Repentance: All Manner of Fruit and None of It is Good

These posts on Repentance are intended to be read in order beginning with

 Repentance: Introduction

At the bottom of each post is a link to the next one. 

I must begin this post with a disclaimer. The words “All Manner of Fruit and None of It is Good” are not my words, but the words of the Lord of the Vineyard in Zenos the prophet’s Allegory of the Olive Tree found in Jacob 5 in the Book of Mormon. And they apply to a very specific group of people at a very specific time and place. These are His exact words: “But behold, this time it hath brought forth much fruit, and there is none of it which is good. And behold, there are all kinds of bad fruit; and it profiteth me nothing, notwithstanding all our labor; and now it grieveth me that I should lose this tree" (Jacob 5:30-32 emphasis added).

Who is it that the Lord of the Vineyard is speaking of? Who is it that has brought forth much fruit, and there is none of it which is good? Another way to ask this question is, can we know of whom the Lord is speaking by their fruits? Is it as simple as those who are repenting bring forth fruit meet for repentance, and those who are not repenting, bring forth much fruit, none of it which is good? Can those who are repenting know if others are repenting and coming unto Christ? I know this last question adds a twist and may not seem relevant to the discussion, but it is very relevant because if the fruits, good or bad, are not recognizable, what meaning is the statement by their fruits ye shall know them?

I want to go about this backwards. I want to test the statement by their fruits ye shall know them. Rather than say who it is that brings forth all kinds of bad fruit, let’s describe the fruit and see if we can know whom the Lord is talking about in the Allegory of the Olive Tree. It will also help us identify the time frame prophesied in the Allegory. In the Allegory there were two groups of people who brought forth bad fruit, but the fruits are the same, even though the timeline is different, and it does not matter which group of people He is describing, because even though there is a time gap between them, they have something in common. 

With this list of bad aka evil aka wild fruits, I will not show where the description of the fruit is found in the scriptures, but believe me when I tell you they are all the Lord’s words. And some of you are going to say, but they are good fruits! No they are not. They are described as bad, because they are not fruits meet for repentance. 

Here goes.

They seek not the Lord to establish his righteousness, but every man walketh in his own way, and after the image of his own god, whose image is in the likeness of the world, and whose substance is that of an idol, which waxeth old and shall perish in Babylon, even Babylon the great.

They imagine themselves to be righteous by their own standards.

They teach for doctrines the commandments of men.

They do not search the word of God, but suppose they know of themselves.

They do not recognize their Shepherd’s voice, and by this you may know they are under the bondage of sin, because they come not unto Him. 

They do not receive His voice, are not acquainted with His voice, and are not of Him.

They worship God with their lips, but their hearts are far from Him.

The Lord calls them but they hearken not, nor incline their ear, but walk in the counsels and in the imagination of their evil heart, and go backward, and not forward.

They justify themselves because they fast regularly, pay tithes, attend meetings, go to the temple, read their scriptures, and do not commit the more serious sins.

Their conversations and their meetings are an abomination, too low, too mean, too vulgar, and too condescending.

They have allowed Satan to have great dominion over them.

They thrive on tenets, platitudes and truisms. They trust in lying words, saying, The temple of the Lord, The temple of the Lord, The temple of the Lord, are these. They trust in lying words that cannot profit.

They teach with their learning, and deny the Holy Ghost, which giveth utterance. They do not take the word of God as their guide.

They display a form of godliness but deny the power thereof.

They deny the power and gifts of God, and do not receive them, nor do they give thanks for them or for the giver of the gifts.

They judge those who do not live up to their standards.

They believe that God's gifts to them are their gifts to God.

They have all gone out of the way; they have become corrupted. Because of pride, and because of false teachers, and false doctrine, their churches have become corrupted.

Their hands are full of blood.

They are angry at those who speak the word of God.

They consider others, even their humble brethren, a lost and fallen people.

They lack the key of knowledge.

They confuse their priorities with what is real, calling Satan’s world the “Real World.”

They love for others to call them by ecclesiastical titles, to hold them and be held in admiration,

They take the foremost places at meetinghouses and banquets.

They find fault with those who do not conform to their exterior form of worship.

They transfigure the word of God.

They are as the salt of the earth that has lost its savor.

They let their light shine by being ‘good’ examples.

The word of God is not found in them. They seek their own counsels in the dark.

They justify themselves and their lives by their works, which are not the works of righteousness. They do not believe the parable of the Pharisee and the Publican.

They do not exercise faith unto repentance. (See Tim Merrill's series on Faith.)

They hear but do not understand. Their hearts are fat. They see but do not see.

They are under condemnation for treating the word of God lightly.

They have no desire for more of the word of God. They have enough and need no more, and treat lightly what they have.

They take strength unto themselves--hard work, industrious, disciplined and self reliant.

They do not see that the inequality that exists among them is contrary to the Lord's law.

They commit themselves to what is of pure human fabrication (the world and everything in it),

They fare in this life according to their genius and strength, and put themselves above others who do not share the same genius and strength.

They put their trust in men and make flesh their arm.

They have a personal lack of thirst for the knowledge of God. They do not feast upon the words of Christ.

They lay stress on outward observances. They confuse righteousness with actively congregating and religiously performing ecclesiastical duties.

Their countenance does witness against them, and declare their sin even as Sodom (pride, fulness of bread, abundance of idleness, and not strengthening the hand of the poor and needy).

They worship the work of their own hands, that which their own fingers have made.

They approach God with their mouth and pay homage with their lips, while their heart remains far from Him, their piety toward Him consisting of commandments of men learned by rote.

They settle for line upon line, precept upon precept, and regurgitating what others in authority have said, and do not desire more.

They come out of the waters of baptism and swear by the name of the Lord, and make mention of the God of Israel, yet they swear not in truth nor in righteousness.

They have all gone astray save it be a few, who are the humble followers of Christ; nevertheless, they are led that in many instances they do err because they are taught by the precepts of men.

They are in the spirit of a deep sleep and have closed their eyes.

Their ears are dull of hearing and they cannot see afar off.

They preach unto themselves their own wisdom and their own learning.

They labor for money and not for Zion.

Behold their costly apparel, and their ringlets, and their bracelets, and their ornaments of gold, and all their precious things--their hearts are set upon them, and their hearts are lifted up unto great boasting in their pride. And yet their hearts are swallowed in pride as they cry unto God.

They have joy in their works, in their families, in their amusements. They put family above all else. 

They deny the spirit of revelation and the spirit of prophecy. They have no idea of the events prophesied by Isaiah prior to the Lord’s second coming. Their prophets and seers fail to warn the people of the Lord’s impending judgment, being oblivious to it themselves.

They are drunk with the wine of self deception, and are not ready to receive pure instruction because they live on a diet of vomit and excrement. They are unskillful in the word of righteousness and have need of milk, and not strong meat.

They cannot discern good and evil.

There are none save a few only who do lift themselves up in the pride of their hearts.

They do not hear the warning voice of God.

They do not thrust in their sickle with their might, and reap while the day lasts, that they may treasure up for their souls everlasting salvation in the kingdom of God.

They pervert the right way of the Lord, teaching truths mingled with the teaching of men.

They live on a watered down version of the word of God.

They are at ease in Zion.

They tend to transfer their trust in God to material things. They insist on spending all their time and resources building up for themselves a worldly kingdom.

They do not bring forth fruits meet for repentance.

They are bound by the chains of hell because they do not search and treasure up the words of God. 

They prefer their leaders speak unto them of smooth things.

They believe they are the good guys and do not liken all scriptures unto themselves, and therefore get nothing from the scriptures concerning their real condition, or that the fruits they bear are all bad.

While we could add more wild fruit to this list, you might ask why I didn’t list things like adultery, drug use, pornography, divorce, and all the more ‘serious’ sins? Aren’t they wild fruit, you might ask? Yes, as are the millions of other sins we can and do commit. I did not list them because it is too easy to say these are the bad fruits brought by others, while ignoring the bad fruit borne by us.

Jesus did, however, describe the Gentiles as being “filled with all manner of lyings, and of deceits, and of mischiefs, and all manner of hypocrisy, and murders, and priestcrafts, and whoredoms, and of secret abominations…” He also said that if “they shall do all those things, and shall reject the fulness of my gospel, behold, saith the Father, I will bring the fulness of my gospel from among them” (3 Nephi 16:10). But then he said: “But if the Gentiles will repent and return unto me, saith the Father, behold they shall be numbered among my people, O house of Israel” (3 Nephi 16:13 emphasis added).

What is described in this post are the wild fruits, but it helps to see the fruits meet for repentance by comparing the wild fruit. And as the Lord tells us, the answer is always repentance. 

This is for those who think they need no repentance, who think they can be justified by their works, who think they are repenting, who do not understand the doctrine of repentance, and who cannot see that all manner of their fruits are actually wild fruit. The wild fruit is the result of not repenting. 

Have you guessed which two groups of people the Allegory is describing that bring forth only wild fruit, none of which is good? If you guessed ancient Israel, you would be correct for the first group. But we are told that ancient Israel or the House of Israel (the Jews, 10 Tribes and Lehi’s descendants) will in the end repent and bring forth fruits meet for repentance. But who is the second group of people? Can you tell who and when by their fruits? Does it help to know that the Allegory of the Olive Tree is prophetic? For more on this second group of people read We Are the Wild Branches.

Next: Repentance: Only Those Who Repent are of My Church

Repentance: Fruit Meet For Repentance

These posts on Repentance are intended to be read in order beginning with 

Repentance: Introduction

At the bottom of each post is a link to the next one. 

I earlier mentioned some of the fruits meet for repentance. Meet for repentance means fit for repentance, fruits that come as a result of repentance, or fruits, if we recognize them, that someone has and is repenting. These fruits are not the fruits ascribed to Sister Bonnie Franklin in the previous post. Fruits meet for repentance validates the repentance, and they come from God. These fruits manifest themselves in us, but we cannot boast or take any credit for them. We can, however, rejoice in them. We can profit in fruits that are bestowed upon us, and we can receive them, and rejoice “in him who is the giver of the gift” (D&C 84:33). 

But first you must understand and experience someone new--YOU!

We cannot separate baptism from repentance. Often we see that baptism follows repentance, but for children baptized at the age of eight, there is no need for repentance. These are baptized unto repentance, or in other words, having been born of the water, they may at some point choose to be baptized by the spirit, which requires repentance or turning to Christ. How we miss this important link when our children are baptized. We treat their baptism as merely a ticket to the dance. Even though confirmed and given an invitation to receive the Holy Ghost, most are not yet born of the Spirit. They are born of the water, but are stillborn, and are not born of the Spirit until they are filled with the Holy Ghost. For most in the Church this has not yet happened. Generally their understanding of the Holy Ghost is limited to what they call inspiration and feelings. They still prefer the primary version of the Holy Ghost: a third member of the Godhead, a constant companion. And yet they have very little experience with the Holy Ghost.

Only those who have experienced the effect of the Holy Ghost can be a witness of His existence, and specifically how He operates in his/her life, and the methods He uses to do so. Sure we can read about the Holy Ghost, but until we have experienced His effect on us, we are at a loss to describe it to others, and even then, those who have not had the same experiences may cling to their traditional ideas of Him and therefore miss the mark.

This first became significant to me following an experience I had in 1962 in Grand Island, Nebraska, where I was a new missionary. Following a conversation with a Reorganized LDS Church missionary, I was left totally confused and doubting the truth of what I had been taught. I knew nothing of the Reorganized Church, but was shaken by their belief in the Book of Mormon, and their characterization of the Utah church as being the apostate church. The only thing I knew to do was to get on my knees and ask the Lord about it. The next morning, I was prompted to pick up my copy of The Teachings of the Prophet Joseph Smith, and turned to this:

“The First Comforter or Holy Ghost has no other effect than pure intelligence. It is more powerful in expanding the mind, enlightening the understanding, and storing the intellect with present knowledge, of a man who is of the literal seed of Abraham, than one that is a Gentile, thought may not have half as much visible effect upon the body; for as the Holy Ghost falls upon one of the literal seed of Abraham, it is calm and serene; and his whole soul and body are only exercised by the pure spirit of intelligence” (Joseph Smith, Teachings of the Prophet Joseph Smith, p. 149 emphasis added).

Immediately I felt that calm and serene feeling and while my whole soul and body were not exercised by the pure spirit of intelligence, I did experience the pure spirit of intelligence. Through the Holy Ghost my mind has been expanded, my understanding enlightened, and my intellect stored with present knowledge. 

I have experienced the pure spirit of intelligence many times, but it was not until I had repented and turned to Christ, that my whole soul and body were exercised by the pure spirit of intelligence. In other words, I was filled with the Holy Ghost and was born of the Spirit. It is the light communicated from heaven to the intellect, our intelligence as in “man was also in the beginning with God. Intelligence, or the light and truth, was not created or made, neither indeed can be” (D&C 93:29 emphasis added). Both God and man, and every other living being existed only as intelligences, and had so existed from the eternities, never having been created. No description is given in the scriptures of the nature of the entity that is an intelligence. There is revelation that tells us that the various innumerable intelligences varied in degree of that which was their essence: intelligence, God being the most intelligent of them all (Abraham 3:19).

The fruit of our repentance is that our intelligence, now clothed in both a spiritual and physical body, will increase in light and truth which is the pure spirit of intelligence.

As Joseph Smith said: “We consider that God has created man with a mind capable of instruction, and a faculty which may be enlarged in proportion to the heed and diligence given to the light communicated from heaven to the intellect; and that the nearer any approaches perfection, the clearer are his views, and the greater his enjoyments, till he has overcome the evils of his life and lost every desire for sin; and like the ancients, arrives at that point of faith where he is wrapped in the power and glory of his Maker and is caught up to dwell with Him” (Joseph Smith, Teachings of the Prophet Joseph Smith, P 51. emphasis added)

This is the best description of grace for grace, until we receive of the fulness. But it requires that we give heed and diligence to the light communicated from heaven. Remember repentance is also associated with turning to Christ and giving heed to His words. And why the word of God? Because it is light and truth! 

Let’s backtrack here for more background leading up to being born of the Spirit. Paul said that when we are baptized “our old man is crucified with him, that the body of sin might be destroyed, that henceforth we should not serve sin. For he that is dead is freed from sin” (Romans 6:6-7 emphasis added).

We are, therefore, no longer captive to sin, but His grace abounds in us. If we remain under the law, because by the law, we sin, His grace does not abound in us and we are captive to our sins, are not saved from our sins. “Therefore by the deeds of the law there shall no flesh be justified in his sight: for by the law is the knowledge of sin. But now the righteousness of God without the law is manifested…even the righteousness of God which is by faith of Jesus Christ unto all and upon all them that believe….” (Romans 3:20-23 emphasis added).

“Therefore we conclude that a man is justified by faith without the deeds of the law” (Romans 3:28). “For sin shall not have dominion over you: for ye are not under the law, but under grace” (Romans 6:14).

Having been baptized unto repentance, or having been born of the water, the fruits of being born of the water are manifested through repentance. “...even to him who is raised from the dead, that we should bring forth fruit unto God” (Romans 7:4 emphasis added).

Paul said: “ Likewise reckon ye also yourselves to be dead indeed unto sin, but alive unto God through Jesus Christ our Lord” (Romans 6:11). And “Being then made free from sin, ye became the servants of righteousness” (Romans 6:18). The fruits of being made free from sin, is manifested in becoming the servants of righteousness.

But there remains an obstacle: our flesh. Paul reminds us that in us or in our flesh, “dwelleth no good thing: for to will is present with me; but how to perform that which is good I find not. For the good that I would I do not: but the evil which I would not, that I do. …But I see another law in my members, warring against the law of my mind, and bringing me into captivity to the law of sin…O wretched man that I am! who shall deliver me from the body of this death? I thank God through Jesus Christ our Lord. So then with the mind I myself serve the law of God; but with the flesh the law of sin ” (Romans 7:18-25).

And Voila! The need to be born of the Spirit. “That the righteousness of the law might be fulfilled in us, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit. For they that are after the flesh do mind the things of the flesh; but they that are after the Spirit the things of the Spirit. For to be carnally minded is death; but to be spiritually minded is life and peace” (Romans 8:4-6 emphasis added).

Then add this: “And if Christ be in you, the body is dead because of sin; but the Spirit is life…” (Romans 8:10 emphasis added).

When Alma wrote 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…” (Mosiah 27:25-26 emphasis added), he is echoing what Paul taught us about being born of the Spirit.

Being born of the Spirit and being filled with the Holy Ghost, is the blessing of repentance, the fruits of our repentance. As Alma also said: “Nevertheless, after wading through much tribulation, repenting nigh unto death, the Lord in mercy hath seen fit to snatch me out of an everlasting burning, and I am born of God” (Alma 27:28 emphasis added).

I can only share with you the fruits of my own repentance as I experienced them. As I mentioned earlier, being filled with the Holy Ghost caused my whole soul and body to be exercised by the pure spirit of intelligence, but I also experienced that the light communicated to my intelligence could increase or decrease according to the heed and diligence I gave to His words, to His voice in His words. And I could discern the difference. Therein lies the reason why Nephi and every other prophet writer in the Book of Mormon have told us to feast upon the words of Christ, give heed to the word of God, because as we feast and give heed, light and truth is communicated to our intelligence. And the more of His words that I received, the more light and truth that is communicated to my intelligence. 

These are just a few of the fruits of repentance that I experience and have experienced..

I became acutely aware of the word of God and how it permeates scripture. Obviously I had read and heard the phrase many times, but for the first time I realized that they were actually words from God.

I experience the light and spirit that is associated with His words, and continue to do so. I could see and make connections I had never before seen. I could hear His voice in His words. I became aware that His words are the standard by which everything is judged, even us. This gave me a compass that I knew I could rely on to get back to His presence.

I received the Spirit of Revelation and it was revealed to me that the revelations revealed to men are true. I could now witness that I knew because He had revealed the truth to me personally.

I also could see the past, present and future clearer than ever before, especially the present as it relates to the past and to the future. I have the Spirit of Prophecy and can see clearly the endtime events prior to the Lord’s coming again. And with the Spirit of Prophecy, I have the testimony of Jesus Christ and His atonement and mercy in my own life. I am aware of where I am and where I am going, and the clearer are my views..

My faculties have been enlarged according to the heed and diligence I give to His words. My understanding has been enlightened and I continue to receive truth and light communicated to my intelligence. I experience the Holy Ghost, not through my heart, but through my intelligence, which, because He is light and truth, I can feel that light and truth and discern it.

I can much better see the darkness within and around me, but I also know the Light to follow in the darkness.

I can speak with the tongue of Angels and understand others who speak with the tongue of Angels.

I hunger and thirst for His words and desire more. He leads me to those who can teach me more. I desire to be a follower of righteousness and even a greater follower of righteousness. I want to possess great knowledge and even greater knowledge.

I can discern the scriptural pattern in all things. I recognize and experience that my flesh is still weak and subject to Satan and his followers. I know now, however, that my spirit desires to follow Him and hear His voice. In the flesh I am not strong enough, but in the spirit and with His Spirit, I am losing my desire for sin. I no longer desire riches or even a more comfortable life. I love wisdom. I can see that I am living in Babylon, but know that Babylon and everything in it will be destroyed. It is not capable of reformation, and I want to be delivered from it. I desire Zion and want to help build it up.

I desire others to taste as I have tasted and am saddened that people, even members of my own family, are entrenched in the world. I look forward to when I am wrapped in the power and glory of my Maker and am caught up to dwell with Him.

Let me conclude with this from Paul, as his words, God’s words, cause me to rejoice and give praise to my God and King, and prove a summary of the fruits of repentance.

“There is therefore now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit. For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus hath made me free from the law of sin and death. For what the law could not do, in that it was weak through the flesh, God sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh, and for sin, condemned sin in the flesh: That the righteousness of the law might be fulfilled in us, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit. For they that are after the flesh do mind the things of the flesh; but they that are after the Spirit the things of the Spirit. For to be carnally minded is death; but to be spiritually minded is life and peace. Because the carnal mind is enmity against God: for it is not subject to the law of God, neither indeed can be. So then they that are in the flesh cannot please God. But ye are not in the flesh, but in the Spirit, if so be that the Spirit of God dwell in you. Now if any man have not the Spirit of Christ, he is none of his. And if Christ be in you, the body is dead because of sin; but the Spirit is life because of righteousness. But if the Spirit of him that raised up Jesus from the dead dwell in you, he that raised up Christ from the dead shall also quicken your mortal bodies by his Spirit that dwelleth in you. Therefore, we are debtors, not to the flesh, to live after the flesh. For if ye live after the flesh, ye shall die: but if ye through the Spirit do mortify the deeds of the body, ye shall live. For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, they are the sons (and daughters) of God. The Spirit itself beareth witness with our spirit, that we are the children of God” (Romans 8:1-14; 16 emphasis added)

Next: Repentance: All Manner of Fruit and None of It is Good

Repentance: By Their Fruits Ye Shall Know Them

These posts on Repentance are intended to be read in order beginning with 

Repentance: Introduction

At the bottom of each post is a link to the next one. 

I would like to talk about and compare two fictitious members of the Church. It will seem reasonable that by virtue of this comparison we should be able to tell, by their fruits, whether either, or both, or neither are good members of the Church. 

One is Sister Bonnie Franklin and the other is Brother Robert Woodhead. Some background may be helpful. Sister Franklin is the oldest of six children, and was raised in the Church in a very active family. She had many opportunities for success in her life and took advantage of all of them. Not only was she very popular, but she was also very kind and giving, always looking to befriend those who were less fortunate. She knew what she wanted in her life and worked diligently to achieve her goals, including graduating college and marrying a returned missionary. Her friends and family adore her and feel fortunate that she is part of their lives. She did marry her returned missionary and they have five children. Her husband is a successful business man and has been able to provide many opportunities for his family, just as Sister Franklin had in hers.

People would describe her as a lovely and kind person, and in her many callings in the Church, she has always excelled and drawn the praise of those she has served.

Brother Woodhead, on the other hand, was not raised in the same type of family. His father left when he was 10 years old leaving behind Robert and his three brothers. He was the second oldest boy, but several years younger than his older brother. His older brother left home when Brother Woodhead was 14 years old, and he was left with the responsibility of watching out for his two younger brothers. 

His mother had to work long hours to provide for the boys, and he was often left alone with his brothers for many hours each evening. As a result he had limited opportunities for other activities and would be considered by most as a loner and not friendly. Even in his church activities he was shy and withdrawn and sometimes prone to anger. His anger caused him to lose his temper, and one evening while playing basketball with the boys in his ward, he was angry and hit another boy. An advisor was there and told him to leave and never come back. And so he left and didn't go back, at least not until he had served in the Army for three years where he picked up some bad habits, including smoking.

His younger brother had remained active and had received his mission call, and so Robert went to church to hear him talk. He was surprised at the friendly reception he received from many who had known him, and when his younger brother thanked him in his talk for watching out for him, and for helping him make better decisions, he felt something he had not felt for a long time.

One of the people who had welcomed him at the meeting was a girl he had known who had always been kind to him. He asked her out, and they began dating. She told him, however, that she wanted to be married in the temple, and he agreed. He worked hard to quit smoking and eventually they were married in the temple.

His activity since then has been mixed. He attends some meetings, but does not participate, and refuses to accept a calling. Members of his ward are sometimes put off by his shyness, which they see as not being friendly, and as a result he has no real friends in his ward. He works hard and is able to provide for his wife and 3 children, but not in the same way as Sister Franklin and her family.

Now let's stop here for a minute and based on what I have described, most of us would say that Sister Franklin is a better member of the church than Brother Woodhead. This is true if all we see is the participation of two individuals in an organization. One is better for the organization than the other, because, in the eyes of others, she is doing more, not only for the group but for the individuals in that group. But this is based simply on output--one appears to be producing more than the other.

If we left this in the context of the Church as an organization, we could stop here and draw our conclusion that Sister Franklin is a better church member than Brother Woodhead. Some could even go so far as to say that Sister Franklin, because of her many talents and good works, will be judged more favorably than Brother Woodhead. Sister Franklin may even believe it.

The truth is that in God's eyes Sister Franklin needs "saving" every bit as much as Brother Woodhead.

You cannot expect Christ to look at Sister Franklin and Brother Woodhead exactly as we might. Their talents and dispositions result from natural causes and from circumstances in which God may have placed them. Genetics and other causes could account for Brother Woodhead's temperament, just as Sister Franklin's niceness and generosity could  have resulted from her nature and her circumstances. But being nice or not being nice is not what Christ is concerned about. It presents no difficulties for him to change Brother Woodhead's perceived nastiness, and He will in His own good time. 

No, what He is watching and waiting for and working for is something that even for Christ is not easy, because, He has given each of them the freedom to choose Him and His Righteousness or to choose evil and darkness, the latter of which includes their own flawed goodness. He is waiting for it in both Sister Franklin and Brother Woodhead. Will they or will they not turn to Him (repent), and thus fulfill the only purpose for which they were created? And if they do will they continue to choose Him and His righteousness?

The question is whether Sister Franklin and Brother Woodhead will offer themselves to Christ? The question of whether they are nasty or nice is of secondary importance. Christ will see to that part of the problem.

Don't get me wrong. Of course Christ regards a nasty disposition as a bad and deplorable thing. And of course He regards a nice disposition as a good thing--like food, or sunshine or water. But these are the good things which He gives and we receive. It costs Christ nothing, as far we know, to create nice things: but for Him to change our lost and sinful nature, it cost Him His blood and His life. Moreover, because Sister Franklin and Brother Woodhead have the freedom to choose good or evil, they can, no matter if nice or nasty, either accept or refuse His invitation to turn to Him, and to either rely on their own talents and good works, or to rely wholly on Christ's merits and be saved.

We should not be surprised if we find among Latter-day Saints some people who are like Brother Woodhead. But if you think about it, perhaps it is more likely that Brother Woodhead, and others like him will turn to Christ in greater numbers than the nice ones. That was what people objected to about Christ during His life on earth: He seemed to attract such awful people. That is what some people still object to, and always will. Do you not see why? Christ said how hard it is for the 'rich' to enter the Kingdom, and no doubt he meant not only the economically rich who can be quite satisfied with the kinds of happiness money can give, but those who fail to realize the need for Christ in their lives, even if they are going through the motions. If everything seems to come by simply using your credit or debit card, it is easy for some to forget that they are at every moment totally dependent on God.

Now quite plainly Christ also meant those that are 'rich' as to their genetics and nurture because natural gifts carry with them a similar danger. Because Sister Franklin is blessed with intelligence, and a good and generous disposition, and had opportunities for an education and had good upbringing, she could be likely to take credit for these gifts from God. Because a certain level of good comes to her fairly easily, she is not one of those who is being tripped up by addictions or a bad temper. Everyone tells her she is nice, and it would be easy for her to agree with them. She is quite likely to believe that all this niceness is her own doing, and may not easily feel the need for the better kind of goodness that comes from Christ.

Often people who have all these natural kinds of goodness may not be brought to recognize their need for Christ and His atonement. In other words it is also hard for those who are 'rich' in this sense to enter into the Kingdom.

It may be very different for Brother Woodhead and the little, low, timid, warped, lonely, sensual and unbalanced people. If they make any attempt at goodness at all, they learn quickly that they need help. It is Christ or nothing for them. They are the lost sheep, the low, the last, the least and the dead. He came specifically to find them. 

After his return from the wilderness of temptation, Jesus read to a congregation in Nazareth a passage from Isaiah 61 that stated a central theme of his ministry: "The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he hath anointed me to preach the gospel to the poor; he has sent me to heal the brokenhearted, to preach deliverance to the captives, and recovering of sight to the blind, to set at liberty them that are bruised" (Luke 4:18). And if we read His words to us and do not deceive ourselves into thinking that we are good, we will recognize that we are all poor, captive, blind and bruised.

If Sister Franklin mistakes for her own merits what are really God's gifts to her through nature, and if she is contended to just rely on her flawed goodness by being nice and generous, and working hard, she is taking strength unto herself and relying on her own merits. But these gifts will make her fall the more terrible, and her corruption more complete. Remember that Satan was a Son of the Morning, whose natural gifts far exceed our own.  

Again we must try by every means possible to produce a world where as many people as possible grow up nice; just as we must try to produce a world where all have plenty to eat. But we must not suppose that even if we succeeded in making everyone nice we should have saved their souls.  As C.S. Lewis said, a world of nice people, content in their own niceness, looking no further, turned away from God, would be just as desperately in need of salvation as a miserable world--and might even be more difficult to save.

For mere improvement is not redemption, though redemption always improves people even here and now and will, in the end improve them to a degree we cannot yet imagine. The Gospel of Jesus Christ is not about improvement, but about redemption. It is the power of God unto salvation, not the power of ourselves unto salvation.

Both Sister Franklin and Brother Woodhead, like all of us, have need of redemption because of the fall of Adam, and because Satan tempts them (and all of us) to worship him and thereby become carnal, sensual and devilish, and because they (like us) are cut off from the presence of God. And unless they both repent, they will remain cut off from His presence. And for Sister Franklin, it may be more difficult for her to see herself as needing redemption because she may not consider herself as lost and fallen.

But doesn't one person need repentance more than another? Ezra and Baruch protested to God that while Israel had sinned, the Gentiles had acted much worse, and asked why they should be let off so much more easily. But God was not buying that argument. As Hugh Nibley reminds us, it is always easy to find somebody who is worse than you are to make you feel virtuous. It is, after all, those awful terrorists, perverts, druggies, fornicators--they are the ones who need to repent! Yes, indeed they do, and for them repentance will be a full time job, exactly as it is for all the rest of us. 

For both Sister Franklin and Brother Woodhead, the answer is the same. While they are a daughter and a son of God, they cannot and do not live wholly good lives because of the fall of Adam. They both (like us) need to be saved from the evil in their own hearts, the lack of their own minds and the weakness of their own strength. Jesus Christ was sent to this earth first as Jehovah, then as the mortal Jesus, and then as the resurrected Savior, to save them from themselves, from their weaknesses and from their sins.

Sister Franklin (like us) needs to eliminate from her thinking that it is about her goodness, her efforts, her striving, her discipline, remembering that "...there will be more joy in heaven over one sinner who repents than over ninety-nine just persons who need (or think they need) no repentance" (Luke 15:7). And Brother Woodhead (also like us) also needs to eliminate from his thinking that he is condemned for having done wrong. He is, however, condemned for continuing to do wrong, for not coming out of the darkness, for not coming to the light--in other words for not turning to Christ; for not repenting.

Repentance is not a single act or multiple acts of righteousness. It is the action of turning to God and His righteousness and turning away from Evil--turning our backs on all that which is opposed to the Righteousness of God, experiencing that only God is righteous and desiring to be a follower of His righteousness. And we are only considered as being righteous, after having been born again and changed by Him from our lost and fallen state to a state of righteousness (His righteousness! Not ours! (Mosiah 27:25)

Christ is not interested in just making better men and women, but in making new men and women.

For Brother Woodhead remember this promise: "The branches of the wild tree have taken hold of the moisture of the root...that the root...hath brought forth much strength; and because of the much strength of the root...the wild branches have brought forth tame fruit...And now...I shall lay up much fruit, which the tree (not the branches!)...hath brought forth; and the fruit thereof I shall lay up against the season, unto mine own self" (Jacob 5:18 emphasis added).

And for Sister Franklin (and all of us), the same promise, but this warning:  Do not take strength unto yourself! When the branches overcome the roots, and grow faster than the strength of the roots, thereby taking strength unto themselves...the trees of thy vineyard become corrupted" (Jacob 5:48 emphasis added).

So the fruits are the fruits that result from repentance and His goodness and His righteousness. He tells us that "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 15:5 emphasis added).

Alma makes it clear that the fruit is the fruit meet (which means fit or as a result of) repentance. (Alma 5:54; 9:30; 12:15 and 13:13), and not the fruit that results from our own good works. (3 Nephi 27:11-12)

The question is not then, of the two, who is the better member of the Church, but whether either, or both, or neither, are of his Church. And what does it mean to be 'of his Church?' He tells us: "And now, behold, whosoever is of my church and endureth of my church to the end, him will I establish upon my rock, and the gates of hell shall not prevail against them" (D&C 10:69). But who does He say is of His Church? "...whosoever repenteth and cometh unto me, the same is my church. Whosoever declareth more or less than this, the same is not of me, but is against me; therefore he is not of my church" (D&C 10:67-68 emphasis added).

Post Script: One Sunday while attending an Elders' Quorum Meeting, Bro. Woodhead was struck by something the instructor, Bro. Tim Merrill said. Tim was teaching about the Prodigal Son, and said that it is not about us being good, but rather about us choosing good. Tim went on to teach that it is about choosing the goodness of God, and then turning towards that goodness and accepting Christ's gifts of repentance and grace. This resonated with Bro. Woodhead. Whenever he heard the word goodness, he had always thought of the goodness of others, certainly not his own. Tim was teaching him that the Parable of the Prodigal Son was not about the son, but about the Father, the Father's love and forgiveness. Tim then said:

Not by works of righteousness
   [insert commandments a thru z]
   which we have done,
   but according to his mercy
   he saved us (Titus 3:5).

As he said this, Bro. Woodhead could feel the love of Christ for him, who was lost. He could relate to the Prodigal Son. He had always felt that others in his ward had and were judging him, and that he would never measure up to their expectations of him. He felt they wanted him to be more involved and become a more productive member of their ward. Something he could not do. He could never match their talents and God-given gifts.

Bro. Woodhead could think of nothing else the whole next week. His own list of sins was endless, and he wanted to feel the Father's forgiveness of his sins, just like in the parable. And so one night after his family was asleep he knelt and prayed and asked for forgiveness. He found himself asking even while working and driving. He remembered that Tim had taught that repentance is turning to Christ, to His goodness and righteousness. He could feel himself wanting more than anything to experience the goodness of Christ in his life. He was also reading the Book of Mormon and the teachings of Alma. He read about the justice of God and knew that he didn't want to experience God's justice. So he prayed for His mercy. One night he felt compelled to turn to Doctrine and Covenants 90 and read the first verse:

"Thus saith the Lord, verily, verily I say unto you my son, thy sins are forgiven thee, according to thy petition, for thy prayers and the prayers of thy brethren have come up into my ears" (emphasis added). Little did he know but that Bro. Merrill had also been praying for him. He experienced the forgiveness of the Father and felt like a new person. He knew that if he endured in faith in Christ to the end, always relying on Christ's merits, he would be saved from his sins. He had been born again. And in heaven the angels rejoiced, but many in his ward were still keeping the books on him, and he was not measuring up to their expectations. They may never recognize the fruits of his repentance. 

But Tim would. How? "By this you may know they are under the bondage of sin, because they come not unto me. For whoso cometh not unto me is under the bondage of sin. And whoso receiveth not my voice is not acquainted with my voice, and is not of me. And by this you may know the righteous (those who are repenting) from the wicked (those who are not repenting), and that the whole world groaneth under sin and darkness even now" (D&C 84:50-53 emphasis added). They both hear the voice of God in His words. They are speaking the same language.

Next: Repentance: Fruit Meet For Repentance

 

Repentance: Grace--After All We Can Do

These posts on Repentance are intended to be read in order from the beginning: 

Repentance: Introduction

At the bottom of each post is a link to the next one. 

So what did Nephi mean when he said that we are saved by grace, after all we can do? Perhaps it is easier if we framed the question: What Can We Do? This is where religion and the Gospel of Jesus Christ collide. After teaching the Gospel of Grace and Repentance one Sunday in Gospel Doctrine, a friend said to me: “But we have to do something, don’t we?” He was asking because I had just taught that when we access the grace of Christ through faith and repentance, and not by our works, then it is He that begins to make the changes in us. The fruits of our repentance are a result of Him, the root making them, not us. We are, after all, the branches and cannot bring forth fruit of our own. 

Before we move on to what “after all we can do” means, remember that Nephi also said that “after (we) are reconciled unto God, that it is only in and through the grace of God that (we) are saved” (2 Nephi 10:24 emphasis added). Let’s talk about being “reconciled unto God.” 

Christ has already paid the demands of justice for all. We just have take advantage of the grace of God. How do we do that? First, we have to lose the life that we have. “If anyone wants to come with me, let him deny himself, take up his cross, and follow me. For if anyone wants to save his life, he will lose it; and whoever loses his life for my sake will find it” (Matthew 16:24-25 emphasis added). Losing our life is hard for winners, those who, like the Pharisee, attempt to justify their life by their good works. And yet it is only in losing our life that we can find it. And it was none other than Jesus who insisted that the only way to win is to lose. Nothing is harder for those who are comfortably “living their religion” to accept.

In order to be reconciled to God, then, we must lose our life, or better yet, come to the realization that we are lost. We must become losers and not winners. We have to give Jesus someone he can work with, and He cannot work with winners because they insist that their works will save them. These are those who read Nephi’s “after all we can do” as just another call to be good and do good works and Christ will take care of the rest. These are the “ninety and nine” who need no repentance. These are the Pharisees in the Parable of the Pharisee and the Publican, and the elder brothers in the Parable of the Prodigal Son. Incidentally, the “ninety-nine just persons who need no repentance” whom Jesus introduced in the Parable of the Lost Sheep are strictly a rhetorical device: In fact, there are not and never have been any such people anywhere, only those who imagine that they need no repentance, or whose image is that of a winner.

Christ is going to present us all to the Father in the power of His atonement, death and resurrection, and not at all in the power of our own totally inadequate records, either good or bad. 

Ask yourself why is it that God cannot work with the Pharisee? Then ask yourself why is it that God can work with the Publican? But the most important question is: can He work with you? 

Let me share some thoughts from Robert Capon, an American Episcopal priest and author, whose studies and writings on the Parables are without equal. He is writing about the Lost Sheep, the Lost Coin, and the Prodigal Son. These will help you start to get an idea of what Nephi meant by “after all we can do.” I quote his words to see if you can hear God's words in them. It is only God's words that matter and we should learn to hear His words no matter who speaks or writes them.

“But if the salt of the earth becomes insipid (loses its savor) --if a disciple of Jesus forgets that only losing wins, and a fortiori, if the church forgets it--where in the wide world of winners drowning in the syrup of their own success will either the disciple or the church be able to recapture the saltiness of victory out of loss? The answer is nowhere. And the sad fact is that the church both now and at far too many times in its history, has found it easier to act as if it were selling the sugar of moral and spiritual achievement rather than the salt of Jesus’s passion and death. It will preach salvation for the successfully well-behaved, redemption for the triumphantly correct in doctrine, and pie in the sky for all the winners who think they can walk into the final judgment and flash their passing report cards at Jesus.” (Pulpit Narrative)

“The church “preaches the nutra-sweet religion of test-passing, which is the only thing the world is ready to buy and which isn’t even the real sugar let alone salt. In spite of all our fakery, though, Jesus’ program remains firm. He saves losers and only losers. He raises the dead and only the dead. And rejoices more over the last, the least, and the little than over all the winners in the world. That alone is what this losing race of ours needs to hear, even though it can’t stand the thought of it. That alone is the salt that takes our perishing insipidity and gives it life and flavor. That alone….” (Scripture Narrative)

“He records that tax collectors and sinners were coming to Jesus to hear him, and that the Pharisees and scribes (winners all) grumbled extensively about such consorting with losers.”

“Give him a world with a hundred out of every hundred souls lost--give him, in other words, the worldful of losers that is the only real world we have--and it will do just fine: lostness is exactly his cup of tea.” (Christ is both the Shepherd in the Parable of the Lost Sheep, and the woman in the Parable of the Lost Coin. Note that the only criteria for being found was that each was lost.)

“If we badger ourselves (and each other) with the dismal notion that sinners must first forsake their sins before God will forgive them, that the lost must somehow find itself before the finder will get off his backside and look for it--we carry ourselves straight away from the obvious sense of both stories.” (Lost Coin and Lost Sheep) “While we were still sinners, Christ died for us” (Romans 5:8 emphasis added).

“They are emphatically not stories designed to convince us that if we will wind ourselves up to some acceptable level of moral and/or spiritual improvement, God will then forgive us; rather they are parables about God’s determination to move before we do--in short, to make lostness and death the only tickets we need to the Supper of the Lamb.” 

Now do you better comprehend the reason that in order to be reconciled to God we must experience Godly Sorrow--our nothingness, our lostness?

“Neither the lostness, nor the deadness, nor the repentance is in itself redemptive; God alone gives life, and he gives it freely and fully on no conditions whatsoever. These stories, therefore, are parables of grace and grace only. There is in them not one single note of earning or merit, not one breath about rewarding the rewardable, correcting the correctable, or improving the improvable. There is only the gracious saving determination of the shepherd, the woman, the king, and the father--all surrogates for God--to raise the dead.”

“Rather it is the admission that we are dead in our sins--that we have no power of ourselves either to save ourselves or to convince anyone else that we are worth saving.” (Godly Sorrow/we cannot merit anything of ourselves)

“It is the recognition that our whole life is finally and forever out of our hands and that if we ever live again, our life will be entirely the gift of some gracious other.” (Godly Sorrow)

“When God pardons, therefore, he does not say he understands our weakness or makes allowances for our errors; rather he disposes of, he finishes with, the whole of our dead life and raises us up with a new one.” (Become new creatures!)

“He finds us, in short, in the desert of death, not in the garden of improvement; and in the power of Jesus’ resurrection, he puts us on his shoulders rejoicing and brings us home” (Capon, The Parables of Grace, emphasis and comment added).

Christ did say after all: “The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he hath anointed me to preach the gospel to the poor; he has sent me to heal the brokenhearted, to preach deliverance to the captives, and recovering of sight unto the blind, to set at liberty them that are bruised” (Luke 4:18 emphasis added). 

In addition to experiencing our nothingness, our deadness, our lost and fallen state, there are still other things that we can do to be saved by Grace. We can repent,  but then again repentance is the experiencing of our lost and fallen state, our nothingness and His goodness. But we can also forgive, and since all are lost, all are fallen, all have sinned, repenting, as the Lord defines repentance, and forgiving are the only things we can do.

Lamoni and his brother, sitting in council, after they had been reconciled to God, or as they described it “converted unto the Lord,” said “And I also thank my God, yea, my great God, that he hath granted unto us that we might repent of these things, and also that he hath forgiven us of those many sins and murders which we have committed, and taken away the guilt from our hearts, through the merits of his Son. And now behold, my brethren, since it has been all that we could do (as we were the most lost of all mankind) to repent…for it was all we could do to repent sufficiently before God that he would take away our stain…” (Alma 24:10-11 emphasis added).

It was all they could do to repent. By linking “all we could do” with Nephi’s “after all we could do,” we see that all we can do is repent. No winning. No justification by our works, regardless of how good they may be. Remember the Pharisee. His long list, which included fasting, tithing, praying, and attending meetings, did count for nothing. The scriptures have concluded that all are under sin, and that our sinfulness cannot be broken by good examples, even if we could follow them. Quite the contrary the Gospel of Jesus Christ teaches us that we can be saved only by the horrible example of a Savior who, in an excruciating death, lays down his life for us.

No human virtues, however revered or practiced, will be enough. Those who are found guiltless (3 Nephi 27:16) are only made up of forgiven sinners. They are no good guys, the successful types, who of their own integrity, have been accepted into God’s presence. There are only failures, only those who have accepted their deaths in their sins and have been saved from their sins.

The sole difference, therefore, between those who are found guiltless and those who are “hewn down and cast into the fire” is that the love of God is accepted and passed along by this group, while the others reject and block it. The spotless, because of the Grace of God, do not withhold their forgiveness from others, while those cast into the fire are living a life of keeping tabs on everyone else, unforgiving, judgmental and in hell. No mercy is found in them, and they have refused to receive mercy.

I know that all of this requires a new mindset, a new paradigm because we have all been raised in religious families, where being good was prized. But the Gospel of Jesus Christ (3 Nephi 27:13-21) is not the same gospel most of us were taught. It may have been called the Gospel of Jesus Christ, and we did pride ourselves in living it, but it was not the Gospel of Repentance, Mercy and Grace. Unless we are willing to see our own death as necessary to salvation, and give up on trying to justify our lives through living them the way we have been taught, we will never be able to enjoy the Atonement, even though it is handed to us on a silver platter.

So far we have defined repentance, learned why all need to repent, defined Godly Sorry, caught a glimpse of why we should say nothing but repentance unto this generation, learned that it is by Grace that we are saved, and that we must lose our life in order to find it. But if we leave it at just learning about repentance, we will be as those who know, but don’t know. Why? Because we have not experienced our own lost and fallen state, have not been harrowed up in our sins, have not experienced our nothingness in comparison to His goodness, and have refused to do it His way--lose our life, the one we have made for ourselves, the more comfortable the better. 

“Therefore, blessed are they who will repent, and hearken unto the voice of the Lord; for these are they that shall be saved. And may God grant, in his great fulness, that men might be brought unto repentance and good works (works meet for repentance, the fruits of His repentance; His works done by the power and gifts of God), that they might be restored unto grace for grace. And I would that all men might be saved” (Helaman 12:23-24 emphasis added),

“Follow me,” He says. All the other ways--all the moral, philosophical and religious works on which humanity has always counted--have been canceled. Nothing counts now except being one of the lost and dead with Him. Follow Him into the waters of baptism, into His death and be raised with Him in His life. Anything else will leave you subject to His justice. But keep in mind that we are not saved by what Christ taught, and we are certainly not saved by what we understand Jesus to have taught. We are not saved by repentance. We are saved by Christ. We just have to believe Him.

I want to end with an example of where the Pulpit Narrative is the Scripture Narrative. Elder Jeffrey Holland, in the October 2017 General Conference said concerning the Parable of the Unjust or Unforgiving Servant.

“Our only hope for true perfection is in receiving it as a gift from heaven—we can’t ‘earn’ it.

Let me use one of the Savior’s parables to say this in a little different way. A servant was in debt to his king for the amount of 10,000 talents. Hearing the servant’s plea for patience and mercy, ‘the lord of that servant was moved with compassion, and … forgave … the debt.’ But then that same servant would not forgive a fellow servant who owed him 100 pence. On hearing this, the king lamented to the one he had forgiven, ‘Shouldest not thou also have had compassion on thy fellowservant, even as I had pity on thee?’

There is some difference of opinion among scholars regarding the monetary values mentioned here—and forgive the U.S. monetary reference—but to make the math easy, if the smaller, unforgiven 100-pence debt were, say, $100 in current times, then the 10,000-talent debt so freely forgiven would have approached $1 billion—or more! As a personal debt, that is an astronomical number—totally beyond our comprehension. (Nobody can shop that much!) Well, for the purposes of this parable, it is supposed to be incomprehensible; it is supposed to be beyond our ability to grasp, to say nothing of beyond our ability to repay. That is because this isn’t a story about two servants arguing in the New Testament. It is a story about us, the fallen human family—mortal debtors, transgressors, and prisoners all. Every one of us is a debtor, and the verdict was imprisonment for every one of us. And there we would all have remained were it not for the grace of a King who sets us free because He loves us and is ‘moved with compassion toward us.’ Jesus uses an unfathomable measurement here because His Atonement is an unfathomable gift given at an incomprehensible cost” (Holland, Be Ye Therefore Perfect--Eventually October 2017 General Conference emphasis added). 

And then he quoted from Tolstoy a truth which, when I heard it, caused me to shout for joy!

“In that regard, Leo Tolstoy wrote once of a priest who was criticized by one of his congregants (an unforgiving servant perhaps) for not living as resolutely as he should, the critic concluding that the principles the erring preacher taught must therefore also be erroneous. In response to that criticism, the priest says: ‘Look at my life now and compare it to my former life. You will see that I am trying to live out the truth I proclaim.’ Unable to live up to the high ideals he taught, the priest admits he has failed (‘O wretched man that I am’). But he cries: ‘Attack me, [if you wish,] I do this myself, but [don’t] attack … the path I follow. … If I know the way home [but] am walking along it drunkenly, is it any less the right way simply because I am staggering from side to side?’” Holland, Be Ye Therefore Perfect--Eventually October 2017 General Conference emphasis and comments added).

Again, what do you hear in the Gospel you have received?

Next: Repentance: By Their Fruits Ye Shall Know Them