From: B S TURNER Owner
Spiritually Won Knowledge #10
Paul truly understood what Alma was saying in Mosiah 9:39-42. He wrote to the Galatians the following message:
Galatians 2:20 I am crucified with Christ; nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave himself for me.
He understood that to see Christ he had to live the teachings of Jesus through faith believing. And yet we see an excellent explanation of the life and purpose of Jesus in the letter to the Philippians.
Philippians 2:5-11
Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus;
Who, being in the form of God, thought it not robbery to be equal with God;
But made himself of no reputation, and took upon him the form of a servant, and was made in the likeness of men;
And being found in fashion as a man, he humbled himself, and became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross.
Wherefore God also hath highly exalted him, and given him a name which is above every name;
That at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of things in heaven, and things in earth, and things under the earth;
And that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.
Do you see the reference here? He took upon himself the form of a servant and as he embraced that, he humbled himself. If Christ can do this, why are we not able to embrace humility in such a way that we to can see Christ in all that we do and are? Only doing this will we be able to say that Christ lives in me.
F. Henry Edwards in his book The Divine Purpose in Us said “When we live at our best, then by his grace we achieve within ourselves a sense of what it means truly to belong to him”
Imagine for a moment being this way and seeing the change in your personal life, then it would extend to the Church and finally to the world. This is not to say that evil would be done away with, that is not the case at all. Evil must be on the earth so that we can continue to choose righteous over unrighteous.
One would think that after you have found this light how could you ever make a bad decision. It happens every day to all people in all circumstances. That is why even today we are called to repent
DC 16:4e Take upon you the name of Christ, and speak the truth in soberness; and as many as repent, and are baptized in my name, which is Jesus Christ, and endure to the end, the same shall be saved.
The simplicity of the Gospel…..but to repent takes humility, see a theme here? As we look back to Mosiah, we see that the people that Alma had brought to repentance and baptism had the vision of what Christ looks like in their lives. He gives them counsel…
Alma 9:54 And he commanded them that there should be no contention one with another, but that they should look forward with one eye, having one faith and one baptism; having their hearts knit together in unity and in love, one towards another.
9:56 And he commanded them that they should observe the Sabbath day, and keep it holy, and also every day they should give thanks to the Lord their God.
9:64 And they did walk uprightly before God, imparting to one another, both temporally and spiritually, according to their needs and their wants.
Gosh – doesn’t this seem so simple? Verse 64 ties it all together, but I would encourage you to reread the entire passage.
To walk uprightly before God means that you have Christ in you, imparting to one another means you have humility. This together allows you to see what and where the needs are in people and in the Church.
How do we change the world that we are in, it just seems hopeless at times with the rioting etc. etc.…the answer is we don’t. We petition Jesus to bring us enlightenment just as we are told in the book The Endowment. If our hearts are in the right place we will see the actions that need to be taken to accomplish His will.
The story of Captain Moroni comes to mind. Find it and read it. A message for the times that we are in.
Yours in Christ
Brian Turner
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