Before we lived on this earth we lived with our Father. We were his spirit children. He wanted us to be like him, and to gain experience, and so he presented to us all a beautiful plan. This plan involved God creating a world for us, so we could gain a body and experience mortality so that we could learn and understand.
Because of Father's foreknowledge he knew we would each make mistakes. We would become unclean and unfit to return to live in his presence. And so central to his plan was selecting a Saviour to satisfy the demands of life and death, mercy and justice, so that we could return to Father. There were two volunteers. One said 'send me' and the other said 'send me' and God said 'I will send the first', And so Christ was selected over Lucifer as our Saviour.
Across my life I've made many mistakes. Some minor, and some that have caused me great pain and sorrow, willing that I could turn back the clock. The memory of my sins made me fear, and I began to think some very dangerous thoughts. Such as:
"I can't be saved".
"The atonement can't apply to me".
Because of Father's foreknowledge he knew we would each make mistakes. We would become unclean and unfit to return to live in his presence. And so central to his plan was selecting a Saviour to satisfy the demands of life and death, mercy and justice, so that we could return to Father. There were two volunteers. One said 'send me' and the other said 'send me' and God said 'I will send the first', And so Christ was selected over Lucifer as our Saviour.
Across my life I've made many mistakes. Some minor, and some that have caused me great pain and sorrow, willing that I could turn back the clock. The memory of my sins made me fear, and I began to think some very dangerous thoughts. Such as:
"I can't be saved".
"The atonement can't apply to me".
"I have messed up too badly this time. I can't make it. I should just give up."
I wish I could grab my past self by the collar and rebuke myself for those thoughts. They. Are. Lies. These thoughts come only from the father of all lies, and in conquering these thoughts that have plagued me for years I have come to realise how incredible the grace of my saviour is.
Men are saved by grace, and grace alone. Not of works. The Atoning sacrifice of Christ is what gives his grace hold on the souls of men. If there had been no atonement, no amount of sacrifices, baptisms, sacraments, confessions, or repentance could sponge away what I had done. But there is an Atonement. And it is by the grace of Christ that we will be clean from our sins.
However, we will not be saved in our sins. We will be saved from them. Faith, Repentance, Baptism, and Enduring to the end by continuing to make and honour sacred covenants with father is how we apply the grace of Christ. Each act of faith in the atonement is a grace. And so we learn grace by grace, or principle by principle, gaining knowledge and revelations as the atonement continues to perfect us until we reach our exaltation.
We cannot undo the effects of that atonement. It will bless everyone's life to one degree, and to others another, and to others another degree still. But the score is set. It has been completed. Christ healed the sick, caused the lame to walk, the deaf to hear and the blind to see, he walked on the water and commanded the elements. He has created worlds without number, and even raised the dead. There is NOTHING that he cannot do. It would be arrogant, ignorant, and frankly sacrilegious for me to believe that anything I can do can cancel that sacrifice.
I love my Saviour. I know that he is, and I know that he lives. I know that he can do all things, even save me from my sins after I have done all I can. I know I will fail. I know I don't measure up, and I accept and testify that it is by his grace that he will receive me at the last day and say "Well done, my good and faithful servant."
No comments:
Post a Comment