Meaning of Power of Godliness
The power of godliness is the authority to officiate in the name of God. It is the Holy Priesthood which had been denied because it was not then operative upon the earth. In accordance with the predictions of old the world had been left for centuries without the ministry of the priesthood, and without its saving authority; but also in accordance with prediction the priesthood was to be restored, and has been restored, and only through the power of that priesthood can any ordinances be administered upon the earth that can possibly be even conceived of as valid beyond the grave. The Lord has been particularly plain, explicit and simple in His explanation of that principle. In a revelation given in July, 1843, relating to this restored Church of Jesus Christ, and to the authority of the Holy Priesthood operative therein. (James E. Talmage, The Philosophical basis of “Mormonism”: An Address Delivered By Invitation Before the Congress of Religious Philosophies Held in Connection with the Panama-pacific International Exposition, July 29, 1915, p. 43)