In
the end it comes to three things.
Did
we accept that we needed a Savior?
Did
we believe the things Jesus told us?
Did
we act on those tools he gave us to encompass godliness?
Many
people think they have accepted the need for a savior, but really have not. While Christ came to save and redeem all of
us, those people believe that they are among those who “need no
repentance.” They believe that
repentance, change and redemption are for other people.
To
accept that you need a savior is to accept that repentance, change and
redemption are for you first, something you need rather than something you need
to throw in other people’s direction. To
do otherwise you become one with those who have rejected Christ in their hearts
and have rejected belief in a savior for all humanity.
If
you have accepted that you need Jesus Christ (rather than believe that the
savior is for others who lack your superior virtue), then do you believe what
God said.
For,
as Isaiah prophesied (in Isaiah Chapter 55):
1 Ho, every one
that thirsteth, come ye to the waters, and he that hath no money; come ye, buy,
and eat; yea, come, buy wine and milk without money and without price.
2 Wherefore do ye spend money for that which
is not bread? and your labour for that which satisfieth not? hearken diligently
unto me, and eat ye that which is good, and let your soul delight itself in
fatness.
3 Incline your ear, and come unto me: hear,
and your soul shall live; and I will make an everlasting covenant with you,
even the sure mercies of David.
4 Behold, I have given him for a witness to
the people, a leader and commander to the people.
5 Behold, thou shalt call a nation that thou
knowest not, and nations that knew not thee shall run unto thee because of the
Lord thy God, and for the Holy One of Israel; for he hath glorified thee.
6 ¶Seek ye the Lord while he may be found,
call ye upon him while he is near:
7 Let the wicked forsake his way, and the
unrighteous man his thoughts: and let him return unto the Lord, and he will
have mercy upon him; and to our God, for he will abundantly pardon.
8 ¶For my thoughts are not your thoughts,
neither are your ways my ways, saith the Lord.
9 For as the heavens are higher than the
earth, so are my ways higher than your ways, and my thoughts than your
thoughts.
10 For as the rain cometh down, and the snow
from heaven, and returneth not thither, but watereth the earth, and maketh it
bring forth and bud, that it may give seed to the sower, and bread to the
eater:
11 So shall my word be that goeth forth out of
my mouth: it shall not return unto me void, but it shall accomplish that which
I please, and it shall prosper in the thing whereto I sent it.
12 For ye shall go out with joy, and be led
forth with peace: the mountains and the hills shall break forth before you into
singing, and all the trees of the field shall clap their hands.
13 Instead of the thorn shall come up the fir
tree, and instead of the brier shall come up the myrtle tree: and it shall be
to the Lord for a name, for an everlasting sign that shall not be cut off.
Do
you believe God when he states that the salvation of Christ is promised
“without money and without price?” Do you believe that it is not only something
you need, but something you can obtain, that the burden is light?
Or,
as Nephi said in 2 Nephi 26:
24 He doeth not
anything save it be for the benefit of the world; for he loveth the world, even
that he layeth down his own life that he may draw all men unto him. Wherefore,
he commandeth none that they shall not partake of his salvation.
25 Behold, doth he cry unto any, saying:
Depart from me? Behold, I say unto you, Nay; but he saith: Come unto me all ye
ends of the earth, buy milk and honey, without money and without price.
26 Behold, hath he commanded any that they
should depart out of the synagogues, or out of the houses of worship? Behold, I
say unto you, Nay.
27 Hath he commanded any that they should not
partake of his salvation? Behold I say unto you, Nay; but he hath given it free
for all men; and he hath commanded his people that they should persuade all men
to repentance.
28 Behold, hath the Lord commanded any that
they should not partake of his goodness? Behold I say unto you, Nay; but all
men are privileged the one like unto the other, and none are forbidden.
The
world tells us that it is difficult if not impossible for us to meet the
requirements that God has set for us. The
world teaches that salvation is not for everyone, and that many are forbidden. To the contrary, Nephi pointed out that
salvation is free for all men. And Christ said in the eleventh Chapter of
Matthew:
28 ¶Come unto me,
all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.
29 Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me; for
I am meek and lowly in heart: and ye shall find rest unto your souls.
30 For my yoke is easy, and my burden is
light.
I was inspired to write this because
of George Wallace, my father-in-law, who believed in Christ. He believed that repentance, a need for
change and a need for redemption applied to all men and to himself.
He accepted that he was weak and that
he needed salvation.
And in Christ he had hope, and in Christ’s grace.
Though he has died, as President
Dieter F. Uchtdorf preached in April conference:
Because of the
sacrifice of our beloved Redeemer, death has no sting, the grave has no
victory, Satan has no lasting power, and we are “begotten … again unto a lively
hope by the resurrection of Jesus Christ.
President
Uchtdorf went on to say:
I marvel to think
that the Son of God would condescend to save us, as imperfect, impure,
mistake-prone, and ungrateful as we often are. I have tried to understand the
Savior’s Atonement with my finite mind, and the only explanation I can come up
with is this: God loves us deeply, perfectly, and everlastingly. I cannot even
begin to estimate “the breadth, and length, and depth, and height … [of] the
love of Christ.”
A powerful
expression of that love is what the scriptures often call the grace of God—the
divine assistance and endowment of strength by which we grow from the flawed
and limited beings we are now into exalted beings of “truth and light, until
[we are] glorified in truth and [know] all things.”
…
Salvation cannot be
bought with the currency of obedience; it is purchased by the blood of the Son
of God. Thinking that we can trade our good works for salvation is like buying
a plane ticket and then supposing we own the airline. Or thinking that after
paying rent for our home, we now hold title to the entire planet earth.
As
I remember George Wallace, I also remember that he believed in his need for a Christ
and that he believed in the words of Christ.
I remember that he understood his own need for the salvation of God, the
condescension of God that is Christ, and that he understood and believed that
the salvation of Christ came without money and without price.
Finally,
I come to the third point, acting to embrace godliness. Or, as the Apostle Peter put it, to partake
of the divine nature.
As
Peter (and Ezra Taft Benson) both said:
“And beside this,
giving all diligence, add to your faith virtue; and to virtue knowledge;
“And to knowledge
temperance; and to temperance patience; and to patience godliness;
“And to godliness
brotherly kindness; and to brotherly kindness charity” (2 Peter 1:5–7).
To
quote President Ezra Taft Benson speaking on Peter’s words:
To our temperance
we are to add patience. …Patience is another form of self-control. It is the
ability to postpone gratification and to bridle one’s passions. … A patient man
is understanding of others’ faults.
A patient man also
waits on the Lord. We sometimes read or hear of people who seek a blessing from
the Lord, then grow impatient when it does not come swiftly. Part of the divine
nature is to trust in the Lord enough to “be still and know that [he is] God”
(D&C 101:16).
A [person] who is
patient will be tolerant of the mistakes and failings of his loved ones.
Because he loves them, he will not find fault nor criticize nor blame.
Another attribute
mentioned by Peter is kindness. … One who is kind is sympathetic and gentle
with others. He is considerate of others’ feelings and courteous in his
behavior. He has a helpful nature. Kindness pardons others’ weaknesses and
faults. Kindness is extended to all—to the aged and the young, to animals, to
those low of station as well as the high
These
three things:
·
accepting
that we need a savior,
·
believing
in God’s promises that Jesus Christ can save us, and;
·
being
able to partake in the divine nature in this life by being kind, patient and
tolerant,
Those
three things allow us to find charity; that we are not left without consolation
or comfort. For Christ promised us that “I
will not leave you comfortless. …”
The
comfort we are promised will allow us to believe int, recognize and accept
Christ in our lives that we may find joy, with brother Wallace, in the
resurrection and salvation of our Lord.
This
is my prayer and my testimony, in the name of Jesus Christ, Amen.
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