thoughts

I went to bed last night at a reasonable time, about 11pm or so, only to wake up at 2am. grr. I've tried to go to sleep again, with no success. I even put away my laundry that has been piled on my bed since Saturday, but alas, alack...I'm still awake.

So, I've decided that this was an opportune time to share some thoughts that I've had.

Now I know most of the time that random thoughts that I've posted are seldom serious, but this time, I am. It hearkens back to the end of my mission, when I came home, and realized that I had been teaching the lesson, "Gospel of Jesus Christ" somewhat incorrectly. A bit disheartening, I know. It wasn't blasphemy by any means, but here's what I taught: (short version)

Because of the Fall of Adam, there are two obstacles that keep us from living with God forever: death and sin. (I used visual aids for this) It is as if there is a road back to heaven, with two impassable rivers. The first river, death, has already been taken care of, through the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. The second river, sin, requires us to pay a toll to cross the bridge. The toll is that of Faith, Repentance, Baptism by immersion for the remission of sins, the Laying on of Hands for the Gift of the Holy Ghost, and Enduring to the End. Voila, Heaven!

Okay, like I said, nothing horribly blasphemous, but it occurred to me that it was taking away from the wondrousness of the Atonement of Jesus Christ.

It wasn't until a week or so ago that I was reading Alma 9, and near the end there is a short discussion about the redemption of man, and faith versus works.

This caused me to think, and sit down and rehash my earlier version of teaching the Gospel of Jesus Christ.

Because of the Fall of Adam, we are unable to return to God's presence because Death and Sin were brought into the world. For sake of clarification, I shall use the term Original Sin. This is an attempt to avoid confusion of terms.Through the Atonement of Jesus Christ, both Death (through the Resurrection) and Original Sin (through the Atonement) were overcome.

As a visual aid, I would have a stick figure on one side of an immense chasm, with the two obstacles down in the pit. Heaven (where God lives) would be off to the right, high in the air. The bridge over the chasm is that of the Atonement.

The Atonement has taken place, and all those who have ever been born will be able to cross over that bridge. This is why, when I try to think of instances where Christ talks of the fall, or how we are a fallen people, I cannot: the Fall has been taken care of. What he is concerned about is what we do with this precious Gift (see D&C 88:33) that he has given to us. Do we use it? Or is is taken for granted.

Back to the visual: on the other side of the bridge there are three doors. If one chooses to live with God, taking full advantage of the Gift, you, enter the door via Baptism. By the way, we walk with steps of faith and repentance. Once we have entered through the door, we hold to the rail of the Holy Ghost, who guides our constant steps of faith and repentance, all the while, pressing forward, and enduring to the end.

In short, we are all saved by the Grace of God. It is only in and through the Atonement of Jesus Christ we are able to live again, and be forgiven of our sins. Now, how we use and work with this most precious gift is up to us.