Worthiness vs. Worthiness

I have been thinking about worthiness vs. worthiness.  It is minor thing but worth exploring.

The Church’s modern definition of worthiness has to do with a standard that has been set that we can compare ourselves against.  For example, if I am temple worthy I have stated that I meet a certain standard set by the Church.

On the other hand, the word ‘worthy’ in ancient times is sometimes used differently.  They would still compare themselves to a standard but would always find themselves coming up short.  Alma the Younger taught his son, Shiblon, the following:

Do not say: O God, I thank thee that we are better than our brethren; but rather say: O Lord, forgive my unworthiness, and remember my brethren in mercy—yea, acknowledge your unworthiness before God at all times. (Alma 38:14).

So, we members of the Church, these days, say that we are worthy members of the Church and Alma teaches to always acknowledge our unworthiness before God at all times.  Why is there an apparent discrepancy?  Or, is there?

The obvious answer is that we are talking about two different things.  One is a standard set by the Church and the other is a set by the Atonement of Jesus Christ.  Although this is true, it can be confusing.  If I am worthy before the Church, why am I unworthy before God? Shouldn’t I be worthy before God?

We will always be imperfect creatures.  Even if we were to get pretty close to perfection (completion) we still have sinned and do sin.  Without Christ’s atonement those sins can never be washed away.   We can never go it alone in this life.  Does this make us unworthy?  Yes, because we all require Christ’s infinite atonement to make it back. Without Him we are nothing.  We are less than the dust of the earth. (Helaman 12:7-8, Moses 1:10)

The fact is that we all sin.  So, what can we become perfect at?  We can become perfect in our faith in Jesus Christ (Jacob 9:23).  To develop faith, a main requirement is to be meek and lowly in heart (Moroni 7:39, 43).  Being humble and acknowledging our unworthiness before God at all times go hand in hand. Other prophets describe perfect faith as unshaken faith in Christ, relying wholly upon the merits of him who is might to save (2 Nephi 31:19).  Others describe this faith in Christ as “relying alone upon the merits of Christ, who was the author and the finisher of their faith. (Moroni 6:4).  And humility is always the prerequisite (see v.2).

It is very humbling to know that you are nothing without Jesus Christ.  Even with Christ, we can't say we are something since everything we are and everything we may become is a gift from Christ.  This may even go against modern thought.  Here’s the kicker: when we are connected to Christ, we become perfect in Christ (Moroni 10:32), even in our unworthy state.  What a gift!  Of course, we love the Lord for what He has done for us, and we love His ways, and we want to change.  This is all implied in our Christian discipleship.

Do not make sin and shame the center of your life.  Make Christ and His merits and His grace your center.  We will always be unworthy, imperfect creatures.  That is not the focus.  Letting our lives be lit up by Christ (the Light) will show our sins in the right perspective.

Being Church worthy is a wonderful first step on the path of being a humble follower of Christ.

Believing in Christ - My Thoughts

My perspective is:



1. Inviting a person to believe in Christ has the potential of having power behind the words.

2. Why? Because Deity has promised to confirm the message of the messenger.

3. So, I believe that coming unto Christ is more important than any other principle.

4. Unless we learn to put all of our trust in our God and rely solely on Him, all the other things we do are like sounding brass and tinkling cymbals.

5. This means to acknowledge and recognize that you are nothing. Nothing in this context mean powerless.  It also means that everything is a gift.  You didn't earn it.

6. Until a person can believe this and do it with real intent and all sincerity, that person hasn’t come to know God.

7. When our hearts are changed and we are filled with peace, love and joy, we finally understand. We are filled with light.

8. Our service, works and deeds are now backed by the power of God.

9. Then God may tell this person to live one principle and then another one.

10. This person wants to obey His mighty God because he loves Him. He loves Him for what He has done for him and to him.

11. This is when change really begins to occur.

12. This is what is meant by receiving grace for grace.

I believe this is the most important thing to teach others.


What do you mean?  You can't do anything until you do what I stated above?


It is not ‘until’. What I said isn’t ‘static’. It is right now and a continual process throughout your life. But, the process begins with doing what I said above. It takes a very short time to humble yourself and believe. He, Jesus, decides when you receive a change of heart. All putting Christ first in your life does (rather than putting the law first) is that it changes your perspective of things. You start doing what the Apostles say, out of love. I still do all those things the Apostles say! My heart has been changing because I put Christ first and foremost. This is exactly what the Apostles want. If your heart is not changed and you are filled with malice, hate, un-forgiveness, lust, fear, anger, mean spiritedness, short suffering, etc.,, then you begin your path back by doing what I said below. The key is humility and meekness. It is very hard to have all those natural man feelings when you humble yourself.



I will never go back to my old beliefs of obedience to the law without the foundation of heartfelt, sincere, wholly relying on my Jesus – as the foundation. Obedience to laws without Christ or just giving lip service to Him or just giving intellectual assent to Him – and it is missing the point or our existence on this earth.



I obey the laws and principles of the Church and Gospel (two different things) with Christ. Grace gave the law. The law is not separate from Grace. Sin hijacks the law when we separate it from Grace.



I feel happier doing it this way. I am nothing without Christ. I declare my unworthiness before the Lord at all times. I am worthy at all times to go to the temple. Do you see the difference? I am Church worthy yet I am always a beggar (unworthy) before God. Being unworthy in this way brings me peace. God is now in control of my life. I have given my will over to Him (Maxwell). I gladly stop worrying about everything and cast all my burdens on Him.



I do this every day. I put my trust in Him every day. This is the foundation. Obedience is built on this foundation.



In fact, get on your knees and declare your belief and trust in God and Jesus right now. Cast all your burdens (all of them) upon Christ (this means you stop worrying about them – you have given them to God). Think about and feel His wonderful grace and mercy. Have His joy, peace and love permeate your soul. Start your day working on this every day. You will immediately (once you are sincere and doing it with real intent) fill His love. This is all I am talking about. It is the foundation. You will begin to rely only on the merits of Christ who is might to save. It feels great!



You will then have tears taking the sacrament.

Letter to my son. How I view Grace

I have been praying for meekness, lowliness of heart, virtue and greater confidence.  I suppose that confidence may be a result of virtue.  I also noticed in the scriptures that meekness and lowliness of heart are precursors to the other spiritual gifts.  But, it might not matter where a person starts on their inward change journey.

For me, I want to be aware and present enough to be able to respond the way God wants me to respond when I am confronted with a new stimulus.  I don’t want have a knee jerk reaction which could be retaliation or reviling.  This is where meekness and lowliness of heart comes into play.  I show my faith in Jesus Christ when I, with intention, try, in my weakness, to be humble and meek as Jesus would.  This shows God that I want it.  Not just lip service.  Not just giving intellectual assent to Jesus’ atonement.

When I get down or frustrated I systematically write down each frustration.  I then determine if anything can be done with each item.  If not, I leave it on God’s hands.  I surrender it.  This is a prayer.  If I believe I can do or should do something about it, I write down what is to be done and put a date next to it.  It then put all the dates in my calendar.  This process lets my unconscious know that I am serious and the frustration goes away.  If I don’t get things done by the date specified, no worries.

I am very glad that you are working on you own process.  I will continue to pray for you and Sara.  We are in this together. 

Here’s what I recently wrote Doug: “I have been trying to view my earth life from the perspective of grace rather than from the perspective of my weaknesses.  When I let grace shine on me, it reveals my sins in a different way.  My old way is feeling ashamed or frustrated. This new way says: that obviously wasn’t the best way be, I think I will change that (with Christ’s help).  If it takes me an eternity to change (a 1000 times) so be it.  I am not in rebellion.  I am under grace and love being under grace.”

I am practicing taking this different perspective.  Heavenly Father’s has graced us with many things.  I view life in this light.

Love,

Dad

A few things I have learned

Back in June, 2016 I wrote: I have learned a few things this past year.  1. Don’t judge (just don’t) 2. Ego is pride (diminishing it brings you closer to Christ. 3. The Law without Grace produces Sin.  4. Waiting on the Lord is good.  5. Love is more important than all other things. 6. Our country is denying the Christ (Trumpism (Ego and bigotry) and Socialism (the desire for the government (transfer payments) to take care you since you don’t BELIEVE that God will help you). 7. Meekness brings power.

Improving His Grace (#3)

In response to:




Our God is pleased when we improve His grace and seek his perfect love.





Perhaps it has a similar meaning as the talents, or God is pleased when we avail ourselves of His grace, when we make the most of it?




My response:




Improve His grace and seek his perfect love. Improve is a strange word. It must have meant something to the composer. I think you are right. Availing ourselves of His Grace. Grace is not will power or self-control. We, Western Calvinists think that way. Everything is self-control and will power. Where does Grace meet us at? I will force myself to do the right and then grace saves me? I look at it differently. I humble myself, knowing that I am powerless to change. I am meek knowing that I am nothing without my Savior. I want the Father and the Son in my life. I want to be rescued (saved). I tell them that I want them. I choose to love, be peaceable, and have joy. I ask God to prioritize my bad habits. Which one do You want me to work on? I then receive revelation on my next repentance project. Now I am aligned with God ready to avail myself of His Grace. I hope with anticipation to overcome the weakness. I am now able to deny myself one more ungodly thing. I move from grace to grace, receiving grace for grace. This means that I first need to get on the Grace Bus. Once I receive one grace I start gaining momentum. (grace for grace).



Well that is my theory. I try to put it into practice.





I just listened to Elder Bednar’s talk again. Amazing talk. Joseph said baptizing a man without receiving the Holy Ghost is like baptizing a bag of sand. Something like that. So, taking the Sacrament each week without coming to the meeting with a broken heart and contrite spirit is like eating sand.

How does my understanding of Grace change my old Mormon ways of Thinking? #2

Grace is the power of the atonement of Jesus Christ in the life of a Christian.  Jesus died for each us.  He paid for our sins, past, present, and future.  Christ's grace lays the foundation for our faith in Him and our repentance.  It is as if Jesus is telling each one of us to have joy and be happy since His mercy has satisfied the demands of justice for everyone who has come unto Christ through faith in His name and repenting of our sins.  At the point in which we decide to rely wholly on His merits and trust in Him alone, he causes a change in our hearts. We are filled with joy, receive a remission of our sins and have peace of conscience.  We have entered by the gate.  From this point on we walk the strait and narrow path back to the presence of God.  We are no longer in rebellion. He is now the author of our faith and later on will become the finisher of our faith. We are now perfect in Christ.  We still have our weaknesses.  As we let God order and maintain our lives we advance from grace to grace, overcoming our weaknesses.  We deny ourselves all ungodliness.  We believe in Jesus' ways and strive to act accordingly.  And, all this is on the foundation of grace.  And, this personal knowledge gives us joy.  All our sins are paid for!  Our love for our Savior, or Rescuer makes the process of recreating ourselves in the image of Christ, a joyful process.  Jesus is with us every step of the way, as if we are walking hand in hand with him.

In the past I believed that I earn my way to heaven by keeping the commandments.  There was no joy in keeping the commandments because my foundation was wrong.  Sure, I believe in Christ and His atonement.  But, I don't know how to apply it.  I believe that I must do all the commandments before grace kicks in.  Inadvertently, I don't realize that I am giving lip service to Jesus but really don't believe Him.   Somehow if I just keep the commandments as I perceive them I will eventually get there.  The sins that I am still doing are not covered by Christ.  Christ goes into pain every time I repeat the sin.  I start getting frustrated.  I can't seem to overcome certain sins. My paradigm isn't working.  Without first building on the Rock, establishing the foundation of Grace, I delude myself into thinking that my works will save me.  I become self-righteous, judging others that don't keep the commandments I keep.  Trusting in and relying on Jesus sounds absurd.  Too easy.  Too gentle. And, foolish.  How can do that and still be self-sufficient?  And, self-made?

My heart starts breaking. I become contrite. My current way of thinking isn't bring my joy and happiness.  I am stressed and judge myself and everyone else as bad.  I am always comparing.  I finally turn to God and look to Jesus.  I want His mercy.  I want His love.  I begin to realize that I need Jesus in my life.  I turn to Him with full purpose of heart.  Something starts changing inside of me.  I start feeling joy. I like it.  It tastes delicious.  Upon thinking and feeling this way, immediately doth the great plan of redemption come to me.  I have finally started to build my life on the Rock of Christ, the foundation of Christ's grace.

I have realized that Christ's atonement not only made it possible for everyone to resurrect to a kingdom of glory but His sacrifice made if possible for me to progress and continuously recreate myself in the image of Christ.  The Way becomes easy.  I am in a state of daily gratitude for my Jesus.  This was His plan all along! For me to walk with Him, relying on Him, my weakness being changed one by one and my light becomes brighter and brighter until the perfect day.

And, if I die along the path of change, no matter.  The point of this life was to find the path and get as far as I could before I die.  We just continue on the same path after we die. We are saved.

Grace and All I Can Do, Attempt #1

This is the first of a continuing discussion on what grace means to me.  I am addressing the contrasting views of works and grace.  I have had many conversations with friends discussing the different perspectives in how 2 Nephi 25:23 is interpreted.  This post is just one of those discussions.

A friend of mine wrote me the following:

I take it you have a problem with:
As noted by Church scholar Robert J. Matthews:

“Mortality was an essential step in the progress of the human family. . . . God does for human beings only what they cannot do for themselves. Man must do all he can for himself. The doctrine is that we are saved by grace, ‘after all we can do’ (2 Nephi 25:23)” (A Bible! A Bible! [1990], 186).

My response was:

Yes, kind of. I do believe 25:23 in its correct context. Some LDS scholars have misinterpreted that one verse of scripture, thus, negating the many other verses of scripture that clarify what Nephi meant. This one verse is used as the end all by those who believe that you must ‘work’ your way to heaven. I believe I first come unto Christ through faith (wholly relying) on his name and repentance (a complete about face toward Christ and his loving ways), taking Jesus by the hand (fear not), submitting to Him as a little child, and keeping His commandments, advancing from grace to grace (adding one new (for me) commandment after another through the strengthening and enabling power of the atonement (grace)), recreating myself day by day, until I arrive into the presence of the Lord. If this is what R.J. Mathews really meant then I am complete agreement. The problem is that words don’t convey what we really mean. I suppose Matthews may have meant what I just said above.

Let me know if you would like me to list all the other verses on grace and all you can do.

By the way, Paul is grossly misinterpreted by the Christians. The Christians are tainted by Augustine who changed the true Christian doctrine of grace to a mystical supernatural doctrine requiring that all you have to do is declare Jesus and be saved showing no results (works, actions nor deeds) to validate your HEALED state. The KJV uses the word SAVED in place of HEALED in many places. HEALED is more appropriate since it seems to connote a change of heart in the here and now. SAVED seems to connote in our minds the end result. Both words are really synonyms.

I will send you more on the blasphemies of Augustine later. Let me know what you think of what I said above. I hope I was clear.

What Does One 'Do' to Receive Mercy and Always Rejoice?

I have heard much of my life that we have to do, do, do.

What I ‘did’ to receive ‘always rejoicing’ and ‘the love of God’ was a specific thing spelled out in the scriptures.  Read Mosiah 4 and 1 Nephi 8 and see if you can find what Lehi and the people of King Benjamin did to receive joy and love from God.  King Laman and King Lamoni did the same thing and received the same thing.  Moroni 10:3 exhorts the reader to do something about something.  Read verse three and tell me what those two somethings are?

So, there is always something to be done our part.  Unless, God exercises His agency and decides to give something to someone who didn’t look like he deserved it (from our limited knowledge and judgment).  An example might be the Israelite at the pagan pool in John 5.  He was at a pagan pool for crying out loud! And, the Lord told him walk and take his bed with him.  He didn’t even know Jesus.  He was trying to get into the pool when the water 'troubled'.   He had decided to resort to trying anything he could to resolve his problem (being infirm and unable to walk for thirty seven (of our) years).  He was a natural man.  He had never came unto Christ.  Why did Jesus to it?  Maybe it was to show the Jews (and us) that He is God and can do whatever He pleases.  Maybe it was to inspire countless people including myself that God has done things for me without any 'doing' on my part.  I had a dream back in 1997 where the person in the dream told me, “I am only trying to get your attention, read John 5:3”.  I did so the next morning.  I interpreted the dream all wrong.  Looking back a year or two later, I realized that God was making miracles happen in my life, that I wasn't alone and that I didn’t need to keep on trying to jump into some metaphorical pool to solve my problems.  That jumping is 'doing' but the incorrect ‘doing’.  Two years ago I came to the realization that I was the crippled unbelieving Israelite that God decided, on His own volition, to snatch me out of a bad situation (multiple times).  He did it even when I was in a state of unbelief.  The second time He did it, I was trying to believe.  The third time He did it, I was believing  but still unworthy of His healing.  What a wonderful, amazing God!  I love Him so much!  I am so grateful that He cares for me.

I am happy and at peace. Did I ask and receive? I did but I did more than that.  See the first paragraph.  Ponder and pray about what everyone in the Book of Mormon did to receive Mercy.

Here's a common response to Moroni 10:3:

1. read the Book of Mormon
2. remember that God has been and is merciful.
3. ponder it in our hearts, so that the Holy Ghost has an opportunity to testify to us it is all true.

I believe there's something more Moroni is trying to get across:

4. Ponder it in my heart: this means to me to ask myself if Christ can be merciful to me as he has been to everyone from Adam to the present time.  This is more than knowing by the Holy Ghost that the Book of Mormon is true or that Christ can be merciful to me.  This pondering, to me, means to actually realize that the individual message of the Book of Mormon is that Christ will be merciful to me as he has been merciful to all that have come unto Him in the past.  So, the DOING is to pray for mercy as Lehi did in 1 Nephi 8 and as the people of king Benjamin did in Mosiah 4.  Deep humility has to be attached to this contrite and sincere prayer.  And, if anyone does this, with all sincerity and contriteness, he will receive mercy and know it.  And, all this is done by God through the Holy Ghost.  I believe that receiving mercy is the same as receiving a remission of one’s sins or being baptized by fire.

Of course, all this takes as much time as it takes, for you (me) to demonstrate to God a broken heart and contrite spirit and for God to say “it is a enough”.

Why aren't there three days between Christ's crucifixion and Christ's resurrection?

I wrote this post on April 13, 2018 right after Easter.

From my studies a better date for Resurrection Sunday would be last Sunday, April 8, 2018, not Easter Sunday, April 1st?  The Nicene Council at 300 A.D. couldn’t figure out the timeline of Christ's last week before he was crucified so they arbitrarily assigned days.  So, the crucifixion was placed on Friday since they thought that the Passover was only on Friday, the Passover day that Jesus was keeping during the last supper.  But, this was a high holiday. This means that it was also a Sabbath day like Saturday (the Jewish Sabbath).  So, the leaders wouldn’t dare crucify someone on a Sabbath day (fearing that the people would riot).  Samuel the Lamanite says there would be three days that Christ would remain in the tomb.  Being placed in the tomb Friday night and resurrecting on Sunday leaves only ONE day in the tomb.  Have you ever wondered about why this is?  The Book of Exodus states that Passover is a seven day event with a high holy day at the beginning  and at the end.  The first Passover meal commemorates the saving of the first born of the Children of Israel.  It is called the Lord’s Passover.  The holiday on Day 7 is Israel’s Passover.  It commemorates passing over the Red Sea.  This was a big deal:  Israel being saved.

So, the chronology goes something like this:

Friday (March 30^th – this year) – Jesus has his last supper and institutes the Sacrament.  He doesn’t go to  Gethsemane that day.  This day (the first day of Passover) is calculated based on the Spring Equinox and the full moon.

Saturday – Jesus gives his sermons at multiple locations about The True Vine, and the Father and the Son being one, etc.

Sunday – Jesus continues teaching his disciples.  He may have initiated them according to Mark’s apocryphal text.

Sunday Night – He goes to Gethsemane and suffers, is captured, and is tried.

Monday (April 1) – He is delivered to Pontius Pilate.  Pilate sends him to Herod.

Tuesday – Herod interviews the Savior.  He sends him back to Pilate.

Wednesday – Pilate flogs Jesus and presents him to the people.  They cry out, Crucify Him!  He is place on the cross around 11:30 am and remains on the cross until 3:00 pm when he gives up the Ghost and dies.  The Sadducees want to get to their Passover festivities (Passover #2) by 6:00pm and need to have everybody taken down so they aren’t defiled, thus, not being able to participate in Passover #2 with their families.  They break the legs of the thieves.  But, Jesus is already dead.  Jesus is placed in the tomb.

Thursday – Day 1 in the tomb.

Friday – Day 2 in the tomb.

Saturday – Day 3 in the tomb

Sunday (April 8 - this year) – Jesus resurrects and the tomb is found empty.

This, I believe, is the correct Chronology.  The council of Nicea apparently didn’t know the Lord’s commandment in Exodus of a seven day Passover with two feasts days.  They called Christ’s crucifixion, GOOD FRIDAY.  This is very strange.  It was the lowest, worst day in the history of the world and the galaxy.  Good Friday occured on Friday of the previous week on the first Passover Seder.  They couldn’t figure where to put Ash Wednesday so they made up a new holiday 40 days earlier called Lent.  Ash Wednesday was what the early Christians called the day of Christ’s crucifixion.  A very sad day.  A day of sackcloth and ashes.

If anyone is interested in the scriptural references, just let me know.

Scott

How does my understanding of Grace change my old Mormon ways of Thinking?

Grace is the power of the atonement of Jesus Christ in the life of a Christian.  Jesus died for each us.  He paid for our sins, past, present, and future.  Christ's grace lays the foundation for our faith in Him and our repentance.  It is as if Jesus is telling each one of us to have joy and be happy since His mercy has satisfied the demands of justice for everyone who has come unto Christ through faith in His name and repenting of our sins.  At the point in which we decide to rely wholly on His merits and trust in Him alone, he causes a change in our hearts. We are filled with joy, receive a remission of our sins and have peace of conscience.  We have entered by the gate.  From this point on we walk the strait and narrow path back to the presence of God.  We are no longer in rebellion. He is now the author of our faith and later on will become the finisher of our faith. We are now perfect in Christ.  We still have our weaknesses.  As we let God order and maintain our lives we advance from grace to grace, overcoming our weaknesses.  We deny ourselves all ungodliness.  We believe in Jesus' ways and strive to act accordingly.  And, all this is on the foundation of grace.  And, this personal knowledge gives us joy.  All our sins are paid for!  Our love for our Savior, or Rescuer makes the process of recreating ourselves in the image of Christ, a joyful process.  Jesus is with us every step of the way, as if we are walking hand in hand with him.

In the past I believed that I earn my way to heaven by keeping the commandments.  There was no joy in keeping the commandments because my foundation was wrong.  Sure, I believe in Christ and His atonement.  But, I don't know how to apply it.  I believe that I must do all the commandments before grace kicks in.  Inadvertently, I don't realize that I am giving lip service to Jesus but really don't believe Him.   Somehow if I just keep the commandments as I perceive them I will eventually get there.  The sins that I am still doing are not covered by Christ.  Christ goes into pain every time I repeat the sin.  I start getting frustrated.  I can't seem to overcome certain sins. My paradigm isn't working.  Without first building on the Rock, establishing the foundation of Grace, I delude myself into thinking that my works will save me.  I become self-righteous, judging others that don't keep the commandments I keep.  Trusting in and relying on Jesus sounds absurd.  Too easy.  Too gentle. And, foolish.  How can do that and still be self-sufficient?  And, self-made?

My heart starts breaking. I become contrite. My current way of thinking isn't bring my joy and happiness.  I am stressed and judge myself and everyone else as bad.  I am always comparing.  I finally turn to God and look to Jesus.  I want His mercy.  I want His love.  I begin to realize that I need Jesus in my life.  I turn to Him with full purpose of heart.  Something starts changing inside of me.  I start feeling joy. I like it.  It tastes delicious.  Upon thinking and feeling this way, immediately doth the great plan of redemption come to me.  I have finally started to build my life on the Rock of Christ, the foundation of Christ's grace.

I have realized that Christ's atonement not only made it possible for everyone to resurrect to a kingdom of glory but His sacrifice made if possible for me to progress and continuously recreate myself in the image of Christ.  The Way becomes easy.  I am in a state of daily gratitude for my Jesus.  This was His plan all along! For me to walk with Him, relying on Him, my weakness being changed one by one and my light becomes brighter and brighter until the perfect day.

And, if I die along the path of change, no matter.  The point of this life was to find the path and get as far as I could before I die.  We just continue on the same path after we die. We are saved.