Repentance: Like a Door Upon its Hinges

These posts on Repentance are best read in order beginning with Repentance: Introduction. At the bottom of each post is a link to the next post. This is another postscript on repentance.

"If we go on lusting after the groveling things of this life which perish with the handling we shall surely remain fixed with a very limited amount of knowledge, and like a door upon its hinges, move to and fro from one year to another without any visible advancement or improvement" (Brigham Young).

I am reminded of the story of four lifelong friends, one of whom was terminal. He was wealthy, however, and curious. He proposed to friends, a plan to see if he could take some of his money with him. He told his friends, one a doctor, another a businessman and the third a lawyer, that he would give each of them $250,000 cash to put in his coffin at his viewing, to see if he could take the money with him.

The man died about three months later, and at his viewing each of his friends tucked an envelope, unseen, in the coffin.

Several weeks later the three were at lunch and the doctor said. "I must confess something. In my envelope I put in only $200,000 and kept $50,000," he said sheepishly.

"I'm glad you confessed that," said the businessman, because I only put in $150,000 and kept $100,000."

They both looked at the lawyer, waiting for him to say something. "Don't look at me," he said. "I did exactly as he asked. I wrote out a check for the full $250,000!" 😂😂

But what of our life here? How much of our earthly lives really goes with us into the next life, the eternities? How much of our previous existence did we bring with us? Is our life here, as Brigham said, like a door upon its hinges, swinging to and fro, but going nowhere? 

What can we take with us? I know of only two revelations that address this subject directly, many others indirectly.

The first revelation says:

"Whatever principle of intelligence we attain unto in this life, it will rise with us in the resurrection. 

And if a person gains more knowledge and intelligence in this life through his diligence and obedience than another, he will have so much the advantage in the world to come" (D&C 130:18-19).

This raises a few questions:

1. What is meant by 'principle of intelligence'?

2. What kind of 'knowledge and intelligence'?

3. What will be the advantage?

There are two qualifiers:

1. One must gain this knowledge and intelligence in this life.

2) It must be obtained by our diligence and by our obedience, also in this life.

This assumes there is knowledge and intelligence, that if obtained, will rise with us in the resurrection. But is there an implication that perhaps other types of knowledge may not rise with us in the resurrection? 

The second revelation says:

That "same spirit which doth possess your bodies at the time that ye go out of this life, that same spirit will have power to possess your body in that eternal world" (Alma 34:34). I would say that that includes gifts of the Spirit that we have been given, including His grace that we have received prior to death.

Other revelations indicate that we also take with us the word of God that is found in us; whatever glory we have received in this life; wisdom, but not the wisdom of men; understanding; charity or the pure love of Christ; the desires of our hearts; and the fruits of our repentance. 

See That Same Spirit.

Before we explore these revelations further, let's look first at what we will not be able to take.

1. Things: like money, cars, phones, computers, clothes, jewelry, glasses, hearing aids, books, collections, family photos, artwork, favorite furniture, Facebook, scriptures, family histories, recipes, glasses, hearing aids, earthly rewards, musical instruments, and no vain things of the world. No AI, internet, no mobile phones, no technology. 

"Seek not after riches nor the vain things of this world; for behold, you cannot carry them with you" (Alma 39:14 emphasis added). 

Even amidst our worldly addictions we may assume the Lord will come through for us, insensible to the fact that His end-time “work” and “plan” are for us to fulfill. If we don’t repent of transgression and come out from the wicked, from the world, our reward is to be hewn down and cast into the fire and have our names blotted out (Alma 5:53–57). Book of Mormon instances of people’s loving the vain things of the world fall in the same category as living in a state of unbelief, setting one’s hearts upon riches, seeking for riches, praise, honor, glory, power, and authority, being lifted up in pride, wearing costly apparel, worshiping idols, being puffed up in greatness, hearts swallowed up in pride, crying to the Lord with the mouth while the heart is far from him, being slow to remember the Lord God, setting at naught his counsels, slow to walk in wisdom’s paths, having no desire that he who created them should rule over them or be their guide, giving Satan great power and letting him lead away the heart (Alma 1:16; 4:8; 5:37, 53; 7:6; 31:27–28; 39:14; 60:32; Helaman 7:21; 12:5–6; 3 Nephi 6:15–16). 

In other words we take with us when we die, the consequences of our choice of either Good or Evil.

2. Skills and expertise: there will be no need for any of the many skills we have spent the most part of our lives learning and developing. For example, there will be no doctors, even heart surgeons; no lawyers; no businessmen and women; no bakers, athletes or politicians; no conference talks or ecclesiastical skills; no scientists, professors or consultants; no bankers, investment or otherwise; no royalty, presidents or dictators; no professional clergy; no rewards for being hard workers, for amassing fortunes or for being famous; no athletic skills, comedians or actors; no real estate agents or brokers; no billionaires, power brokers, legislators, governors, journalists; no artificial intelligence data centers.

On the whole, none of the activities that man does that center around his physical needs, livelihood and devices will be available. We leave behind what has sustained us for this life on earth, all those things and activities that are for this life only. Those things and activities that have taken the bulk of our time here. We can see how these worldly pursuits contract and confine us. 

A friend visited us from Greece several years ago. Something he said really stuck with me. He said, "I have lived a good life, and have no regrets." Which probably found its way into his obituary.

The Pharisee did the same, looking at his clutch of good deeds as being enough to keep him in the game, but for the rest of his life only. They could only justify him during his life here. But that was his error. For the rest of his life here, maybe. But what about for the length and breadth of eternity? 

But "...everything that is in the world, whether it be ordained of men, by thrones, or principalities, or powers, or things of name, whatsoever they may be, that are not by me or by my word, saith the Lord, shall be thrown down, and shall not remain after men are dead, neither in nor after the resurrection, saith the Lord your God" (D&C 132:... emphasis added).

Not even praiseworthy human values will go with us because human values are created by humans to make their lives better or to justify their lives here.

I like this from Hugh Nibley: "No one supposes for one moment that in heaven the angels are speculating, that they are building railroads and factories, taking advantage one of another, gathering up the substance there is in heaven to aggrandize themselves, and that they live on the same principle that we are in the habit of doing. . . . No sectarian Christian in the world believes this; they believe that the inhabitants of heaven live as a family, that their faith, interests and pursuits have one end in view—the glory of God and their own salvation, that they may receive more and more. . . . We all believe this, and suppose we go to work and imitate them as far as we can." 

And that 'family' may or may not include members of our immediate family, since each has a right to make his or her own choices about what they will take with them, if anything, except their same spirits.

All the things that are passing away today are the very essence of "the economy," but they will be missing in the herafter. They are already obsolescent; every one of them is make-work of a temporary and artificial nature for which an artificial demand must be created, and upon which we have spent the bulk of our time doing while on this earth, and which bind us and capture us. We will not take with us any of the vain things of this world, but we will take with us the treasures of heaven that we have discovered during our journey here, which prepares us to receive more, even all, the Treasures of Heaven. 

These will include, I believe, all the mysteries of science, art, imagination, creativity,  color, dimension, space, intelligence, light, resurection, distance, darkness, words, language, beauty, design, family, immortality, thought, communication, movement, perspective, thinking, glory, and curiosity. 

And there will be teachers* of the Gospel of Christ, and spirits to teach, those which are under the bondage of sin when they die. There will also be teachers for all the Treasures of Heaven, but not teachers of finance, business, medicine, law, or religion.

*Teachers to those "who died in their sins, without a knowledge of the truth, or in transgression, having rejected the prophets" (D&C 138:32).

That leaves us with just us, and what we know or don't know. It leaves us with our choices of Good or Evil and the consequences of those choices. Under the bondage of sin here, then under bondage of sin there. Under Grace here, then under Grace there. Same for rebellion, not believing Christ and His words, having hard hearts, etc.

Persons who most increase in intelligence attain the greatest oneness with God. The more they acquire his divine attributes, the more powerful they become with God and with humanity. Jesus’ words, “I seek not my own will but the will of the Father who has sent me” (John 5:30), express his oneness with God as a God—the same oneness with God all may grow into (cf. Isaiah 56:3–5; Matthew 12:50; John 17:19–23; 3 Nephi 11:11). 

The difference between God, angels, and men isn’t so much in appearance as it is in divine power and intelligence. 

You cannot teach what you do not know. You take your ignorance with you! 

I love that we can take with us our hope, and also the amount of His righteousness and love that we have obtained here.

"All these had departed the mortal life, firm in the hope of a glorious resurrection, through the grace of God the Father and his Only Begotten Son, Jesus Christ" (D&C 138:14).

"And so it is on the other hand. If he hath repented of his sins, and desired righteousness until the end of his days, even so he shall be rewarded unto righteousness" (Alma 41:6).

But not restored from sin to happiness.

"For that which ye do send out shall return unto you again" (Alma 41:15).

The Devil has the mastery of the earth: he has corrupted it, and has corrupted the children of men. He has led them in evil until they are almost entirely ruined, and are so far from God that they neither know Him nor His influence, and have almost lost sight of everything that pertains to eternity. This darkness is more prevalent, more dense, among the people of Christendom, than it is among the heathen. They have lost sight of all that is great and glorious—of all principles that pertain to life eternal. See more.

Are we here to seek knowledge or to seek the credits that will get us ahead in the world? Remember that Christ taught 'they shall have their reward.'

What of the glorious benefits and promises for the gospel given the Saints in these latter days? Can we say of ourselves that "inasmuch as they sought wisdom they might be instructed; . . . and inasmuch as they were humble they might be made strong, and blessed from on high, and receive knowledge from time to time" (D&C 1:26, 28)?

The same spirit...

For our lives maybe. Do we approach this life with the attitude that once it's over, we will worry about the next life, if there is one?

Although God gave humanity the freedom to choose Good or Evil in the Garden of Eden (Genesis 2:16-17), once a person chooses he isn’t free to decide the consequences. So it is with the consequences of what we prepare to take with us. Do we take more intelligence (light and truth--both definitions of His words), or do we take nothing because we have wasted the days of our probation seeking after those things we cannot take with us?

Is it Enough That Your Children Know That You Are A Good Member of the Church?

This was originally published on March 11, 2022, under the title Is It Enough That Your Children Know You Are a Good Ministering Teacher? Take some time to click on the five links in this post. They may be of some benefit to you and others.

 

What is it that you want your children and grandchildren to know about you? I was in an Elder's Quorum meeting a few years ago, and the topic was on teaching our children, or what do we want our children to know. There was a reference to D&C 68:25, but there was no discussion or instruction concerning what D&C 68:25 commands us to teach, and no reference was made to Moses 6:57-60, or to D&C 93:40 on what the Lord has commanded that we are to teach our children. 

But the idea of being a good example was discussed, and immediately I thought about what Alma wanted his three sons to know about him. Of all the things he could have told them such as being the Chief Judge and/or being the High Priest over the church, he instead recounted to them how he had murdered many of God's children, or rather how he had led them away unto destruction (Alma 36:14), and how he and the Sons of Mosiah were "the very vilest of sinners" (Mosiah 28:4). He told them of the angel who visited him and then in detail what he experienced thereafter.

He described how he was racked with the pains of a damned soul and was racked with torment and harrowed up by the memory of his many sins. He describes this as hell, and gives us a glimpse of what hell must be like for those of us who do not repent. He wanted his sons to know that he had sinned, and that he had repented of his sins and was redeemed by the Lord. He described to his sons that he had cried within his heart and said: "O Jesus, thou Son of God, have mercy on me, who am in the gall of bitterness, and am encircled about by the everlasting chains of death."  

He then described the marvelous light that he beheld and told them that his soul was filled with joy. There was, he said, nothing so exquisite and so bitter as were his pains, but on the other hand there could be nothing so exquisite and sweet as was his joy. He said: "I stood upon my feet, and did manifest unto the people that I had been born of God." 

Alma told and retold his story to his sons so that they would know that their father had rejected his Redeemer, and most importantly he wanted them to know that after his soul had been racked with eternal torment, he was "snatched" and his "soul was pained no more." He was teaching them the Gospel of Jesus Christ through his own experiences, how he had been born of God and how everyone of us "must be born of God...changed from (our) carnal and fallen state, to a state of righteousness, being redeemed of God, becoming His sons and daughters. And thus become new creatures; and unless (we) do this (we) can in nowise inherit the kingdom of God" (Mosiah 27:25-26 emphasis added). 

Of all the things Alma could have taught His sons about himself, he chose to teach them that: "I have repented of my sins, and have been redeemed of the Lord; behold I am born of the Spirit." 

Alma also taught his son Shiblon what our relationship should be to God and to each other. He taught him to not be lifted up in pride or to boast of his own wisdom and strength, or to think of himself as better than his brethren; "but rather say: O Lord, forgive my unworthiness, and remember (our) brethren in mercy--yea, acknowledge your unworthiness before God at all times" (Alma 38:11-14 emphasis added).

Alma's emphasis in teaching his sons was on the goodness and mercy of our Savior, not his own 'good example, and how, notwithstanding his own sins and unworthiness, he was redeemed and born again. He wanted his Sons to know that it was not because of his goodness, but because of the goodness and righteousness of our Savior that he was redeemed. He did not just teach them that he was a good High Priest, had a testimony and fulfilled his civic and church duties. I use the metaphor of being a good member of the Church because it fits the pattern of focusing on ourselves and our religious duties rather than on our Savior.

If we examine our own lives and decide what to teach our children, we may dismiss Alma's account as a pattern because, we may say, his experience was different. But was it really? Or should it be? Do we need to have an angel tell us to repent and be aware of the justice of God, when we have been told over and over again by Book of Mormon prophet-writers, by some of our modern day prophets and apostles, and by the Lord himself? We may say that Alma's sin was more serious and does not apply to us, even though we have been told that one sin subjects us to all of God's justice. But we can't teach what we have not experienced, and that is the problem: if we have not been troubled enough by our sins to bring us down unto repentance, we cannot teach our children what Alma taught his. Instead we may focus on the fact that we may have been a good member of the Church.

Alma used his own experience with God's justice and mercy, to teach his sons about God's justice and mercy. His own experience caused him from that time forth to labor without ceasing, "that I might bring souls unto repentance; that I might bring them to taste of the exceeding joy of which I did taste; that they might also be born of God, and be filled with the Holy Ghost."

In telling my story in The Many Lives of W. Clark Burt, I wanted my children to see me as I really am (a chief sinner); and how, through His goodness and mercy, He has redeemed me from hell and saved me from my sins. I can say that I am repenting and desire to endure in repentance and faith to the end, and that I am no longer under the bondage of sin, but under His grace. I can say that I have been born of the Spirit. Even though my sins continue to trouble me, I continue to repent by turning to Christ and relying wholly upon His merits (not my own) to save me. I know that through repentance and enduring to the end I will have claim upon His mercy and be found guiltless at the judgment. It is not just about my sins but also about my being carnal by nature, and about all the flaws in my character such as selfishness and impatience. 

But I also have hope in Christ that the effects of my sins (the iniquities) will be repaired by Christ. Only He has the power to turn evil into good. He has promised that repentance fixes all that was ruined.

Tom Christofferson, brother to Apostle Todd Christofferson said of his being Gay, "For me, being gay is one of the greatest blessing of my life because I came to a point where I felt I really had to know that Christ lives, that his Atonement and resurrection are realities that have impact in my life. Other people come to that knowledge in their own ways, but this caused me to seek knowledge. I am incredibly grateful for this path." I can say the same about my path (divorce and new marriage) and for the same reasons. It was the catalyst for me to really seek Christ and His atonement. 

I call this a 'Road to Damacus' experience which results in us, at some point in our journey on this earth, stopping in our tracks and 'hearing' the voice of God, telling us: "This is my Son Hear ye him!" Have you had your 'road to Damascus' experience? Have you come to experience your own lost and fallen state, and experienced the need and desire to turn (repent) to Christ and rely wholly upon His merits? Have you experienced your repentance? Are you even now experiencing your own repentance?

The Lord has revealed to us that to repent means to turn to Christ. The Latin root for repentance is to turn. The Greek root means to change one's mind. The Hebrew root means to return to God. We must desire and be willing to change our mind and our heart and be willing to turn to God and turn away from what we are. When we partake of the Sacrament we do witness unto God that we are wiling to take upon us His name, that we are willing to always remember Him, and that we are willing to keep His commandments!

We can see the fruits of our repentance (or turning to Him) by virtue of the changes He is making in us. He is beginning to take away our disposition to do evil, and is curing our tendency to turn away from Him. Fruits of our repentance include growing in the knowledge of Him and desiring to teach our children and others of His goodness and mercy. He will cause that our hearts be filled with joy and we will rejoice in Him. 

We come to know that God created us with a mind capable of instruction, and a faculty which has been enlarged in proportion to the heed and diligence given to the light communicated to us through His words. Our views become clearer and our enjoyments greater. We begin losing our desire for sin, and He is changing our hearts. We offer Him our broken heart, and He gives us a new heart. 

Our hope becomes in Him. It is hope because we still realize our flesh is weak and that our heart continues to desire that which is evil sometimes, but we will believe what He has revealed: that we can attain to His righteousness through putting our faith in Him and be claimed by God's mercy.

Through His atonement, mercy was introduced as the way to reclaim us from the grasp of the justice of God. Through His fruits, we now know that we need God's mercy and would not want to be judged by our works, whether they be good or evil. Our hope is that we will be found guiltless, and that we will be claimed by His mercy.

Personally. I believe all the words which he has spoken to me. I know of their surety and truth because the Spirit of God has wrought a mighty change in me, or in my heart, that my disposition to do evil is diminishing and my desire to do good (the works of Christ) is increasing.

When Lehi was teaching his son Jacob he said to him "I know that thou art redeemed, because of the righteousness of thy Redeemer..." (2 Nephi 2:3 emphasis added). It was not Jacob's righteousness which redeemed him, but the righteousness of Christ.

I know I cannot rely on my own merits and goodness. I have hurt and disappointed many, and If that had been the end of the story, then I would agree that I deserved to die in my sins and be consigned to a state of misery. But because of the goodness of God and the greatness of His Plan of Redemption, it was not the end of the story, but only the beginning of another path that led me to my Savior, to understand through His words and my experience, the doctrine of repentance and faith. The walk that I have walked, and the one I want my children and others to know, is that of a sinner being redeemed, which is the walk that all of us must walk. But it is not really my story that I want them to hear. It is the story of my Savior, of His goodness and mercy! It is His words that I want them to hear, not mine! It is His words, and when they hear them they will begin to understand the doctrine of repentance, to be troubled by their own sins, and the need and the desire to avoid the justice of God and through His words be driven into the arms of His Mercy!

 

Fortunately Alma's sons, including Corianton, did listen to what he had to say about his own repentance and about his being born again, for they then became the teachers of the gospel of repentance to their children, and to others (why) so that the great plan of mercy might have claim upon those that they taught. 

While still troubled, I am no longer harrowed up in my sins, but have beheld the marvelous light, and my soul has been filled with joy. I now know like Paul that "Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners; of whom I am chief" (1 Timothy 1:15).

If all you want your children to know is that you were a faithful church member; or that you faithfully fulfilled all your callings, went to or worked in the temple regularly, had a 'testimony,' did your family history, served a mission or multiple missions, and that you were by all accounts a good person (LDS obituary), you will undoubtedly miss the mark, and therefore probably cause your children to miss the mark as well. I say miss the mark in the sense that Jacob said it--the Jews were blinded by their own self righteousness, "which blindness came by looking beyond the mark" (Jacob 4:14), the mark being their Savior and His goodness and mercy, not their own. 

This scripture illustrates the difference. "And 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 emphasis added).

You may be part of the ninety and nine that need no repentance. But if you think that, be mindful of who Christ was speaking to and why He told them the parable of the lost sheep. It was to the Pharisees and scribes that Christ was speaking, and His reference to the ninety and nine was to those Pharisees and scribes, just persons, who thought they needed no repentance. His reference to joy in heaven over the one sinner that repenteth is contrasted with the sorrow over those who think they do not need to repent.

A brief look at D&C 68:25 and Moses 6:57-60 will help us understand not only what we are to teach our children but why it is so critical that they know we have experienced what we are

asked by the Lord to teach them. 

Parents with children in Zion must teach their children to understand the doctrine of repentance, to understand faith in Christ, to understand the need for baptism, and to understand the gift of the Holy Ghost. Note that it is not enough to teach them about, but to understand. 

This is not possible if we do not understand. It is not enough to just know about these doctrines, and we can only understand if we have experienced them! An example of this is Alma teaching his son Corianton. He could teach Corianton to understand the doctrine of repentance because he understood it, not just intellectually, but because he had experienced it!

Now look at Moses 6:57-60. Enoch has just explained that since we are all born in sin, including our children, that sin conceiveth in our hearts that we may know to taste the bitter (why?) so that we can choose the good. Because of this, and having become carnal, sensual and devilish by nature, we are agents unto ourselves with two choices--good or evil, and we cannot act for ourselves without being enticed by the one or the other. 

Because of this we are commanded to teach our children that all men everywhere must repent, and of course all men everywhere includes you. If you have taught your children to understand the doctrine of repentance (using the Lord's definition of repentance which is to turn to Him and rely wholly upon His merits), your children will want to know if you have and are repenting. If they understand that without repentance we cannot dwell in the presence of God, they will want to know where you will be. 

He gets more specific when he says: "Teach these things freely unto your children, saying: 

That by reason of transgression cometh the fall, which fall bringeth death, and inasmuch

as ye were born into the world by water, and blood, and the spirit, which I have made, and so became of dust a living soul, even so ye (you) must be born again into the kingdom of heaven, of water, and of the Spirit, and be cleansed by blood, even the blood of mine Only Begotten; that ye (you) might be sanctified from all sin, and enjoy the words of eternal life in this world, and eternal life in the world to come, even immortal glory." 

Teaching 'about' being born again is not the same as actually being born again, and what better example can you be to your children and grandchildren than the "example of a believer (in Christ), in word, in conversation, in charity, in spirit, in faith, in purity" (1 Timothy 4:12 emphasis added). 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).

Leave First Principles and Go On Unto Perfection

I have often wondered what Paul meant when he said ​"Therefore leaving the principles of the doctrine of Christ, let us go on unto perfection..." (Hebrew 6:1). I just could not wrap my mind around why we would be encouraged to leave the "principles of the doctrine of Christ." Most attempts to explain why, just did not seem reason enough for me. Especially when Christ defined His doctrine as baptism and repentance, and said anything more or less was not of Him, but of the devil (3 Nephi 11:39-40).

This raises a question:

Q. What is beyond repentance and baptism? Or more accurately asked: who are those leaving behind the first principles and going on to perfection?

A. Those who are no longer under the law, but are under Grace, and desire to go on to perfection. There is both the condition, i.e., under grace and the desire to receive all that the Father desires to give us, to receive ever more grace. 

This was a new dimension for me. It was as if I had crossed over into another state of reality. Could we actually begin the process of being exalted during our earthly life? Could we experience receiving grace for grace as opposed to just being under grace? Could the process of being perfected by Christ actually begin now? Are there exalted states we could be born into before death, beyond being born of the water and of the spirit? Could we be further along the very lengthy process of becoming perfected when we leave this temporal existence? And if we refuse His grace will we be de-created and become less?

But didn't that process begin when we were born and then again being born of the water, and then again when we were born of the spirit? A scripture I have quoted many times has now become significantly more enlightening and meaningful to me. 

"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 27:25-26 emphasis added).

I wrote a post about becoming His sons and daughters, which I discovered is an exalted state, a state whereby we are re-created by Christ as new creatures, just as Alma said. 

But Paul adds even more: 

"For the perfecting of the saints, for the work of the ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ:

Till we all come in the unity of the faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God, unto a perfect man, unto the measure of the stature of the fulness of Christ:

That we henceforth be no more children, tossed to and fro, and carried about with every wind of doctrine, by the sleight of men, and cunning craftiness, whereby they lie in wait to deceive;

But speaking the truth in love, may grow up into him in all things, which is the head, even Christ..." (Ephesians 4:12-15 emphasis added).

Let's break this down and examine more closely what Paul is telling us.

The first verse could be read as saying that the work of the ministry is the perfecting of the saints, as in this is my work and my glory to bring to pass the immortality of man. Christ described His saints as those who are desiring to move away from the world, to begin the process of becoming perfected in Him. He tells us that we are in the process of being re-created by Christ, "for the edifying of the body of Christ," which is another way of saying we become the fruits of Christ. See Tim Merrill's personal Vision of The Tree of Life which adds even another dimension to becoming new creatures in Christ, His fruits, which adorn the Tree of Life.

We then see Christ as the perfect man and that we can become like Him, experiencing several of our own re-births through Him, which, Paul tells us, can begin now. His fulness can become our fulness, begotten by Him, being partakers of His glory (D&C 93:20-22). We grow up "into Him in all things."

An amazing fruit of repentance and partaking of His grace is that we are no longer children being tossed to and fro, and carried about by every wind of doctrine, by the sleight of men. When we become so, we are no longer deceived. We know the doctrine, are repenting, but are now moving on to perfection, becoming perfected by Him.

I gave examples of this in the Sons and Daughters post. Those who have gone beyond just believing to actually repenting, and then to being exalted to Sons and Daughters of God, are now moving toward perfection. They are becoming more like God, acquiring, through Grace, the attributes of God. And I want to emphasize that it is not by trying or striving to become like Christ! Only Christ, through His Grace, recreates us. 

A quote from this post will help you see more clearly what it means to become a Son or Daughter of God:

"Persons who receive grace for grace to ascend to the Sons-Daughters /Servants level, are primarily concerned with things beyond the forgiveness of their sins. By tending to the spiritual and material needs of others, they follow God's example, developing His attributes and character traits as they receive more grace.

They become examples of righteousness by serving as God's agents of 'deliverance' and 'salvation' to those who are still in need of deliverance. They are willing to be in the world to bring others out of the world. They are in the process of 'sanctifying' their lives in the service of God. God's will is becoming their will. God's Sons-Daughters/Servants, both now and in the endtime, are those who do/will fulfill the role of deliverers and saviors to God's people. These include all those who thrust in their sickles and reap, being concerned for the welfare of the soul for all mankind, and especially for the souls of their friends and family.

Those who make this transition in their lives completely change their thought processes. As they open themselves to the influence of God’s Spirit, God enlightens them to his truth, to things as they really are, different from their former, imperfect perception of the truth. They become aware of, and discard, fixed beliefs about themselves and others that have bound them to patterns of living below their potential. The gap between their beliefs and the truth is being eliminated."

Some may say it can't be that simple. But it is! However, it is also more difficult work, more worry, more sadness, but also more joy, just as you would expect the Lord's work to be. But we cannot pretend that the casual believer can perceive the things of God just as well as one who diligently searches God’s Word and lives it until it permeates his whole being.

I can see that as we begin to develop His attributes, everyone becomes our brother and sister. We want for them His mercy, more than for ourselves. We mourn for those who can't see and hear what we can see and hear. We rejoice with those who do! Like Enos, Alma, Amulek, the Sons of Mosiah, and many others, the rest of our lives are spent teaching His words, trying to bring others to Him. We are doing His work, that which we have seen Him do! But it is the hardest work there is. One reason is that we see and understand what happens to our brothers and sisters, our family, our friends, if they do not repent. 

As we move through this process we cannot stand the thought that someone may have to suffer even as He suffered if they do not repent. Because we have the Spirit of Revelation, we know. And because we have the Spirit of Prophecy, we can see clearly what is ahead for those who do not repent. And so we invite them, warn them, we nudge and even push them; we give them historical examples, we plead with them and rejoice with them. We implore them, encourage them and caution them. We rejoice and mourn for them. We love them. 

"And thus we see the great call of diligence of men to labor in the vineyards of the Lord; and thus we see the great reason of sorrow, and also of rejoicing—sorrow because of death and destruction among men, and joy because of the light of Christ unto life" (Alma 28:14 emphasis added).

As Alma said, "I stood upon my feet, and did manifest unto the people that I had been born of God.

Yea, and from that time even until now, I have labored without ceasing, that I might bring souls unto repentance; that I might bring them to taste of the exceeding joy of which I did taste; that they might also be born of God, and be filled with the Holy Ghost" (Alma 37:23-24 emphasis added).

The divine powers and attributes God manifests through someone who has been sanctified, come from his growing assimilation of what are liberating and empowering truths--His words. It is an integral part of becoming, as His words become our words. His words are manifested in us.

If you want the easy way continue with your religious activities. Faith is the hardest of work according to Joseph Smith. It is pure mental exertion. "What are we to understand by a man’s working by faith? We answer–we understand that when a man works by faith he works by mental exertion instead of physical force. It is by words, instead of exerting his physical powers, with which every being works when he works by faith" (Lectures on Faith, Lecture 7, Verse 3).

And so I work using words. Not mine, but His, because I have obtained His words, and because I know that His words are more effective than anything else. But sometimes I feel like a major league baseball player trying to explain the intricacies of baseball to five year old T-Ball players. But the amazing thing is, a few of these T-Ballers really want to know. And because His Gospel is so simple, I can, as commanded, teach them to understand the doctrines of baptism and repentance, even before they reach the age of eight years!

I can relate to how the Sons of Mosiah felt: "Now they were desirous that salvation should be declared to every creature, for they could not bear that any human soul should perish; yea, even the very thoughts that any soul should endure endless torment did cause them to quake and tremble" (Mosiah 28:3 emphasis added).

But being perfected by Christ is not often taught to us from the pulpit. Instead we are encouraged  to 'strive' to be like him, to 'follow' His example, to 'love' as He loved, to 'keep' our covenants, and even though we make mention of His name, the emphasis is primarily on us. And we remain under the bondage of sin, in Babylon,  becoming less. It is only through Him and His grace that we go on to perfection! And in this we deny the power of God to change us, we rely on our own puny efforts to try to become like Him. We are like the Pharisee, and we can even use the same list as the Pharisee did, as we 'strive' to justify ourselves before God.

What needs to be changed is us, not our actions or our behaviors. We can, for example, quit doing a particular sinful deed, but what is not changed is our capacity to continue to commit that sinful deed. And only God can do that!

"To save a man from his sins, or from his awful, sinful and polluted state is the reason Christ was sent by His Father, sent to do the will of the Father. Christ did not come to just deliver us from the consequences of our sinful deeds, while yet our sinful nature remained. But men, loving their sins, pervert the word of God by saying that He came to save us from the punishment of our sins. This teaching has perverted and corrupted the teaching of His gospel. He did not come to just pay the price of our sinful deeds, but to pay the price of our awful, sinful and polluted state--to save us from our sins, from ourselves" (Saved From Our Sins).

For him, the eternal order is a perpetual-motion machine: it can tolerate no friction at all. Even one grain of sand - one lurking vice in one of the redeemed - given long enough, will find somewhere to lodge and something to rub on. And that damaged something, given another of the infinite eternities ties within eternity itself, will go off center and shake the next part loose. And then the next; and so straight on into what can only be the beginning of the end: the very limitlessness of the opportunity for mischief will eventually bring the whole works to a grinding halt. In other words to be in His presence there can be no grains of sand, only perfection, and only He can perfect us! 

The last words Moroni chose to write before His death were these:

• "Yea, come unto Christ, 
• and be perfected in him,
• and deny yourselves 
• of all ungodliness; 
• and if ye shall deny yourselves
• of all ungodliness, 
• and love God with all your
• might, mind and strength, 
• then is his grace 
• sufficient for you, 
• that by his grace 
• ye may be perfect in Christ; 
• and if by the grace of God 
• ye are perfect in Christ, 
• ye can in nowise 
• deny the power of God.
• And again, if ye 
• by the grace of God 
• are perfect in Christ, 
• and deny not his power, 
• then are ye sanctified 
• in Christ by the grace of God,
• through the shedding 
• of the blood of Christ, 
• which is in the covenant 
• of the Father unto 
• the remission of your sins, 
• that ye become holy, 
• without spot" (Moroni 10:32-33 emphasis  added).

But what other implications might there be, for example, for my friends and family, and especially for Annie? This is where we can become, again through Him, as one. When our wills are aligned with His, i.e., when we want for ourselves and others what He wants for us and them, then we can be perfected in Him as one. We can become His Sons and Daughters, new creatures together, and so much more as He re-creates us together. Isaiah’s covenant theology shows that male–female unions of God’s “sons” and “daughters” and levels higher endure into eternity, sealed by God’s “everlasting covenant” (Isaiah 59:21; 60:1–4, 19–22; 61:6–10; 65:13–23).

But I can also see that there may be some of my family who may not yet desire the same, because they do not yet understand how we move together unto perfection in Him. My hope and my faith is that through His words they will desire the same, because male–female unions and family unions on levels lower than God’s elect, on the other hand, possess no such assurance.

I know what Timothy said is true. I am "nourished up in the words of faith and of good doctrine, whereunto [I have] attained" (2 Timothy 4:6 emphasis added). 

And know I want to move on to the process of being perfected by Christ. I "take heed unto [my]self, and unto the doctrine, and continue in them: for in doing this thou shalt both save thyself, and them that hear thee" (2 Timothy 4:16 emphasis added).

There is so much in me that needs to be changed, but now I see a way that all the ugly, the terrible, the evil, even the human goodness, can be replaced with His Goodness. And in this I rejoice! It is like He has opened to my view the pathway to His presence. I can now understand why Paul said we should leave the principles of the doctrine of Christ, and move onto perfection. Let us take His hand and hang on, while we spend our lives bringing as many as we possibly can, to Him.

Paul also taught us that to repent of transgression and receive a remission of sins through the atonement Jesus wrought on behalf of God’s children isn’t the same as going “from glory to glory” (2 Corinthians 3:18), to be “conformed to the image of his Son” (Romans 8:29) until one comes “unto a perfect man, to the measure of the stature of the fulness of Messiah” (Ephesians 4:13; Colossians 1:28). Hopefully you can also see the difference and the pathway to becoming like Him.

As “there is one glory of the sun, and another glory of the moon, and another glory of the stars” (1 Corinthians 15:41), so the higher a person ascends, the greater the degree of glory.

To “follow” Jesus (Matthew 10:38; 16:24; 19:21) thus looks far beyond being “saved” to becoming even as he is (3 Nephi 27:27).

And how do we know? We can uncover many heavenly mysteries embedded in the scriptures we currently possess. Theological concepts such as higher and lower categories of souls, ascending and descending spiritual levels both in heaven and on earth, relationships before and beyond this life, multiple mortal states or eternal lives, the interconnectedness of time and eternity—all form implicit truths embedded in the scriptures. 

And think of the wonderous implications of ministering to those with less, and being ministered to by those with more--forever--all in the name of, and with the love of God! 

Dialogue With God

This dialogue between us and God was written by Hugh Nibley. I have taken the liberty to make a few changes. 

We: Dear Father, whenever the end is scheduled to be, can't you give us an extension of time? 

He: Willingly. But tell me first, what will you do with it?

We: Well...ah...we will go on doing pretty much what we have been doing; after all, isn't that why we are asking for an extension?

He: And isn't that exactly why I want to end it soon--because you show no inclination to change? Why should I reverse the order of things so that you can go on doing the very things I want to put an end to?

We: But is what we are doing so terribly wrong? The church is growing. We spend time with our families. We attend our meetings and fulfill our religious duties. We are pursuing our careers and becoming self-reliant. Why shouldn't we go on doing the things our parents and grandparents did?

He: Haven't I made it clear enough to you what kind of greatness I expect of my offspring? Forget the statistics; you are capable of better things--your religious and daily activities don't impress me in the least.

We: But why should we quit when all we are doing is what each considers to be the best for himself and his family?

He: Because it is not you but I who decides what that shall be, and I have told you a hundred times what is best for you individually and collectively--and that is repentance, not matter who you are.

We: We find your inference objectionable, Sir -- quite unacceptable.

He: I know