How My Concept of Salvation Differs from Mainstream Christians

I have noticed that mainstream Christians spend a lot of time talking about whether they are saved. They are always encouraging an audience to declare their faith and be saved even if the audience is mostly Christian. In my faith we don’t worry about whether we are saved and we rarely talk about it in that way. Here’s why…

 I chose this picture because of the subcategories. In my theology there are many subcategories of glory in God's kingdom.

We teach that God has a Plan of Salvation. In this plan, we are born to mortal parents, tested, and die. God sent his Son to redeem us and this makes it possible for us to be resurrected after we die. Our choices here on Earth put us in paradise or prison after death until we are brought before the bar of God to be judged. Our judgement and resurrection precede our reward of a heavenly home in one of God’s many kingdoms which vary in their glory. The best kingdom has the highest glory and there are three degrees of glory in general. But as the stars differ one from another, the worst kingdom is like all the stars of heaven in its variety. In this way, the judgement that is pronounced is rewarded with exactly the right amount of glory in God’s kingdom. The idea that a mortal could declare with certainty someone’s salvation seems ludicrous to us. For all but sons of perdition, we believe that everyone will be saved from death with a resurrected body and from spiritual death with a restoration of the spirit but the glory of that salvation will vary. It doesn’t make sense to us to try to guess what glory someone will receive so we just focus on trying to make good choices and be worthy of the highest glory in God’s kingdom.

People in my faith are criticized for focusing too much on “works.” Our concept of salvation leads to this kind of focus but it doesn’t exclude us from teaching about the great Atonement of Christ in the garden of Gethsemane and on the cross. What “works” do Mormons do?

1. I “work” towards unity and oneness with God. This means that ‘I’ll go where you want me to go. … I’ll say what you want me to say. … I’ll be what you want me to be.’” Hymn 270
2. I “work” on personal religious observances like prayer, scriptures study, fasting and worship.
3. I “work” on family. I have eight kids that all need my nurturing, instruction and discipline.
4. I “work” on taking care of the poor, needy, widow and fatherless. I am assigned to look after four sisters in my congregation some of which are single.
5. I “work” on teaching the rising generation how to worship God. My current assignment is to teach 4 year olds in sunday school, but I spent over five years teaching teenagers.
6. I “work” on serving in my community. My leaders encouraged me to find a way to help refugees so I now volunteer for the Red Cross in a capacity that directly helps refugees.

Do I think that these “works” save me? Well not exactly. I’m well aware of my sinful nature and the necessity I have for a Redeemer. I also see my “works” as saving me from idleness and sin in this life. I don’t really worry about whether I’m saved or whether I’m doing enough. I don’t know that I’m saved but I don’t need the certainty because I’ve gotten little reassurances from God himself that I’m on the path. Focusing on a path and not the ending is to focus on walking and not arriving. A path requires flexibility because we can’t see where it goes short term even if we know where it leads. 

I hope this clarifies a little what has become a very divisive debate about grace, works and salvation. I have also written about it here and here. I know that Christ is my savior. I have been blessed to receive forgiveness for some of my sins and I continue to ponder, pray and make small incremental changes on others. I don’t expect to be able to change or correct my sinful nature enough to be worthy of redemption but I do intend to work towards purity while I am able.

Image credit: Subcategories of Twilight by TWCarlson 

• CC BY-SA 3.0

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Day 9: Jesus the Perfect Mentor

This is Day 9 in a challenging new series of posts. Each post will focus on a way to increase spirituality, focus or efficiency in dealing with life. Each post will provide a speech or essay to read, a 5 question quiz and a personal challenge statement or goal. The hope is that through self-directed learning and some coaching from me, you will grow in refreshing new ways.

Life has a purpose. That purpose determines the scope of our individual lives and the fate of nations. Making choices and learning the consequences is part of our experience here. Accepting Christ is one of the choices we have. This speech is about a few aspects of Jesus Christ's life and how he mentors us in our life individually. If you've never heard Neal A Maxwell, now deceased, he was a pleasure to listen to and his ideas were very profound. 

1. Read the Speech:

Speech

2. Take the Quiz

Quiz

3. Personal Challenge Statement: I am grateful for Jesus Christ's mentorship.

4. Goal: Even though I may not see the marvelous pattern and divine design in my life, I will have faith in the Lord's timetable.

5. Dig Deeper:
"When God Seems Distant"
"Who's Got the Reins?"
"One Fold, One Shepherd"

Breaking Every Bond

A person in bondage used to mean slavery.  The bond was anything that took away their freedom.  God cares about people who are enslaved. This post is about breaking the bonds that enslave us spiritually.

Here’s how it works.  God calls people who are already free. They come together as a church to gather those who are enslaved. They take the message to the east and the west, to the north and the south any way that they can.  

Everyone who comes together must be obedient as best they can and exercise faith. In Sabbath-day worship, God pours out his Spirit upon them. This strengthens them to do the work that will break the bond. Worshiping together and feeling God’s Spirit begins to weaken the bond but it is not enough.

Everyone has to go out into the towns and villages around where they live and preach repentance. This will bring more people into the fellowship of the saints who need to be freed. But more importantly, the message of repentance inspires those that teach it to use it. The process of repentance breaks bonds.

Satan seeks to destroy people by enslaving them and taking away their choices. People who begin to choose to obey God’s laws begin to evict Satan from their lives. The truth is that it is very hard for an enslaved person to keep God’s laws. The Sabbath-day worship provides the momentum needed to enable people to do just that.

Through a combination of all these things, together with the protection of the vulnerable who are making changes, will break every bond (in time). In the meantime, all of us must visit the poor, the needy, and the fatherless and do all in our power to alleviate their suffering. Organizing such visits so that everyone visits between 1-5 families sure makes it easier to cover a lot of ground.

The freedom that God has planned for us is not possible if we keep ourselves aloof from the church. Because freedom comes with time. The church offers us protection but it also gives us a way to help others break their bonds of slavery. How can I expect to only be the recipient of God’s gift of freedom? First I must serve, by teaching the process to others, alleviating their suffering and living in obedience to the laws that are prerequisite to freedom.  Then I will be set free myself.

The process of becoming free happens on an individual level and among people working together in the same community.  The church may be global, but the work is done as a small scale. How can I be free just by being part of a global organization? I have to work among my congregation and those that live in towns and villages around me. I have to worship on the Sabbath to strengthen others. If my community is too large, the poor and needy might get lost and forgotten. The breaking of bonds requires that the poor and the needy be found and assisted. The message of repentance has to be taught (not by someone else — but by me and not just at church but in one-on-one interactions).

If I attend church and find that the majority of the congregation is not free but actually enslaved in some way, I will not be surprised. This is what a congregation should look like.  The members should be talking about the baby steps that are making them more free every day. If everyone is listening to one person and no one even knows who the poor and the needy are in the congregation than the process of breaking bonds has not been organized or begun.

I believe that the bonds Satan uses to enslave us include:

addictions

pornography

adultery

anger

unforgiven hurts

abuse

dependance on welfare

mental illness

divorce 

dishonesty

and many other things.

If you have been enslaved by any of these things you will know how important one-on-one interactions and the protection of community are in recovery. I hope that this post helps explain why and how the church also plays an important role in recovery. This post doesn’t spend much time on the process of repentance but that is the one-on-one relationship with God that ultimately frees us. I just want to emphasize that God is not going to free us just to see us fall back into a deeper pit.  He loves us too much to free us in an unprotected environment where Satan can exploit our vulnerabilities. If you are surprised that God has not freed you yet, maybe you haven’t thought about how loving it is of him to wait until you are in a safe place before he cuts your bonds.

The source for the idea behind this post is D&C 44

True and Perfect Worship

"True and perfect worship consists in following in the steps of the Son of God:

Keeping the commandments
Obeying the will of the Father
Living
Doing
Obeying
Emulating the life of the great Exemplar
to Follow
to Seek
to Believe
to Think
to Walk in his paths
to be Baptized
to Preach
to Heal the sick
To put first in our lives the things of his kingdom
to Live by every word that proceedeth forth from His mouth
to Center our whole hearts upon Christ
to Walk in the light
to Do the things he wants done
to Do what he would do under similar circumstances
to Be as He is
to Walk in the Spirit
to Rise above carnal things
to Bridle our passions
to Overcome the world
to Pay tithes and offerings
to Act as wise stewards
to Use our talents and means for spreading truth
to Build up the kingdom
to be Married
to Have children
to Teach them the gospel
to Perfect the family unit
to Honor our father and mother
to Love our spouse and none else
to Visit the fatherless & widows
to Keep ourselves unspotted from the world
to Work on welfare projects
to Administer to the sick
to Go on a mission
to Study the gospel
to Treasure up light and truth
to Ponder in our hearts
to Make them part of our lives
to Pray with all the energy of our souls
to Preach by the power of the spirit
to Sing praises
to Be actively engaged in good causes
to Be about our Father's business
to Love and serve our fellowmen
to Feed the hungry
to Clothe the naked
to Comfort those that mourn
to Hold up the hands that hang down
to Strengthen the feeble knees
to Stand valiantly in the cause of truth
to Influence for good in civic, cultural, educational and governmental fields
to Support laws and principles which further the Lord's interests
to Be of good cheer
to Be courageous
to Be valiant
to Keep the faith

"It is ten thousand times ten thousand things.  It is keeping the commandments of God.  It is living the whole law of the whole gospel."

- Bruce R McConkie
Source: How to Worship
Image credit Flickr/ jubileelewis