second post of a two part post
THE BALANCE BETWEEN GRACE, REPENTANCE AND OBEDIENCE IN THE ANCIENT CHURCH OF JESUS CHRIST
The earliest Christians viewed and were taught to use the principles of repentance, obedience and Grace and left us many examples as to how to apply these principles as they were taught them by the Apostles themselves. For example, the Apostle Peter’s companion, Clement became a leader of the church in Rome at the same time when John is writing the book of Revelations. Clements letter to the squabbling Corinthians regards these very principles. Remember, Clement's first letter to the Corinthians WAS in the early New Testament canon anciently.
Clement teaches the Saints to implore God "
to be merciful, if inadvertently you had committed any sin". He understood and taught that the mercy (Grace) of God did not cover
willful and continuing sin, but the mercy of God covers
inadvertent sin. For the ancient Saints, the principle of repentance did NOT upset Grace and mercy and obedience, but
it worked in concert with them. Repentance, is an eternal principle as Clement explains :
"from generation to generation the Master has given an opportunity for repentance to those who desire to turn to him. Noah preached repentance...Jonah preached destruction to the people of Nineveh; but they, repenting of their sins, made atonement to God by their prayers and received salvation, even though they were alienated from God. "
In it’s full (and therefore more accurate) context, the ancient Saints rarely spoke of Grace outside the context of repentance. For example, Clement reminds the Early Day Saints :
"The ministers of the grace of God spoke about repentance...the Master of the universe himself spoke about repentance with an oath: ‘For as I live, says the Lord, I do not desire the death of the sinner, so much as his repentance."
In reminding them what it meant to repent and how their sins become "white as snow", Clement advised them :
"Wash and be clean, remove the wickedness from your souls out of my sight. Put an end to your wickedness; learn to do good; seek out justice; deliver the one who is wronged: give judgement on behalf of the orphan, and grand justice to the widow. And come, let us reason together, he says: even though your sins be as scarlet, I will make them white as wool. And if you are willing and listen to me, you shall eat the good things of the earth; but if you are not willing and do not listen to me, a sword shall devour you...
The promise that "ALL" could "eat the good things of the earth", was based on the requirement that they were "willing" and that they "listen to me" in
doing the things he told them to do..
The Ancient Saints immersed in such concrete teachings
knew that Grace and Charity of God were what saved them, BUT, they also understood that Grace and Charity would NOT save them if they did not repent. They were taught to :
" ...abandon the abominable lusts that spawn evil works, in order that we may be shielded by his mercy from the coming judgments....let us do all things that pertain to holiness, forsaking slander, disgusting and impure embraces, drunkenness and rioting and detestable lusts, abominable adultery, detestable pride."
THE ORDER OF CONSIDERATION : FAITH & REPENTANCE OF MEN AND THEN GRACE AND MERCY OF GOD
When Peter tells Clement that the teaching of Gospel principles
"has a certain order, and there are some things which must be delivered first, others in the second place, and others in the third, and so all in their order; and if these things be delivered in their order, they become plain; but if they be brought forward out of order, they will seem to be spoken against reason." (Peter, recognitions)
The greater context of this thread is out of order and cannot be easily reasoned due to abuse of this principle. The thread, almost from the beginning, starts discussing "the Grace of God"
without the important context of the very principles to which Mercy and Forgiveness and Salvation and Atonement are anchored. For example: Repentance
Even Alethia is aware of the fact that She MUST repent of her sins BEFORE she has access to mercy and forgiveness that will result in her ultimate salvation. But, in the desire to argue, this is overlooked.
Grace, as a "stand alone" principle, without any context, means little. If the principle of grace is "mis-taught" that all one has to do is "ask for it", then it is "mis-understood" as a "slices, dices, and does all principle" that is absolutely free to all, and all are saved so that heaven is peopled by any one who asks for mercy, even the rapists, and thieves who continue to rape and steal there without any intention to repent. Peter is correct that such principles are "unreasonable" when mis-taught and mis-understood. However, If we do as the Apostle Peter says, and retain Grace in it’s proper context, it can make sense.
Supposed we placed the principles into a simple order in the following simplified example:
What Must Alethia do in order to access the full benefits of the Atonement of Jesus :
1)
Alethia must first have faith in God and in his Son Jesus Christ.
2) Since Jesus demands we repent of our sins and obedience to his commands.
Alethia MUST repent of her sins and she must obey Jesus Christ in order to access the mercy and grace offered to her.
3)
If Alethia does not wish to repent, or if she refuses to learn obedience to Jesus’ commandments, then she does NOT have access to the Grace that Jesus offers to all.
4)
If she does not have access to the Mercy and Grace of Jesus, she will NOT be given the full blessings of the Atonement which he wrought.
Alethia’s current theory of Atonement has no advantage over the authentic Atonement. She STILL may not access grace to be "saved" in heaven without repentance; the same as all others.
A WORD ON CONTEXT
When Clements tells the ancient Saints,
"Let us clothe ourselves in concord, being humble and self-controlled, keeping ourselves far from all backbiting and slander, being justified by works and not by words"
His comments that we are "justified by works" are a few words within a very large discourse. This single sentence MUST be kept in it’s correct context, or it will seem to contradict the justification that comes through the atonement of Christ. If Alethia truly HAS read the ensign articles she claims to have read, then she knows that she has removed many of the LDS statements from a correct and larger context, which would have allowed them to make a difference sense. And, like Clements statement taken out of IT'S context, they may seem not to consider the full nature of the sacrifice of Jesus unless they are replaced into their context. If this is intentional deception, then Alethia, you need to repent of doing such things.
Alethia, you are allowed the same access to the wonderful atonement which is full of Grace and mercy that Jesus Christ offers to all mankind. However,
, you must repent of your sins Alethia. If you do NOT repent of your sins, you cannot expect that Jesus will save you if you willingly choose evil; if you willingly choose to deceive; or willingly harm and hurt others. You must repent Alethia. There is no way around this principle as you seek the charity and mercy of Jesus.
Clear
eivitzse55jo
