Baptism

We believe that through the Atonement of Christ, all mankind may be saved by obedience to the laws and ordinances of the Gospel.  AF#3

According to Article of Faith #3, three things are necessary for our salvation:  the atonement, laws, and ordinances. 

Obedience to gospel laws is essential, but as Lehi points out we are all condemned by the law (2 Ne. 2:5) since we don’t keep it perfectly.  We need access to the Atonement.  Ordinances bridge the gap.  They are the means, which the Lord has established for the blessings of the atonement to flow into our lives.  They are crucial.  We cannot be saved without them.  (John 3:5, Mark 16:16, 1 Pet. 3:21, 3 Ne. 11:33, D&C 84:74)  By keeping covenants associated with ordinances the power of the Atonement becomes efficacious in our lives (D&C 84:20).

Joseph Smith taught that being born again comes by the Spirit of God through ordinances.

Once we have repented, we are ready to receive our first gospel ordinance: Baptism.

Most gospel ordinances have the following three parts:

1 - A Blessing(s)
2 - A covenant
3 - Symbolic Teaching

With baptism, the initial blessing we receive is that of having our sins washed away.  It is required to have our sins remitted.  Once we have been baptized, we have the opportunity to repeat this process each week with the Sacrament.

The covenant we make is to take upon us the Lord’s name and to follow him.  It is to keep his commandments, to love one another and to bear one another’s burdens.  It is basically to live the gospel.  Covenants are a very important topic and one we’ll discuss in greater depth later.  (They are much more than just 2 way promises, but actually create sacred, binding relationships–see Mosiah 5:6-7)  There are also additional promises associated with our faithfully keeping the covenant (e.g. baptism is the gate to eternal life, etc.)

Ordinances are also symbolic.  The Lord uses symbols to teach for several reasons.  Symbols can make a strong, lasting impression on our minds and can teach more beautifully than words alone.  They are often multi-layered or multi-faceted. Symbols can also reveal and/or conceal doctrines and truths depending upon our spiritual preparation.  Symbols are also more timeless and universal and can bridge differences in culture, nationalities, etc. more easily than language alone.

Besides washing and cleansing from our sins, what are some of the other symbols associated with baptism? 

1.     Baptism is a symbol of new birth or being born again.  At your physical birth there was water (amniotic fluid), blood (shed by mother), and spirit (yours entering your body) so in your spiritual birth there is again water (baptism), blood (shed by Christ in the atonement) and spirit (Holy Ghost). (Moses 6:59).  The baptismal font becomes a symbol of the womb and coming forth in new birth as a new child in Christ.

2.     Baptism is also a symbol of Christ’s death and resurrection.  In this sense the font becomes a symbol of the grave and the baptism becomes a symbol again of new life as the body and spirit are re-united and come forth together from the grave in the resurrection.  (Romans 6:3 – 6)

3.     Baptism also points to our own death and resurrection. We enact these events ceremonially before we experience them physically.  In this sense the ordinance is not the final, real event but instead points us toward it.  Baptism is the gate.  It is the entrance to the path but it symbolically points toward the end of that path as well which will include our own death and eventual resurrection.

As we understand and appreciate the symbols involved, the ordinances take on much greater meaning.

Finally, ordinances also involve some external action indicating our internal commitment and which can be witnessed and recorded.

Repent, part 4

Change is difficult.  Sin is addictive.  It is habit forming.  Habits gained over a lifetime can become chains that bind.

It requires faith to repent.  In this way the two principles are linked.  “Christ hath said:  If ye will have faith in me ye shall have power to do whatsoever thing is expedient in me.  And he hath said:  Repent.” (Moroni 7:33-34 emphasis added)

We all struggle with some bad habits in our life.  Some don’t control their tempers or their tongues.  Some struggle with bodily appetites or other weaknesses.  We mess up, swear to never do it again only to find ourselves repeating the same behavior later.  Some give up and conclude—I’ll never change.  Whether through our own sins or through situations in life, we all eventually find ourselves in circumstances that are beyond our own ability to control.  We find ourselves in some form of bondage.

It is through the atonement that we receive forgiveness for our sins.  But it is also through the atonement that we receive the strength to forsake and overcome them.  Our willpower alone is not enough.  We will never be enough on our own! It does require all of our faith and all of our best efforts, but in the end it also requires Christ reaching down to us in grace for us to deliver us (Mosiah 7:33).  This will never happen, however, until we really, truly want the sin out of our life more than we want it in our life and are willing to pay any price ourselves to be rid of it.  Those who understand this best are perhaps those who are recovering addicts (drug, alcohol, porn, etc.).  But the principle applies to all of us.  (“He Did Deliver Me From Bondage” by Colleen Harris is an excellent book on this subject)

The scriptures refer to these two different functions of the atonement as justification and sanctification.  We are justified when we are forgiven and justice is satisfied.  Sanctification, however, is beyond justification and involves forsaking the sin and becoming holy.  It is the process of putting off the natural man and becoming a saint.  The atonement is at the heart of both processes.  (A criminal can "pay his debt" to society by suffering in prison.  Justice can be satisfied by his prison sentence, but his behavior isn't necessarily reformed.  Prison hasn't automatically made him a better person.)

Why can repentance be so difficult for us?  I believe it is for a couple of reasons.  One is so that we truly learn humility (Ether 12:27).  How many members of our church are still trying to “save” themselves? Another reason that we sometimes struggle so much before being freed from a sin is perhaps so we value the gift that is given us and don’t revert back.  We read of many whose repentance was so thorough, so complete (and probably so costly and difficult to themselves) that they were sanctified and could only look upon sin with abhorrence (Alma 13:11-12)

Bruce Hafen in his book The Broken Heart observes two common problems among the youth in the church (they’re probably not limited to the youth alone).  On the one hand, some youth feel that they are “entitled” to a few free ones and that they will hurry up and repent before going on a mission or going to the temple or some other “event” that requires them to clean up their act.  On the other hand, some are striving so hard and are so hard on themselves for every mistake that they feel they will never be good enough and never make it back. 

On the surface these two groups seem to be polar opposites.  However, on closer examination they are actually two different sides to the same coin.  Both groups suffer from a fundamental misunderstanding of and lack of appreciation for the atonement.  The first “no big deal” group severely underestimates the serious nature of their sins and has no appreciation for the price the Savior has paid for them.  The second group also completely misses the atonement by trying to save themselves or by feeling that they have to be “worthy” or that they have to do enough good deeds and then the Savior can step in to save them.

The truth is that only the meek and lowly in heart are acceptable to God. (Moroni 7:44)

Two men went up into the temple to pray; the one a Pharisee, and the other a publican.  The Pharisee stood and prayed thus with himself, God, I thank thee, that I am not as other men are, extortioners, unjust, adulterers, or even as this publican.  I fast twice in the week, I give tithes of all that I possess.  And the publican, standing afar off, would not lift up so much as his eyes unto heaven, but smote upon his breast, saying God be merciful to me a sinner.  I tell you this man went down to his house justified rather than the other. (Luke 18:10-14)

Which do you see most often in your ward meetings?

Abraham

Recently, Traci recommended the book Sarah by Orson Scott Card to me.  I finished it earlier this morning.  It is a fictionalized account of the life of Sarah, wife of Abraham.  Overall I enjoyed it.  Though I didn't care for some of the characterizations, it left me with things to ponder.

What does it mean to be a friend?  To have a friend?

Abraham was called the friend of God (James 2:23).

How many of those has God had in our world?

I would like to be among them.  I can't think of a greater honor in life or a greater testament to Abraham's life.

Repent, part 3

Repentance is the good news of the gospel.

It is the key to opening the atonement in our lives.  We waste much of the atonement if we fail to repent.  Bruce Hafen observed that the atonement allows us to learn from our experiences without being condemned by them. To repent is to turn again towards Him, to chose His will in our life and to leave behind our sinful ways.  Basically to repent is to change.

Since we are all eventually subject to justice, we are left with a choice: repent or suffer for our own sins. "For behold, I God, have suffered these things for all, that they might not suffer if they would repent; But if they would not repent they must suffer even as I;" (D&C 19:16-17).

Lehi taught that we all know good from evil.  We all have a portion of the "law".  But because we all make mistakes constantly, we are not justified by the law but rather condemned by it.  Or as Lehi states "by the law men are cut off" (2 Nephi 2:5).  All of us are cut off.  100% of us.  The best and the worst among us.  Everyone falls short.  None of us can ever hope to be good enough or to do enough to earn our way back on our own.

There is only one way out of our dilemma.  The Holy Messiah "offereth himself a sacrifice for sin, to answer the ends of the law, unto all those who have a broken heart and a contrite spirit; and unto none else can the ends of the law be answered." (2 Nephi 2:7 emphasis added)

There is a saying I like but do not know where it came from.  It is simply, "even saints have a past, and sinners have a future."  In our journey through life, I'm not sure which is more important--where we are at a given point in time or which direction we are heading.  Of the two it may be more important the direction we are going.

The Lord can and does forgive even very serious sins and errors (Isaiah 1:18).  The scriptures are full of examples of the Lord's patience, long-suffering and willingness to forgive sins.  In most cases, he probably forgives us long before we ever commit the sin.  He can certainly work around our mistakes.  A great example of this is His inspiring Mormon to insert the small plates of Nephi into the abridgement of the Book of Mormon to compensate for the lost 116 pages.  The Lord did this about 1400 years before Joseph Smith made the mistake.

Brother Hafen is correct.  The atonement allows us to learn from our life's experiences without being condemned by them.  Good news indeed!

I don't know about you, but I choose to repent.  I have a single New Years Resolution this year.  It is simply to repent more fully of my sins so that I might have the Spirit in my life daily.

So if repentance is the good news why does it sometimes carry a negative connotation?  And if the Lord has totally compensated for our sins and is quick and willing to forgive, then why is repentance so hard at times?  We'll examine some reasons in the next entry.

An aside

"In the last days, or in the days of the Gentiles--yea, behold all the nations of the Gentiles and also the Jews, both those who shall come upon this land and those who shall be upon other lands, yea, even upon all the lands of the earth, behold, they will be drunken with iniquity and all manner of abominations" (2 Nephi 27:1 emphasis added).

Is it any wonder the Book of Mormon warns us to repent?

After speaking of the parable of the wheat and the tares, I asked our teacher's quorum where they thought the burning would begin at the second coming.  They gave several thoughtful answers which included places such as Las Vegas, San Francisco, etc.  I agree with them that those are wicked cities.  The correct answer surprised them:

"And upon my house shall it begin, and from my house shall it go forth, saith the Lord." (D&C 112:25 see also vs. 23-26)

Obedience

Obedience is key.  It is key to gaining light.  It is key to gaining knowledge.  It is key to receive the Lord's blessings.  But obedient to what?

Returning to Nephi's account, he states he was led by the spirit.  The spirit tells Nephi to slay Laban.  (If Nephi were a young man in the Church today, I'm pretty sure that would be against the For The Strength of Youth pamphlet.)  Nephi initially shrinks but then does as he is commanded.  Why is Nephi commanded to kill Laban, when the Ten Commandments plainly state, thou shall not kill? In this same situation, what would our youth today do?

The Prophet Joseph stated:  "That which is wrong under one circumstance, may be, and often is, right under another.  God said, 'Thou shalt not kill;' at another time He said, 'Thou shalt utterly destroy.' This is the principle on which the government of heaven is conducted--by revelation adapted to the circumstances in which the children of the kingdom are place.  Whatever God requires is right, no matter what it is, although we may not see the reason thereof till long after the events transpire." (TPJS p. 256)

Laban had stolen Lehi's property.  He had tried to kill Nephi and his brothers.  Under the law of Moses, the penalty for these transgressions was death.  The Lord was justified in his condemnation of Laban.  And the "pit" which Laban dug for others, he fell into himself.

We should obey the commandments.  We should obey the mission rules.  We should obey the Strength of Youth guidelines.  But first and foremost, we should obey the voice of the spirit.

Repent, part 2

"That which is of God is light; and he that receiveth light, and continueth in God, receiveth more light; and that light groweth brighter and brighter until the perfect day." (D&C 50:24)

In this world, things don't simply stay static.  We are either moving forwards or backwards.  We are either gaining light or losing light.  We are growing or decaying.  The default state is entropy.

How do we gain additional light?

"He that keepeth his commandments receiveth truth and light, until he is glorified in truth and knoweth all things." (D&C 93:28)  "And that wicked one cometh and taketh away light and truth, through disobedience, from the children of men, and because of the tradition of their fathers." (D&C 93:39)

We gain light through obedience and lose it through disobedience and false traditions.  We can study these first principles and ordinances of the gospel--faith, repentance, baptism, etc.--and we can understand them intellectually or in theory, but we don't truly understand them until we actually do them.  As Christ says if we DO his will we shall KNOW of the doctrine (John 7:17).  Obediently doing precedes fully understanding.

In the last days, the wheat and the tares are allowed to grow together (Matthew 13:37-43).  You are either gaining light and becoming "wheat" or you are losing light and becoming a "tare".  The default position is that we gradually lose light, hence the need to repent.

Repentance isn't just for "sinners".  It is required of all of us.  As we are more obedient, we learn more.  Our light increases.  We must then change to reflect what we have gained.  To repent is to change.  It is a lifelong process of becoming more like our Savior--of doing as He would have us do; saying as He would have us say; and thinking as He would have us think.

Valentine's Day

Traci is the love of my life.  A couple of weeks ago we attended the Zac Brown Band concert.  Traci wasn't very familiar with their music before the concert but started listening to it in the weeks prior so that she would be familiar with their songs.  On the night of the concert, we stood and I held her in my arms most of the evening.  We both enjoyed it, probably more than any other concert we've ever attended.

They sing a song called "Whatever It Is".  If you haven't heard it, I recommend it.  You can find it on youtube.  For Valentine's day, I had a custom t-shirt made for her that says "I've Got Whatever It Is."  

She really does!

Repent

Typing the word 'repent' into the search box on the scripture portion of the Church's website reveals something very interesting.

The word REPENT occurs:

39 times in the Old Testament
36 times in the New Testament
221 times in the Book of Mormon
81 times in the Doctrine and Covenants.

Question:  If the Book of Mormon was written for our day by many authors who saw our day, is there a message here?

Faith, part 2

We get a glimpse into how Nephi perseveres despite opposition once the angel departs.  Immediately Laman and Lemuel begin to complain again.  They fear and doubt.

Nephi answers by reminding them of the experience of Moses and the Israelites as they left Egypt (1 Ne. 4:2-3).  He is likening the scriptures from the past to their present situation.  He knows he is on the Lord's errand and fully expects the Lord to bless him in the same way the Lord blessed Moses and the ancient Israelites.

We should do the same.  

The story of the plates--isn't included so that we know the Nephite's had the scriptures with them and how they obtained them.  It is included in Nephi's record so we can recognize this same pattern in our own life experience.  As we seek to do the Lord's will, we can expect the same response when we exercise the same faith.  

Nephi's experience of deliverance is another witness added to that of the ancient Israelites of the Lord's power to deliver us even when death or failure is apparently the only future ahead of us.  Laman and Lemuel like the ancient Israelites forgot all of the prior miracles the Lord had performed for them and could only see the immediate threat of death looming in front of them.

Notice, however, that even after the angel appears reaffirming that the Lord is with them and promising them deliverance, Nephi still isn't given all of the answers up front.  He still is required to take a few steps of faith into the dark before the way becomes apparent.  He states simply, "I was led by the Spirit, not knowing beforehand the things which I should do." (1 Nephi 4:6)