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).
Q. But what is beyond repentance and baptism? Or more accurately asked: who are those who 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 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 in a state of 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 Babylon 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 who have been exalted to Sons and Daughters of God, and 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. And 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 Alma, 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 warn them, we nudge them, we give them historical examples. We implore them, invite them and caution them. We rejoice and mourn for them.
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).
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).
But being perfected by Christ is not what is taught to us from the pulpit. Instead we are taught to 'strive' to be like him, to 'follow' His example, to 'love' as He loved, to 'keep' our covenants, always with the emphasis on us. And yet 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, and instead 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.
But I can also see that there may be some of my family who do not yet desire the same. My hope and my faith is that through His words they will desire the same.
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 implications of ministering to those with less, and being ministered to by those with more, all in the name of, and with the love of God!
