United States Divided

As I've written previously, the Book of Mormon is written for our day. It gives us insight into what we should expect leading up to the Second Coming of Christ.

One of the events that happened in Book of Mormon times before Christ visited them was the destruction of the government and the people dividing into "tribes" as described in 3 Nephi 7:1-7. Every time I read this passage, I wondered if something similar would ever happen to the United States.

Joseph Smith has prophesied, according to many people, that the United States government would be on the brink and that the Constitution would hang by a thread (read "What do we know about the purported statement of Joseph Smith that the Constitution would hang by a thread and that the elders would save it?" D. Michael Stewart, “I Have a Question,” Ensign, June 1976, 64–65)

So with all this in mind, I was honestly surprised to see an article link from a major US News site that read "Professor Predicts end of USA". The article appears on the Wall Street Journal and is entitled "As if Things Weren't Bad Enough, Russian Professor Predicts End of U.S.
In Moscow, Igor Panarin's Forecasts Are All the Rage; America 'Disintegrates' in 2010"

I'm not sure if that link will stay hot, so I'll post the article in its entirety here:

By ANDREW OSBORN
MOSCOW -- For a decade, Russian academic Igor Panarin has been predicting the U.S. will fall apart in 2010. For most of that time, he admits, few took his argument -- that an economic and moral collapse will trigger a civil war and the eventual breakup of the U.S. -- very seriously. Now he's found an eager audience: Russian state media.

In recent weeks, he's been interviewed as much as twice a day about his predictions. "It's a record," says Prof. Panarin. "But I think the attention is going to grow even stronger."
Prof. Panarin, 50 years old, is not a fringe figure. A former KGB analyst, he is dean of the Russian Foreign Ministry's academy for future diplomats. He is invited to Kremlin receptions, lectures students, publishes books, and appears in the media as an expert on U.S.-Russia relations.

But it's his bleak forecast for the U.S. that is music to the ears of the Kremlin, which in recent years has blamed Washington for everything from instability in the Middle East to the global financial crisis. Mr. Panarin's views also fit neatly with the Kremlin's narrative that Russia is returning to its rightful place on the world stage after the weakness of the 1990s, when many feared that the country would go economically and politically bankrupt and break into separate territories.

A polite and cheerful man with a buzz cut, Mr. Panarin insists he does not dislike Americans. But he warns that the outlook for them is dire.

"There's a 55-45% chance right now that disintegration will occur," he says. "One could rejoice in that process," he adds, poker-faced. "But if we're talking reasonably, it's not the best scenario -- for Russia." Though Russia would become more powerful on the global stage, he says, its economy would suffer because it currently depends heavily on the dollar and on trade with the U.S.

Mr. Panarin posits, in brief, that mass immigration, economic decline, and moral degradation will trigger a civil war next fall and the collapse of the dollar. Around the end of June 2010, or early July, he says, the U.S. will break into six pieces -- with Alaska reverting to Russian control.

In addition to increasing coverage in state media, which are tightly controlled by the Kremlin, Mr. Panarin's ideas are now being widely discussed among local experts. He presented his theory at a recent roundtable discussion at the Foreign Ministry. The country's top international relations school has hosted him as a keynote speaker. During an appearance on the state TV channel Rossiya, the station cut between his comments and TV footage of lines at soup kitchens and crowds of homeless people in the U.S. The professor has also been featured on the Kremlin's English-language propaganda channel, Russia Today.

Mr. Panarin's apocalyptic vision "reflects a very pronounced degree of anti-Americanism in Russia today," says Vladimir Pozner, a prominent TV journalist in Russia. "It's much stronger than it was in the Soviet Union."

Mr. Pozner and other Russian commentators and experts on the U.S. dismiss Mr. Panarin's predictions. "Crazy ideas are not usually discussed by serious people," says Sergei Rogov, director of the government-run Institute for U.S. and Canadian Studies, who thinks Mr. Panarin's theories don't hold water.

Mr. Panarin's résumé includes many years in the Soviet KGB, an experience shared by other top Russian officials. His office, in downtown Moscow, shows his national pride, with pennants on the wall bearing the emblem of the FSB, the KGB's successor agency. It is also full of statuettes of eagles; a double-headed eagle was the symbol of czarist Russia.

The professor says he began his career in the KGB in 1976. In post-Soviet Russia, he got a doctorate in political science, studied U.S. economics, and worked for FAPSI, then the Russian equivalent of the U.S. National Security Agency. He says he did strategy forecasts for then-President Boris Yeltsin, adding that the details are "classified."

In September 1998, he attended a conference in Linz, Austria, devoted to information warfare, the use of data to get an edge over a rival. It was there, in front of 400 fellow delegates, that he first presented his theory about the collapse of the U.S. in 2010.

"When I pushed the button on my computer and the map of the United States disintegrated, hundreds of people cried out in surprise," he remembers. He says most in the audience were skeptical. "They didn't believe me."

At the end of the presentation, he says many delegates asked him to autograph copies of the map showing a dismembered U.S.

He based the forecast on classified data supplied to him by FAPSI analysts, he says. He predicts that economic, financial and demographic trends will provoke a political and social crisis in the U.S. When the going gets tough, he says, wealthier states will withhold funds from the federal government and effectively secede from the union. Social unrest up to and including a civil war will follow. The U.S. will then split along ethnic lines, and foreign powers will move in.

California will form the nucleus of what he calls "The Californian Republic," and will be part of China or under Chinese influence. Texas will be the heart of "The Texas Republic," a cluster of states that will go to Mexico or fall under Mexican influence. Washington, D.C., and New York will be part of an "Atlantic America" that may join the European Union. Canada will grab a group of Northern states Prof. Panarin calls "The Central North American Republic." Hawaii, he suggests, will be a protectorate of Japan or China, and Alaska will be subsumed into Russia.

"It would be reasonable for Russia to lay claim to Alaska; it was part of the Russian Empire for a long time." A framed satellite image of the Bering Strait that separates Alaska from Russia like a thread hangs from his office wall. "It's not there for no reason," he says with a sly grin.

Interest in his forecast revived this fall when he published an article in Izvestia, one of Russia's biggest national dailies. In it, he reiterated his theory, called U.S. foreign debt "a pyramid scheme," and predicted China and Russia would usurp Washington's role as a global financial regulator.

Americans hope President-elect Barack Obama "can work miracles," he wrote. "But when spring comes, it will be clear that there are no miracles."

The article prompted a question about the White House's reaction to Prof. Panarin's forecast at a December news conference. "I'll have to decline to comment," spokeswoman Dana Perino said amid much laughter.

For Prof. Panarin, Ms. Perino's response was significant. "The way the answer was phrased was an indication that my views are being listened to very carefully," he says.

The professor says he's convinced that people are taking his theory more seriously. People like him have forecast similar cataclysms before, he says, and been right. He cites French political scientist Emmanuel Todd. Mr. Todd is famous for having rightly forecast the demise of the Soviet Union -- 15 years beforehand. "When he forecast the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1976, people laughed at him," says Prof. Panarin.

I'm not sure if I believe all of this or not. But it is very interesting to see that the idea of the United States disintegrating is being talked about and even being considered not insane these days.

My original commentary on 3 Nephi 7 & 8

2 Nephi 26

Nephi's Prophecies Continued

Nephi continues with a few prophecies in this chapter. He tells of Christ’s birth, death and resurrection. He also tells that Christ will visit the Nephites in America. I have watched a few Discovery Channel specials on Nostradamus. He was also a prophet in that he foresaw things to happen. From what I have seen and heard, he prophesied about doom and gloom. Compare him to Nephi and other Book of Mormon prophets and you will find that Nephi also prophesied about destruction, but not all of his prophesies were about war and destruction. He also prophesied about glorious things to come such as the birth of Christ as well as the resurrection.

Christ is the Law

In 3 Nephi 1:24, we read that certain people were trying to convince everyone else that the Law of Moses was fulfilled. But they did not understand the scriptures. Nephi plainly explains that when Christ would manifest himself to the children of Lehi, then they should heed "the words which he shall speak unto [them]" and that those words "shall be the law which [they] shall do" (2 Nephi 26:1).

Sell Themselves for Naught

In verse 10, Nephi says that his people will “sell themselves for naught; for, for the reward of their pride and their foolishness they shall reap destruction.” The question I pose is, “what do you sell yourself for?” Do you sell your time to things that have no worth? Do you give more of your time to work, hobbies and other people than you do your family or the Church? This is an interesting concept to think about – that of selling yourself. You must not think of this in terms of money, although you can. For greater applicability, you must think of selling yourself in terms of time, talents and means. I think what Nephi is saying here is that you shouldn’t sell yourself for nothing of value in return. If you sell all your time to playing games or to your career or your hobby, you will receive nothing of eternal value in return. What you will receive is an empty home, a saddened wife, dysfunctional children and ultimately eternal misery – all because you sold yourself for nothing. Look at the opposite – if you sell your time to your family, the Church and service, your reward will be great. And when you compare the amount of yourself you sell to your family, the Church and service to the reward you will receive, you will know that you are getting the better end of the deal. For what you will receive will far outweigh what you will sell yourself for.

Flaxen Cord

The temptations of Satan are ever so subtle. They begin innocently and sometimes hardly register on our spiritual RADAR. But if we do not watch ourselves and our thoughts and our words and our deeds (Mosiah 4:30), then Satan will ever so gently cast his flaxen cord around our neck unnoticed. Then that cord begins to thicken until we are bound "with his strong cords forever" (2 Nephi 26:22).

C.S. Lewis penned in The Screwtape Letters, "The safest road to Hell … is the gradual one - the gentle slope, soft underfoot, without turnings, without milestones, without signposts."

The Atonement

The next part Nephi talks about is what Christ gave to us. You can think in terms of selling oneself in this instance too. Christ sold himself to the will of his Father. Christ then offered the Atonement to everyone. In verse 25 he says, “Come unto me all ye ends of the earth, buy milk and honey, without money and without price.” In verse 27 Nephi states that Christ has given us the Atonement for free. Clearly Nephi is talking in monetary terms here as he did in verse 25. The Atonement is not free in the sense time and sacrifice. One must use (spend) his or her time on this earth to repent, obey the commandments of God and keep the covenants they have made. He must give the Lord a contrite heart and broken spirit (3 Nephi 9:20).

Priestcrafts Defined

2 Nephi 26:29 defines priestcrafts as thus: "that men preach and set themselves up for a light unto the world, that they may get gain and praise of the world; but they seek not the welfare of Zion."

Obviously there are many religions and churches whose founder's purpose is to gain money. Just here in the metroplex where I live there are "mega-churches." I'm sure that many of the members use the donations to help the poor, but I wonder how much money the clergy make.

Priestcrafts can also be found in the Church. Whenever a Sunday School teacher seeks to be a light unto himself, he is practicing priestcraft. He seeks not the welfare of his students but rather he seeks the glory of being viewed as intelligent. There is a fine line between "gospel scholarship" and priestcrafts.

I don't know what the Prophet's stance is on marketing the Gospel, but I've always been leery of conferences and merchandising that members pay for. I know that what some of these companies and conferences do is good, but should we pay to have the Gospel (or parts of the Gospel) taught to us? That is just my personal opinion.

Charity

One of the greatest commandments we are to obey is to have charity “which charity is love. And except [we] should have charity [we are] nothing” (2 Nephi 26:30). We are not to labor or sell ourselves for money; rather we are to sell ourselves to charity. If we “labor for money” (meaning all our life is consumed in the pursuit of money), we will be nothing. If we labor for charity, we will inherit the Kingdom of God.

One of my favorite quotes about charity I first heard while I was in the MTC as a full-time missionary in June 1995. This quote is by Marvin J. Ashton who was in the Quorum of the Twelve. He said,

“Perhaps the greatest charity comes when we are kind to each other, when we don’t judge or categorize someone else, when we simply give each other the benefit of the doubt or remain quiet. Charity is accepting someone’s differences, weaknesses and shortcomings, having patience with someone who has let us down, or resisting the impulse to become offended when someone doesn’t handle something the way we might have hoped. Charity is refusing to take advantage of another’s weakness and being willing to forgive someone who has hurt us. Charity is expecting the best of each other” ("The Tongue Can be a Sharp Sword," Ensign, May 1992, 18).

I am trying to develop charity in my life. There are things that upset me, but I am trying hard not to let those small things get to me so much. I think that the truest form of charity you can practice is in marriage. In marriage, everything is magnified.

I hope whoever is reading this will sell them selves to the will of the Father. Give yourself to charity which is the true love of Christ. Understand that the true love of Christ is giving your self to others – serving and loving others. Also, remember that the most important people you will serve and love will be those closest to you – your family, your spouse, and your children.

The Mercy of the Lord

In my commentary on 2 Nephi 24, I had a section entitled "The Shepard vs. The Prison Keeper" wherein I contrasted the mercy of the Lord to that of Satan's. Chapter 26 has several other support references to this thought.

In verse 15 towards the end of the verse it reads, "and all those who have dwindled in unbelief shall not be forgotten." The Lord warns the Nephites and Lamanites that if they do not repent, they will become scattered by the Gentiles. But even after all of that, the Lord is still merciful and does not let them dwindle forever. One of the reasons the Lord prepared the Book of Mormon was to help those who dwindled in unbelief.

In verse 24 we read that the Lord loves the world and he does not do "anything save it be for the benefit of the world." Satan, on the other hand, desires nothing more than the destruction and eternal damnation of the world.

Lastly, in the final verse of the chapter (33), Nephi tells us that the Lord denies nobody from partaking of the Atonement. In God's eyes, everyone has equal access to the Atonement regardless of race or status.

Sins of Commission

Verse 32 summarizes seven sins we must not commit: lying, stealing, taking the name of God in vain, envying, having malice, contending with others and committing whoredoms. These are somewhat similar to the Ten Commandments.

The Ten Commandments are:
Thou shalt have no other God before me.
Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven image.
Thou shalt not take the name of the Lord thy God in vain.
Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy.
Honor thy father and thy mother.
Thou shalt not kill.
Thou shalt not commit adultery.
Thou shalt not steal.
Thou shalt not bear false witness.
Thou shalt not covet.

2 Nephi 25

The Prophecies of Nephi

To begin, here is a list I composed when I was a missionary. This list numbers all of Nephi’s prophesies concerning Christ, the Jews and Gentiles and the Lamanites and Nephites.

1. In the Last Days, when Isaiah's prophecies begin to be fulfilled, men will know of a surety when they come to pass (25:7).
   
2. Jews carried away captive by Babylon, then return to Jerusalem and are restored to their lands of inheritance (25:11).
   
3. Jews reject and crucify the Christ and he is resurrected after 3 days (25:12-13).
   
4. Jerusalem is destroyed again after the Messiah (25:14).
   
5. The Jews are scattered among all nations and Babylon is destroyed (25:15).


6. Jews are restored and gathered again a 2nd time (25:17).
   
7. Christ will come 600 years after Lehi left Jerusalem (25:19).
   
8. Christ will manifest himself to the Nephites (26:1-9).
   
9. The Nephite destruction (26:10).
   
10. The coming forth of the Book of Mormon (26:16-17).
    
11. The rise of false churches and secret combinations among the Gentiles (26:20).
    
12. Darkness and apostasy in the last days (27:1-5).
    
13. Sealed portion of the Book of Mormon will be read from housetops (27:11).
    
14. Three witnesses of Book of Mormon (27:12).
    
15. Martin Harris takes characters to Dr. Anthon and other professor (27:15-20).
    
16. A marvelous work and a wonder – the restoration of the Gospel (27:26).

The Law of Moses is Dead

Nephi truly understood the purpose of the Law of Moses. He understood that everything they did in the Law of Moses was the typifying of Christ and was to help the people remember Christ. He taught his people the deadness of the law meaning that once Christ would come, the law would no longer be needed. I also like the part where Nephi says, “after the law is fulfilled in Christ, they need not harden their hearts against him when the law ought to be done away” (v. 27). This was one of the problems in Jerusalem when Christ came. The people still clung to their old traditions (the Law of Moses) and did not accept the teachings of Christ. Nephi and the Book of Mormon prophets were prepared and taught the people to repent and live the higher law, but they still obeyed the lower Law of Moses.

After All We Can Do

In verse 23, Nephi talks about reconciliation again. He writes in order to persuade his children and brethren to “believe in Christ, and to be reconciled to God; for we know that it is by grace that we are saved, after all we can do.” I think this is the source of the saying “we are saved by grace after all we can do.”

A few years ago (around 2004), a co-worker invited me to lunch on a rainy day. At the time, I did not know why he was taking me to lunch, but I had a premonition as to what his purpose was. After beginning our lunch, we began to chat about work. Then he launched into a religious discussion. What he wanted was that I read a prayer from a Billy Graham pamphlet that in essence "saved me." After further discussion, I summarized to him that what he believed was that once a person read aloud this prayer, he would be saved no matter what he did the rest of his life. I could commit sin and still be saved without true repentance … theoretically. To me, this represented a serious flaw in his understanding of the Atonement. As Nephi teaches us, no matter how "good" we are, we still cannot be saved by our actions alone. We need the Atonement in order to be "saved." We must strive to keep the commandments and truly repent and prepare ourselves to be judged of God and Christ. If we choose not to even try to keep the commandments, then the Atonement will be ineffective in our lives.

A Voice from the Dust

Just as a general comment – when I was reading this part of the chapter (beginning in verse 24) I could feel Nephi’s words. In other words, the Spirit was testifying to me the truthfulness of the Book of Mormon. What I felt was the love Nephi had for the Savior. And after reading this part of the chapter, I felt an intense desire to study the teachings of Christ, namely the New Testament. Nephi would have loved the New Testament as it contains the teachings of Christ. His heart would have rejoiced in learning the true law of God. Living the law of Christ would not have been difficult for Nephi, however. He was already living the higher law.

(Heart), Might, Mind and Strength

In verse 29, you can especially feel Nephi’s words, “And now behold, I say unto you that the right way is to believe in Christ, and deny him not; and Christ is the Holy One of Israel; wherefore ye must bow down before him, and worship him with all your might, mind, and strength, and your whole soul; and if ye do this ye shall in nowise be cast out.”

There are several references in the scriptures that include the phrase "might, mind and strength" (Mosiah 2:11, Moroni 10:32, D&C 4:2, D&C 11:20, D&C 33:7, D&C 59:5, D&C 98:47). In essence, Nephi is telling us the first great commandment … to "love the Lord thy God" (Matthew 22:37, Mark 12:30). And not only should we love the Lord, but we need to love Him with all our heart and mind and might. In other words, we should not hold back any of our love for him. And how do we love him? We love him by keeping his commandments (John 14:15, D&C 124:87) with all our hearts, minds, might and strength.

2 Nephi 12

For these Isaiah chapters, I am drawing a lot of my ideas from a site named gospeldoctrine.com. The author has a lot of quotes from modern-day prophets as well as religious commentators that shed a lot of light on the topics of the chapter.

Prophetic Dualism

Simply put, prophetic dualism means a prophecy is fulfilled in more than one event or manner. The term "mountain of the Lord's house" is one of these phrases that is fulfilled in more than one way.

It is a common belief that the mountain of the Lord's house is the Salt Lake Temple. The Salt Lake Temple stands in the valley of the Rocky Mountains and many people from all over the world have gathered to Salt Lake during General Conference and have been taught.

The prophecy also deals with the fact that sacred places were on tops of mountains. Eventually, the temples in the New Jerusalem and the Old Jerusalem will be built on tops of mountains and people from all over the world will attend those temples to learn of God.

Temples

The principal is there … we are to regularly attend the temple and learn from God. One of our goals, as a couple, this year is to attend the temple once a month. We have set up a time every month with a friend of ours so that one of us tends to the other's children while the other couple goes to the temple.

I will never forget one day during finals week my freshman year at college. I had just gone through the temple in March (along with my cousin and roommate). Finals week was at the end of April. We lived in a dorm that housed returned missionaries. One day in the middle of finals, one of the RM's came over to our room and asked us if we wanted to go do a session that day. My cousin and I looked at each other … we were put in a tough spot. If we said no, it made it look like our faith was lacking. If we said yes, then our study time for finals would be cut short by a few hours. We decided to go. Nothing really special happened at the temple, but to me it left a lasting impression of the importance of attending the temple.

Majesty and Glory

The rest of the chapter deals with the pride of the world and the warning the Lord gives. The pride of the world will be humbled. The one thing that struck me was that not only would the Lord tear down the world's pride, but that his majesty and glory would far outshine any pride the world has to offer. In verse 19 it says, "for the fear of the Lord shall come upon them and the glory of his majesty shall smite them." In my mind's eye, the coming of the Lord will be glorious beyond description. Any attempt by the world or man to look glorious and powerful will be far overshadowed by the Lord's glory and majesty.

Lastly in verse 22 it says, "Cease ye from man, whose breath is in his nostrils." I found this a rather odd verse, so I looked it up in the NIV to see if it would shed any light and it reads, "Stop trusting in man, who has but a breath in his nostrils." After reading this, the KJV/BOM version made much more sense. We ought not to trust in man or the flesh. Rather we must trust in the Lord and obey his words. Man will die and his knowledge is limited. God is immortal and his knowledge is unlimited.

1 Nephi 12

In this chapter, Nephi continues to see the history of his people.

He sees his people multiply and he sees many cities. He also sees the many wars between the Nephites and Lamanites. Next he sees the great destruction in the land as related in 3 Nephi 8. After the great destruction, he sees Christ minister among those who survived. He sees the Twelve called among the Nephites and Lamanites. And finally he sees four generations pass away in peace and righteousness before the great fall of Nephi’s people. From there, he sees the Lamanites survive and then dwindle in unbelief.

Nephi clarifies more symbolism in this chapter.

The Fountain of Filthy Water = Depths of Hell
Mists of Darkness = Temptations of the Devil

Living the Gospel requires precision and balance. Because the path back to our Father in Heaven is so straight and clear, Satan is left with every other path to tempt us and sway us from the true path to happiness.

If we are not careful, the temptations of Satan will lure us away from our true goal. Just as darkness can guide us away from our path, so can the teachings and desires of the World lead us away from the Gospel.

I remember hiking up to Mount Timpenogus Cave in Utah when I was a young boy. It was a hot day outside, but in the cave, it was cool. The guide led us along a path that was lit by electric light bulbs. Once we were deep in the cave, he shut the light off. The darkness was thick. Absolutely no light could be seen anywhere. I can only imagine the extreme danger one would face if he attempted to journey in the cave in complete darkness. So too are many in the world today … they go day by day blinded by the teachings of men. All too often they fall prey to temptation and end up living an unhappy life.

I am grateful for the scriptures and teachings of a living prophet. They are my light in a dark world. I cannot imagine journeying through life without the light they provide me.

1 Nephi 10

This chapter discusses the prophecies of Lehi to his children.

The Prophecies

In verse 3, he foresees the destruction of Jerusalem and the Jews being carried away captive into Babylon.

In verse 4, he sees the coming of Christ. In verse 7, he sees the coming of John the Baptist. He sees Jesus get baptized by John the Baptist and he sees John testify that Jesus is the Messiah. Next he sees Christ slain and resurrected.

In verse 13, he sees his posterity inherit the Promised Land as well as their scattering at the hand of the Gentiles.

Nephi Desires to Know Too

After Lehi tells his family of his vision and all the things he sees therein, Nephi desires to see and know for himself. He teaches us that the power of the Holy Ghost is a gift from God. God is the same yesterday, today and forever … he is unchanging.

Nephi truly believes that “he that diligently seeketh shall find; and the mysteries of God shall be unfolded unto them.” How many times have we been taught that if we desire to know something from God that all we need to do is ask in faith? Of all the lessons the Gospel of Christ teaches, this one is one of the most taught. “And I say unto you, Ask, and it shall be given you; seek, and ye shall find; knock, and it shall be opened unto you” (Luke 11:9). As we later read, the Lord did indeed enlighten Nephi with regards to Lehi’s dream.

How can we apply this scripture to our lives? Simply put, exercise our faith and experiment on Nephi’s words. If these words are true, then we can petition the Lord in faith and in turn receive from his hand. Obviously God is not a genie and we cannot ask him to make us rich or request some other ridiculous favor. Our desires must be aligned with the Lord’s will. If we ask amiss (James 4:3), then we will not receive what we desire. We must know the will of the Lord and then seek to follow it. Only then, when we ask, will we receive what we desire.

Recently my wife and I were confronted with a question. Since leaving college, we both know that we would like to return to the place where we grew up. Right now, we live over 1000 miles from our hometowns. But we know that jobs are somewhat scarce there and that the cost of living is much more compared to where we live right now. I’m almost finished with graduate school and we are at a crossroads in our life. Should we remain where we are and continue our career with the current company or should we attempt to move back to our hometown? Faced with this question, we really wanted to know the will of the Lord in the matter. If the Lord wanted us to stay, then we would be content with what we have. But if the Lord’s will is that we move back to our native state where we’d be much closer to family, then we’d gladly accept that and we’d do all that we could to move back there. We prayed, attended the temple and fasted about the matter … to know if it is the Lord’s will that we move back. We received an answer and we strongly feel that we should move back. So now we offer multiple petitions a day to the Lord asking his help in our quest to move back to our home state.

No Unclean Thing

Perhaps one of the defining doctrines of “Mormonism” is that we believe that men will be punished for their own sins if they do not repent of them. It is not enough to declare Jesus as our savior and then proceed to live a life of sin. Rather, we believe that everyone must repent of their sins and live a Christ-like life in order to live with God again.

About four years ago, a co-worker approached me one morning and invited me to join him at lunch the next day. We went to lunch and chatted a bit about work before he launched into his “first discussion” about his religion. Basically he wanted me to recite a prayer saying that I declare Jesus as my savior and that after I recite this prayer, I’d be saved. After reciting that prayer, I could then live a life of horrible sin and still be saved. His logic was that if I really believed, then my life would naturally reflect Christ’s life, but if it didn’t, I would still be saved.

Our church, on the other hand, believes that we must “prove” to God and Christ that we are willing to change. Once we truly repent, are baptized, receive the gift of the Holy Ghost and all the other ordinance of the Gospel and then endure to the end, we will be saved. Else, if we simply pay lip service and go through the actions but truly don’t repent and live a life of wickedness, then we will not live with God again.

As Nephi states, “Therefore remember, O man, for all thy doings thou shalt be brought into judgment” (v. 20). He also teaches that “no unclean thing can dwell with God” (v. 21). If we have sought to do wickedly all the days of our probation, then we will be unclean and consequently cannot live with God.