There Are Only Two Choices

 "...they taste the bitter, that they may know to prize the good. And it is given unto them to know good from evil...."

Every day, no, every minute of every day, we are making choices. We choose what time we get up in the morning. We choose what clothes we will wear and what foods we will eat for breakfast, or whether we will skip breakfast. We choose whether we will eat healthy foods or unhealthy foods. We choose whether we will eat too much or too little. We choose whether we will exercise our body and our brain.

Sometimes our habits bring us to a point where we have to make a major choice. Several years ago, I weighed close to 240 lbs and then decided to lose weight. I lost 50 lbs, but then over the next year put back 30 lbs. I was headed in the wrong direction, and I knew I needed help and so enrolled in a program and went from 38% body fat to 12%; lost 45 lbs of fat; and reduced my cholesterol number from 5.8 to 3.5. Through a series of choices I went from being unhealthy to healthy. And then I had to choose everyday whether I would continue on a healthy course.

When I was young I thought I ‘had’ to go to church. When I got older I realized I could choose to go if I wanted. So now I go to church because I choose to.

We choose whether we will read the scriptures or whether we will search them. We choose to get our own witness so as to stand as witnesses of God, or rely on what others may say.

We choose what books we read or choose not to read. We choose what TV shows we watch and what movies we go to. We make good choices and bad choices, and both have consequences.

We choose whether we want to get an education; what kind of work we want to do. I learned that the more education I got, the more choices I had.

The choices we make put us in position to make other choices, and sometimes even limit our choices.

Genetics and our environment also affect our choices. For example, because of genetics, I cannot spike my hair even if I wanted to. My choices are definitely limited.

Victor Frankel in his book Man’s Search for Meaning, said he learned that while his movements were restricted he still had the choice to choose how he reacted to his circumstances as a Jew in a German concentration camp.

This is a choice we all have, and while we cannot always control the circumstances, we can choose how we react to those circumstances. This, I believe, is a characteristic of God, and that is why He tells us that all things can work together for our good, no matter how bad or how tragic.

We choose to see the glass half full or half empty. There are many who choose to be victims and never realize that it is a choice, and others who can always find the positive. I am reminded of a story of Corrie and Betsie Ten Boom who were captured during World War II for helping to hide Jews and members of the Resistance. They decided when they entered the prison camp they would always look for the positive and be thankful. There was one thing that Betsie could not be thankful for--the lice in their barracks. This was until Corrie told her that it was because of the lice that the guards did not come into their barracks as often and abuse them.

But all these choices, and I could go on forever, are simply choices we make that only affect our life on this earth. These are choices of what we do or do not do, how we live our lives, and are not necessarily the choices that get us in the right way to get home to our Father in Heaven, even though we often think they are. For example my being healthy does not redeem me, anymore than choosing not to do drugs. They may make my life less complicated, but our purpose here is not a more comfortable life. Choosing to pray or pay tithing or to become a better person do not redeem me. There is one fatal mistake that we make, that is to think it is by further, better and more aggressive living that we can have life.

In reality there are only two choices—good and evil. According to God's definition good is the righteousness of God. Evil is any alternative to the righteousness of God. Satan promotes any and all evil. The knowledge of good and evil, or the ability to distinguish good from evil, is guaranteed by God to every human being of normal mentality, and comes because of the fall of Adam. See, Think Independently, by Chauncey Riddle.

When Adam and Eve partook of the fruit of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, what they gained immediately was the knowledge of evil. Before that they had known only good, with the exception of one thing: not to partake of the fruit of the tree of knowledge of good and evil. Satan came and tempted them to do the one evil thing they knew to do, and they did it with full knowledge that it was better for them to know the difference between good and evil. That act opened the floodgates of the knowledge of evil upon them, and they became subject to Satan.

But Adam and Eve were not simply left to the evil Satan would enjoin upon them. The gift of God through partaking of the fruit of the tree of knowledge of good and evil was they would also know the good. This would be brought to them by the Light of Christ. So Adam and Eve and all their posterity (all of us) have within themselves/ourselves enticement to choose good or to choose evil.

Having these alternatives to choose between is the agency of man, that which makes each individual free to choose one or the other.

So through our pattern of choices we are choosing every day, every minute, every second, good or evil.

On what basis do we make our choices between good and evil? The answer is that we choose on the basis of our desires, the desires being the fruit of our hearts. We each choose what we want to choose. So we are literally forced to exhibit our desires, for we must choose hourly and daily between the competing influences within our heart to choose good or evil. This forced choice is the agency of man. It is brought upon all of us when we chose to come to this mortal state, and be proved as to our desires for good or evil.

Keep in mind that the Lord has defined good as everything coming from Christ, and evil as everything else. One is narrow (Christ’s way) and the other is broad (Satan’s way). The choice between good and evil is one that points us in a direction—either Christ or Satan, and we manifest it by the desires of our heart. This is necessary to exhibit the true character of each human being.

So this knowledge of good and of evil, as the Lord defines good and evil, is the most basic and most important knowledge which any human being has. The choice between good and evil cannot be assured to be made correctly by any authoritarian, rational, empirical, pragmatic or mystic means. In other words, our condition is so perfectly engineered that each of us will choose from our own heart between good and evil, and thus truly and accurately reveal our true character. Our Father in Heaven then uses that revelation as the basis for a fair and righteous final judgment, awarding each of us the desires of our heart.

But what if we discover that our own heart is not all good, that we actually want that which is evil sometimes? Can we help ourselves to be what we are not? The answer is that we cannot by ourselves make a change in our own heart. But we can recognize the need for a change, and we can choose to apply to our Savior for a new heart. He alone has the power to grant this greatest of all gifts, and will do so if we truly desire it, through his gospel—faith in Him, repentance (turning to good), baptism and receiving the Holy Ghost. Then we are born again and become new creatures being changed from our carnal and fallen state to a state of righteousness. His gospel gets us in the way and keeps us there as we hold fast to the rod of iron which is the word of God. Any other way is Satan’s way, and that is why we say nothing but repentance unto this generation, because repentance means to recognize our need for a new heart and look to Christ to change it.

It is not about living our life correctly, being religious, or making good life choices—it is about redemption (not improvement), and we must experience godly sorrow (recognize our lost and fallen state, our nothingness, our evil) and desire good.

One of the great glories of the restored Gospel of Jesus Christ is to learn that we can become new creatures in Christ, if we will come down into the depths of humility and, as a little child, put our full trust and faith in Jesus Christ. Then and only then can and will He save us from ourselves, according to his own word.

“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 righteousness, 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 27:25-27

And as the people of King Benjamin said: “We believe all the words which thou hast spoken unto us; and also, we know of their surety and truth, because of the Spirit of the Lord Omnipotent, which has wrought a mighty change in us, or in our hearts, that we have no more disposition to do evil, but to do good continually” (Mosiah 5:1-2).

This knowledge of good (God’s righteousness) and evil (everything else) is the most basic and most important knowledge we can have. Choose Him and His righteousness, and don’t make the mistake of thinking that you are righteous. Make the choice to turn to Him and ask Him for a new heart.