Vain Imaginations

Vain or vanity means useless, empty and without value. Used in the scriptures vain is often associated with the things of the world, or as a description that if we seek justification by works, Christ died in vain, whereas vanity is associated with unbelief. The words imaginations and image as used in the scriptures have a broader meaning and refer to the pride of the Lord's people who take great comfort in their image of goodness and righteousness. Because Satan cannot rule by virtue of his person because he is wicked, he therefore resorts to the use of images and self deception, of which he is the master. His world is a counterfeit full of illusions and "mists of darkness...which blindeth the eyes, and hardeneth the hearts of the children of men,... (1 Nephi 12:17).

The large and spacious building in Lehi's dream represents vain imaginations and pride of the children of men (1 Nephi 12:18). And when the Lord tells us at the beginning of this last dispensation that we 'walketh...after the image of our own god, whose image is in the likeness of the world' (D&C 1:16), He is telling us that we are the same as Israel of old.

We imagine ourselves as being righteous. We imagine that we are good. We imagine that we are favored of the Lord. We imagine ourselves as being obedient. We imagine that our works will save us. We imagine that the Lord may beat us with a few stripes but in the end we will be saved. We imagine that we study and know the word of God. We imagine that we believe. We imagine that we are in the world but not of the world. Through our vain imaginations, through our vanity and unbelief, we are lead away carefully down to hell.

Vain imaginations and vanity lead to a perversion of the Lord's word which leads to the teaching and believing of false doctrines. Vain imaginations and vanity cause us to hearken unto the precepts of men and to deny the power of God and the gift of the Holy Ghost. "Beware lest any man spoil you through philosophy and vain deceit, after the tradition of men, after the rudiments of the world, and not after Christ" (Colossians 2:8). While at the same time we hearken to the precepts of men, we rarely do away with the worship of our true God, but we worship the true God alongside our false gods. This compromise enables us to satisfy both our carnal instincts and our spiritual aspirations.

In some instances the worship of the true God and the false gods becomes fused, and the concept of the true God gets distorted. We impose our false images on the true God. This epitomizes the idea of "philosophies of men mingled with scripture." We then imagine that our outward forms of worship constitute true worship. For example we imagine that by actively congregating and religiously performing ecclesiastical duties that we are righteous. Another example is that by first giving ourselves to neighbor-love (service), we are serving our God. This is only true if we first love God with all our heart and with all our soul and with all our mind, and not the other way around. If we give ourselves first to neighbor-love it cannot be sustained--it will become vain.

The Lord has told us that our vanity and unbelief have brought the whole church under condemnation? Why because our minds have been darkened because of unbelief, and because we have treated lightly the things we have received-- (D&C 84:54-55).

Our minds become darkened when we set our "hearts upon the vain things of the world" (Alma 5:53); or when we gratify our vain ambition (D&C 121:37).

"I say unto you, can you imagine to yourselves that ye hear the voice of the Lord, saying unto you, in that day: Come unto me ye blessed, for behold your works have been the works of righteousness upon the face of the earth? Or do ye imagine to yourselves that ye can lie unto the Lord in that day, and say--Lord, our works have been righteous works upon the face of the earth--and that he will save you?" (Alma 5:16-17)

By a simple sleight of hand Satan will trick you into imagining that you are on the straight and narrow path leading to the tree of life, when you are really in the large and spacious building.