The Standard of Truth

"The Standard of Truth has been erected; no unhallowed hand can stop the work from progressing; persecution may rage, mobs may combine, armies may assemble, calumny may defame; but the truth of God will go forth boldy, nobly, and independent, till it has penetrated every continent, visited every clime, swept every country, and sounded in every ear, till the purposes of God shall be accomplished, and the Great Jehovah shall say the work is done." - Joseph Smith, History of the Church, 4:540

Doctrine and Covenants, Section 4

"1) Now behold, a marvelous work is about to come forth among the children of men.
"2) Therefore, O ye that embark in the service of God, see that ye serve him with all your heart, might, mind and strength, that ye may stand blameless before god at the last day.
"3) Therefore, if ye have desires to serve God ye are called to the work;
"4) For behold the field is white already to harvest; and lo, he that thrusteth in his might, the same layeth up in store that he perisheth not, but bringeth salvation to his soul;
"5) And faith, hope, charity and love, with an eye single to the glory of God, qualify him for the work.
"6) Remember faith, virtue, knowledge, temperance, patience, brotherly kindness, godliness, charity, humility, diligence.
"7) Ask, and ye shall receive; knock, and it shall be opened unto you. Amen." - Doctrine and Covenants 4:1-7

My purpose as a missionary...

My purpose as a missionary is to "invite others to come unto Christ by helping them receive the restored gospel through faith in Jesus Christ and His Atonement, repentance, baptsim, receiving the gift of the Holy Ghost, and enduring to the end." - Preach My Gospel, page 1

15 March 2011

Agency

"23 Therefore, cheer up your hearts, and remember that ye are free to act for yourselves - to choose the way of everlasting death or the way of eternal life."
- 2 Nephi 10:23

When I read this verse, I think of a saying that says something along the lines of: "There are two types of people in this world. Those who act and those who are acted upon." Do you think that those who act, act because they are forced to? No, they choose to act. Do you think those who are acted upon, are acted upon because they are forced to be acted upon? I don't think so. I think people may try to act upon them, but they have every right to act and not be acted upon. Don't you think that that is what 2 Nephi 10:23 says? "...ye are free to act for yourselves..." Okay, so we know that we are free to act for ourselves. Now, what type of acting are we supposed to do? Act out a play? No, this "act" means to choose. What are we to choose? Well, continue reading the rest of the verse... "...to choose the way of everlasting death or the way of eternal life." Right, so we are to choose between everlasting death and eternal life. Okay, so how do we know which one is good and which one is bad? There is opposition in all things, right? Yes, there is opposition in all things.

Let's take a look at 2 Nephi 2:27, for our next question.
"27 Wherefore, men are free according to the flesh; and all things are given them which are expedient unto men. And they are free to choose liberty and eternal life, through the great Mediator of all men, or to choose captivity and death according to the captivity and power of the devil; for he seeketh that all men might be miserable like unto himself."
- 2 Nephi 2:27

So, ask yourself, which one looks good and which one looks bad? Well, being miserable like the devil can't be good, can it? Absolutely not! So, I guess that means that "liberty and eternal life" would have to be the good choice. So, if that is good, then how do we choose it? What do we do to show that we choose it? Well, one way to show that you choose "liberty and eternal life" is to follow "the great Mediator of all men". This "great Mediator of all men" is Jesus the Christ. He it is who died for us on the cross. He it is who we read about in the Holy Bible, teaching all men his gospel.

So, now that we have gotten the basics down. I would like to clarify a question that I was asked several times. Does agency mean that we are free? Well, as both of these verses state that we are "free to choose" but they do not, however, state that we are free because of agency. So, if the question is "Does agency give us the freedom to choose?" Then the answer would be "Yes." But if the question is "Does agency give us freedom?" The answer is "yes and no". Yes, if you choose to follow our Savior's teachings. No, if you choose not to follow our Savior's teaching. If we make the right choices, then we are free. On the other hand, if we make the wrong choices, those wrong choices (for example: sin, etc...) bound us down and limit the choices that we can make. If you would like "Yes, it does make us free" to be the answer, then make sure to make the right choices.

I hope this helps anyone who reads this. If there are any concerns or questions. Please feel free to contact me on Facebook.
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