The Cart Before The Horse

As most already know, the expression the cart before the horse is an idiom or proverb used to suggest that something is done contrary to a conventional or culturally accepted order or relationship. A cart is a vehicle which is pulled by a horse, so to put the cart before the horse is an analogy for doing things in the wrong order.

For purposes of this article I will change this definition to read that the expression the cart before the horse is an idiom I use to suggest that more often than not our approach to the Gospel of Jesus Christ is contrary to the revealed word of God. I use this idiom to describe our tendency as Ephramite Gentiles to put ourselves (the cart) before our Savior (the horse). 

And how do we do that? Simply by making the Gospel of Jesus Christ, which is the power of God unto salvation, the power of us unto salvation.

To illustrate I was attempting to explain to our home teacher how we make the Gospel about our works and our activities. He responded with the statement, "but we have to do something! We have so much to do in the church." And indeed we do, but even more than we are doing now, but the questions are--

1) What are we to be doing? 

2) Why are we to be doing this? 

3) When are we to be doing this? 

Q. What is it, then, that we are to do? 

A. Works of righteousness, His works, the fruits of our repentance? This is important so as not to put the cart before the horse.

Christ defines His Gospel in 3 Nephi 27. But before He defines His Gospel, He reminds us that in order for it to be His Church, regardless of its name, the people must be built upon His Gospel or the works of God and not built upon the works of men or upon the works of the devil. If built upon our works, He explains, we can have joy in our works for a season, but "by and by the end cometh, and they (who rely on their works) are hewn down and cast into the fire, from whence there is no return. For their works do follow them, for it is because of their works that they are hewn down..." (3 Neph 27:11-12 emphasis added).

He then gives us His Gospel. 

"And this is the gospel 

which I have given unto you---

that I came into the world 

to do the will of my Father, 

because my Father sent me" (3 Nephi 27:13 emphasis added). 

Hence He is the Gospel, the good news. He is to be lifted up upon the cross so that He might draw all men (you and me and everyone else) unto Him, 

"that as I have been lifted up 

by the Father, 

even so should men be lifted up 

by the Father, to stand before me, 

to be judged of their works, 

whether they (their works) be good 

or whether they be evil" (3 Nephi 27:14). 

He explains that for this cause--all men lifted up--He was lifted up so that He will draw all men unto Him, that they may be judged according to their works.

So by default we all face the prospect of standing before God to be judged of our works. Christ then gives us the good news--His Gospel--which is the result of His works and His righteousness and not our own. 

"And it shall come to pass, 

that whoso repenteth 

and is  baptized in my name 

shall be filled (Holy Ghost), 

and if he endureth to the end, 

behold, him will I hold guiltless 

before my Father at that day, 

when I shall stand to judge the

world" (3 Nephi 27:16 emphasis added).  

He then tells us that if we do not repent and endureth to the end, we will be hewn down and cast into the fire because of the justice of God (3 Nephi 27:17). 

He then makes clear that 

"this is the word (His Father's word) which he has given unto the children of men" (3 Nephi 27:18). 

God has spoken this, it has been recorded, we have His word and we are therefore left without excuse. "No unclean thing can enter into his kingdom; therefore nothing entereth into his rest save it be those who have washed their garments in my blood, because of their faith, and the repentance of all their sins, and their faithfulness (in Him), unto the end" (3 Nephi 27:19 emphasis added).

He then again tells us what we are to do: 

"Now this is the commandment: Repent, all ye ends of the earth, and come unto me 

and be baptized in my name, 

that ye may be sanctified by the reception of the Holy Ghost, 

that ye may be found spotless 

before me at the last day" (3 Nephi 27:20 emphasis added) 

He then concludes by saying 

"Verily, verily, I say unto you, 

this is my gospel... (3 Nephi 27:21).

It is clear from His definition of His gospel that our role is to be prepared to stand before Him and be judged of our works, or to keep His commandments to repent, be baptized, be filled with the Holy Ghost and then endure in faith in Him to the end. If we do the latter, we will then be found guiltless. It is one or the other--His Justice (judged of our works) or His Mercy!

But more specifically, what do we do? Paul tells us that like the Jews we have a zeal of God but not according to knowledge, "For they being ignorant of God's righteousness, and going about to establish their own righteousness, have not submitted themselves unto the righteousness of God. For Christ is the end of the law for righteousness to everyone that believeth" (Romans 10:2-4 emphasis added). In other words the Gospel of Jesus Christ is about His righteousness, not ours! And so why do we spend most of our time going about to establish our own righteousness, by doing our works?

The opposite is best illustrated by Lehi's statement to his son Jacob where he says "I know that thou art redeemed because of the righteousness of thy redeemer" (2 Nephi 2:3 emphasis added). When we put the cart before the horse we make the gospel about our righteousness, our obedience and our goodness instead of His goodness and His righteousness.

Other illustrations include the following:

"And because of the intercession for all, all men come unto God; wherefore, they stand in the presence of him, to be judged of him according to the truth and holiness which is in him" (2 Nephi 2:10 emphasis added), and not according to the truth and holiness which is in us.

"...there is no flesh that can dwell in the presence of God save it be through the merits, and mercy and grace of the Holy Messiah... (2 Nephi 2:8 emphasis added).

"And if ye believe on his name ye will repent of all your sins, that thereby ye may have a remission of them through his merits" (Helaman 14:13 emphasis added).

The scriptures make clear that our being saved is not based on our merits, "and since man had fallen he could not merit anything of himself" (Alma 22:14 emphasis added). Contrast this with the truth that we are to rely wholly and alone upon His merits (2 Nephi 31:19; Moroni 6:4), and it should be clear that the gospel of Jesus Christ is the power of God unto salvation.

But what do we teach and hear so often in our local church meetings and classes? We hear that it is about us, about our obedience, about our worthiness, our goodness and our righteousness, about our good works, about 'living' the gospel, and about the fruits of our labors. Instead of attaining to the righteousness of Christ by faith in Christ, we attempt to attain to righteousness of God through our works, calling them good. Paul reminds us that this is the stumbling stone of Israel. (Romans 9:30-33).

Alma describes the works of righteousness as the fruits of our repentance, and we are reminded many times that we cannot of ourselves bring forth any fruit.  He is the vine and we are the branches and the branches cannot bring forth fruit. He explains that He is the true vine, but that His Father is the husbandman. "Every branch in me that beareth not fruit he taketh away: and every branch that[ beareth fruit, he purgeth it, that it may bring forth more fruit. ...As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself except it abide in the vine; no more can ye, except ye abide in me. I am the vine, ye are the branches: He that abideth in me, and I in him, the same bringeth forth much fruit: for without me ye can do nothing" (John 15:1-8 emphasis added).

In fact whenever we rely upon our own strength we corrupt the vineyard (Jacob 5:48), and are ready to be hewn down and cast into the fire because the fruits we bring forth are corrupt. They are corrupt because they come from us, who are corrupt. It is only through His goodness and His righteousness that we can be saved from being hewn down and cast into the fire. Putting ourselves before the cart is the same as taking strength unto ourselves and believing that through our strivings, our hard work, our discipline, our successes, our righteousness, and our good works that we can have eternal life.

Korihor was Anti-Christ because he taught the words of Satan, which are Anti-Christ. What was it he taught that was Anti-Christ and so objectional to Alma? He taught that "every man fared in this life according to the management of the creature; therefore every man prospered according to his genius and that every man conquered according to his strength; and whatsoever a man did (his own good works) was no crime" Alma 30:17). Simply he taught humanism which is the popular teaching of our day. Rely on ourselves, on our own good works and on our merits and talents. This is Anti-Christ because it teaches us to rely on our own strengths and not His. And how did Alma respond? By teaching the word of God. It is Anti-Christ to put the cart before the horse.

There are many fruits which come from Him such as 

1) taking away our disposition to do evil,

2) curing our tendency to turn away from Him,

3) tasting of His goodness,

4) hearing His voice in His words,

5) rejoicing in His goodness and mercy,

6) wanting others to taste of His love and mercy,

7) being filled with His love,

8) being harrowed up by our sins,

9) singing the song of redeeming love,

10) receiving a remission of our sins,

11) believing that we must repent,

12) growing in the knowledge of the glory of God and in the knowledge of that which is just and true,

13) not having a mind to injure one another, but

14) having a desire to live peaceably,

15) and a desire to teach others especially our family of His goodness and mercy, and 16) willingly succor those that stand in need of our succor and

17) willingly administer of our substance to them that need it.

"We talk of Christ, we rejoice in Christ, we preach of Christ, we prophesy of Christ and we write according to our prophecies (why?) that our children may know to what source they may look for a remission of their sins.  We speak concerning the law (why?) that our children may know the deadness of the law, that they, by knowing the deadness of the law, may look forward unto life which is in Christ" (2 Nephi 25:26-27).

Joseph Smith described other fruits as we give heed and diligence to the light communicated from heaven to the intellect. He tells us (and it should be our experience) that the nearer we approach perfection, the clearer are our views and the greater our enjoyments, until we have overcome the evils of our lives and lost every desire for sin. (Joseph Smith, Teachings of the Prophet Joseph Smith; 51).

So what are we to do then?  We are to repent (turn to Him) and rely wholly upon His merits.  Once we do then He begins to do His work.  Alma describes this process. He says "I have repented of my sins, and have been redeemed of the Lord; behold I am born of the Spirit. And the Lord said unto me: Marvel not that all mankind, yea, men and women, all nations, kindreds, tongues and people, must be born again; yea, born of God, changed from their carnal and fallen state, to a state of righetousness, being redeemed of God, becoming his sons and daughters; And thus they become new creatures; and unless they do this, they can in nowise inherit the kingdom of God" (Mosiah 27:24-26 emphasis added).

After having been born of God and having tasted of His love and mercy, Alma (and this should be our work as well which includes the why) then desired that all be born of God and that all taste as he had tasted. "Alma began from this time forward to teach the people...preaching the word of God..." (Mosiah 27:32). After having been born of God, Alma "labored without ceasing, that (he) might bring souls unto repentance; that (he) might bring them to taste of the exceeding joy of which (he) did taste; (why?) that they might also be born of God, and be filled with the Holy Ghost" (Alma 36:24). And the Lord gave Alma exceedingly great joy in the fruit of his labors, His labors being teaching the word of God. "For because of the word which he has imparted unto me, behold many have been born of God, and have tasted as I have tasted, and have seen eye to eye as I have seen; therefore they do know of these things of which I have spoken, as I do know; and the knowledge which I have is of God" (Alma 36:26).

We certainly go through the motions in our church callings, but do we really understand the 'work' that we should be doing? My home teacher did not. Do we fall short by performing our ecclesiastical duties, believing that we are somehow good people as a result? In fact we call each other 'good' and forget that even Christ would not call Himself good, but only His Father. Unless we have also been born of God and tasted of His goodness, we will never perform the labors to which we were called--"teaching the word of God with all diligence; ...by laboring with our might" and answering the "sins of the people upon our own heads if we did not teach them the word of God" (Jacob 1:19). Every priesthood office, every calling, every program in the organizational Church should be a means to this end. Why? So that the great plan of mercy may have claim upon all! But we don't need a priesthood office, a program, or a calling to do this work. We just arm ourselves with the sword of truth (the word of God), experience what Alma experienced and then labor with all our might to teach others the word of God.

One of the best examples of His works versus our own is found in Moroni 10 where Moroni's last words exhort us to deny not the gifts and power of God. He tells us that when we put our works before His, that is "if the day cometh that the power and gifts of God shall be done away among you, it shall be because of unbelief. And wo be unto the children of men if this be the case; for there shall be none that doeth good among you, no not one. For if there be one among you that doeth good, he shall work by the power and gifts of God" (Moroni 10:24-25 emphasis added). This is very clear that not only will our works not save us, they will not even be counted as good works. This is because we rely on our own strength and not on His gifts and power.

Alma said to his son Corianton, after teaching Him the word of God and the choice between justice and mercy: "And now, O my son, ye are called of God to preach the word unto this people. And now, my son, go thy way, declare the word with truth and soberness, (why?) that thou mayest bring souls unto repentance, (why?) that the great plan of mercy may have claim upon them" (Alma 42:31 emphasis added).

Teaching the word of God (those words revealed by God to us) to all, is the labor we should perform. Everything in our lives should be a means to this end. We should not give talks or lessons unless we teach the word of God and His Gospel. The emphasis should be on the teaching of the word of God. We are ordained to teach the word of God. (Alma 13:1; D&C 50:13-14).

The emphasis should be on teaching the word of God after having been born of God.  This is the labor we are to perform without ceasing.  We should "waste and wear out our lives in bringing to light" the Gospel of Jesus Christ, the Gospel as He defines it in 3 Nephi 27, again so that all may have mercy.

Through His words we hear His voice of mercy for the living and the dead in His Gospel which we have received. (D&C 128:19).

Another term for putting the cart before the horse is to look beyond the mark which is a result of our blindness, of our not hearing the voice of God in His words, of our not being born again ourselves. (Jacob 4:14). He has commanded us to "preach naught but repentance" for a reason, and to not talk of "tenets" (D&C 19:21;31), the purpose being that through our repentance and faith in our Savior we will receive a remission of sins by baptism and by fire, even the Holy Ghost. Teaching "about" being born again is not the same as actually being born again.  When you are born again then you are an "example of a believer (in Christ), in word, in conversation, in charity, in spirit, in faith, in purity" (1 Timothy 4:12). If you be a good minister of Jesus Christ, you shall be "nourished up in the words of faith and of good doctrine, whereunto thou has attained" (2 Timothy 4:6). "Take heed unto thyself, and unto the doctrine, continue in them; for in doing this thou shalt both save thyself, and them that hear thee" (2 Timothy 4:16 emphasis added).

Consider this:  Imagine that we have all been born again, born of God and have become new creatures, relying wholly upon the merits of Christ. Then the works that we do will be His works done by the power and gifts of God according to our faith in Him, the fruits of our repentance. We then know He is the vine and we are the branches, and that the branches cannot bring forth fruit of themselves. We will recognize and receive His gifts and rejoice in them and in Him who is the giver of the gifts. We will love because we have been filled with His love, and will desire that all partake of His love. His love will be expressed through us and, we will hold up His light rather than our own. We will look to Him and live, and desire all to look and live, and will do everything we can to serve Him by serving others, and bring them to Him. He will take away our disposition to do evil and cure our tendency to turn away from Him. We will switch from worshipping ourselves and each other to worshipping our God and King.

We will then, and only then, have put the horse before the cart.