D&C 20:32-84

20:32-36 - Even though the concept of Justification and Sanctification can be a little bit complex, at least for me, the next topic discussed by the Lord is pretty interesting, it’s about personal apostasy. The Lord warns “There is a possibility that man may fall from grace and depart from the living God; Therefore let the church take heed and pray always, lest they fall into temptation; Yea, and even let those who are sanctified take heed also.” Interestingly, I noticed that there was a heavy emphasis on personal testimony in this last general conference, and I just listened to an Ensign article today entitled “Avoiding Personal Apostasy.” In the article Elder Claudio D. Zivic taught “Apostasy frequently results when a person commits serious sin but does not repent. To silence his conscience or justify his sinful actions, the individual moves away from the truth, looking for imperfections in others or questioning Church doctrine with which he no longer agrees. Conflicts between Church members can also lead to apostasy. Some individuals begin to think the Church is not true when they feel that a leader did not treat them well. They become offended and, without considering what they are losing, they stray away from the Church.” The article gives the example of Oliver Cowdery, who apostatized after telling JS “’If I leave this church, it will fall.’ Joseph Responded, ‘Oliver, you try it.’ Oliver did try it, and he fell. The kingdom of God, however, remained firm.” I really liked when he said, “We enter a state of apostasy when we assume authority we do not possess or when we seek revelation for a stewardship outside of our sphere of responsibility.” This is excellent counsel to me because this is my issue, taking authority when it’s not given to me. I definitely need to learn to be more obedient, humble, and submissive. In the most recent general conference, Elder Kevin W. Pearson began by teaching, “Shortly before President Heber J. Grant passed away, one of the Brethren visited his home. Before he left, President Grant prayed, ‘O God, bless me that I shall not lose my testimony and keep faithful to the end!’ After nearly 27 years as President of the Church, this was his fervent prayer. His example is a striking reminder that no one, at any age, is immune from Satan’s influence.” I heard in a Relief Society lesson once a story of President David O. McKay praying for his personal testimony to stay strong, and I thought, “if the prophet of God has to constantly pray for a strong testimony, then so do I,” which answered a personal question for me because I had been thinking about my own personal testimony and if it would be accurate for me to say that I would never leave the Church, because saying so would sound arrogant, and not saying so could show a lack of commitment. It’s interesting how the Lord answers my questions when they come up. That night, after I heard that lesson I prayed that my testimony would grow and be strong and I felt such humility and such a strong feeling of truth that it affirmed to me that it was appropriate to pray for a stronger testimony, and that it wasn’t a lack of commitment to do so. The Lord was talking to all people about personal apostasy, but interestingly, he mentioned that even those who are sanctified are susceptible to the fiery darts of doubt and are able to “fall from Grace.” The IM asks and answers “What does it mean to ‘Fall from Grace’? Elder Theodore M. Burton said that this scripture, as he understood it, ‘means that Jesus Christ is kind and merciful to us when we serve him with our whole hearts, but not any of us can take refuge in past righteousness or service. It also means that there is a possibility that nay one of us can fall out of good standing, even those who have already achieved a certain degree of righteousness. Therefore, we need to be on our constant guard, each of us, that we not allow ourselves to fall into habits or carelessness in our faith, in our prayers, or in our various Church activities or responsibilities. It is for this reason that I am resolving again to live closer to God each day and to follow his chosen prophets and apostles more diligently than I have ever done in the past.” There is nothing more tragic than watching someone fall from their spiritual heights, and I’m sure that this includes myself, it really is a constant, everyday experience, just like eating food and drinking water. You can’t go a week without eating or drinking water without serious physical consequences. Likewise, you can’t go a week without praying or reading your scriptures without serious spiritual consequences, and I’d like to contest that the spirit is much more sensitive to moment by moment activities than the body is. If I don’t eat for several hours, I might get hungry, but I’m not going to downward spiral into a place where I can’t recover from without serious effort. But if I spend a few hours angry or pouting, as I do so often, or being rude or thinking something inappropriate, the Spirit leaves immediately and I’m stuck in a really negative place. And unlike being hungry, eating fixes it, but when I’m in a dark place spiritually because I’ve made poor choices, then it’s not just a matter of praying or reading my scriptures and being back on track, I usually have to think about what I did wrong and then work hard to overcome that before I can feel close to the Savior again. 20:37-43 - At this point in the section, DJR says, “From here to the end of the section, we see what we referred to at the beginning of this section as the first ‘Handbook of Instructions’ of the Church. As you will see, it gives instructions on many matters concerning how to conduct and run the newly restored Church.” The Lord begins the instructions the way a person begins their journey to eternal life, with baptism. The Lord teaches, “And again, by way of commandment to the church concerning the manner of baptism- all those who humble themselves before God, and desire to be baptized, and come forth with broken hearts and contrite spirits, and witness before the church that they have truly repented of all their sins, and are willing to take upon them the name of Jesus Christ, having a determination to serve him to the end, and truly manifest by their works that they have received of the Spirit of Christ unto the remission of their sins, shall be received by baptism into his church.” I wonder if the phrase “and truly manifest by their works that they have received of the Spirit of Christ unto the remission of their sins,” is a reference to the concept of justification. The IM comments on “Broken Hearts and Contrite Spirits” by quoting President Joseph Fielding Smith as teaching, “Contrition is manifestation of a broken heart with deep sorrow for sin, a realization of the nature of wrongdoing and a desire for forgiveness through the grace of God. A contrite spirit is essential to salvation.” And also “What is a broken heart? One that is humble, one that is touched by the Spirit of the Lord, and which is willing to abide in all the covenants and the obligations which the Gospel entails.” I love DJR’s definition of contrite as meaning “desiring correction as needed.” Again, I’m a difficult person to be around, and taking correction is difficult for me, and desiring correction is near impossible. But desiring correction implies humility, a realization that I can’t fix my own problems and that I need the Lord’s help in order to make my life ok again. I’ve actually found myself asking the Lord what I need to do to fix my situation, and it’s empowering, which might seem counterintuitive, but it’s true, I see a light at the end of the tunnel, I see a way out when the Lord tells me what to do, and that hope wasn’t there when I was wallowing in my own self-pity and self will run riot. Continuing with the concept of baptism, the Lord commands that “the duty of the elders, priests, teachers, deacons, and members of the church of Christ- An apostle is an elder, and it is his calling to baptize; and to ordain other elders, priests, teachers, and deacons; and to administer bread and wine- the emblems of the flesh and blood of Christ- and to confirm those who are baptized into the church, by the laying on of hands for the baptism of fire and the Holy Ghost, according to the scriptures; and to teach, expound, exhort, baptize, and watch over the church; and to confirm the church by the laying on of the hands, and the giving of the Holy Ghost.” Going back to the concept of baptism the IM quotes Elder Bruce R. McConkie as teaching, “To gain salvation every accountable person must receive two baptisms. They are the baptism of water and of the Spirit. The baptism of the Spirit is called the baptism of fire and of the Holy Ghost. By the power of the Holy Ghost- who is the Sanctifier- dross, iniquity, carnality, sensuality, and every evil thing is burned out of the repentance soul as if by fire; the cleansed person becomes literally a new creature of the Holy Ghost. He is born again. The baptism of fire is not something in addition to the receipt of the Holy Ghost; rather, it is the actual enjoyment of the gift which is offered by the laying on of hands at the time of baptism. ‘remission of sins,’ the Lord says, come ‘by baptism, and by fire, yea, even the Holy Ghost.’ Those who receive the baptism of fire are ‘filled as if with fire.’ In addition, as Elder Harold B. Lee explained, ‘baptism by immersion symbolizes the death and burial of the man of sin; and the coming forth out of the water, the resurrection to a newness of spiritual life. After baptism, hands are laid upon the head of the baptized believe, and he is blessed to receive the Holy Ghost. Thus does the one baptized receive the promise or gift of the Holy Ghost or the privilege of being brought back into the presence of one of the Godhead, by obedience to whom and through his faithfulness one so blessed might receive the guidance and direction of the Holy Ghost in his daily walks and talks, even as Adam walked and talked in the Garden of Eden with God, his Heavenly Father. To receive such guidance and such direction from the Holy Ghost is to be spiritually reborn.’” That is really interesting. I thought it was quite profound when he said that by being baptized, we are given the “privilege of being brought back into the presence of one of the Godhead.” I had never considered it that way before. If our main goal in this existence is to return to our Heavenly Father, then of course it would make sense that we would begin by being allowed to return to the presence of the Holy Ghost first, and work towards being perfected in that aspect of it. 20:44-84 – There are a lot of other interesting concepts covered in the rest of this section, but I don’t feel like I have too much more to add about it then what the IM already discusses. So I’m going to screenshot the lessons and post them to follow here.