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The Mirage of Sin I believe part of my comfort and motivation to explore the gospel and apply it to the crisis in confidence the Work is experiencing has amounted to an attempt to impose the Christianity of the New Testament on Mormonism, and unless I am helped with clarification, I am forced to make my way forward in spite of the contradiction in all of Christ’s teaching outside of para. 26 of Section 132. I am starting with a thought-experiment that I am going to share. As a first run, I have the impression that entering into the everlasting covenant is to be accompanied with safeguards. The Lord manifests specific approval from the Holy Spirit of Promise. This scripture may hint that there is a later confirmatory sealing to a marriage covenant already entered into. This seeming immunity from the consequences of celestial-denying sins must come at the peak of career, like another degree of second anointings in which the person has proven himself through living these laws in a more probationary state. I know of no scripture to support this notion, however. I fall back on the idea that the body of scripture approaches this problem from two directions and that it is up to the individual to combine the contradictions and reach an understanding that is consistent with the mainstream of revealed scripture. Otherwise, those who embrace secret sin in any kind or degree have a case that malfeasance in office, even letting go of the fullness of the fullness due to sin will not deny to them a full reward and so they are justified in themselves in staying the course (failure to repent, of which cover-up is a proof) and by so doing deny to others full access to the empowering and enlightening attributes of the gospel. In such a system, it does appear that there is a double standard – one for those who have matriculated to enter into an everlasting covenant of marriage to a higher degree than is commonly known, and the standard for the rest. I wonder if God hasn’t positioned a trap of apparent truth to lure those who take virtue as only a temporary necessity into thinking by entering into a (probationary) first-stage of the eternal covenant, they have reached the Emerald City, when, in fact, they have not. Instead of getting their eventual exaltation, their willful and flawed natures have earned them an undesirable reward – and they will only have themselves to blame for it. Since those who have entered into such an exalted degree of marriage do not talk about what it feels like, I shall imagine that by the time they do so, living so carefully by Christ’s standard of self-denying conduct and servant-leadership, so as to prove themselves before God so that He prompts their human authorities to so invest them, they have no desire to commit sin, whatsoever. Entering into this higher order would be, of course, by invitation only. The immunity proffered is therefore actual, but, do we understand it’s full import? For those who have supposed they have entered into the full degree of eternal covenant marriage and thus can go about harming others and showing God to be a monster dispensing unequal justice, there awaits them a reward appropriate to their less-than-godly natures. The duration of punishment is God’s to decide, as is the redemption. “To Up ^” “To Down v” “To the Witch’s Castle > DO NOT GO!” An ordinance by itself does not make us good or strong in the way of overcoming evil. Working out the degree of our salvation is our responsibility. We have to fit the clothing we wear. We have to make those right and righteous decisions. We have to hold onto the enhanced energy of the Lord’s power through living according to the terms assigned to the ordinance. Because I know better, I should not want to tempt God and use his just-mercy, in part because of the example it sets. How can a man possess this priesthood and behave as though it were a thing of so little value, and expect to be fully vindicated? Brigham’s famous statement that more would be damned than exalted by the Principle seems appropriate, here. I suspect that God’s plan to expose man’s true character and commitment to loving God and fellow-man together, in a fair and comprehensive test is what is at work. In other words, I believe that there is a mystery to this aspect of the everlasting covenant of celestial marriage that not being understood, should not be tested. The Lord has a policy of dropping hints in other scriptures that don’t make any sense, until more was revealed in another dispensation. God will always tell the truth, but He is not obliged to tell the whole truth, and He only releases truth by degrees as a people or an individual proves capable of handling it. It doesn't make any sense to me that God, the master of the laws of life, would leave place for people to forsake His way and by being tortured, develop the godly nature required of priests and kings, no less. If that were the case, then the Catholic concept of purgatory would make sense as preparation for a higher reward. But their concept of the state of man is eternal lowliness and beggary before God. We don’t truly understand God and how and why things work in His dimension unless we have walked the path He walked, so to speak, and made the right choices He made, and not always with His assistance. I recall that even our Savior in the supreme moment of consuming pain and in the surrounding embrace of temptation to doubt cried out, “My God, My God, why hast thou forsaken me?” Nevertheless, Jesus persevered. This is how the mind of a just man or apprentice to God is developed to assimilate truth into an unshakable conviction. Recognizing and responding to right and wrong have to become a part of us; scripture and other influences are like training wheels. Seeking after sin is incompatible with acting for and in the place of the Lord. Perhaps the best way to look at it is that we who have developed as part of our natures even a partial desire to become like God out of love for him and his way, should not be influenced or distracted from our working out our own salvation by any temptation to hold ourselves to anything less than fully partaking of His nature, whether due to threat or a promise. Would those who truly love the Lord and his goodness want to have a vacation or a detour from maximizing their opportunity in this life to earn a place with him and share the wisdom of love with him? Sin is incompatible with a godly nature, tempered and annealed in the experiences of this life. Perhaps the secret import behind the message of Section 26 (revealed only from prayer) is beyond a certain degree you can sin all you want, but what it doesn’t say is that if seeking sin is your desire, and not stepping back from it at once, you aren’t going to get to that degree in the first place. “. . . as soon as they get a little authority as they suppose . . .” (D&C 121:39) I have to say that I question whether there is anyone now endowed and qualified to administer such an ordinance that will not have to be confirmed at a later time. Just as there has been a retreat from righteousness among us, there has been a withdrawal of the Spirit and power of the Lord. Instead of an expansion of a society of those possessing higher ordinances and the attributes of wisdom, justice, and charity that should accompany them, ignorance, iniquity and cold-heartedness has taken its place. Are we only left with the soulless form? Because men have forsaken the ministry of justice and moral cleanliness and have sustained others in so doing and we have neglected our duty to inquire of the Lord for guidance and restoration of his will among us, we have condemned ourselves to having a poverty of gifts of the Spirit we so greatly need. And that’s only the beginning of sorrows. The significance of separation from God only really makes itself felt when we are engulfed by adversity as is prophesied shortly to consume the world in our time. (See Ezekiel 38, 39.) “And upon my house shall it begin . . . First among those among you, saith the Lord, who have professed to know my name and have not known me, and have blasphemed against me in the midst of my house, saith the Lord.” (D & C 112:25, 26) Does that sound like a God who condones sin for a privileged class? “For it had been better for them not to have known the way of righteousness, than, after they have known it, to turn from the holy commandment delivered unto them.” (2 Peter 2:21) In stepping back from the problem, I see the whole stream of the gospel: Old and New Testaments, the Book of Mormon, Doctrine and Covenants, Pearl of Great Price, Inspired Translation of the Bible, and the Journal of Discourses advocating and at times commanding that men live a life as nearly without blemish as it is possible for them to do. God commands us but at the end He invites us to partake with Him and share in the reward He has earned. He does not merely expect us to be able to have sufficient self-discipline to conform to His laws, but to incorporate them into our very being. Through our lifetimes we’re to gain a sense of what it means to be a citizen of the kingdom of God. One scripture does not controvert the whole body of scripture, nor should it blind us to the true nature of God, who would not and could not spare his only begotten son. The more we practice virtue, the way and law of life in all its aspects together, the less we desire to sin. Sin loses its appeal when we have made it a habit to take joy in bringing about the salvation of another, and open our hearts to God for His assistance in realizing to us the righteous desires of our hearts. Part of our purpose on earth is to transform ourselves by adherence to God’s laws and personal guidance derived from prayer, and benefit our brothers and sisters in so doing, that all may and raised. Obeying God’s commandments and example will open us to a fullness of joy, if we will let it. If we live in a society in which love does not abound and negative aspects of human nature predominate, it is all too easy to ease our suffering through embracing and indulging in sins that harm others. In a way, we are responsible for the cultural climate in which our peers and our children inhabit. Careless, self-revealing words have moment and the spirit they reflect will live on in the hearts of those who accept us as influencers and examples. It is the Devil who, in acclimating persons to his religion withholds the “full secret” until they have compromised their natures and outlook such that they will accept the notion that he is God. Accepting the notion that God intends that para. 26 should be used as a loophole for men to indulge themselves and mar their natures so as to become separated from God amounts to throwing away the Lamb’s plan of salvation with both hands. It amounts to blasphemy on the part of those who should know better and should be using what blessings they have to better serve God and magnify their callings. To see the possible application of para. 26 in God’s plan, I look to the garden of Eden in which Adam commits a single sin (that is necessary to start this world school), becomes subject to the Devil, but after experiencing death is restored. Adam did not straightway continue in the path of disobedience, but dedicated himself and his family to call upon the name of God and keep every commandment given to him. If our concept of God is that of a Devil who hides behind the mask of the gospel of salvation and the sacred ordinances function in the same way as incantations and spells, having neither moral component nor requiring a Spiritual foundation and continued connection, but possess eternal power in and of themselves, then we shall take upon us the notional nature of that god we serve. Who among us dares to love and believe such a lie? This life is designed to be a probationary state, throughout. For most of us, for all of us at some time, we depend for our understanding of the gospel upon others who have gone before. A misinterpretation applied at a critical time can undo a lifetime of learning. Look at what happened to the church of the apostles when their successors, who had removed themselves from God, relied on their own intellects to define a faith and prescribe belief. The fog closed in and has never left them. Look at the LDS Mormons and where separation from the mind and spirit of God has taken them. Now look at us, the Work of God. Examine the rationalizations and justifications we use to enable us to accept our separation and estrangement from God. The following resonates to me as having the essence of the truth as to the intent of our Father in Heaven. It is from the Millennial Star 14: 596. “If a man could have as much authority as the Almighty, it would not authorize him to do wrong, nor counsel another to do wrong; and the man that will administer with partiality, for the sake of screening iniquity, will find his stewardship will be taken from him.” The path to godhood, or even acceptable servant hood to our God requires that we exercise our own judgment, that we may become strong in making the way of the Lord among men and thus magnify our callings. This we term as exercising our freedom of agency. This is not a passive thing. We are not here merely to bend our will to the prevailing winds of institutionalized righteousness, or obey men whose intent and path is unknown to us, but to shape our belief ourselves and live it until belief becomes conviction and conviction of what is right becomes who we are. If the Savior had to maintain the courage of his convictions through Gethsemane and the cross, so must we in discerning right from wrong in high places among us. "The disciple is not above his master, nor the servant above his lord. It is enough for the disciple that he be as his master, and the servant as his lord.” (Mt. 10:24, 25) The concept these men have and would have us accept of how God’s government shall be is two-faced: one standard for the Joseph Smith church (the church of scripture) and another for us, portioned out to us by them to suit circumstances. They aren’t the same; they are two different churches – unhappily so. Whatever we feel motivated to do in this crisis of confidence, it should be obvious by their own words (Blog 8) and track record that we can't depend on light borrowed from them. I take comfort in the words of President John Taylor found in (J.D. 24:266-9) and reprinted on page 6. Although I am at peace with ceaselessly striving to do good and not set any less of a standard for myself by which I may be judged, I cannot presume to be able to understand why such an apparent permission exists for a candidate for the Celestial Kingdom, no less, to receive essential immunity to do the sorts of things that are so abhorrent to all we are supposed to be. That any men or group of men should use such an apparently contradictory shield to systematically deconstruct the gospel way by cutting themselves and this people from harmony and communion with God simply does not fit any understanding I have. What their ultimate fate may be must be less concern to me than my fate if I sustain them, or the fate of this Work where their departures in marriage breaking, and sin retaining and refusal to allow the light of justice upon them are allowed to continue. Substituting the rule of men for God in His own house requires that in order to sustain their temporal situation, they interpose themselves between the lesser orders and God, the way the Catholics and the LDS Mormons have. Their justification (if they are relying on D&C 132:24) cannot be mine. Light cleaves unto light, and I do not desire to borrow any of theirs and by so doing forsake the whole body of our scripture and the righteous examples of past Presidents of Priesthood and their trusted counselors. I simply must say that I want no fellowship with such men or my name to be spoken with them. Such men who can take the Lord’s name so in vain are worthy to have only their own name and the name of their deeds placed upon them. “For we see as through a glass darkly,” (1 Cor. 13:12) indeed. God, to my understanding, makes no distinction between a malefactor and an endorser. In the lonely night of the soul, who knows what temptations rise up like giants to a man who has received particular ordinances, so perhaps space must be given to those who dare the lonely heights to obtain redemption. After all, none of us is a Christ. If I don’t understand with surety, I have to leave it as a mystery, an unknown country I do not care to or dare to explore personally. Nevertheless, while acknowledging I am not under such a burden, I do not choose to honor such men and grant them allowance continue to sin against us all and sustain them in an environment where the whole Work of God loses access to the “power, thereof.” I don’t have a lot to invest in concern for their fate, rather I choose to be numbered among those who are striving to follow the Master and the covenant of the Sacrament and obtain that promise. I choose to be of a mind to “save that which remains.” “But when we come to other things – things that are more serious – when men have entered into covenants associated with the celestial law and taken upon themselves obligations pertaining thereto, it is a different matter…. ‘If a man receive a wife in the new and everlasting covenant, and if she be with another man… she hath committed adultery and shall be destroyed. (D&C 132:41)…. Can I change that? I did not make the law. Have I the right to change it? ‘But says one, ‘does it not say that what you shall bind on earth shall be bound in heaven, and what you shall loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven? Yes: but I have to know if it is the mind and will of God that it be so. The law says, ‘they shall be destroyed.” What else? ‘And shall be delivered unto the buffetings of Satan unto the day of redemption.’ That’s the law. Can I change it? Can you? I speak now to Presidents of Stakes and Bishops. We are told that we are not to be partakers of other men’s sins… if people do not fulfill the requirements of the gospel, you have no right to recommend them to the house of the Lord…” (J.D. 24:266-9) “Choose you this day, whom ye will serve, but as for me and my house, we shall serve the Lord.” (Josh. 24:15) I believe it is possible to make mistakes after receiving higher ordinances due to ignorance and inattention and overload upon a still-imperfect nature. I question, however, whether the bad intent of the heart is considered by the Lord in the same category as a mistake. Postscript Here is Nephi’s assessment from 2 Nephi, chapter 28. 8.And there shall also be many which shall say: Eat, drink, and be merry; nevertheless, fear God – he will justify in committing a little sin; yea, lie a little, take the advantage of one because of his words, dig a pit for thy neighbor; there is no harm in this; and do all these things, for tomorrow we die; and if it so be that we are guilty, God will beat us with a few stripes, and at last we shall be saved in the k·dom of God. 9. Yea, and there shall be many which shall teach after this manner, false and vain and foolish doctrines, and shall be puffed up in their hearts, and shall seek deep to hide their counsels from the Lord; and their works shall be in the dark. 10. And the blood of the saints shall cry from the ground against them. [bruised, and penetrated, also] 11. Yea, they have all gone out of the way; they have become corrupted. 14. They wear stiff necks and high heads; yea, and because of pride, and wickedness, and abominations, and whoredoms, they have all gone astray save it be a few, who are the humble followers of Christ; nevertheless, they are led, that in many instances they do err because they are taught by the precepts of men. 15. O the wise, and the learned, and the rich, that are puffed up in the pride of their hearts, and all those who preach false doctrines, and all those who commit whoredoms, and pervert the right way of the Lord, wo, wo, wo be unto them, saith the Lord God almighty, for they shall be thrust down to hell! 20. For behold, at that day shall he rage in the hearts of the children of men, and stir them up to anger against that which is good. 21. And others will he pacify, and lull them away into carnal security, that they will say: All is well in Zion. 26. Yea, wo be unto him that . . . denieth the power of God, and the gift of the Holy Ghost ! 31. Cursed is he that putteth his trust in man . . . or shall hearken unto the precepts of men, save their precepts shall be given by the power of the Holy Ghost.
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