"...come unto me and be baptized..."

The verse before was a simple statement of the "good news" of Christ found in the Book of Mormon, framed in the cleanliness needed to be with God in the hereafter.  Now, Christ commands us in what needs to be done to be cleansed by the Savior:

3 Nephi 27

20 Now this is the commandment: Repent, all ye ends of the earth, and come unto me and be baptized in my name, that ye may be sanctified by the reception of the Holy Ghost, that ye may stand spotless before me at the last day.

The fourth Article of Faith of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints is a statement of belief around these principles and ordinances:

“We believe that the first principles and ordinances of the Gospel are: first, Faith in the Lord Jesus Christ; second, Repentance; third, Baptism by immersion for the remission of sins; fourth, Laying on of hands for the gift of the Holy Ghost.”

There has already been much said of faith and repentance previously in the blog, but the concept of the Holy Ghost is included here and bears some thought.

Whether you consider the Holy Ghost as a part of the Godhead or just as the influence of God in our lives, this verse points out its power to sanctify.  When we commit ourselves to Christ through the outward ordinance of baptism, God acknowledges that commitment by a gift of the Holy Ghost, a constant guide and companion, to help us become better followers of Jesus.  Our willingness to follow promptings from the Spirit brings further inspiration - if we ignore those promptings or do wickedly, we drive the Spirit away and are left on our own.

I personally attest to the divine origin of prompting of the Holy Spirit.  As I pray and work to be obedient to the Lord's commandments, I have been inspired to do many things that have blessed my life and the lives of others. Of course, I repent and change to improve and I have been baptized and work to keep the commitments I have made to Christ, which makes the regular companionship of the Spirit possible, as Jesus mentions in this verse.

"...no unclean thing can enter into his kingdom;..."

Jesus continues to spiral into a very short and direct statement of the gospel itself.  I'll follow suit.

3 Nephi 27

19 And no unclean thing can enter into his kingdom; therefore nothing entereth into his rest save it be those who have washed their garments in my blood, because of their faith, and the repentance of all their sins, and their faithfulness unto the end.

I know there are many ideas of what "salvation" is.  Christ puts it in a very stark light - salvation is to be clean and in God's kingdom. So much for disputations on what salvation is.

Then, we are told that we are only saved through being clean through Jesus' blood or his atonement for us.  He cleans us and makes us fit for God's kingdom.  He does it "because" of faith in Christ, "repentance of all their sins", and faithfulness until death.  Christ has specific qualifications for the cleansing he can do and they are all actions or works that must be done.

Doing these things does not cleanse us. Christ cleans us. However, Jesus won't clean us for entering the kingdom of God unless he sees our individual effort on the requirements he has spoken in this short verse. 

This is very clear and very specific.  Put your trust in Christ and what he can do, become obedient to his commandments, and keep doing all of this and following his example for as long as you live.  As you do this, Jesus cleans you and brings you to the rest of God's kingdom.  It is simple and easy to understand, yet challenging to do.  

"...be lifted up..."

I continue to slowly move along the Savior's great spiral, adding more and more information and focus on his gospel from a seemingly innocuous question. 

3 Nephi 27

13 Behold I have given unto you my gospel, and this is the gospel which I have given unto you—that I came into the world to do the will of my Father, because my Father sent me.

14 And my Father sent me that I might be lifted up upon the cross; and after that I had been lifted up upon the cross, that I might draw all men unto me, that as I have been lifted up by men even so should men be lifted up by the Father, to stand before me, to be judged of their works, whether they be good or whether they be evil—

15 And for this cause have I been lifted up; therefore, according to the power of the Father I will draw all men unto me, that they may be judged according to their works.

Christ came into the world to be the Messiah, which was the mission that God the Father assigned to him. Jesus was completely focused on his role in the great plan, the largest part was to take upon himself our sins (if we will repent, which comes up soon enough in this spiral lecture), suffer and die for them, and become our ultimate judge. The actions of our Savior give us the opportunity to grow from mistakes and sins, learn to choose the better course and to "be good" rather than evil. As Jesus says "I will draw all men unto me" which is to "be lifted up" toward the Savior by God the Father, just as Christ was lifted up on a cross.   We all have that opportunity and there is a reminder that Jesus will be our judge in the end - did we take advantage of the chance he gave us to improve, or did we not?

He reminds us yet again (and again) that ultimate judgement is based on our "works", perhaps a nod to the fact that many will interpret that the things we do are not important to the Messiah, which is incorrect.

I am trying to remember how grateful I should be for the huge gift Christ provided for all of us - judgement and punishment are largely moved into the future so that we can make corrections in our lives now. Jesus does not absolve us of our unrepented sins, but he will forgive us of the wrongs we have done if we change to become more like him.  That is the gospel or "good news" of Christ.

Christ's "Rewards and Punishments" Two-Edged Sword

I am still looking at the "spiral" nature of the Savior's answers to questions, building and expanding on what he has said before.  This chapter begins with a rather simple question from the disciples on what the name of the Church should be.  Christ has already addressed that there should be no contention at all, much less about such things; gives reasons and logic about how the church should be named; and now provides what might be considered threats to those who would steer the Church via any doctrine other than his own:

3 Nephi 27

10 And if it so be that the church is built upon my gospel then will the Father show forth his own works in it.

11 But if it be not built upon my gospel, and is built upon the works of men, or upon the works of the devil, verily I say unto you they have joy in their works for a season, and by and by the end cometh, and they are hewn down and cast into the fire, from whence there is no return.

12 For their works do follow them, for it is because of their works that they are hewn down; therefore remember the things that I have told you.

This is yet another example of a Messiah who, along with caring for and loving those who diligently follow and obey him, will also "hewn down and cast into the fire" those who work their own private agendas through the instrumentality of the Church. People come to the Church to get the gospel of Christ unvarnished and terrible things await those who use the Church for other purposes.

We should expect to see the Father's own works in the Church. Things like abuse and unrighteous dominion will be punished in the end with a metaphorical or even literal "burning". There is much bally-ho among denominations regarding grace vs. works (more of that contention) and I think these verses, along with others, indicate that all will be judged on "their works (that) do follow them", "because of their works that they are hewn down".  This seems like clear talk to me - Christ's grace works alongside judgement for our works.

These versus are further statements of Christ's loving watch-care shepherding of his follower sheep and fierce punishments that await those who have worked their own will counter to the gospel of the Shepherd. Jesus has said, here and in other places, exactly what we can expect from him and his Church. The only question is if we will follow him and reap the rewards of keeping his commandments and being loyal and loving sheep, or if we will *work* our own agendas rather than his and suffer being "hewn down and cast into the fire".

"...the same shall be saved at the last day."

A young man spoke to us at a conference today, mentioning the best answers to questions are ones that expand beyond the original query.  For instance, the question "should I get married?" gets answered and beyond in the response "Young men should prepare to be good husbands and fathers."  You see the expansion? Beyond marriage, you should look forward to doing a good job for your wife and kids!

I just read an example of this from the Lord.  The disciple leaders of the Church in the Book of Mormon pray for the Savior to help them with a problem.  Christ himself comes and they ask him how the Church should be called and how there was some contention over this.  Here was his response.

3 Nephi 27

4 And the Lord said unto them: Verily, verily, I say unto you, why is it that the people should murmur and dispute because of this thing?

5 Have they not read the scriptures, which say ye must take upon you the name of Christ, which is my name? For by this name shall ye be called at the last day;

6 And whoso taketh upon him my name, and endureth to the end, the same shall be saved at the last day.

There is a bit of chastisement, which previous scriptures tell us is quite common from the Lord, and then he goes beyond what they asked for: Christ focuses on the requirements of salvation.  Verse 6 says that we need to take upon us his name, which is what is done at authoritative baptism, and then to endure as a busy disciple of Christ throughout our lives. These are the core elements of salvation and the Church, in its name and purpose, is the structure through which Christ provides authoritative baptisms and training and support toward good discipleship.

The name of Christ's church may seem a small matter to some, but Jesus made it obvious that it is important, not just as a name, but as a vehicle for accomplishing the Savior's purposes.  You might very well find other places where Christ and his prophets and apostles go beyond answering our seemingly simple questions to teach us larger principles and expand our understanding.

"...unto you that fear my name..."

 

This is yet another stab at resetting people's expectations of Jesus Christ.

When Christ came to the people in America, he commanded that some scripture be put into their records that had been written by prophets in the "old world". I have been reading through parts of the book of Malachi previously and I am still working through this.  I am also noticing a pattern.

It is the "fear of the Lord".

A lot of modern Christians don't equate Jesus with fear, but they should.  It is far too easy to think that Christ will simply forgive bad behavior purely out of a sense of love, of which I have seen no evidence in my scripture study. Information in Malachi chapters 3 and 4 is clear about Christ's punishments for the wicked (and he has an expansive view of who is wicked) and that our basic attitude toward the coming Christ should be fear. I don't know about you, but I am worried about my status in relation to the Messiah - how he sees me. Although a few people may follow Christ out of a sense of love, it seems many more are like me and do good and follow Jesus' example because we want to avoid the consequences of not doing so!

3 Nephi 25 or Malachi 4

1 For behold, the day cometh that shall burn as an oven; and all the proud, yea, and all that do wickedly, shall be stubble; and the day that cometh shall burn them up, saith the Lord of Hosts, that it shall leave them neither root nor branch.

2 But unto you that fear my name, shall the Son of Righteousness arise with healing in his wings; and ye shall go forth and grow up as calves in the stall.

3 And ye shall tread down the wicked; for they shall be ashes under the soles of your feet in the day that I shall do this, saith the Lord of Hosts.

I love the Lord and I am very grateful for his mercies and kindness toward me and mine. However, I don't insist that his love justify my sins nor do I put my hope in such an idea that I have not seen Jesus utter. I am very much in fear of what Christ will do to the wicked, as quoted above, and I don't want to be counted as one of them!  Fear and respect his name, as stated in these scriptures, and enjoy his healing.

"Return unto me and I will return unto you,..."

I might get the reputation of highlighting the hard Christ, the one who promises punishments for disobedience.  I do this because of the constant stream of platitudes from many, many popular sources that "God loves you the way you are" and the rejection of commandments and essential ordinances and repentance in favor of a supposed Christ's overarching desire to put aside everything he ever said and taught in favor of being oh-so-loving to everyone. If I were your only source for information on the Messiah, you might see him as a pretty hard taskmaster - I just feel this deep need to provide the better-documented (in scripture) counterpoint!

Here is a wonderful snippet to help you know that you don't have to be in the "hard" Savior's "doghouse" forever: 

3 Nephi 24 and Malachi 3

7 Even from the days of your fathers ye are gone away from mine ordinances, and have not kept them. Return unto me and I will return unto you, saith the Lord of Hosts. But ye say: Wherein shall we return?

This again is Christ Himself quoting Malachi because it was important for his followers in America to have this information.  That means that it must be of supreme importance to the Lord and to our allegiance to him.

If you don't feel as if Christ is a part of your life or you don't feel that you are having the spiritual experiences that he promised to send you through the Holy Ghost, it is because you have distanced yourself from him ("gone away from mine ordinances and have not kept them"). The way to resolve this lack of spiritual feeling and guidance is to "Return to me (Jesus)".  In the following verses, Jesus quotes the searing accusation that people rob God by not paying the commanded tithing as an example of how one can "return".  I choose to leave that concept aside for now, as I want to appeal to the folks that want the sweet and kindly Christ that can be found in a "properly interpreted" Bible (wink, wink).

Christ is always willing to get closer to us, but better proximity is always on the condition of repentance or change. It may be true that "God loves you the way you are", but it seems that his better presence and closer attention to your needs may be based on our striving to be a bit better than "the way you are".

I'm just restating the words of Christ himself - I hope that is not too "un-loving" for you dear readers!