READ D&C 18:1-6
What
is the difference between the “Church” and the “Gospel”?
The gospel is the “good news” of
Christ’s atonement and resurrection by which He extends salvation to us.
The church is built up on the foundation
of the gospel.
If the Church is built up on the
foundation of Christ (“my rock”) and His gospel, then Satan will not prevail
against the Church; implied is that if you build up a church but it is not
built up on the foundation of the true fullness of the gospel of Christ – in
other words, it does not teach the whole truth and cause those belonging to the
Church to repent and come unto Christ, its members will ripen in iniquity and
be swept off.
What
do these verses teach us about receiving revelation?
The Lord continues to communicate
with us, whether we recognize it as Him or not.
We should continue to ask questions
of the Lord.
And He will manifest the answers,
as well as other important knowledge to us, if we will receive them.
His revelations reveal truth –
things as they really are, were and will be.
But we must “rely” or have faith in
or believe and act on the things we have been given which we know to be true
(that He is telling us are true, if we soften our hearts and open our ears to
hear it) – and the bulk of what He will tell us is how we much each repent and
align ourselves more completely with Eternal Law (i.e. His commandments), so
that we might come unto Him (see v11-12).
Saving the Soul
READ D&C 18:10-16
What
is a “soul”?
The soul is a spirit and a body
together (see D&C 88:15).
What
is a spirit?
Intelligence, light, glory, truth
(see D&C 93:29, 36).
Which has the capacity to act (see
D&C 93:30-31).
What
is a body?
Element or matter (see D&C
93:33-35) which is really energy.
It can be course (mortal) or
refined (i.e. quickened) based on the Law that the spirit which animates the
body adheres to (see D&C 131:7-8; D&C 88:36-39).
Why is the worth of souls great in the sight of God?
Because His work is our immortality
and eternal life, which requires us being precisely like Christ, and which is
the final melding of spirit with element or a body; without which a fullness of
joy cannot be obtained (Moses 1:39; Alma 11:42-45; D&C 93:33-34).
Although
remember that there is a difference between obtaining a resurrection from a
Savior and attaining to the resurrection oneself; after Christ’s resurrection,
His spirit and body could no longer be separated and like the Father, He had
attained to a state where He could no longer lay His glory or body aside to
condescend to come to an earth to live a mortal life.
And the cost to Christ to obtain
our immortality and eternal life was so great that we can only understand it if
we experience it ourselves (see D&C 19:15).
Why
does verse 11 say, “suffered death in the flesh” rather than “suffered death”?
This reiterates that Christ was
born in the flesh, as the rest of us are, and that He died as we all do (albeit
He did not deserve to die, as death is the wage or reward or consequence of
sin).
His physical body was separated
from his spiritual body but He continued to exist as a personage or being of
light after His death.
Does
“suffered the pain of all men” mean “suffered all the pain of each person” or
does it mean “suffered the pains that all men suffer”?
He definitely suffered the pains
that all men suffer so He could learn to succor them according to the flesh
(see Alma 7:11-12).
But His suffering was “endless” and
“eternal” meaning it was “God’s punishment” or that it was infinite punishment;
it was punishment that only a God could suffer (see D&C 19:6-12).
So did Christ suffer a very large
but finite amount of suffering – i.e. the “pain of each person”? No.
Was He convicted of the sins of
each person? Yes.
He suffered more than the pain of
each person or the pains that all men suffer; Christ suffered an infinite
amount of pain because His suffering was eternal.
What
are we redeemed from?
We are redeemed from spiritual
death.
Spiritual death is separation from
God.
Redemption, then, is to be brought
back into God’s presence.
What
does it mean to “come unto Him?”
It means to actually, literally
come back into His presence.
It means to be redeemed from
spiritual death.
How
does Christ’s resurrection make our redemption possible?
Returning to God’s presence
requires a soul or a resurrected body, which Christ enabled for all of us
through His resurrection.
It doesn’t say that a spirit can
return to God’s presence again after having been separated from it (by “God” we
are speaking here of the Father and not of the Son).
If
we understand the word soul to mean “body and spirit,” what does verse 13 teach
us about repentance?
NOW, in this mortal probation, is
the day of, or opportunity for, repentance (see 1 Nephi 10:21; 1 Nephi 15:32; 2
Nephi 2:21; 2 Nephi 9:27; Alma 12:24; Alma 42:4; Helaman 13:38; 3 Nephi 27:33);
having a body and spirit (soul) facilitates repentance or change or quickening
– gaining more light by turning away from darkness; it is much harder to do or
takes much longer without a body.
Mortal life, away from God’s
immediate presence, is our opportunity to be proven with regards to how we will
use our agency in a world of suffering – will we chose good (align ourselves
with eternal law), which will require us to sacrifice all things and by so
doing gain more light and intelligence or not? (see Alma 13:3; D&C 88:22.
36-39; LoF 6:2-7; D&C 130:18-21).
How
do we cry repentance to others?
With love, desperately trying to
help a friend see a terrible danger ahead, which they are oblivious of.
Why
is the saving of even one soul the cause of such great joy and celebration?
As the salvation of man consists of
becoming precisely like Christ and the Father are (see LoF 7:9), in the saving
of just one soul, all eternity will continue because that one soul will live
forever as a god; and they will enable the creation and saving of other souls
(well, actually you need two souls, a male and a female…).
READ D&C 18:17-25
What
does Christ lay out in these verses?
The Gospel; which is:
To repent and be baptized in
Christ’s name – in other words, to covenant with Him through the ordinance of
baptism by water.
Then ask to receive the Holy Ghost
or baptism of fire that the covenant may be in effect.
Exercise faith that you might
receive a hope or promise from Christ of your salvation.
Endure to the end, who is Jesus
Christ, the Alpha and Omega – come unto Christ.
That you might take upon yourself
the name of Christ; become a “Son of God” or part of His family, that Christ
becomes your Father because He has sealed you up.
Which will lead to you having
charity for all (a spiritual gift which is bestowed on all who are true
followers of Christ – see Moroni 7:48); do not contend but seek to share with
each of them the blessings you have been promised that they might also be
saved; you will do it because you love them and will sacrifice all things, if
necessary, to save as many souls as will come unto Christ.
As you love Christ with charity, you
will seek to keep His commandments and align your behavior with His that you
may become precisely as He is, moving from grace to grace, gaining more light,
that you might have a place in God’s kingdom because you belong there and can
abide there with all those you have assisted along the way.
Be valiant in the testimony that
Jesus has borne to you and of you, to the end of your probation, so that the
Lord can save you and take you home again.
We have not just a “Maker” or “Creator” but a “Father” in Heaven. But to enable us to have the chance of growing up to become as He is, we needed a physical body and to go to a place to be tested - a condition where we could suffer and die for a cause worth suffering for; a place where we must sacrifice all things as a way to show ourselves and God where our “treasure” (i.e. heart) truly lies – a place where our decisions really do matter as they result in either joy or heartbreak and pain for others as well as for ourselves; and we must do it all on faith, with a veil of forgetfulness over our minds.
Who Is Christ?
READ D&C 19:1
Who
is Jesus Christ to us?
Alpha – the beginning or the first.
Omega – the end or the last.
Christ – the anointed one; the one
who was called, chosen and consecrated to do the work of salvation from before
the foundation of this world.
Lord – Jehovah or the King of Kings.
Redeemer – one who ransoms those
who are captured or in bondage; one who saves those who cannot help themselves
as they are slaves and not free.
Note: these names are all titles
that Christ has earned through His merits; they were not inherently His “at
first” but He gained them as He moved from grace to grace (see D&C
93:12-14).
What
does it mean that Christ is the Beginning?
He is the creator.
All life is enabled and sustained
by Him.
He is the embodiment of God’s word.
He is “like unto” God.
He is more intelligent than us all.
He has risen up higher than us all.
He did it first and is the example or
prototype of the saved being
What
does it mean that Christ is the End?
He stands at the end of the mortal “path”
which is entered into by the “gate”; He is the destination of the path or the
fruit of the “Tree of Life”.
He is the redeemer.
He is the judge.
He descended below us all.
He is what we all want to end up
being like – that is the true destination.
How
does this change our understanding of the Doctrine of Christ principle to
“endure to the end”?
That it should read “endure to the
End”.
That Christ is the destination to
which we must endure (see 2 Nephi 32:6), not death, as death is not the end
anyway – and for the great majority, it is not the end of their
probationary period either.
And that the visit with Christ,
which is the destination that the doctrine of Christ leads to, is a visit in
the flesh wherein one is redeemed from the fall, ministered to, and gains a
sure knowledge that Christ is the God of this earth and was slain for the sins
of the world (see Ether 3:13, 17-20; D&C 130:3; 3 Nephi 11:14-15).
READ D&C 19:2-3
What does it mean “whose I am, even the Father” and
what is implied by the fact that Christ referred to His apostles as “those thou
hast given me” in John 17:11?
It
implies that Jesus/Jehovah became the Father’s (Ahman) “son” in a previous
eternity on another planet when Ahman played the role of the Christ to save all
those who would come unto Him, as Jehovah did here; Jehovah became part of
Ahman’s family, as Ahman became Jehovah’s “Father in Heaven” because He
redeemed Him; Jehovah became “His” at that time as Jesus’ apostles became “His”
on this earth when they were “given to Him” as a result of their coming unto
Him here and being redeemed.
Ahman
“gave” Jehovah several people to save from those that He (Ahman) had saved in a
prior eternity; these were Ahman’s souls to give Jehovah because Ahman had
saved them previously (in a “preparatory redemption” or a redemption in a
previous eternity which prepared them or enabled them to be saved and thus
chose to continue their progression by coming to this earth, later); what is
unclear is whether or not those souls given to Jehovah had risen up to the
level of “sons of God” (Ahman as Christ) at that point or if they were His
(Ahman’s) by virtue of the atonement and resurrection that He would have
wrought to save them from that previous mortality; but it is likely that they
had risen up to some degree, otherwise why would they have been called out to
be “given” to Jehovah while others were not (see Alma 13:3-9 – note the terms
“only begotten son” and “Father” are titles or roles, not just names).
What
does verse two teach us about being a Son of God?
A Son of God becomes and remains a
Son because he obtains, covenants to perform, and accomplishes/finishes the
will and work of him who he belongs to or who is his father.
He embodies the “word” of his
father or he perfectly carries out his father’s word or will (see Mosiah 5:13;
John 1:1; D&C 93:8-17).
What
does it mean to “subdue all things unto myself”?
Subdue = to conquer by force or the
exertion of superior power and bring into permanent subjection; to overpower so
as to disable from further resistance (see 1828 Webster’s Dictionary).
Christ won the victory over death
and hell – He subdued them using the definition above by living a perfect life,
taking upon Himself the guilt and associated punishment for all sin and
corruption, unjustly subjecting Himself to death as the wages or consequences
of sin, then overturning death and sin as a result of His sacrifice (meaning
both His unfairly suffering for sin and His unfair death as a consequence of
being made “guilty” of sin).
To save or redeem or bring back to
life all creation, Christ had to descend below all things in that He had to
suffer all things – so that there was nothing that was not His right to redeem,
if He so chose.
READ D&C 19:4-12
Why
must we all repent or suffer; who is imposing the suffering?
Christ makes the judgement based on
our behavior against eternal law and whether or not we accepted His sacrifice.
But we impose the suffering on
ourselves when we realize what we might have had but spurned the opportunity to
accept when it was offered freely and at great cost to Christ (see Alma
36:12-16).
As well as the fact that not
enjoying the blessings we might have received is also a punishment; we are
consigned by God to a lower glory but it is based on our agency during
mortality.
But ironically, that lower glory
will be preferred to us, despite the disappointment and regret because entering
unprepared into the presence of a just and holy being causes extreme discomfort
(see Mormon 9:2-5).
Why
does repentance free us from suffering?
While true repentance requires
godly sorrow (a realization of our awful state and desperate need), a broken
heart, and a complete turning from sin to God;
The pain of godly sorrow pales in
comparison to the suffering one will incur if one is brought, unprepared, into
the presence of a just and holy being or the bitterness and regret one will
experience for what might have been, after having fled in fear and disgrace
from God’s presence.
Because Christ atoned for our sins (it
is a done deal – He finished those preparations for us), we can be freed from
the suffering that surely is deservedly ours, if we will but live the covenant terms
that Christ has set out for us and repent.
What
does it mean that Christ is Endless?
Christ is Jehovah, the great “I am”
or “I exist”.
All that He created, He also
redeemed and as long as He lives or exists, it will also continue to exist; we
can depend upon Christ or have faith in Christ endlessly.
Both God and Christ have life in
themselves which they both “took” by suffering an atonement, submitting to
death, and attaining to the resurrection (see TPJS 349:4; TPJS 205:3-206:2).
Before the foundation of this
world, the Father had given Christ to be the great “I am” before His (Christ’s)
personally attaining to it here during His mortal ministry, as He (Christ) had
risen from a small capacity to a great one, from grace to grace, from
exaltation to exaltation over many eternities, until He received of the
Fullness; implied is that He did not have the fullness always and was not a
“Son of God” always but was “called” that at some point (see D&C 93:12-14;
TPJS 390-393).
All of us are co-existent with God
(see TPJS 396:2-397:3), although we do not have “life” in ourselves separate
from them because we have not yet attained to the resurrection for ourselves;
this does not mean that we cannot exist on our own, just that we do not have
“life” on our own; this could refer to the difference between our spirit and
being a “living soul” or a spirit clothed in element or matter or a body of
some kind.
God the Father is God because He is
precisely as He is and nothing else (see LoF 7:9, 15); Christ is God because He
is precisely as the Father is, having done precisely what the Father did to
become that (see TPJS 390-393); to be saved is to be precisely as God is or in
other words, to be saved means to become a God yourself – “saved” being
synonymous with exaltation; we can have life in ourselves if we follow the same
path – we can also be Endless.
What
is endless or eternal punishment?
Punishment given from the hand of
God.
God’s punishment or the punishment
that a God can comprehend because they have experienced it.
The punishment that is required by
eternal law for breaking that law.
As God is infinite, immortal and
eternal, it is infinite punishment or all the punishment a God can endure; the calculation
or formula is: an infinite, endless and eternal God minus infinite or endless
or eternal punishment equals what is required to redeem a creation from death
and hell by eternal law.
But it does not last forever in
“time”; it can be “accomplished” or “finished” to the “dregs”, which implies a
beginning and an end.
What
is endless torment?
If “endless punishment” is the just
requirement which must be suffered or met for breaking eternal law, then
endless torment is the disappointment in the mind of man as he condemns himself
for not taking the opportunity to repent and come unto Christ (see TPJS 401:1).
Why
does God use the phrases “endless torment” or “endless punishment” or “eternal
damnation” if they don’t mean what we think they mean?
To help us to awake to the awful
condition in which we reside but are completely oblivious to.
To “scare us straight”…or “work
upon the hearts” of mankind.
“It not written that there shall be
no end to this torment” as the Lord is very careful in His word choice; He says
“endless torment” for a reason and it is us that fail to inquire of the Lord
and find out the true meanings of these phrases.
What
is eternal damnation if it does not last forever?
Damnation = to be stopped in one’s
progression to become like God and to lose the opportunity to gain further
light, knowledge and blessings inherent in continuing that progression; there
is an associated level of torment with this outcome as we reflect with regret
on what might have been if we had only repented.
Eternal = one of God’s names, as it
is one of His attributes.
Eternal damnation = to be stopped
by God in one’s progression; but not that there will be no end to that
damnation.
Perhaps
this speaks to the opportunity in a distant eternity for an individual to be
given another mortal probation with which to choose to repent and eventually
gain all that another has already gained through their obedience and
repentance; if we were all on the same standing at the beginning (see Alma 13),
and if we are all co-existent with God and could not be created by Him, only
enabled by Him through “organization” or “birth” into higher forms which enable
us to progress to become precisely as He is, perhaps the opportunity exists for
those who are damned now to make better choices later;
This is
contrary to what I’ve been taught in the modern LDS Church that no one can
continue to progress from kingdom to kingdom or glory to glory but now I’m not
so sure that the afterlife is as “one and done” as I used to believe it was; if
Christ was not a “son of God” at first but progressed from grace to grace, then
perhaps it is similar for us?
Why
is Christ telling us these “mysteries of godliness”?
So that we can enter into His rest,
which is the fullness of His glory now and avoid the “endless torment” of not
having done so, later.
Christ desperately wants us to take
full advantage of the atonement which He accomplished for us at such a great
price to Himself.
Christ’s Suffering for Us
READ D&C 19:13-15
What
are the commandments?
Christ is God because He has
perfectly aligned His behavior with eternal law (see LoF 7:9, 15), the result
of which is to receive a fullness of light, glory, spirit, intelligence and
knowledge.
Christ’s commandments articulate
what it means to be precisely like Christ – they illustrate His mindset,
character and attributes (see LoF 3 & 4) through His behaviors or in other
words, they codify (and reduce) eternal law into something we can adhere to or
follow ourselves in this mortal life.
Commandments allow anyone who
follows them precisely to become as Christ is by following in His footsteps; we
learn by experience over time and gather more light by better aligning
ourselves with eternal law.
Christ wishes for us to be saved
(i.e. to become precisely like Him) so He “commands” us to follow His example,
which we will do (or attempt) if we love Him.
What
is the relationship between repentance and the commandments?
Salvation requires us being
precisely like Christ.
We cannot be precisely like Christ
unless we experience and do precisely the same things Christ did.
Christ’s commandments articulate or
codify those experiences and behaviors, and come directly from Him for that
purpose.
So, “keeping the commandments” =
aligning our behavior perfectly with Christ’s.
When we align our behavior with
Christ’s (i.e. eternal law), we receive more light and knowledge because light
cleaves to light – it is a natural consequence.
To the degree we are not aligned
precisely with Christ’s behavior, we are breaking the commandments or sinning
and losing light as a natural result.
To the degree we are breaking the
commandments, we must repent or change to realign ourselves with them, to be
precisely like Christ or we will merit the “endless punishment and torment” we
have discussed.
If we do repent and realign
ourselves, the Lord will forgive us for our past behaviors through the
Atonement.
Why
will God smite us by the rod of His mouth if we do not repent and what does
this mean?
He will rebuke us for spurning or
taking lightly the opportunity He has given us through His atonement (paid for
with a great price we cannot yet comprehend) to use this mortal probation to
become like Him by following His commandments or aligning our behavior
precisely with eternal law.
His anger is because we show Him
through our poor behavior and again through our failure to repent that we don’t
care about the sacrifice He has made for us; we show Him that don’t love Him.
But He still loves us and is still
desperately seeking our salvation, even if that means He must implement some
“tough love” towards us to get us to awake to the awful state in which we are
in.
The fact that our torment at the
last day will come from within us (as opposed to being brought upon us from an
outside source, like God or Satan) implies that we are now asleep to our awful
plight but if we were awake, we would all choose to repent and take advantage
of that great gift of atonement before it was too late; so if His “wrath”
awakens us, we will thank Him and praise Him for His mercy which He showed us
by “smiting” us with His words.
What
is the nature of the exquisite sufferings we will bear?
Initially, it is the suffering of
the sinful and unclean who are commanded to enter the presence of God and have
an awful recollection of all their guilt (see Mormon 9:2-5; Mosiah 3:25-27; 2 Nephi
9:45-46; Alma 11:43; Alma 36:12-16).
And later it will come from the
withdrawal of His Spirit or being without God; which is the gall of bitterness,
bonds of iniquity and is contrary to the nature of happiness (see Alma 41:11).
That will be accompanied by the
torment of our disappointment, when we admit to ourselves what we might have
had, which is like a pit of fire and brimstone (see TPJS 401:1).
Can
you read this statement and believe there is no hell; and what does this teach
us about kingdoms of glory?
The Book of Mormon clearly teaches
about a hell for those who have not repented of their sins; anyone who reads
the Book of Mormon but has not been taught the LDS “plan of salvation” (three
kingdoms of glory and one outer darkness which is not the same as the hell
taught in the BoM) would see “hell” clearly and plainly taught there.
In the Church, we believe that
there is a “hell” but it is in the spirit world before the resurrection of the
dead only (and active members of the Church will not go there – we will go to
“paradise”) – our “spirit hell” is not a permanent state or an “endless
torment”.
But Alma 12:16 teaches about a
“second spiritual death” AFTER the resurrection for those who would not repent
and come unto Christ and are as if there was no redemption made for them but
must suffer for their sins (see Alma 12:12-18) – what is important to see is
that the definition for who goes there is NOT the same as modern Church
teachings about perdition or outer darkness, where the only ones who will go
there are those who were sealed up by God to the Celestial Kingdom but
afterwards betrayed Him; perhaps this refers to another life in a “telestial
kingdom or a world in which we now live” as people continue to suffer the
“deaths” because they would not abide the law that requires that they do what
is necessary to receive Christ in this world, which is the way unto exaltation
and the continuation of “lives” (see D&C 132:20-25). While the truth of the doctrine is unclear,
what is clear is that Alma 12 teaches a different kind of hell from what is
taught in the Church today.
READ D&C 19:16-19
Why
does verse 16 begin with “I, God”?
Because Christ was the Lord God
Jehovah before He entered mortality.
Because Christ attained to the
resurrection at the conclusion of His mortal ministry and became perfect, even
as the Father is perfect – and this conversation with Joseph Smith is occurring
after that event (in linear time).
Because this “endless” and
“eternal” punishment had to be suffered by a God, so He is reiterating His
qualifications.
What
is the promise the Lord extends?
If you repent of your sins, you
will not have to suffer these things (endless punishment or being brought
unprepared and unforgiven into the presence of a just and holy being).
What
will happen if the promise isn’t accepted?
If you do not accept this promise
and repent, you must suffer even as Christ did.
What
does it mean to “suffer even as I”?
It may mean that we must suffer the
same kind of suffering but not to the same degree as Christ because we are
“only” suffering for our own sins (as opposed to the infinite and eternal
suffering Christ endured); this would make sense with regards to the “torment”
we feel, viewing ourselves in our true state (see Alma 36:12-16; Mormon 9:2-6).
Or must we suffer exactly what
Christ suffered, in kind and degree, because what is required is “eternal
punishment” which is a God’s punishment; v17-18 seem to imply that this is the
case because of the phrase: “they must suffer even as I; which suffering…”
referring to the suffering that caused Christ to bleed and calling out
specifically that those who do not repent must suffer the same.
What
does an “infinite and eternal” sacrifice cost a god?
To tremble because of pain.
To bleed at every pore.
To suffer both body and spirit.
To desire to shrink from the task.
What
did the Lord suffer?
It affected both His mortal body
and immortal spirit (see D&C 19:18).
A humbling condescension (less than
the dust; he is convicted of all sin; see D&C 19:20).
The “pain of all men” (see D&C
18:11).
Descended below all things and
experienced all things (see D&C 122:8; D&C 88:6).
An infinite atonement - which
caused God Himself to suffer exquisitely (see D&C 19:15) because He
suffered all that a God could suffer – an “endless” or godly suffering.
Christ became “sin for us” - He
didn’t just pay the penalty for sin. In
the garden He became the biggest sinner of them all, which is why the Holy Spirit
departed, as the Spirit can’t dwell with a sinner (see 2 Corinthians 5:21;
D&C 121:37; D&C 1:31-33) since light cleaves to light.
READ 2 Nephi 9:7 and Alma 34:10,
13-14
What
are the implications of this? If you had
sinned less, would He have suffered less?
If you had less emotional stress, would He have suffered less?
No - He suffered an
"infinite" suffering or in other words, He suffered all that a God could suffer - He "pours out"
His soul unto death, and remember, He is the life of the world.
All of that suffering was for you -
it is not quid pro quo. The pain would
have been the same whether there was one person or trillions – or whether one
person accepted His sacrifice or millions.
He loves us more than we think He
does - we cannot comprehend His love
because we cannot comprehend His suffering.
Why
did He suffer it?
Because He is God and that’s what
they do, they love - that is
what they are (see D&C 133:52-53); love is about sacrificing oneself for
others, unconditionally.
His pity - Gods would rather sacrifice themselves then have this
happen to those they love (see D&C 133:53)
That we might not have to suffer it
ourselves (it is His mercy – so that we don’t get what we deserve; see D&C
19:16; D&C 29:1).
Because someone must suffer it (see
D&C 19:17), as a punishment is attached to all acts so that justice can be served (see Alma 42:13,
22-25) – there is an element of karma or consequence that must be worked out or
balanced; otherwise God would cease to be God.
What
does it mean that Christ is our advocate with the Father?
He pleads to the Father for us (see
D&C 38:4).
He says “behold the suffering and
death of the sinless (innocent) one” (see D&C 45:4). His unjust suffering and death is what gives
Him the right to advocate for us.
Because of what He has suffered, He
has the just right to intercede on our behalf, if we abide by the terms He has
set forth: “spare those that believe in my name” (see D&C 45:5).
He stands
between the fugitive party and their enemies; Hugh Nibley used the analogy of
the ancient Near eastern nomad lord who raises up the petitioner and grasps him
in an embrace, signifying that they are one - and the petitioner’s enemies are
now the Lord’s, so he is safe with the Lord.
He stands
convicted of the sins of the guilty party before those that are offended by
those sins because they were the victim of them (us), as Abigail knelt before
David and begged “upon me let this iniquity be”.
What
does “nevertheless” in verse 19 refer to?
Nevertheless = notwithstanding,
without regards to something, despite.
Despite the fact that when it came
to the actual moment of performing the sacrifice, Christ did not want to go
through with the atonement… but He went through with it not for His own glory
(attaining to the resurrection Himself – gaining life in Himself – attaining to
the Godhood of His Father) but because of His love for us and His Father.
What
does “glory be to the Father” mean?
Ultimately, Christ did not perform
the atonement for Himself – He performed it so that the Father could be
glorified in a) the Son’s ascension to become perfect as He is (see TPJS
390-393), and b) the immortality and eternal life of His other children (see
Moses 1:39).
What
does it mean that the Atonement was Christ’s “preparations” unto mankind?
Preparation = the act of fitting
for a particular purpose or use or condition; to make something ready (see
Webster’s 1828 Dictionary).
The atonement was intended to make
salvation ready for mankind but it did not complete the task, due to our agency
which requires a continued ministry by Christ; it was necessary but not
sufficient for salvation in that it was still possible that no one would be
saved if no one comes unto Christ.
What
were the preparations He finished in Gethsemane and Golgotha?
Paid for sin - was made guilty of
sin and overcame sin through suffering (see Alma 7:13).
Learned to succor his people (Alma
see 7:11-12).
Why
does Christ say He has “finished” the will of the Father (v2) but that the
atonement was only His “preparations” unto the Children of men (v19)?
His ministry to us continues; He is
in our midst, even if we do not see Him (see D&C 38:7-8).
But seeing Him or coming unto Him
is up to us; unless we wait until it is too late and He comes to us in glory
when we are unprepared to abide it.
He has finished everything the
Father can ask of Him, as both of them will honor our agency to choose to come
unto Christ.
If
the atonement, crucifixion and resurrection constitute Christ’s “preparations”
unto the children of men, what must He do to complete His ministry?
He must minister to us, that we
might know Him with a surety and be given a promise or hope of eternal life
that we can exercise faith in
He must succor us in our sins and
afflictions, teaching us how to overcome them and become precisely as He is
He must teach us what we must do
(repent or change) to enable Him to take us into the presence of the Father to
be sealed up to eternal life (see 2 Nephi 32:6; Mosiah 5:15)
He must help us to become precisely
as He is, moving from grace to grace through the eternities; we will not be
“complete” and saved until we have become perfect like He and His Father are
perfect but that is His work and glory (see LoF 7:9, 15-16; TPJS 390-393; 3
Nephi 12:48; Moses 1:39)
His ministry continues with us –
enticing, begging, and assisting us in coming unto Him if we desire it.
What
must we do to take advantage of His preparations unto us (the atonement)?
We must come unto Him and offer the
required sacrifice of our whole souls.
We must forgive each other; to
forgive is to atone (see Matthew 18:21-35; Matthew 6:14-15; Mark 11:25-26;
Mosiah 26:31).
All mankind must “redeem
themselves” by permitting others to escape deserved condemnation for the
offenses they have committed against them; in this way men are no longer their
brother’s accusers; mercy is given to those who extend mercy and we are judged
by the standard with which we judge others.
READ D&C 19:20
“Wherefore”
means something like “because of this;” because of what?
Because of Christ’s love of the
Father and love for us.
It is because of the suffering that
Christ suffered for us that He wants to save us from also having to endure it –
knowing that we must suffer as He did if we don’t repent.
What
must we do to avoid this suffering ourselves?
Believe in His name (see D&C
38:4).
Repent (see D&C 19:20).
Humble ourselves (see D&C
19:20; D&C 62:1).
Harken to His voice (to soften our
heart) (see D&C 29:2).
Call on Him in mighty prayer (see
D&C 29:2).
Come unto Him (He stands at the
door and knocks, be WE open to Him - we are “self-elect” in his timetable) (see
D&C 18:11).
...Through covenant.
But it is all without compulsory
means, as it is up to us (see Alma 42:27).
What
does the new covenant require?
The sacrifice of your whole
soul/will/broken heart & contrite spirit.
"Do the works ye have seen me
do" which in suffering the atonement include:
1) Forgiveness - lay it all at the
Master’s feet because He has already
suffered for it and it is now His to do with as He pleases. Offering forgiveness is obtaining
forgiveness; we must all lay down our sins but we cannot do this if we claim the
right to restitution for any offense perpetrated against us. (see D&C 135:4
– Joseph Smith had already forgiven those he suspected would shortly kill
him). The price we must pay for our own
forgiveness is to forgive all others first
(see Matt 18 - the unjust servant - $7.5 billion dollars vs $13k).
2) Charity, in the form of
intercession - "Father forgive them..." even/especially when it is
difficult because there was legitimate harm caused (here it is not Abigail
interceding for the sinner but would be like David praying to the Lord for
Nadal).
What
will happen if we do not repent?
He will humble us with His almighty
power in the hopes that being humbled will get us to repent.
He would rather humble us now, if
it will help us awake and arise, then see us have to suffer much, much more,
later.
Ultimately, the law of restoration
will be in effect (see Alma 42:27) and we will receive the wages of our
behavior and desires.
What
will happen if we do not confess our sins?
If we don’t ultimately confess and
forsake our sins in this life – if we don’t turn from sin and turn to God by
repenting or changing our minds and hearts – we will have to suffer the
punishment that Christ has spoken about.
Confession is an admission of
guilt; it is required that we realize and own the desperate current state that
our behaviors have justly resulted in.
What
does the suffering Christ endured have to do with withdrawing the Holy Spirit?
Committing sin (or in Christ’s
case, taking upon oneself the guilt for committing sin) grieves the Holy Spirit
and it withdraws.
Instead of the Light of Christ, one
is filled with darkness, fear and hate.
A fullness of joy is being
precisely what the Father is; by definition, not being precisely like the
Father will result in experiencing less joy or more sorrow; a total abandonment
of the Holy Spirit or being filled instead with darkness causes great suffering
(the opposite of joy).
In Gethsemane, the Holy Spirit was
grieved in Christ’s presence when He became guilty of all sin and withdrew; He
had to learn how to overcome being completely filled with darkness and heal from
or change that state to one where He was filled again completely with light,
through the love and light (life energy) that was inherently within Him –
inherently was Him.
What
three qualifications did the Savior need to have to accomplish the atonement
and attain to the resurrection of the dead?
Power Over Death (He was divine
yet human). A) God was His mortal father
which enabled Christ to be able to suspend death continually, even in the face
of pain and suffering which would kill another mortal. Christ had life in Himself through His
genetics – He could lay it down and take it up again. B) His mother must be mortal so that He could
die.
Be
Without Sin Himself. While Christ was
subject to the effects of the fall through Mary and was capable of sin, He
resisted it completely despite the fact that He was tempted to a much greater
level than we are. Because of this,
justice has no claim on Him.
The Holy Spirit Without Measure (see John
3:27-36). Christ came to prove us, not
to be proven Himself (see Abraham 3:24-25); that is why we are given weakness (see
Ether 12:27). He had already proven Himself in the “first place” or in a prior
eternity (see Alma 13:3; TPJS 390-393) and had become or was called a Son of
God (see D&C 93:12-14). Because of this and His genetics, Christ had access
to the Spirit to a degree that none of us can equal; we cannot perform in this
estate at the same level that the Lord did – that is not saying He was not
human, just that He was here for a different purpose, did not have weakness
given to Him, and had the Spirit with Him without measure.
In the old religions of human sacrifice, human beings suffer to reconcile God to humanity but in Christianity, God himself (Jesus Christ) suffers and dies to reconcile humanity to himself and to his Father.
READ Isaiah
63:3, 2 Corinthians 5:21, Luke 22:43-44, John 16:32, Mormon 9:3-5, Alma
36:12-15, Alma 7:11-13
Why
did He suffer so in the Garden of Gethsemane?
“Geth” means “press” and “semane”
means oil; in the Garden of Gethsemane, Jesus becomes the grapes that are laid
in the press and His blood flows as He is crushed by the pressure and weight of
the infinite atonement until His blood flowed.
He was “made sin for us”; He became
actually guilty of all our sins.
An “angel” or holy personage came
down from heaven to be with Christ in the Garden.
That personage was the Father; entering
into the presence of the Father unprepared, as Christ was now “guilty” of our
sins, is excruciating, exquisite and so hard to bear we cannot comprehend it –
working out the atonement with fear and trembling before God is part of the
mechanics of how the atonement is performed. Christ wrought the atonement in the presence of the Father –
reconciling Himself back to that just and holy being by paying the uttermost
farthing; paving the way for all of us to be healed of our sins, mistakes and
sicknesses as we come unto Christ and learn how to be reconciled ourselves.
He suffered the pains of a damned
soul and may have wished to become extinct or cease to exist, a bitterly ironic
desire for one who’s name is Jehovah or “I am” or “I exist”.
But Christ finished the task so that He could learn how to succor us in
our sins and afflictions; that is, His ““at-one-ment” or reconciliation (to
take two things - a perfect God and a sinful person - that have become
separate, estranged and incompatible and learn how to make them one again)
required Him to have experienced these things so He could help us to lay them
aside – to let Him take them for us.
What to Teach
READ D&C 19:21-22, 29-31, 37,
39-41
Why
must “milk” be taught before “meat”?
If we love people and our intent is
to help them to come unto Christ and not damn them with knowledge they will
reject, we must teach what they are willing to receive.
We are all at various stages of
light and darkness and we “cleave” to those levels and reject what is above or
below them, so Christ finds us where we are and begins to minister to us
there. We must do the same.
What
is “milk”?
God lives.
God loves you.
God wants to connect with you – He
is waiting for you with open arms.
God wants you to be happy.
God will forgive you and change
your heart.
God will save you.
You need to seek Him out.
You need to change (repent).
You need to learn about Him so that
you can find Him and learn from Him.
What
is “meat”?
Who God was and is.
Who you can be and what is the full
extent of the path to get there.
How He wrought the atonement and
what it cost Him.
How we must work out our own
salvation before Him and attain to the resurrection ourselves.
That we must be precisely like Him
– perfect – to be saved.
How long it will take to do all of
this – the meaning of eternal lives.
The risks we take in walking this
path; Satan was an angel of light with authority in God’s presence, meaning
that he’d legitimately progressed a lot further along the path than we have –
but he still fell and so can we.
Etc…
Why
are we to teach the Doctrine of Christ and not “tenets”?
The doctrine of Christ (faith,
repentance, baptism by water, baptism by fire, endure to the End or Christ)
will engage the individual in the process of actually saving their soul –
beginning with awaking to their awful state, continuing by offering their whole
soul to enter into the Gate, walking the path and being tried at all hazards, until
one enters the presence of the Lord and partakes of His love or the fruit of
the Tree of Life.
Unless that happens, the rest is
just trivia.
Why
should we preach with a loud, rejoicing voice to all and what is implied?
Because the gospel is
incredible! It does fill the soul of any
who have actually walked its path to the End with ecstatic levels of joy, and
even the Way is delightful – even in its difficulties (see Philippians 3:8; LoF
6:2-6).
We should be valiant in the
testimony Jesus has given us of our salvation (see D&C 88:75) and testify
of it to all (see Alma 29:1-2).
What
is a blind guide?
Someone who is attempting to guide
or lead another person to a destination they (the person being guided) desires
to go – and who has convinced the person that seeks to be guided that they (the
guide) knows the way.
But they do not know the way (because
they have not been to the destination themselves) and cannot even navigate
through the terrain as they are blind and cannot see where they are leading
their unsuspecting follower.
But they do not admit this to the
follower.
It is someone who either says or
infers that they have seen God and that they know the way back to Him but they
have never met Him, have not been ministered to by Him, and thus they do not
know the path to lead others to Him – they are charlatans or wolves in sheep’s
clothing engaged in priestcraft or setting themselves up for a light for others
to follow so that they can get gain (wealth) and the praise of the world
(celebrity and power).
How
do we prevent being blind guides ourselves?
Do not preach that which you do not
know to be true through your own experience with God.
Clearly differentiate between what
you know (have experienced) and what you believe (think is true).
Never put yourself between God and
anyone else but admonish people to go to God directly.
Ask questions that will lead people
to engage with God and find the truth, but be careful about giving answers that
He has revealed to you unless told to do so.
How
do we ensure we are not following a blind guide?
Humbly go to the Lord with all your
weakness(es) and lay your whole soul on His altar so that you may experience
the baptism of fire and be filled with the Holy Ghost yourself – which is
truth. It will help you to discern truth
from falsehood in what you experience yourself or hear from others.
Through careful reading and
pondering of the words and experiences He has given to others, especially those
found in the scriptures, and comparing what you are hearing and experiencing yourself
continually with them.
The revelations you receive in
prayer or the counsel you are given from others should be inviting you to do
good and come unto Christ yourself.
True messengers with priesthood
power from God use persuasion and love not compulsion or control.
Experience the Second Comforter for
yourself – feel the prints that no living man should have and that no spirit
can replicate in a physical form! From
that point, He will teach you personally (see 2 Nephi 32:6).
READ D&C 19:23
What
does the Savior mean when he commands us to “learn of me”?
He doesn’t say “learn about me”…we
could do that through a careful reading of the Gospels and 3 Nephi; we must
“listen” to His actual words.
Implied is that we must know Him
not just about Him; we must get ourselves in a situation where we can hear His
words, so that we can give heed to them or listen to them – to learn “of” or
“from” Him not just “about” Him.
We must “walk in the meekness of
His Spirit – we learn of Him by doing the things He asks us to do – keeping His
commandments and His “voice” or the things He tells us to do personally (see 2
Nephi 32:6; D&C 93:1; Mosiah 5:13).
What
does it mean to have peace in Christ?
To have an assurance, from the Lord
Himself (who is the only one authorized to give such an assurance), that the
course of life you are on is according to His will – it is to receive a “hope”
or “promise” from Christ of your salvation (see LoF 6:2-6).
