Background materials, Garments v Cleansing

"So what should we do with dirty linen? The process begins with repentance. The Savior stands at the door and knocks; He is ready to receive us immediately. 12 Our responsibility is to do the work of repentance. We must abandon our sins so the cleansing can begin. The promise of the Lord is that He will cleanse our garments with His blood. 13 He gave His life and suffered for all our sins. He can redeem us from our personal fall. Through the Atonement of the Savior, giving Himself as the ransom for our sins, He authorizes the Holy Ghost to cleanse us in a baptism of fire. As the Holy Ghost dwells in us, His purifying presence burns out the filthiness of sin. As soon as the commitment is made, the cleansing process begins." Elder Mickelsen, Oct. 2003 Conference. Note the confirmation Holy Ghost authorized to cleanse and confirmation of feelings of spirit are cleansing.


Really good, Hugh Nibley, Ensign, September 1990, Atonement Part 3. "Before approaching the tabernacle or tent covering the ark, Aaron and his sons would be washed at the gate (see Ex. 29:4); then they would be clothed with the ephod, apron, and sash (Ex. 29:5), and a mitre, a flat cap or pad which may have been meant to support the weight of a crown, was placed on their heads (Ex. 29:6). The priests were also anointed with oil (Ex. 29:7) and consecrated or set apart (Ex. 29:9). Then they put their hands upon the head of a bullock (Ex. 29:10), transferring their guilt to the animal, which was slain. Its blood was put upon the horns of the altar (Ex. 29:12), which represented the four corners of the world. Two rams were then slain, and their blood was sprinkled on the altar as an atonement for all; then blood from the second ram was placed upon the right ear and right thumb of Aaron. (See Ex. 29:15–20.) The blood was also sprinkled over the garments of the priests (Ex. 29:21), who then ate parts of the ram with bread, Aaron and his sons “eat[ing] those things wherewith the atonement was made” (Ex. 29:22–24, 32–33). Each day for seven days, a bullock was offered for atonement. (Ex. 29:36–37.) Then the Lord received the high priest at the tent door, the veil (in Lev. 16:17–19, the high priest alone enters the tabernacle), and conversed with him (Ex. 29:42), accepting the sin offering, sanctifying the priests and people, and receiving them into his company to “dwell among the children of Israel, and [to] be their God” (Ex. 29:45)."


Again Nibley, same source. "There is one expression connected with the ceremonies that seem strangely paradoxical. It is having one’s garments washed white with the blood of the Lamb. Washed white with blood? The Book of Mormon clarifies the apparent contradiction. Alma tells us that “there can no man be saved except his garments are washed white; yea, his garments must be purified until they are cleansed from all stain, through the blood of him of whom it has been spoken by our fathers, who should come to redeem his people from their sins.

“And now I ask of you, my brethren, how will any of you feel, if ye shall stand before the bar of God, having your garments stained with blood and all manner of filthiness? Behold, what will these things testify against you?

“Behold will they not testify that ye are murderers, … guilty of all manner of wickedness?” (Alma 5:21–23.)

Being guilty of the blood and sins of your generation, you may not “have a place to sit down in the kingdom of God, with Abraham, with Isaac, and with Jacob, and also all the holy prophets, whose garments are cleansed and are spotless, pure and white.” (Alma 5:24.) This is nothing less than the yeshivah, literally “sitting down” in the presence of God. 16

Note that there are two kinds of blood-stained garments here—the one showing the blood and sins of this world, the other attesting (for Alma expressly states that “these things testify”) that Aaron and his sons have completed the sacrifice of the Lamb and thus cleansed the people of their defilements, and their garments are white. The blood that washes garments clean is not the blood that defiles them, just as the serpent that healed the people in the wilderness was not the serpent that killed. (See Num. 21:9.)"

Ezra Taft Benson, Jan 1991 Ensign, First Presidency Message, "Here the Lord declares another great purpose of a stake: to be a beautiful emblem for all the world to see. The phrase “put on her beautiful garments” refers, of course, to the inner sanctity that must be attained by every member who calls himself or herself a Saint. Zion is “the pure in heart.” (D&C 97:21."

Meaning of the Blood

Here is a new attempt to understand the significance of the Blood of Christ. Starting in the Bible Dictionary, regarded by the Israelites as the seat of life and vital energy of life. Lev. 17:10-14 says that it is through blood that forgiveness happens, but that may only be referring to times of the Law of Moses.

Paul's statement in Hebrews goes to the heart of the question, (9:22) 'And almost all things are by the law purged with blood; and without shedding of blood is no remission.' What does that mean? In this important chapter Paul describes the process of Atonement before Christ when the High Priest would bring - alone - the sacrificial blood into the Holy of Holies and offer it as a cleansing of the people. The place he went in was the Tabernacle. Paul goes on to say in Heb 9 that Christ also came into a Tabernacle, but not one of clay, it was his own body. And that he brought His blood into the Tabernacle.

Heb 9:16 offers a fascinating comparison. Testament comes from death, sealing it with death. Joseph Smith sealed his testimony with his blood. So did Christ. Check the definition of testament according to the law, 'A written document providing for the disposition of a person's property after death; a will.'. If we follow Christ's teachings, we take upon ourseleves His name. We are heirs. We become His and His Testament is the how He wants us to be treated in the eternities.

Yikes I'm Lazy

The only way I am going to stay on scripture study is the yearly schedule. Study by topic is too easy for me to miss. It's frustrating that the easy things always are the hardest to maintain for me - and the most important. I am going back on the schedule, year 1, and picking it up in 1 Samuel. Got to begin each day with the reading, prayer, and goal setting for the day. Just 20 minutes Loser!

Great vacation with the family. So good to be together for such a long period of time. Now it's time to get back and get through youth conference and high adventure at church, try and remember how to play lacrosse, and get this large funding round in place for the company. Just a few small goals for July - close on XX million, score a goal in lacrosse, hike Timp and Olympus, and keep up on the scripture schedule. You can do it. Don't be a loser.

Fatherhood/ Testimony of Christ

Two questions - what scriptures would be recommended for a person dealing with repentance to better understand the Atonement? That one first.

2 Nephi 9 is the first idea that comes to me. I have used it already in discussion of the significance of the Body of Christ. (v4 - 13 resurrection) then (v14 - 27 atonement overview) then (v28 - 40 source and description of sin) then (v41 - 54 an invitation to accept and embrace the atonement). It is really an excellent overview, encompassing so many, many details.

But is this the best source for someone struggling? What pulls us out of sin and gives us the understanding to trust in the Savior? John 17:3 comes to mind - This is life eternal to know thee the only true God and Jesus Christ whom thou hast sent. We all have to come to know Jesus and 2 Nephi 9 is probably not where I would start.

The gospel of John itself is so telling of Jesus's love. Phillips answer in ch 1 that this was the Christ in fulfillment of the law of Moses to 'Come and see'. Such a theme for John. If someone was new to the gospel, I might go John 11 - 21 with a word of caution not to get too caught up in understanding 17. I also may point them to Luke for even a simpler discussion.

We all have to gain a testimony of Christ, both with faith and hope. It comes primarily of experience, but the stories of Christ can spring up to hope.

First scriptures that come to mind would be Hel 3:35, Moroni 10:32, 33, and 2 Nephi 31:13-21.


The other question is the role of parents in childrens damaging choices once made. Prodigal son is the first thing that comes to mind. In Luke 15, 'But when he was yet a great way off, his father saw him, and had compassion, and ran, and fell on his neck, and kissed him.' I am hard pressed to beat this one. So much direction in so few words!

When he was yet a great off - remember the journey was to a far away place. The son made much of the journey on his own, but the last mile so to speak was made in his father's arms. The last mile is the hardest mile. It was the father who saw the son not vice versa. If one is traveling to a place in search of a person wouldn't they be the first one to see their intended target? Usually yes, but not if the person being searched was already waiting, looking, hoping, expecting. The father obviously had never lost hope. He ran! He ran to his son instantly showing support even before his face could be seen up close.

I also think of Alma. His prayers caused intervention of an angel. Mosiah 27. Gotta get back to work. I'll write the letter tonight.

Romans 5 / Hope

Romans is such an excellent description of the Atonement and role of the Savior. I love the phrase in Romans 1 that they 'worshipped and served the creature more than the Creator'. Thats one to use in a talk.

Romans 5 has especially stuck out with its writings on hope. I'll take it verse by verse.

1 Therefore being justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ:

(Remember 'justified' means forgiven as already written and with forgiveness comes 'peace with God')

2 By whom also we have access by faith into this grace wherein we stand, and rejoice in hope of the glory of God.

(After forgiveness is access into His Kingdom and that idea/ possibility gives us hope which as described last time is action and endurance)

3 And not only so, but we glory in tribulations also: knowing that tribulation worketh patience;

4 And patience, experience; and experience, hope:

(This is such an important connnection between experience and hope. When we endure tribulation and learn it is for our good and happiness, that builds our hope."

5 And hope maketh not ashamed; because the love of God is shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy Ghost which is given unto us.

6 For when we were yet without strength, in due time Christ died for the ungodly.

7 For scarcely for a righteous man will one die: yet peradventure for a good man some would even dare to die.

8 But God commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.

(A great proof of the love of God embodied in the Atonement - how many would die for a righteous man (singular) and Christ died for sinners)

9 Much more then, being now justified by his blood, we shall be saved from wrath through him.
(Here is another theme I have already covered - the BLOOD saves us from the wrath of justice)

10 For if, when we were enemies, we were reconciled to God by the death of his Son, much more, being reconciled, we shall be saved by his life.

(The difference between immortality and Eternal life.)

11 And not only so, but we also joy in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, by whom we have now received the atonement.

12 Wherefore, as by one man sin entered into the world, and death by sin; and so death passed upon all men, for that all have sinned:

13 For until the law sin was in the world: but sin is not imputed when there is no law.

14 Nevertheless death reigned from Adam to Moses, even over them that had not sinned after the similitude of Adam’s transgression, who is the figure of him that was to come.

(Adam was a type for Christ although with the opposite result. See above how one man brought sin and therefore death into the world (Adam). But Adam did it willingly with full understanding of the consequences because Eve ate first and explained it to him. Taking of the fruit voluntarily sacrificed his allegiance to God for the good of Man. It can be said that Adam took Man's sins on himself by eating of the fruit. He certainly paid a price by being cast out from Father's presence that we so dearly loved and enjoyed. And he did it without knowledge of the saving Atonement which was announced after his fall. His sacrifice was completed by one person and so was the Savior's. Paul does a great job pointing out the similarities.)

15 But not as the offence, so also is the free gift. For if through the offence of one many be dead, much more the grace of God, and the gift by grace, which is by one man, Jesus Christ, hath abounded unto many.

16 And not as it was by one that sinned, so is the gift: for the judgment was by one to condemnation, but the free gift is of many offences unto justification.

17 For if by one man’s offence death reigned by one; much more they which receive abundance of grace and of the gift of righteousness shall reign in life by one, Jesus Christ.

18 Therefore as by the offence of one judgment came upon all men to condemnation; even so by the righteousness of one the free gift came upon all men unto justification of life.

19 For as by one man’s disobedience many were made sinners, so by the obedience of one shall many be made righteous.

20 Moreover the law entered, that the offence might abound. But where sin abounded, grace did much more abound:

(Such an important idea!)

21 That as sin hath reigned unto death, even so might grace reign through righteousness unto eternal life by Jesus Christ our Lord.

Hope

Of the virtues, hope is certainly least spoken of. Simply stated, faith is believe in things not seen - specifically Christ and His coming. When we believe (faith) hope is a natural outcome. We hope for what we believe in (Eternal life) and then that hope pushes us to action to make real what we hope. In the case of the gospel hope in action is charity. Faith creates hope which inspires charity for others.

The same is true in my business life. If I cease to believe in our success (where it begins) then I will not hope for the successful result and without hope I will have no action.

Before looking at the scriptures, look at this interesting write up from Wikipedia:

"In Human, All Too Human, existential philosopher Friedrich Nietzsche had this to say about hope:
Hope. Pandora brought the jar with the evils and opened it. It was the gods' gift to man, on the outside a beautiful, enticing gift, called the "lucky jar." Then all the evils, those lively, winged beings, flew out of it. Since that time, they roam around and do harm to men by day and night. One single evil had not yet slipped out of the jar. As Zeus had wished, Pandora slammed the top down and it remained inside. So now man has the lucky jar in his house forever and thinks the world of the treasure. It is at his service; he reaches for it when he fancies it. For he does not know that that jar which Pandora brought was the jar of evils, and he takes the remaining evil for the greatest worldly good--it is hope, for Zeus did not want man to throw his life away, no matter how much the other evils might torment him, but rather to go on letting himself be tormented anew. To that end, he gives man hope. In truth, it is the most evil of evils because it prolongs man's torment.

Martin Seligman in his book Learned Optimism (1990) strongly criticizes the role of churches in the promotion of the idea that the individual has little chance or hope of affecting his or her life. He acknowledges that the social and cultural conditions, such as serfdom and the caste system weighed heavily against the freedom of individuals to change the social circumstances of their lives. Almost as if to avoid the criticism, in his book What You Can Change and What You Can't, he is careful to outline the extent that people can hold out hope for personal action to change some of the things that affect their lives.

There is some evidence to suggest that in adverse situations, hope may be worse than hopelessness for overall well-being. For example, people sentenced to life imprisonment without the possibility of parole adjust better to their situation than prisoners that retain the possibility of parole. Similarly, patients who underwent a permanent colostomy showed higher life satisfaction 6 months after the operation than those who underwent a potentially reversible colostomy.[2]"

Very interesting to consider that Hope may not be a good thing. Hope can prolong suffering and torment in pursuit of a never to be acheived goal. But consider the extension of such thinking and how contrary to the Plan of Salvation.

Satan's selfish plan was to remove free agency. We normally think of that as just meaning we don't make our own choices, and therefore no mistakes, automatically qualifying all to return to the Father. Like Cain's offering of grains and fruits, on the outside it is difficult to understand why these two examples are so wrong. Considering Satan's plan and the VERY similar arguments I found researching hope in Wikipedia, if free agency is removed there can be no growth, no progression. Satan, superior to all except Christ in the pre-exsistence, would have remained in this high position on top of the glory he fiendishly hope for himself in delivering the human race. None of his brothers or sisters in the human family would every progress beyond him like a parent that doesn't want a child to be more successful than themselves.

Consider the examples in Wikipedia. Both are examples of removing free agency. With free agency and the chance to change their inherited situation removed, hope was gone. Apparently they are happier, but that is not accurate. What they really do is come to accept their situation. Is that happiness? Isn't that exactly what Satan wanted to define as happiness? Isn't that a TREMENDOUS temptation that Satan puts on us? It feels good to give up, give in, or say that we no longer need to push ourselves. But when those feelings come, we should remind ourselves that we are playing into Satan's plan to accept our situation.

Christ's plan was not to accept our situation. Christ's plan was not give up or blame the world for our station in life. Fundamentally Christ and Satan disagreed on one central point. IS HAPPINESS DEFINED BY TRYING PROGRESSION OR RELAXING ACCEPTANCE? Is happiness moving to an island in the Carribean and blissfully passing the time with no work happiness or is throwing ourselves full board into self-improvement, service, and experiments of our resolve how we become happy?

The Body of Christ

Seems like a good time following the thoughts on the Blood of Christ and its sanctifying effect on ours, to talk about the Body of Christ. It is also so closely tied with Christmas and its meaning so here goes.

The Vision of the Tree of Life is shown twice in the Book of Mormon. Lehi's vision is meant as reward and affirmation for a life well lived - he gets to taste the fruit of the tree of life and see that many of his family eventually will as well. Nephi's version is meant as a learning moment to prepare him for his coming call. He doesn't taste the fruit or see his family make it. It is instructional.

Once Nephi's initial request to see what his father say is answered, his next question is to know the interpretation thereof (1 Nephi 11:11). Nephi wants to understand what the Tree of Life means. The answer, if taken in detail, is really interesting. The answers come in the following order:

1. Nephi is shown Mary in Nazareth before she is pregnant with Jesus - this image is the first answer. Interesting that this is where explaining the tree of life starts.

2. Then the question that Nephi must understand BEFORE the tree of life can be explained (1 Nephi 11:16), "Knowest thou the condescension of God?" This is the supreme concept of the tree of life. Nephi makes an attempt, a guess, saying that he knows God loves us, then adds a humble statement that he doesn't understand all things.

3. The angel then goes on to explain the condescension of God back with the picture of Mary. Condescend means to lower one self to a lesser position - of course that of the Savior leaving his supreme position in heaven for birth as a mortal. But even more specifically, the angel could have chosen any number of snipets from the life of Christ including the Atonement, but Mary was selected for this critical statement: "the mother of the Son of God, after the manner of the flesh". The KEY was the condescension is most embodied in the evidence and source of Christ receiving mortal flesh. The flesh is the condescension.

4. Nephi has now gained this understanding, but still misses ever so slightly, as the angel enhances his new found understanding by adding something that is only realized through life experiences over time - "and most joyous to the soul".

We often celebrate Christmas in that it began the life and mission of Jesus Christ. That is appropriate, but it also misses some of the important point taught to Nephi. The celebration is that Jesus - God, voluntarily took on mortal flesh. Voluntarily aligned Himself with us. When He became like us He became the Hope of Israel - once God had condescended to our plane the connection was made and the chance that as He went down we might have hope to come up. It is interesting to me that this was the answer to the interpretation of the Tree of Life.

One more thought for today. 2 Nephi 9:5 has a misplaced pronoun. Substitute the second 'it' with the word 'Jesus':

"Yea, I know that ye know that in the body he shall show himself unto those at Jerusalem, from whence we came; for it is expedient that it (INSERT 'JESUS') should be among them; for it behooveth the great Creator that he suffereth himself to become subject unto man in the flesh, and die for all men, that all men might become subject unto him.

Doesn't it make more sense? And if yes, why does Jacob refer to Christ as 'it' rather than 'He'? The answer is that 'it' does not refer to Christ - 'it' refers to the physical body of Christ. Jesus had already been 'among' them many times visiting Moses and numerous other prophets in person, but that wasn't enough. The key was having the physical bdy of a God that subjected God to the flesh and earned the chance for all to 'become subject uno him'.