Notes
taken from the talk "Clean Hands and a Pure Heart"
by David A.
Bednar of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles
The gospel of
Jesus Christ allows us to:
- avoid
- overcome
- be cleansed from sin and bad influences
- do good
- be good
- become better
This is done
through:
- repentance of our sins
- seeking forgiveness
Necessary for
our spiritual advancement, remission of sin
is vital enough to make a daily priority.
The ultimate
purpose of the gospel:
To have our
hearts changed by the Holy Spirit to the point that "we have no more
disposition to do evil, but to do good continually" (Mosiah 5:2).
This is what we covenant to do. It's not that the covenant (and thus commitment) is made, and voila! I'm perfect. It's merely a commitment by normal, everyday people to try harder everyday and seeking the help of deity in doing so.
Mighty change:
Not brought about through an individual's hard
work and/or personal discipline.
Results from fundamental
changes in:
- desires
- motives
- nature
Only brought
about through the Atonement of Christ.
This is the
UPWARD spiral!
The battle of
this earth life:
to
overcome sin AND the desire to sin.
To rise above.
To upward spiral. To reverse gravity in our spirits. To fly. To soar.
There are two
requirements:
(1) avoid and
overcome bad
(2) do good and
become better
"Who shall
ascend into the hill of the Lord? or who shall stand in his holy place?
"He that
hath clean hands, and a pure heart; who hath not lifted up his soul unto
vanity, nor sworn deceitfully" (Psalm 24:3-4).
Interesting that
here, the words "ascend" and "lifted up" are used.
How does one do
this? Here are some of the keys:
• Have clean
hands.
Do
good. Seek to bless the lives of others.
• Have a pure
heart.
Pure motives.
Is it possible
to have clean hands but not have a pure heart?
Yes.
How are hands
made clean?
- By seeking to be unselfish and generous toward others.
- By overcoming sin and evil influences through the Atonement.
How are hearts
purified?
- By receiving Christ's strengthening power to do good.
- By seeking to become better
No matter what
we think or feel in our hearts; no matter what our motives are. No matter how
good our works are, they can NEVER alone give us the clean hands and pure heart
needed to upward spiral.
This is the ONLY
way to overcome sin.
The Atonement
has a sanctifying and strengthening power.
This power helps
us become better than we ever could by relying only upon our own strength.
No one should
overlook this power.
"The
infinite Atonement is for both the sinner and for the saint in each of us:"
For the sinner:
repentance; cleansing.
For the saint:
improvement
How exactly does
one do these things? I want a step-by-step, nitty gritty plan for this. I want
to know what exactly to teach my children. This is ultimately important.
Here is the
simple answer:
From the Book of
Mormon. King Benjamin taught about the mission of Jesus Christ--His Atonement.
What he taught caused the hearers to fall to the earth because "...they
had viewed themselves in their own carnal state, even less than the dust of the
earth. And they all cried aloud with one voice, saying: O have mercy, and apply
the atoning blood of Christ that we may receive forgiveness of our sins,
and our hearts may be purified; for we believe in Jesus Christ, the Son of
God, who created heaven and earth, and all things; who shall come down among
the children of men" (Mosiah 4:2; emphasis added).
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| image: lds.org |
Is it really
that easy? As easy as looking at a
brass serpent on a pole? As simple as asking for it? Like asking
your mom for a cookie?
Let's look at
that again…
"...O have
mercy, and apply the atoning blood of Christ that we may receive
forgiveness of our sins, and our hearts may be purified…."
Is it really
that easy? Easy? Yes, but as simple as asking for a cookie? Probably not.
Desire and belief must be part of the equation--desire to have sins removed; to
be clean and belief in the Savior Jesus Christ and his ability to forgive and
cleanse through His Atonement.
Christ's
Atonement offers us a twofold blessing:
- forgiveness of sin = clean hands
- transformation of our nature = pure hearts
Whenever human
nature is mentioned, it takes my mind to Mosiah 3:19 -
"For
the natural man is
an enemy to
God, and has been from the fall of
Adam, and will be, forever and ever, unless he yields to
the enticings of the Holy Spirit,
and putteth off
the natural man
and becometh a saint through
the atonement of Christ the Lord, and becometh as a child, submissive,
meek, humble, patient, full of love, willing to submit to all things which the
Lord seeth fit to inflict upon him, even as a child doth submit to his
father."
Here is my
commitment with the covenant I've made:
- "Yield to the enticings of the Holy Spirit"
- Put off the "natural man."
Without
the power of Christ's Atonement, I remain an "enemy to God," and I
have no hope of fulfilling my part of the covenant.
King Benjamin, in the Book of Mormon, reiterated the importance of these two basic aspects of spiritual development:
"And now,
for the sake of these things which I have spoken unto you-that is, for the sake
of retaining a remission of your sins from day to day, that ye may walk
guiltless before God - I would that ye should impart of your substance to
the poor" (Mosiah 4:26).
What
specifically should we seek?
- remission of sins from day to day
- to walk guiltless before God
When I go to be
judged of Jesus Christ, I must have more than just clean hands. He is as
"a lamb without blemish and without spot" (1 Peter 1:19). He freely
spilled His blood for me, but it was wasted if I don't use it by desiring,
believing, and asking for the power of this sacrifice to be applied to me.
Is this really
attainable in my life?
No one will be
perfect in this life.
How to strive for perfection in this life:
- press forward with faith in Christ
- find and follow the strait and narrow path
- make steady progress toward our eternal destiny
How is it done?
- "line upon line, precept upon precept, here a little and there a little" (2 Nephi 28:30).
- Small, steady, incremental spiritual improvements.
- Prepare to walk guiltless before God
Not from
sporadic spurts of intense spiritual activity—consistent behaviors.
This is what's
so hard for me. Being consistent in anything is difficult. Fits and spurts are
much more my style, but maybe the Atonement can help me with this
too--self-control, persistence, consistency of behavior.
The only way to upward spiral.
1 comment:
Thank you for this!
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