"Grace and Repentance" not "Grace vs Repentance"

Grace is the saving power of the atonement of Jesus Christ; it is the power of mercy satisfying the demands of justice. As the great missionary Amulek stated:

8 And now, behold, I will testify unto you of myself that these things are true. Behold, I say unto you, that I do know that Christ shall come among the children of men, to take upon him the transgressions of his people, and that he shall atone for the sins of the world; for the Lord God hath spoken it.
9 For it is expedient that an atonement should be made; for according to the great plan of the Eternal God there must be an atonement made, or else all mankind must unavoidably perish; yea, all are hardened; yea, all are fallen and are lost, and must perish except it be through the atonement which it is expedient should be made.
10 For it is expedient that there should be a great and last sacrifice; yea, not a sacrifice of man, neither of beast, neither of any manner of fowl; for it shall not be a human sacrifice; but it must be an infinite and eternal sacrifice.
11 Now there is not any man that can sacrifice his own blood which will atone for the sins of another. Now, if a man murdereth, behold will our law, which is just, take the life of his brother? I say unto you, Nay.
12 But the law requireth the life of him who hath murdered; therefore there can be nothing which is short of an infinite atonement which will suffice for the sins of the world.
13 Therefore, it is expedient that there should be a great and last sacrifice, and then shall there be, or it is expedient there should be, a stop to the shedding of blood; then shall the law of Moses be fulfilled; yea, it shall be all fulfilled, every jot and tittle, and none shall have passed away.
14 And behold, this is the whole meaning of the law, every whit pointing to that great and last sacrifice; and that great and last sacrifice will be the Son of God, yea, infinite and eternal.
15 And thus he shall bring salvation to all those who shall believe on his name; this being the intent of this last sacrifice, to bring about the bowels of mercy, which overpowereth justice, and bringeth about means unto men that they may have faith unto repentance.
16 And thus mercy can satisfy the demands of justice, and encircles them in the arms of safety, while he that exercises no faith unto repentance is exposed to the whole law of the demands of justice; therefore only unto him that has faith unto repentance is brought about the great and eternal plan of redemption.

 ~Alma 34:8-16

There is nothing we can do of ourselves to be saved– this is not the nature of repentance. Repentance is not an act of power that we have of ourselves, but is the key to obtaining forgiveness. This is a gift that we must choose to accept through repentance, that is to say, we must have a "change of mind" and of self, in order for the atonement to change us– to allow Christ to touch our hearts. "Abide in me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, except it abide in the vine; no more can ye, except ye abide in me." John 15:4-5 ~ "Enter ye in at the strait gate: for wide is the gate, and broad is the way, that leadeth to destruction, and many there be which go in thereat: Because strait is the gate, and narrow is the way, which leadeth unto life…" Matthew 7:13-14

Some would argue that the very notion of choosing Christ, choosing to allow the cleansing power of the atonement to wash over us, with conscious effort on our part, is blasphemous. They know neither Christ, nor His doctrine. Covenants are at the very center of God's dealing with His people, with all of us. If one goes back to the words preceding the Bible's Old and New sections, we find the word testament: covenant.

Covenants are two-way promises that we make with our Father in heaven; promises that He will never, never break. Any transgression of those covenants will always be on our side, and must therefore be acknowledged and corrected in exercising of agency– to "turn" back to God– to repent. The first covenant, the first step, is through the "strait gate" and the "narrow way" as taught by the Savior: baptism; in His way and by His order.

The Lord's house is a house of order, and all things pertaining to it (the kingdom of God on Earth- the Church) must be done in His order and His way. The authority of God cannot be usurped, stolen, taken unto a man of himself, or even copied or imitated; it must be given, bestowed on a righteous man whom the Lord chooses. As Paul said in his epistle to the Hebrews: "And no man taketh this honour unto himself, but he that is called of God, as was Aaron."5:4 And also in the latter day we have the 5th article of faith which states: We believe that a man must be called of God, by prophecy, and by the laying on of hands by those who are in authority, to preach the Gospel and administer in the ordinances thereof. (emphasis added) And with this order comes revelation, the living oracles, the conduit by which God speaks His will and mind to man. Quoth Amos: "Surely the Lord God will do nothing, but he revealeth his secret unto his servants the prophets." 3:7

As before, mercy cannot negate justice. For every action there is an equal and opposite reaction- or as the Lord revealed to the prophet Joseph Smith, "There is a law, irrevocably decreed in heaven before the foundations of this world, upon which all blessings are predicated— And when we obtain any blessing from God, it is by obedience to that law upon which it is predicated." in other words: if we keep a commandment, we receive the blessing tied (decreed) to keeping it, and if we break that commandment, we do not receive the blessing- we cannot receive the blessing. The Lord's house is a house of order.

If we cannot make and keep covenants, we cannot be saved in the Kingdom of God, for no unclean thing can dwell in His presence. 

So what? Are we– should we be resigned to a state of eternal lamenting and misery for the wrongs we have done? Are we to wallow in self-doubt that the power of the atonement cannot have place within us once we have sinned? No! If we believe, if we teach our children that they are to condemn or look upon themselves with loathing and disgust, we have indeed sinned against the greater light. The message of the gospel of Christ is a message of hope, of joy, of salvation. We must learn to separate the promptings- the temporary withdrawal of the Spirit- which lead us to repent, and back into the light of the Savior's love for us, and the filthy, degrading, and virulent enticements from Satan and his angels that: we are not worth saving; that we cannot return; that we are truly lost; the we have abjectly failed and cannot be raised back onto a path leading to our Savior.

These feelings, these thoughts and diabolic admonitions from the enemy, the father of lies, are precisely that: lies! I recently read a blog post from a woman who left the Church because she felt she was required to feel these types of feelings as part of her restitution and repentance. Now, I do not know the hearts of people– only the Lord does, and I cannot judge her for the decisions she's made. I, too, have felt those same feelings of self-loathing and inadequacy, and on what felt like every occasion that I had slipped on the path and as if there was no more light around me. What I was feeling was the echoing sound of victory from the adversary and his minions.

I sought help- priesthood and professional- in dealing with both the struggles and the feelings I felt as a result of transgressions. And though I still struggle at times, it has become easier for me to realize that I am of worth, that I am worth saving, and that all I must do is reach out and grasp the hand of my Savior, which will never be withdrawn. "Behold, I stand at the door, and knock: if any man hear my voice, and open the door, I will come in to him, and will sup with him, and he with me." Revelation 3:20 ~ "Draw near unto me and I will draw near unto you; seek me diligently and ye shall find me; ask, and ye shall receive; knock, and it shall be opened unto you." Doc&Cov 88:63 

Again, grace is the power, the absolute power whereby which we are saved.

[Grace is] the enabling power from God that allows men and women to obtain blessings in this life and to gain eternal life and exaltation after they have exercised faith, repented, and given their best effort to keep the commandments. Such divine help or strength is given through the mercy and love of God. Every mortal person needs divine grace because of Adam’s fall and also because of man’s weaknesses. ~LDS Guide to the Scriptures

To be a witness of God in all things and all places ...without being overbearing

In our stride and speed to deliver the message Jesus came and delivered almost 2000 years ago, we must not forget love. In raising our voices of warning, like the watch upon the tower, we must never forget love. In our calls to full-time, service or mini missions we must not forget love. In putting our shoulder to the wheel, as it were, in our church and priesthood callings we must never forget love.

Love is the pure love of Christ. Often translated “charity,” αγάπη is the most pure form of love, the divine love, the essence of the spiritual gift we should be seeking as assiduously as we do air, water or sustenance. This love, is sought and properly nurtured, will transform us into true followers of the Savior capable of testifying, teaching, exhorting, prophesying, and baptizing just as He did.

As a youth I had a lot of fear of speaking in front of people I knew, let alone strangers or friends at school. The prospect of being a missionary genuinely frightened me. “What if because of my imperfection or ineptitude the message I share is misunderstood or somehow shows the Church in a negative light?” What I would not have given to understand the words given in the Doctrine & Covenants!

13 Wherefore, I the Lord ask you this question—unto what were ye ordained?
14 To preach my gospel by the Spirit, even the Comforter which was sent forth to teach the truth.
17 Verily I say unto you, he that is ordained of me and sent forth to preach the word of truth by the Comforter, in the Spirit of truth, doth he preach it by the Spirit of truth or some other way?
18 And if it be by some other way it is not of God.
19 And again, he that receiveth the word of truth, doth he receive it by the Spirit of truth or some other way?
20 If it be some other way it is not of God.
21 Therefore, why is it that ye cannot understand and know, that he that receiveth the word by the aSpirit of truth receiveth it as it is preached by the Spirit of truth?
22 Wherefore, he that preacheth and he that receiveth, understand one another, and both are edified and rejoice together.
~Doc & Cov 50

I decided one day to give a copy of the Book of Mormon to a friend of mine at school. The memory is still as biting today as it was the day of the incident. She was rather opposed to even taking and reading the book, having been provided a plethora of standardized anti-Mormon materials and lessons, as I found out later. He friend, who sat next to us then proceeded to add her own “testimony” as it were to further dissuade her, and even some in close proximity, that the book was “additional scripture” condemned by John the Apostle, false doctrine, and preached another strange “Jesus.”

In my desperation on this first missionary attempt, I tried first to reason with then, afterwards not even listening to their refusal and drawing attention to the situation. I was not ashamed of the message, but if myself. I had, that day decided that my missionary future was doomed to similar failure, and to leave such duties to the more humble and composed of my peers, who had already shared the message with good results.

This incident further perpetuated my anxiety with sharing the gospel with others, almost driving me into further spiritual introversion. I felt that I would never be a “good missionary.” Hindsight is indeed always 20/20, but aside from all the scriptural, conferencial and parental counsel that pointed me to the contrary, I needed this first experience to be absolutely perfect. It’s a good thing missionaries don’t go out when they’re 15, and even better that they are not the ones who “convert” people.

I suffered this fear of preaching the gospel even into and during my mission. One of the benefits of serving in another country was that the learning of another language in some ways distracted me from my anxiety, and when I had sufficiently battled them both, I had become a satisfactory tool in the Lord's hands. I had learned that to preach His gospel, it was first requisite to desire and do your best to be like Him.

The key, as it has always ever been, to preach the gospel, to invite the Spirit to edify, to live as a disciple of Christ, is love.

46 Wherefore, my beloved brethren, if ye have not charity, ye are nothing, for charity never faileth. Wherefore, cleave unto charity, which is the greatest of all, for all things must fail—
47 But charity is the pure love of Christ, and it endureth forever; and whoso is found possessed of it at the last day, it shall be well with him.
48 Wherefore, my beloved brethren, pray unto the Father with all the energy of heart, that ye may be filled with this love, which he hath bestowed upon all who are true followers of his Son, Jesus Christ; that ye may become the sons of God; that when he shall appear we shall be like him, for we shall see him as he is; that we may have this hope; that we may be purified even as he is pure. Amen.
~Moroni 7

7 For God hath not given us the spirit of fear; but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind.
8 Be not thou therefore ashamed of the testimony of our Lord…
~2 Timothy 1


But being afraid and unabashed can lead to excessive zeal, overbearance  (yes I'm making that a word even though spellcheck says it's not), and eventually pride and enmity.

I will not confess my innocence in this regard. I think that most of us who enter the MTC with words of admonition, encouragement and praise have been more than overbearing not only within those sheltered walls, but out in the fields of the world. We are the tools in the Lord's hands to go about his work, and when we lose sight of this important truth, not matter how diligent or good-willed we may be, we have lost the spirit of the work. Note, I didn't say "Spirit," though that can sometimes happen…

We must be ever mindful and cautious about our conduct, our tact in being witnesses of God. Go back, and read Moroni's words again:

45 And charity suffereth long, and is kind, and envieth not, and is not puffed up, seeketh not her own, is not easily provoked, thinketh no evil, and rejoiceth not in iniquity but rejoiceth in the truth, beareth all things, believeth all things, hopeth all things, endureth all things.
~Moroni 7


And may I add: "is not tactless, insincere, patronizing…"

The Body

18 But now hath God set the members every one of them in the body, as it hath pleased him.19 And if they were all one member, where were the body?20 But now are they many members, yet but one body.21 And the eye cannot say unto the hand, I have no need of thee: nor again the head to the feet, I have no need of you.22 Nay, much more those members of the body, which seem to be more feeble, are necessary:23 And those members of the body, which we think to be less honourable, upon these we bestow more abundant honour; and our uncomely parts have more abundant comeliness.24 For our comely parts have no need: but God hath tempered the body together, having given more abundant honour to thatpart which lacked:25 That there should be no schism in the body; but that the members should have the same care one for another.26 And whether one member suffer, all the members suffer with it; or one member be honoured, all the members rejoice with it.27 Now ye are the body of Christ, and members in particular.

1 Corinthians 12

An Answer to a Prayer

For about seven or so years now I have been bothered by my reflexive and rather reactionary behavior in terms of showing charity toward my fellow men (and women). I say seven because while serving as a missionary, and having your whole day planned around only one thing for two years, it was part of the job, so to speak, to help anyone who seemed to need it. We would tend gardens, do landscaping, tutor, carry heavy loads, etc. I can remember even before this I wouldn't think twice about going to help someone.

I am loathe to offer this help now, because I fear the reactions of the people. I fear that they will yell or scorn or just ignore me, thinking my solicitations are neither sincere nor necessary. I fear that in offering to do what I can, the task may be beyond my skill or expertise, or in other situations, that I may be stepping on the toes of others. I fear that perhaps they think I want something in return for my help.

The bottom line is that I fear.

For God hath not given us the spirit of fear; but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind.
~2 Timothy 1:7

I tell you these things because of your prayers… …if ye are prepared ye shall not fear.
~Doc & Cov 38:30

So here I start my journey to be faithful- to not be ashamed, and not be afraid or weary of well-doing. I won't be perfect at it, but I'm OK with that. And for me, being able to just say that is quite a feat in and of itself.

The Plan and Laziness pt. 1

I believe in the plan. The plan of salvation, that is.

Where did we come from? Why are we here? Where do we go after death?

These are the questions that should haunt the minds of every person on this planet. Well, not "haunt" but when you boil it all down, those are the questions that should carry the most weight for us as people.

Where did we come from:
Our spirits (or souls, if you refer to it that way) existed before we were born on this earth. We lived in the presence of a very Father in heaven (in other words, in his presence). We appeared like and interacted with other people, just like we do now (well, I imagine it more like when we were young kids). Our Father had a plan. This is the plan that would help us become like Him.

Now I'm going to digress here.
The wider Christian world loves to ridicule this assertion that we can someday become like our Father in heaven- God, because it holds so dearly and foolishly to the Creeds of Christendom, the very essence of the familiar Mormon phrase, "the philosophies of men mingled with scripture." God is not this immaterial, conglomeration of contradictions that councils of learned men compromised on. He is, in all sense of the word, our Father. It is not a poetic title. I haven't bothered to count, but I'd hazard a guess that nine times out of ten Jesus referred to "God" as "father", and it was never in a figurative fashion. I'll also pause here to affirm that the Godhead is formed from three physically distinct, yet purposefully unified beings: God, the Father, Jesus Christ and the Holy Spirit. (why would Jesus pray to himself? among other glaring questions.)

Now, back to our pre-existence.
Our Father presented this plan that we might eventually become like Him. What is He like? To know that is eternal life. (see John 17:3) This plan would have us come to earth, to be born, grow up and learn and to be tested to see if we will keep all of God's commandments. In his own words, the great patriarch, Abraham attested:


Now the Lord had shown unto me, Abraham, the intelligences that were organized before the world was; and among all these there were many of the noble and great ones;


And God saw these souls that they were good, and he stood in the midst of them, and he said: These I will make my rulers; for he stood among those that were spirits, and he saw that they were good; and he said unto me: Abraham, thou art one of them; thou wast chosen before thou wast born.


And there stood one among them that was like unto God, and he said unto those who were with him: We will go down, for there is space there, and we will take of these materials, and we will make an earth whereon these may dwell;


And we will prove them herewith, to see if they will do all things whatsoever the Lord their God shall command them;


And they who keep their first estate shall be added upon; and they who keep not their first estate shall not have glory in the same kingdom with those who keep their first estate; and they who keep their second estate shall have glory added upon their heads for ever and ever.


And the Lord said: Whom shall I send? And one answered like unto the Son of Man: Here am I, send me. And another answered and said: Here am I, send me. And the Lord said: I will send the first.
And the second was angry, and kept not his first estate; and, at that day, many followed after him.
~Abraham 3:22-28

Now, for those not accustomed to the terminology, I'll break it down. First off, the creation. I've addressed this before, but the root word in Hebrew used in Genesis for create more accurately means to assemble or organize. The term "first estate" is an interesting one. It could be described as our choice to uphold and affirm our Father's plan during this premortal existence. The last verse of this extract concerns the fall of one Lucifer, and his becoming Satan, the father of all lies.

And so here we are. Every one who has been and will be born on the earth accepted our Father's plan. So, why don't I recall any of that? Part of our testing is that we passed through a "veil of forgetfulness" and in consequence have no memory of this time before we came to earth. We needed to develop faith, the faith that the teachings and commandments our Father gives us through His servants of old and of modern day (the prophets) is what we need to follow.

You might wonder why the title is "The Plan and Laziness"- I'll get to that in part 3.

Desire

For some reason, I've always viewed Christendom's …view of the word desire to be something negative, shunned, along the lines of the cardinal sins of greed or lust. Today has helped me realize that it's the what in our desires that determines if it's best, better, good, or bad.

For I, the Lord, will judge all men according to their works, according to the desire of their hearts.
~Doc. & Cov. 137:9

We had some good talks given about what desire is and how it applies to us. I don't remember all the words that were spoken, but I remember the feelings and the thoughts that came to my mind.

Our purpose in life is: "…to see if [we] will do all things whatsoever the Lord [our] God shall command [us]." Our willingness to choose the Lord and do as He commands is dependent, I would argue, on our desire to follow them. A great speaker once said that our desires lead to actions, and that those actions dictate our morals, our character, our very soul.

A good tree cannot bring forth evil fruit, neither a corrupt tree bring forth good fruit.
~Matthew 7:18 / 3 Nephi 14:18

Our righteous desires will lead us to become better followers of Christ, because righteous desires lead us to be like him. Reflexively, unrighteous desires will lead us away from Christ and into "forbidden paths" and eventually, completely from God's presence and influence.

He will, however, always give you a way back. He will extend His tender mercies as long as we are willing to turn back to him.

Forgiveness

It's been a long time since I last posted, hasn't it?


Today's theme at Church was obedience, but what I really gathered was forgiveness from the dating/marriage lesson. Most likely because I felt a need to be obedient to the commandment of forgiving.


The Lord said:


"I, the Lord, will forgive whom I will forgive, but of you it is required to forgive all men."
~D&C 64:10 


It's quite common to hear and say that we most often forget to forgive ourselves, but that's because it's so common to do exactly that. Some of us are quick to forgive others when they have wronged us, but we do, so often, forget about ourselves. Now, please don't misunderstand. A key principle of following Christ is to forget one's self in the service of others, but this doesn't mean we neglect our own needs.


I've been unwilling to forgive myself for quite a long time. Life's too short to forget to live, and live in joy.