the revelation's other hard words — about purity, about lawful patience in obtaining Zion, about handling the Lord's name with care and only by authority — all point the same direction: belonging to the people of the Lord is a matter of holiness, not enthusiasm. It is possible to gather to Zion, seek signs, and use the Lord's name, and still be not justified, because these things are among you (v. 19). But to the one who keeps the commandments through it all, the Lord gives more than rules; He gives a well of living water, springing up unto everlasting life — an inner spring that no outward sign could ever supply. That is the trade Section 63 puts before us: give up the craving for signs and the license of sin, and receive instead the living water within.