What Does Modern Revelation Mean to Me

As I see it, there are several purposes of modern revelation. Among them are:

1. To restore truths lost in the apostasy,
2. To restore priesthood authority, organization, offices, and duties, and
3. To give God's guidance as to our own day and age

Consider the state of religious knowledge when Joseph Smith came on the scene. Much truth about our Heavenly Father and his Son had been lost. The creeds of apostate Christianity were so confused that it was obvious that man did not know whom or what they worshiped, of even that we are literally our Heavenly Father's children. Much of the other pure doctrines and truths were also lost. Without modern revelation, this apostasy would still be in effect today. The truth about God and mankind's relationship to him would have remained unknown. In fact, the remaining truths would likely have continued to be misunderstood and lost. I think the situation would still be getting worse and worse, if not for modern revelation.

Modern revelation, along with visitations of angels and ordinations to authority, also brought back to earth true priesthood authority, along with the knowledge of how to exercise it. The offices and duties of priesthood holders was revealed. This allows us to have God's power in our lives, and to use it to bless the lives of others.

The Proclamation on the Family, the recent (in terms of modern vs ancient) statement from the LDS First Presidency on marriage being between a man and a woman and the duties of husband, wife, and children, is one item I can think of right off when trying to list where modern revelation has been given concerning the immediate and present circumstances in which we live today. Others are warnings against pornography and gambling. There are many others. All one needs to do is look at the reports of the church conferences, and at the church magazines and church news to see many more examples. This helps to guide us through the pitfalls in the world that we currently face.

Another example of current revelation for our times is the personal revelation available to every worthy person, to aid them in their personal lives and in their own church duties. I testify that such revelation has helped me in my life. It has helped me make right decisions, guide my family, and find peace in hard times.

Another form of modern revelation is the patriarchal blessing, wherein the Lord, speaking through the local patriarch, gives instruction to the individual, which is tailored to his or her individual circumstances and to the Lord's plans for that person. I testify that these blessings are accurate and extremely helpful, as I have seen with my own patriarchal blessing.

I am grateful to the Lord for the blessings that I have discussed in this post, and for others, all of which cam to me because of modern revelation.

This Says it Better (On Grace)

So...

Just after my last post, I read this:

http://www.lds.org/ensign/2013/09/his-grace-is-sufficient?lang=eng

This is pretty much the idea I was trying to get across, but it says it much better than I did.

Grace and Works: Relief from the Burden of Earning Our Way into Heaven

I am leaving my normal format of "What does this or that mean to me" to address another issue that is on my mind today. A high council speaker in our meeting today gave a very thought provoking message based on John 14:15, "If ye love me, keep my commandments." He had some very good advice about why the commandments are important, and what should motivate us to keep them. I have since been pondering about this, and about the Grace and Works issue.

I am fully aware that some accuse the Latter-day Saints of trying to earn their way into heaven, as if by doing good works we could somehow make ourselves pure and worthy of salvation. While there are those in the LDS church and in other churches who take this approach in the belief that good works in themselves have some saving value, I believe that such people are misguided and do not understand the doctrines of salvation.

The scriptures are full of assurances that we are saved only through the atonement of Christ and his grace. Examples are all over the scriptures here are just a few:

• Ephesians 2:8-9 "For grace you are saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: Not of works, lest any man should boast."

• Book of Mormon, Mosiah 13:32 "...they understood not that there could not any man be saved except it were through the redemption of God."

• Book of Mormon, 2 Nephi 9:7 "...save it should be an infinite atonement this corruption could not put on incorruption. ..."

There are many more. It appears that no effort we make can compare to the infinite atonement. All of my effort plus infinity is still infinity. For that matter, all of my lack of effort plus infinity is still infinity. No effort of ours can contribute in any significant way to our salvation - we can only rely on the merits of Christ. "And since man had fallen he could not merit anything of himself; but the sufferings and death of Christ atone for their sins." (Book of Mormon, Alma 22:14)

So, if we are saved through his grace and by no act of our own, what is the purpose of the Lord's commandments? If any attempt to save ourselves or become pure by our own effort is doomed to failure, is there a reason for such good works as obedience to the commandments, or the making and keeping  of covenants? 

I believe there is.

For one thing, the commandments provide guidelines by which the we can invite the Holy Ghost, or the Spirit of the Lord, into our lives. The Lord gave us these commandments to enable us to live in the light of that spirit and in its guidance.

Now we come back to John 14:15. The one thing we must do is love the Lord. There is only one way we can love him, and that is by trying to serve him. Those who claim to love God, but who place no importance on obeying him, are deceiving themselves and/or trying to deceive others.

Those who truly love the Lord will naturally do all they can to obey him. And when we love him and try to obey him, He blesses us with his spirit. The Holy Ghost makes the atonement effective in our lives. The cleansing power of the atonement comes to us through the spirit. In 3 Nephi 27:20, it says "..that ye may be sanctified by the reception of the Holy Ghost." Without this spirit we are as the unbelievers who reject the atonement, and the atonement will have no effect on us.

Moroni said, in Moroni 10:32, "Yea, come unto Christ, and be perfected in him, and deny yourselves of all ungodliness; and if ye shall deny yourselves of all ungodliness, and love God with all your might, mind and strength, then is his grace sufficient for you, that by his grace ye may be perfect in Christ; and if by the grace of God ye are perfect in Christ, ye can in nowise deny the power of God."

So in summary, it is God's grace that saves us. That grace becomes operative in our lives when we love him. No amount of struggle to earn our way into heaven can take the place of loving him.

The understanding of this principle will free some from a heavy burden. We do not have to do it all. We need to stop burdening ourselves with the struggle to be so good as to earn worthiness, and instead strive to love God with our all. If we truly love him, that is enough. If we truly love him, we are doing more than just going through the motions. We then do good works because, in our love for him, we want to please him. This brings his cleansing spirit into our lives. Thus, love of God overcomes our imperfections, and this is something we could never do on our own. Loving him in this way is the only way to be saved. Salvation cannot be earned, but it can be received by those to whom He grants it. And He grants salvation to all who love him.

What Does Joseph Smith Mean to Me?

In 1820, a fourteen year old boy believed the words in the fifth verse of James, chapter 3, that God will answer our questions if we just ask Him in faith. Joseph went to ask which church was right. The resulting vision of God and Christ began the restoration of the true gospel to earth.

The Book of Mormon, priesthood authority, true temple worship, and every other aspect of the gospel and church of Jesus Christ has been restored to bless our lives, all through the instrumentality of this remarkable young man.

Joseph was obedient and faithful throughout his life to the instructions that were given him in this vision and others. His faithfulness is an example to us, as is his courage in the face of persecution, his willingness to work hard and steadily in translation of the Book of Mormon, his love for family and for the brethren of the church, his dedication to Christ, and many other traits.

According to the Doctrine and Covenants, in section 135, verse 3, Joseph did more for the salvation of men than anyone in history, with the exception of Jesus Christ himself.

Personally, I am extremely grateful for all of the blessings of the gospel in my life and in the lives of my family. I thank Heavenly Father for the sealing power that binds me to them permanently. I'm grateful to hold the priesthood, and to give priesthood blessings to family members. I'm grateful for opportunities to partake in the saving ordinances of the gospel, to know about our Father's plan of salvation, and to serve in the church. I'm thankful for a living prophet, apostles, and inspired bishops and other local leaders.

All of this is available because Joseph Smith know and followed and obeyed our God, and so it follows that my gratitude for Joseph is immense.

What the Scriptures Mean to Me

Not long ago, in the second half of 2005, President Hinckley challenged all of the members of the church to read the Book of Mormon again before the end of the year. As I did this, I thought of how blessed we are to have the scriptures available to us.

The Mulekites came away from Jerusalem without any scriptures, and before many generations they were a lost and godless people. The Lamanites, when they destroyed the Nephites, also destroyed the scriptures, rejecting them intentionally.  Their descendants dwindled even further in unbelief.

The Nephites and other righteous groups who had and used the scriptures flourished, both as to things of righteousness and as to material prosperity.

Personally, my day goes better and I am spiritually stronger when I begin the day by reading in the scriptures. There is a better spirit in the home when we read as a family. This is true of the Book of Mormon and the Bible, of course, but I find that the Doctrine and Covenants and the Pearl of Great Price also have that spirit about them. Which of the four has the most impact on us? That depends on the circumstances of the day and upon what the Lord has in store for us to learn at the time. When is the right time to start reading the Book of Mormon again? I think it's the day you finish reading it. I hope that there is never a day in which I don't read something from that book. Consistent studly of the Bible, D&C, and Pearl of Great Price are also essential.

I testify that the scriptures are a very important part of our Heavenly Father's approach to providing gospel knowledge to his children. Many of our problems in life can be answered through prayerful scripture study. I thank the Lord that this is so.