Our Savior

Choice 1

*I feel as if we are being told to get over the small petty things, and humble ourselves. We are supposed to be of one mind and one heart. We are not to dis-ban and turn against one another. The Gospel is about unity and love. We are to lift one another up higher than we could do on our own. I love that thought.

* It’s true that in order to gain your own testimony you have to gradually take yourself off of your parents’ testimony and strength. It takes a lot of action to find your testimony, and I really do believe you have to do it, knowing that it will take work on your part.

*I think that in Philippians 4:13, it describes the solution to this difficult decision. Through Christ we can do all things, even things more difficult then we alone can bear. Christ knows our situations and he knows our hearts. We must do the right thing, and continue to have faith that those we love will have softened hearts.

*This writing is an example of 2 Nephi 32:3, because we will always face difficult decisions and difficult circumstances in our lives. The scriptures will literally answer all questions we face about decisions we need to make, or will bring us the peace we are seeking. “The words of Christ will tell you all things what ye should do.” If we read our scriptures, then I know we will be blessed with answers.

Choice 5: Hebrews 1-2. Jesus Christ is greater than Angels.

*Christ is superior to the Angels. It says in the Bible Dictionary under “Analysis of Hebrews” that, “…He has a more excellent name, inheritance, and higher calling. They are servants; He is the Son. If the word of Angels is important, how much more earnest heed we ought to give to the things spoken by the Lord.”

*Hebrews 1; 3 great truths Paul wrote about the Savior:

1. He is better than the angels, because “He has obtained a more excellent name than they” (Hebrews 1:4)

2. Christ is a sceptre of righteousness. (Hebrews 1:8)

3. Christ loved righteousness more than iniquity; therefore was blessed by God above all others.

*Christ tasted death, so that He would know what man would one day suffer. “For in that he himself suffered being tempted, he is able to succor them that are tempted” (Hebrews 2:18). Christ came to earth to experience immortality so that He would know what the children of God would face. He did it for us, so that He could more perfectly understand us and comfort us. We can find grace in time of need, through our Savior who so died for us.

“Yea, I say unto you come and fear not, and lay aside every sin, which easily doth beset you, which doth bind you down to destruction, yea, come and go forth, and show unto your God that ye are willing to repent of your sins and enter into a covenant with him to keep his commandments, and witness t unto him this day by going into the water of baptism.  Book of Mormon, (Alma 7:15)

"Now I say unto you that ye must repent, and be born again; for the Spirit saith if ye are not born again ye cannot inherit the kingdom of heaven; therefore come and be baptized unto repentance, that ye may be washed from your sins, that ye may have faith on the Lamb of God, who taketh away the sins of the world, who is mighty to save and to cleanse from all unrighteousness. (Alma 7:14)

Our Savior tells us not to be afraid to repent, because if we don't, His death will have been in vain. 

Grace is what saves us through our Savior

Good Works

“But glory, honour, and peace to every man that worketh good…”

“But the doers of the law shall be justified…”

Faith and Grace

“Therefore we conclude that a man is justified by faith…”

“Therefore it is of faith, that it might be by grace…”

“And being not weak in faith, he considered not his own now dead…”

*Paul chose Abraham as a model of faith because he had so much of it! He believed in what he knew, and he did not doubt even considering the circumstances. He could not see how he would be the father of many nations, but he knew it would happen regardless of the situation in which he was in.

*Adam’s fall affected each of us, because Adam died that we would become. He suffered death by sin and that made him know good from evil and that is how we now live our lives with that knowledge.

* We understand Grace, faith, and good works to be the things that will bring us Salvation through Christ. After we do all we can it is Grace that saves us. Grace means a divine means of help, and we receive that help through our Savior by His Infinite Atonement. Without faith and good works we are not trying to be doers of the word, and without it are unbelieving. 

Look up bible dictionary reference of "Grace" and let it sink it. 

www.lds.org    www.mormon.org

Baptism and who do we serve?

*Before baptism can occur we must sin no more. We must proclaim that sin is dead and we should take upon us Christ’s name.

*Events from Christ’s life are symbolized in baptism by His death. He was buried in the grave in death, but arose again in resurrection. He faced death, but came up and was new again and would never again face death but a newness of everlasting life.

*Baptism could not be done by sprinkling, because you must engulf yourself in the death of sins and come up again whole and renewed having your whole body cleansed.

*We can maintain a newness of life by allowing sin to be dead in our lives. Allowing ourselves to yield righteousness in Christ and commit ourselves and our actions to Him.

·         After studying Romans 6:14-23, I have learned that you serve which master you follow. If you sin you serve the master of sin, if you live righteously you serve the Master of righteousness. With sin you are rewarded death, and with righteousness you are rewarded eternal life. You reap what you sow, and your actions tell which master you serve. The true source of freedom is through the grace of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. It is through His sacrifice that we can repent of our sins and become clean again. It is by His example that we know whom to follow. His way is the right way, and it is ONLY through Him that we can return again to face our God and Heavenly Father as clean children. 

Be An Example of Good

Choice 4

In the Gospel Paul was a missionary, there to spread the word of the Lord. He adapted himself to empathize with all people. He lived by example; therefore brought others to Him. By bringing himself to understand others and be what they were he helped meet them at their level, without ever letting his standards below what they should be. I believe an influential tool that Paul used was seeing others and meeting with them in likeness. He would have had to be a very nonjudgmental person to get to know and meet with so many others. 

Hating the Sin and not the Sinner

Avoiding Sin

1 Corinthians 5:7-13, Matthew 5:29-30

1. The word fornication did not mean then what it does now. The word fornication means now to for two unmarried people to have intercourse. The term then, meant any extramarital intercourse between two people. I feel as if the moral condition back then mirrors a lot of the moral condition of our day. People give way to their desires and do what feels good to them. We have prostitution as they did then and we also have people who have affairs or relationships outside of marriage.

2. Paul suggested that you “put away from among yourselves that wicked person.” To not allow yourself to trifle with sin. The verses in Matthew apply because we are not to hate the sinner but to hate the sin. We should cast away the sin and not the person. If we know we are doing something wrong then we can repent and change, and cast away that sin. 

The Resurrection: When Christ will return to earth.

Choice 7: 1 Thessalonians 4. The Resurrection.

1. The Saints who are alive will meet with Christ.

2. Those that are on the earth and in their graves shall also be caught up to meet with the Lord. Those also who have yet to hear the Gospel.

3. They will be caught up to the pillar of heaven.

4. The righteous Saints will participate in the second coming by missionary work for those who have not heard the Gospel.

5. Those who have no yet heard about the Gospel and who would be willing to accept it will be resurrected at the second coming.

6. The JST translations help the clarify that those who are alive and righteous at the coming of the Lord will not stand in the way of the righteous who are in their graves who will also be resurrected.

7. Those who are under condemnation will not survive the second coming.

8. They will be resurrected after the reign of the millennium. 

Acts 19, 20

Choice 4-Acts 19-1-12; 20:7-12

Paul laid his hands upon the people and conferred the Holy Ghost upon them, conferred gift of tongues and prophesied, cast out evil Spirits by the Priesthood power, broke bread, and preached unto the disciples.

1. Paul confirmed them members by the laying on of hands and conferred upon them the gift of the Holy Ghost.

2. This shows that only by the right authority are they given the fullness of the Gospel, and that they must be baptized by the proper authority to receive the gift of the Holy Ghost to always be with them.

3.  He did it by the laying on of hands through the Priesthood power.

4. It says the broke bread “the first day of the week…” It says that Paul called upon his disciples after the uproar had stopped. 

New Testament Pt. 2

The Book of Acts 1-10, chapters summarized.

1. Peter seems as if He is teaching and preaching to the people a lot and is showing them miracles performed.

*Christ is spoken about much, how He is the Prophet and how through Him salvation comes.

*The Apostles perform miracles as Jesus would have and they keep His legacy alive through their actions.

*The Gospel begins to form on the earth as the people are given new gifts and understandings.

*The Apostles worked hard to establish the church and to establish a meaning and understanding of Christ of His resurrection.

2.  Acts 2: Peter testifies of Jesus’ resurrection and tells the people how to gain salvation. Peter also speaks of the gift of the Holy Ghost.

Acts 3: Peter along with John heals a lame man. He preaches repentance, speaks about the restoration of the Gospel, and identifies Christ as the Prophet whom Moses spoke about.

Acts 4: Peter is arrested and is brought before a council. He testifies that through Christ salvation comes. The Sadducees try to silence Peter and John, but the Saints rejoice in the testimony of Christ.

Acts 5: Peter is delivered from prison by an Angel. He testifies of Christ.

Acts 8: Peter along with John come to Samaria to confer the gift of the Holy Ghost by the laying on of hands.

Acts 9: Peter heals and raises the dead.

Acts 10: Peter is commanded to take the Gospel to the Gentiles in a dream.

Acts 12: Peter is freed from prison by an angel.