January 8, 2012
We studied 1 Nephi 1-7 today in Sunday School, I love the Book of Mormon. Just a couple of high lights;
1. Nephi’s purpose for writing the his book--1 Nephi 6:4 “…persuade men to come unto the God of Abraham and the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob and be saved.” And who is the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob? Jehovah or Jesus Christ.
2. The Lord’s promise to Nephi (and all of us) -- Nephi 2:20 “…keep my commandments, ye shall prosper…” This promise is repeated at least 20 times in the Book of Mormon.
3. Nephi’s example of coming unto Christ—1 Nephi 1:15 “…having great desires to know of the mysteries of God, wherefore, I did cry unto the Lord: and behold he did visit me, and did soften my heart that I did believe…” and of course 1 Nephi 3:7 “…I will go and do the things which the Lord hath commanded…”
These are wonderful promises and examples, if we will come unto Christ and keep His commandments we will not only be happy, but we will prosper and be saved. I know this is true. I have been lax in doing everything I should to truly magnify my callings (keeping the commandments) and during this New Year I plan to do much better.
One last point I would like to add tonight: I have learned something this year and it is not really new, we teach it and it is a very basic doctrine of the Gospel. I have had a difficult time believing that Christ’s Atonement would ever cover my sins, not that I feel I have huge sins, just that I can see/feel how week I really am. I have always felt that I have had a testimony of the reality of the Atonement, I knew that others, my wife, my children, my mother, my father, my brothers and my sisters would have their sins forgiven, but how would I ever deserve/earn that blessing. What I have learned is that I never will deserve or earn the blessings of the Atonement, it is a blessing, a gift to the true followers of Christ, who repent, even me. That is what we all need to have “faith in” that Christ suffered for our sins, He paid the price out of Perfect Love for each of us, me and you, and we can’t earn Salvation. All we can do is truly turn to Him, Repent and follow him by keeping his commandments and then exercise faith in the Atonement and Christ by continuing to repent and follow his example to the best of our understanding, every day.
I plan to try to have an entry to my blog each Sunday. Please let me know if any of my entries make any sense.
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