And who shall be his seed? Behold I say unto you, that whosoever has heard the words of the prophets, yea, all the holy prophets who have prophesied concerning the coming of the Lord—I say unto you, that all those who have hearkened unto their words, and believed that the Lord would redeem his people, and have looked forward to that day for a remission of their sins, I say unto you, that these are his seed, or they are the heirs of the kingdom of God. For these are they whose sins he has borne; these are they for whom he has died, to redeem them from their transgressions. And now, are they not his seed?
Because God’s laws are immutable, only the righteous will be saved.
Wherefore, how great the importance to make these things known unto the inhabitants of the earth, that they may know that there is no flesh that can dwell in the presence of God, save it be through the merits, and mercy, and grace of the Holy Messiah (2 Nephi 2:8, The Book of Mormon: Another Testament of Jesus Christ).
This is why we preach repentance. In his final sermon to a group of inhabitants in the Americas, righteous King Benjamin declared:
And moreover, I say unto you, that there shall be no other name given nor any other way nor means whereby salvation can come unto the children of men, only in and through the name of Christ, the Lord Omnipotent (Mosiah 3:17, The Book of Mormon: Another Testament of Jesus Christ).
There is no other way. Jesus really is the only way (see also 2 Nephi 9:41; 2 Nephi 25:20; 2 Nephi 31:21; Acts 4:12).
God loves us. He loves us deeply, and because He loves us deeply, He gives commandments. He knows it is only in and through the commandments—in and through Christ—that we may become like Him. This is the sublime opportunity He gave us when He awarded us our agency in the our life before life on earth (see Moses 4:3; The Pearl of Great Price of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints).
Satan will tell you, “I am no devil, for there is none,” (2 Nephi 28:22). He is a master deceiver. His servants and those who are without God in the world will tell you that the commandments are foolishness. This simply is not true. Satan and the world will say, “if you always keep the commandments, then you have no choices!” This is a blatant and boldface lie. Obedience to God’s laws is a choice. The Restored Church of Jesus Christ is different from the world by design. Satan is very good at making sin look appealing. Dig beyond the surface of sin and you find all of the consequences! Smoking leads to bad health, addiction, and a number of other negative physical and spiritual consequences. Drinking alcohol exposes you to a litany of ills, liabilities and risks—not the least of which is alcoholism. Drugs are a similar story as is the use of sexual passions outside of marriage. The truth is, you can always make choices. What Satan leaves out are the consequences(see 2 Nephi 2:17-19). From the beginning, his song has been, “have what you want now and you shall have no consequences.” This is simply and thoroughly false.
Do we have to go through certain steps in order to return to God? Yes. The truth is, if taken deep into our souls, the commandments change us. Obedience is not hoop-jumping. It is practice! Repentance is not hoop-jumping. It is practice. Christ’s gospel is the way. Following Christ is the way. If we follow, we become more like Him. This is the beautiful truth of the Gospel of Jesus Christ.
Would it be more loving if God simply let everyone come back to Him? No. If we have not repented of our sins, we will not want to live with Him! The fact is, if we don’t follow Jesus, we are filthy! Moroni talks about this in Mormon 9:3-4 in The Book of Mormon: Another Testament of Jesus Christ.
Do ye suppose that [after death] ye shall dwell with [Jesus Christ] under a consciousness of your guilt? Do ye suppose that ye could be happy to dwell with that holy Being, when your souls are racked with a consciousness of guilt that ye have ever abused his laws? Behold, I say unto you that ye would be more miserable to dwell with a holy and just God, under a consciousness of your filthiness before him, than ye would to dwell with the damned souls in hell.
Think about it this way. If you were smoking and drinking, doing drugs, or breaking the law of chastity, would you feel comfortable in the Holy Temple, the House of the Lord? No. This is why we have the Holy Temple—so that on earth we may qualify for and literally prepare to enter into God’s presence.
God’s commandments, especially those mentioned in the interview for your temple recommendation, prepare you to enter His presence and feel worthy. They are the way! After our resurrection, all of us will be brought back into the presence of Jesus Christ (at least temporarily) to be judged of Him. To the His Nephite disciples He Said:
And my Father sent me that I might be lifted up upon the cross; and after that I had been lifted up upon the cross, that I might draw all men unto me, that as I have been lifted up by men even so should men be lifted up by the Father, to stand before me, to be judged of their works, whether they be good or whether they be evil—And for this cause have I been lifted up; therefore, according to the power of the Father I will draw all men unto me, that they may be judged according to their works. And it shall come to pass, that whoso repenteth and is baptized in my name shall be filled; and if he endureth to the end, behold, him will I hold guiltless before my Father at that day when I shall stand to judge the world. (3 Nephi 27: 14-15, The Book of Mormon: Another Testament of Jesus Christ).
In his July 2011 BYU Devotional talk Brother Brad Wilcox taught that after Jesus Christ offers His grace to us—that power of deliverance which He was granted through His immeasurable atonement and suffering, “what is left to be determined by our obedience is what kind of body we plan on being resurrected with [telestial, terrestrial, or Celestial—see 1 Corinthians 15:40-41, The Holy Bible] and how comfortable we plan to be in God’s presence and how long we plan to stay there”. By the choices we make, we decide what we become, by believing in or not believing in and following Jesus Christ. If we believe and sincerely repent, we will be comfortable in God’s presence. What a blessing! God always loves us! Always. That is His nature. Through our faith in Christ and our humble repentance, we demonstrate how much we love Him! (And I do love Him! I want to obey Him with all my heart!) Obedience to His laws and ordinances brings us back into His presence. Jesus Christ is the way. He showed us the way! If we become pure through Him and learn to love as He loves, when we see Him, we shall be like Him! (See Moroni 7:48.)
We choose to obey or not obey and by doing so, we choose our desired eternal rewards. Satan advertises, “get thrills now,” and leaves out the eternal consequences you will pay later. Satan says, as an obedient member of the Church, “you cannot sin. Restricted by the commandments, no earthly pleasure is yours!” This is not true! What is true is that we cannot sin and still get a good reward! It simply doesn’t work like that! “Wickedness never was happiness,” (see Alma 41:10)! When we make a choice, we get both ends of the stick—our choice, and the consequence. Satan’s lie is get what you want now, for this life. There is no afterlife. He is a liar from the beginning (see Doctrine and Covenants of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, 93:25).
O, daughter. I know that God loves us. Because He loves us, He gives us commandments not a few. If we follow His commandments with faith in Jesus Christ, we will be blessed—eternally. The commandment of the Father is to repent and believe in His Son. If we do this, we will be blessed. Of this I testify.
