LeGrand L. Baker

Category: 1 & 2 Peter

  • John 1:4 & 2 Peter 1:1-10 — (part 10) — Calling and Election Made Sure – LeGrand Baker

    From one perspective, almost everything that is really important in our lives begins as a random happenstance, such as the chance meeting of someone who will become a dear and trusted friend. However, that makes little sense to me. It seems to me that if we made covenants before we came here, our doing so would have been ill-advised if our lives here were to be left to haphazard, unplanned eventualities.

    Therefore, I believe that almost everything that is important is based on the covenants we made at the Council in Heaven. That is empowering. We do not have to fret because we do not have to fulfill obligations like those assigned to other people, and we do not have to be perfect like someone else. Our responsibility is to be ourselves and to do what we covenanted to do.

    Now that belief seems to be bit awkward on the surface, because we cannot remember what we said we would do, how we said we would do it, or who we said we would love. A primary function of the Holy Ghost is to teach us what those covenants were and what we should do to fulfil them. Some are long term, like “get an education so you will be qualified.” Others are immediate, like “talk to that stranger about the gospel because he will listen.”

    In addition to those specific covenants we made, there are some things everyone must do to qualify for the celestial kingdom. Many of them can be accomplished while we are in this world. Otherwise, they may be accomplished in the next world. But whenever it is we have an opportunity to fulfill them, the criteria for being a celestial person does not change. The scriptures say that many times. Two explicit examples are:

    5 For all who will have a blessing at my hands shall abide the law which was appointed for that blessing, and the conditions thereof, as were instituted from before the foundation of the world (D&C 132:5).

    20 There is a law, irrevocably decreed in heaven before the foundations of this world, upon which all blessings are predicated—
    21 And when we obtain any blessing from God, it is by obedience to that law upon which it is predicated.
    (D&C 130:1-23)

    Another example is the 25th Psalm. It is my favorite because it resonates with us personally and speaks to us plainly about those covenants, and it attaches them to eternal blessings. Psalm 37:11, which was quoted by the Savior in the Beatitudes, says “the meek shall inherit the earth; and shall delight themselves in the abundance of peace.” However it is Psalm 25 that identifies the meek as those who keep the covenants they made at the Council in Heaven and says their “seed shall inherit the earth.” It reads in part,

    9 The meek will he guide in judgment: and the meek will he teach his way.
    10 All the paths of the Lord are mercy [hesed] and truth unto such as keep his covenant and his testimonies. {1}
    11 For thy name’s sake, O Lord, pardon mine iniquity; for it is great.
    12 What man is he that feareth the Lord? him shall he teach in the way that he shall choose.
    13 His soul shall dwell at ease; and his seed shall inherit the earth
    14 The secret [sode] of the Lord is with them that fear him; and he will shew them his covenant.(Psalms 25:9-14). {2}

    The promise in verse 14 could not more unequivocal. “The secret [sode] of the Lord is with them that fear him; and he will shew them his covenant.” The word secret is sode, and is a specific reference to the decisions made at the Council in Heaven. {3}

    The promise is if they “fear” the Lord “he will shew them his covenant.” The word “fear” carries no connotation of being afraid, and “respect” is not completely adequate. It means to honor, esteem, give deference to, but all of those feelings are founded on devotion and love. The psalm says that if we live to be sensitive to his instructions, and love the Lord, he will teach us when and how to fulfil those covenants.

    Some of the covenants are as eternal as we are. For example, Psalm 82 depicts the members of the Council in Heaven making a covenant that sounds very much like charity and the law of consecration. {4} The law of consecration is what one does when charity is what one is. Keeping that covenant is our most constant source of happiness during our journey through linear time. Modern revelation reiterates its importance while we are in this world (D&C 42, 85, and 105). How well we keep that covenant is the ultimate criterion upon which our eternal salvation will be determined. The apostle Peter gave us the perfect guidelines about how to achieve that end.

    The letter that is 2 Peter was his final instructions to the Saints. He says he knew he was about to be killed. The epistle begins with a poetic description of the early Christian temple service which he says contained “exceeding great and precious promises” that will enable one to “be partakers of the divine nature.”

    Peter followed that promise with instructions about how to make one’s calling and election sure. In a sermon based on 2 Peter, the Prophet Joseph said,

    There are three grand secrets lying in this chapter, [2 Peter 1.] which no man can dig out, unless by the light of revelation, and which unlocks the whole chapter as the things that are written are only hints of things which existed in the prophet’s mind, which are not written concerning eternal glory. {5}

    Peter’s letter was addressed “to them that have obtained like precious faith with us.” The Greek word that is translated as “faith” is pistis. Its modern English equivalent is “contract” or “covenant.” {6} As becomes increasingly apparent in the next three verses, Peter was using this reference to the covenants to represent the entire early Christian temple service.

    1 Simon Peter, a servant and an apostle of Jesus Christ, to them that have obtained like precious faith [the Greek word is pistis, meaning the covenants] with us through the righteousness of God and our Saviour Jesus Christ:
    2 Grace and peace be multiplied unto you through the knowledge of God, and of Jesus our Lord,
    3 According as his divine power hath given unto us all things that pertain unto life and godliness, through the knowledge of him that hath called us to glory and virtue:
    4 Whereby are given unto us exceeding great and precious promises: that by these ye might be partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world through lust [lust is wanting anything too much].

    Peter then says, in addition to those covenants, we have to do the following:

    5 And beside this, giving all diligence, add to your faith virtue; and to virtue knowledge;
    6 And to knowledge temperance; and to temperance patience; and to patience godliness;
    7 And to godliness brotherly kindness; and to brotherly kindness charity.
    8 For if these things be in you, and abound, they make you that ye shall neither be barren nor unfruitful in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ.
    9 But he that lacketh these things is blind, and cannot see afar off, and hath forgotten that he was purged from his old sins.
    10 Wherefore the rather, brethren, give diligence to make your calling and election sure: for if ye do these things, ye shall never fall (2 Peter 1:1-10).

    Peter has divided this criterion into two separate groupings. The first are four steps in the spiritual development of one’s Self:

    1. add to your faith/pistis — the ordinances and covenants we receive. It is given to us by God’s authority, and is a sustaining power that we may live to and depend upon.

    2. virtue — the word actually means “manliness (valor),” strength, integrity, honesty, intelligence. {7} It is what we are; our power to do what must be done.

    3. knowledge — of truth. “And truth is knowledge of things as they are, and as they were, and as they are to come (D&C 93:24).” Knowledge is something we are given and are expected to act upon. We have only as much free agency as we have knowledge of reality. Without sufficient knowledge of both the principles and their consequences, we are free to guess but not really free to choose. If we knew all truth, our agency would be absolute.

    4. temperance — self control, the way we conduct our own lives, doing nothing in excess. Freedom is the power to choose and to do, but abdicating that power to our inability to control what we do is a form of slavery.

    The second grouping is four steps about our attitudes and relationships with other people:

    5. patience — We must be patient, especially with children; but also with ourselves; and even with God as is eloquently expressed in Psalm 25.

    6. godliness — the Greek word means “reverence.” It is also about our attitude and actions toward other people. To revere something or someone is to rejoice in the goodness and beauty of their reality. We can never seek to hurt anything or anyone whom we revere. {8}

    7. brotherly kindness — in this verse, the King James Version uses the phrase “brotherly kindness,” but elsewhere in the New Testament that same Greek word is always translated as “brotherly love” which has a somewhat stronger connotation. Strong # 5360 (first edition, 1890) reads: “philadelphia; fraternal affection: brotherly love (kindness), love of the brethren” Philadelphia is a focused love, love for an individual, implicitly a reciprocated one-on-one relationship.

    8. Charity expands that focused love to everyone. It seems to me that a major characteristic of God is his ability to love everyone equally and at the same time to focus his love just on one individual without diminishing his love for everyone else. (My parents could do that with their six children. Each one of us knew he or she was Dad and Mom’s favorite, and each one also knew that all the others knew they were the favorite as well. That is a beautiful thing for me to remember.)

    In the first four steps Peter outlines what one must do to qualify one’s Self to serve others. The second four are the steps that qualify us for eternal life. Even though they are presented in a sequence, each of them must be developed in small steps, often simultaneously with the others because they build upon each other. Peter continues,

    8 For if these things be in you, and abound, they make you that ye shall neither be barren nor unfruitful in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ.

    9 But he that lacketh these things is blind, and cannot see afar off, and hath forgotten that he was purged from his old sins.

    10 Wherefore the rather, brethren, give diligence to make your calling and election sure: for if ye do these things, ye shall never fall: (2 Peter 1:1-10)

    As far as I know, to make our calling “sure” is to fulfill the covenants we were called to fulfill—that is, to keep the covenants we made at the Council in Heaven. When we have done that, our election will have become “sure” also.

    It is important to note that there is nothing there to suggest that anyone else has to even notice what we are doing, what we have done, or who we are. The qualities of greatness have almost nothing to do with what the world (or even many members of the church) thinks of is being “great.” True greatness has only to do with the qualities of one’s soul. That greatness shines from our eyes and illuminates our whole person. It is the single thing that defines who and what we are.

    If love is the engine that drives our actions, and if we obey because we choose to, then both love and obedience together are the single expression of the “eternal law of our own beings.” {9} They define who we were at the Council, who we are just now, and who we will always be. It is that truth/light/love by which we shine, and that we acknowledge in others, and share with God and his children that enables us to be included in their celestial community.

    The wonderful thing about Peter’s grouping is that it is a list—that is, we do not complete one item before beginning the next, and it is also a sequence where one follows the other. For example, one cannot master patience if one has little self control, and charity is impossible without “brotherly kindness.”

    The other positive aspect of Peter’s catalogue is that, except for pistis which he uses to represent the Christian temple covenants, and charity which is a cleansing gift of the Spirit, no covenant or ordinance is necessary to cultivate any of the other qualifications for salvation. Persons who lack the covenants and ordinances but have those personal qualities in this world go into the next with tremendous advantage. In the spirit world, their lack can easily be taken care of by vicarious priesthood ordinances. I believe those refining qualities are what Joseph meant when he explained to his friends,

    18 Whatever principle of intelligence we attain unto in this life, it will rise with us in the resurrection.
    19 And if a person gains more knowledge and intelligence in this life through his diligence and obedience than another, he will have so much the advantage in the world to come (D&C 130:18-19).

    As I read those verses, “principle of intelligence” is the quality of one’s soul, while “knowledge and intelligence” require our diligence in keeping the covenants and honoring the ordinances that validate them. Whether we achieve those ends in this life or the next does not seem to be at issue. What is at issue is that the rules are set. We are not immediately condemned by our sins because we can repent. But in the very end, the standards of excellence are established and there will be no wiggle room to get around them. Nephi’s testimony stands as a beacon.

    23 For we labor diligently to write, to persuade our children, and also our 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 (2 Nephi 25:23).

    As is often so, it is to Alma that we turn for the last word. He explains that the Savior’s mercy enables us to repent, but it is his justice that enables our salvation.

    15 And now, the plan of mercy could not be brought about except an atonement should be made; therefore God himself atoneth for the sins of the world, to bring about the plan of mercy, to appease the demands of justice, that God might be a perfect, just God, and a merciful God also.
    16 Now, repentance could not come unto men except there were a punishment, which also was eternal as the life of the soul should be, affixed opposite to the plan of happiness, which was as eternal also as the life of the soul.
    17 Now, how could a man repent except he should sin? How could he sin if there was no law? How could there be a law save there was a punishment?
    18 Now, there was a punishment affixed, and a just law given, which brought remorse of conscience unto man.
    19 Now, if there was no law given—if a man murdered he should die—would he be afraid he would die if he should murder?
    20 And also, if there was no law given against sin men would not be afraid to sin.
    21 And if there was no law given, if men sinned what could justice do, or mercy either, for they would have no claim upon the creature?
    22 But there is a law given, and a punishment affixed, and a repentance granted; which repentance, mercy claimeth; otherwise, justice claimeth the creature and executeth the law, and the law inflicteth the punishment; if not so, the works of justice would be destroyed, and God would cease to be God.
    23 But God ceaseth not to be God, and mercy claimeth the penitent, and mercy cometh because of the atonement; and the atonement bringeth to pass the resurrection of the dead; and the resurrection of the dead bringeth back men into the presence of God; and thus they are restored into his presence, to be judged according to their works, according to the law and justice.
    24 For behold, justice exerciseth all his demands, and also mercy claimeth all which is her own; and thus, none but the truly penitent are saved.
    25 What, do ye suppose that mercy can rob justice? I say unto you, Nay; not one whit. If so, God would cease to be God.
    26 And thus God bringeth about his great and eternal purposes, which were prepared from the foundation of the world. And thus cometh about the salvation and the redemption of men, and also their destruction and misery (Alma 42:15-26).
    —————————

    FOOTNOTES

    { 1} For a discussion of hesed, see in this website: “Ether 12:27 – weakness, strength, and humility; & pistis, hesed, and charity – LeGrand Baker.”

    {2}Psalm 25 is also full of temple code. You can find my discussion of the psalm in Who Shall Ascend into the Hill of the Lord, first edition, 525-543; second edition, 378-90.

    {3} You can find a discussion of sode in Who Shall Ascend into the Hill of the Lord, first edition 195-209; second edition, 139-48.

    {4} For a discussion of Psalm 82 see Who Shall Ascend into the Hill of the Lord, first edition, 227-45; second edition, 162-74.

    {5} Joseph Smith, History of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, 7 vols., introduction and notes by B. H. Roberts (Salt Lake City: The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, 1932-1951), 5:401-02; . Joseph Smith, The Words of Joseph Smith: The Contemporary Accounts of the Nauvoo Discourses of the Prophet Joseph, compiled and edited by Andrew F. Ehat and Lyndon W. Cook, (Provo: BYU Religious Studies Center, 1980), 205.

    {6} “Moroni 7:19-39 — ‘faith in Christ’ — pistis, covenant, contract – LeGrand Baker.”

    {7} Strong # 703, “Manliness (valor)” is the definition in my 1890 edition. My newer, more politically correct edition prefers a definition that means just a nice-person.

    {8}Strong # 2150.

    {9} In Who Shall Ascend into the Hill of the Lord, the chapter called “Alma 13: The Quest for Self: to Know the Law of One’s Own Being,” first edition, 801-06; second edition, 564-67.

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  • Moroni 7:40-44 & 2 Peter 1:1-10 – ‘Hope,’ the Affirmation of One’s Eternal Reality – LeGrand Baker

    When we know the gospel, our path is set so that we can move through the experiences of this life in an orderly sequence. The pattern is universal, but the details are not, and observation teaches us that much of what we must learn and do may be left to be completed after this life in the spirit world. That pattern is this:

    1. We receive the necessary ordinances and make the requisite covenants to enter the path. As discussed last time, in many scriptures the word “faith” (translated from pistis and meaning covenant or contract) represents those ordinances and covenants. {1}

    In every contract, there must be a binding signature — an “evidence” that validates the agreement and guarantees the fulfillment of the covenant. Between friends the evidence may be just a handshake, but it has to be something that is real. In a gospel context, the ordinances, such as baptism and the sacrament, are the evidences that we accept the terms of the covenants. {2}

    2. That is followed by a period of challenge and growth when we decide how completely we wish to keep those covenants. That process is described differently in different scriptures. As in this sermon by Mormon, it is frequently called “hope,” because even though the terms of the covenant are not yet satisfied, in seeking to complete our part, we try to live as though the covenants were already fulfilled.

    3. Finally comes a purification—a gift of the Spirit—when we have learned to be a personification of charity.

    Each of the scriptures that take us through that sequence concludes with a promise of eternal salvation. In his sermon, Mormon concludes with this ultimate promise:

    48 Wherefore, my beloved brethren, pray unto the Father with all the energy of heart, that ye may be filled with this love, which he hath bestowed upon all who are true followers of his Son, Jesus Christ; that ye may become the sons of God; that when he shall appear we shall be like him, for we shall see him as he is; that we may have this hope; that we may be purified even as he is pure. Amen (Moroni 7:48).

    In Mormon’s sermon, he does not spend much time discussing the interim (hope) between the covenants (faith/pistis) and charity. Instead, when he discusses hope he emphasizes the importance of the Atonement, and makes several references to the Beatitudes where the Savior filled in that interim gap between faith and charity with a great deal of detail. Mormon said:

    40 And again, my beloved brethren, I would speak unto you concerning hope. How is it that ye can attain unto faith, save ye shall have hope?
    41 And what is it that ye shall hope for? Behold I say unto you that ye shall have hope through the atonement of Christ and the power of his resurrection, to be raised unto life eternal, and this because of your faith in him according to the promise.
    42 Wherefore, if a man have faith he must needs have hope; for without faith there cannot be any hope.
    43 And again, behold I say unto you that he cannot have faith and hope, save he shall be meek, and lowly of heart.
    44 If so, his faith and hope is vain, for none is acceptable before God, save the meek and lowly in heart; and if a man be meek and lowly in heart, and confesses by the power of the Holy Ghost that Jesus is the Christ, he must needs have charity; for if he have not charity he is nothing; wherefore he must needs have charity.

    In our colloquial language, “hope” is a wish overcast with doubt. But in the scriptures, to hope is to anticipate the fulfillment of the promises of the covenants in the full light of life—it is to live as though the covenants were already fulfilled. Hope is, as Alma described it:

    Having faith on the Lord; having a hope that ye shall receive eternal life; having the love of God always in your hearts, that ye may be lifted up at the last day and enter into his rest (Alma 13:29).

    Alma explained that after we make the covenants, we cannot have “a perfect knowledge” of their blessings until their terms have all been fulfilled. Here, he uses “hope” to describe our anticipation of the fulfillment of the covenants.

    And now as I said concerning faith—faith is not to have a perfect knowledge of things; therefore if ye have faith ye hope for things which are not seen, which are true (Alma 32:21).

    After having made the covenants, our lives would become static if that’s all there was to it. But the covenants are only the beginning. They invite us into a new condition of life. That condition is appropriately called hope because it is a continuous reaffirmation of our new reality.

    Mormon’s brief but brilliant discussion of hope illuminates that reality by showing that hope is a process through which we fulfill the covenants. To do this, he ties faith/pistis and hope into a single knot. He says that without our satisfying the responsibilities of our covenants and sharing their blessings with others, we cannot have hope in their fulfillment.

    40 And again, my beloved brethren, I would speak unto you concerning hope. How is it that ye can attain unto faith [accomplish the covenants], save ye shall have hope?

    Then he reasons,

    42 Wherefore, if a man have faith [pistis] he must needs have hope; for without faith there cannot be any hope.

    That argument is self evident. One cannot have hope without first having made the covenants. So making the covenants and keeping the covenants are an inseparable part of each other.

    Sandwiched between those statements in verses 40 and 42, Mormon teaches what one must do to make that hope an eternal reality.

    41 And what is it that ye shall hope for? Behold I say unto you that ye shall have hope through the atonement of Christ and the power of his resurrection, to be raised unto life eternal, and this because of your faith in him according to the promise.

    His logic is as simple as it is beautiful. We should live as though the promise of eternal life is already a reality. We can do that “because of your faith [covenants] in him [the Savior] according to the promise [that is, according to the “covenants of the Father” that he mentioned in verses 31 and 32.]” {3}

    Now, like the great teacher he is, Mormon concludes his discussion of hope with a short review of the Savior’s Beatitudes. Thereby tying hope in the fulfillment of the covenants to a sequences of ideas the people in his audience undoubtedly knew and loved as much as he did. As I will demonstrate below, Peter uses the word pistis to represent the entire New Testament temple drama. I believe Mormon was doing the same thing. If that is correct, his use of pistis in the following verses refer to both the covenants and to the ordinances that validate them.

    42 Wherefore, if a man have faith [pistis] he must needs have hope; for without faith [pistis] there cannot be any hope.
    43 And again, behold I say unto you that he cannot have faith and hope, save he shall be meek, and lowly of heart.
    44 If so, his faith [pistis – covenants] and hope is vain, for none is acceptable before God, save the meek and lowly in heart; and if a man be meek and lowly in heart, and confesses by the power of the Holy Ghost that Jesus is the Christ, he must needs have charity; for if he have not charity he is nothing; wherefore he must needs have charity.

    Those three verses of Mormon’s sermon presupposed, as I am sure he was very comfortable in doing, that the members of his audience knew Savior’s sermon at the temple and the Beatitudes that introduced it. His words call to mind several of those Beatitudes. He said:

    for none is acceptable before God, save the meek and lowly in heart

    One of the nearest corollaries to this brief reference to the Beatitudes is the following statement in D&C 88.

    17 And the redemption of the soul is through him that quickeneth all things, in whose bosom it is decreed that the poor and the meek of the earth shall inherit it.
    18 Therefore, it [the earth] must needs be sanctified from all unrighteousness, that it may be prepared for the celestial glory (D&C 88:17-18).

    They are both citing these two Beatitudes:

    3 Yea, blessed are the poor in spirit who come unto me, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
    5 And blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth (3 Nephi 12:3 & 5).

    As we have shown in Who Shall Ascend into the Hill of the Lord, verse 3 is a short review of the entire Nephite temple drama. {4}

    Verse 5 of the Beatitudes is a paraphrase of Psalm 37 and 25. Psalm 25 explicitly defines the meek as those who keep the covenants they made at the Council in Heaven. {5}

    and confesses by the power of the Holy Ghost that Jesus is the Christ

    In the Savior’s Beatitudes, he begin by restating the first principles of the gospel: one must believe, be humble, and be baptized, then be “visited by the Holy Ghost (v. 2).” The next three Beatitudes teach us what we must do to progress from there until we are “filled with the Holy Ghost” (v. 6). In Mormon’s briefer version, that whole continuum is a process by which one can increasingly “confesses by the power of the Holy Ghost that Jesus is the Christ.”

    he must needs have charity; for if he have not charity he is nothing

    In the Beatitudes charity is described by the Savior as a power-to-do that he bestowed upon the righteous. He said, “I give unto you to be the salt of the earth” (v. 13). In our discussion of this part of the Beatitudes, we have shown that to be a charge to fulfill our missionary responsibilities. {6}

    And then he said, “I give unto you to be the light of this people” (v. 14-16). The light is the “candlestick,” the menorah in the Temple. It represents our perpetual responsibility to bless and look after the well-being of the Saints.{7}

    As Mormon’s referring to the Beatitudes evinces, he intended his audience to use their knowledge of the Savior’s words to fill in the gaps between faith and charity that he sums up briefly by his reference to “hope.” The Beatitudes’s primarily focus is on what we must DO to achieve the salvation the Savior offers us.

    Another place in the scriptures that parallels the Beatitudes and fills in other details of that same gap is Peters admonition “to them that have obtained like precious faith with us through the righteousness of God and our Saviour Jesus Christ (2 Peter 1:1). The Greek word Peter uses that is translated “faith” is pistis. In the next three verses he gives us a beautiful, poetic description of the ordinances and covenants of the New Testament temple service and the fruits of the covenants they made there. Those verses read,

    1 Simon Peter, a servant and an apostle of Jesus Christ, to them that have obtained like precious faith with us through the righteousness of God and our Saviour Jesus Christ:
    2 Grace and peace be multiplied unto you through the knowledge of God, and of Jesus our Lord,
    3 According as his divine power hath given unto us all things that pertain unto life and godliness, through the knowledge of him that hath called us to glory and virtue:
    4 Whereby are given unto us exceeding great and precious promises: that by these ye might be partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world through lust (2 Peter 1:1-4).

    The difference between Peter’s sequence that follows, and the Beatitudes is that Peter’s focuses entirely on what we must BE rather than what we must DO. Peter begins his teachings with the covenant meaning of pistis, and concludes with charity. Then he promise that the faithful who follow those steps will make their calling and election sure. {8} He writes:

    5 And beside this, giving all diligence, add to your faith virtue; and to virtue knowledge;
    6 And to knowledge temperance; and to temperance patience; and to patience godliness;
    7 And to godliness brotherly kindness; and to brotherly kindness charity (2 Peter 1:5-7).

    Peter divides his analysis of the steps that Mormon calls “hope’ into two separate sequences. The first are four steps in the spiritual development of one’s Self:

    1. add to your faith/pistis — the ordinances and covenants we receive.

    2. virtue — the word actually means “manliness (valor)”— strength, integrity, honesty, intelligence. {9}

    3. knowledge — of truth — we have only as much free agency as we have knowledge of the reality. Without sufficient knowledge of both the principles and their consequences, we are free to guess but not really free to choose. If we had all truth, our agency would be absolute.

    4. temperance— self control—doing nothing in excess. The power to choose and to do gives freedom, but abdicating that power to our inability to control what we do is a form of slavery.

    The second grouping is four steps about our attitudes and relationships with other people:

    5. patience— we must be patient, especially with children; but also with ourselves; and even with God as is shown in Psalm 25. (see fn # 5)

    6. godliness — the word means reverence — to revere something or someone is to rejoice in the beauty of their reality. One can never seek to hurt anything or anyone whom one reveres. (Strong # 2150)

    7. brotherly kindness — in this verse, the King James Version uses the phrase “brotherly kindness,” but elsewhere in the New Testament that same Greek word is always translated as “brotherly love” which has a somewhat stronger connotation. Strong # 5360 (first edition, 1890) reads: “philadelphia; fraternal affection: brotherly love (kindness), love of the brethren” [Emphasis is in the original].

    Righteous masculine virtues include hesed relationships, {10} otherwise priesthood quorums could not function properly. Philadelphia is a focused love, love for an individual, implicitly a reciprocated one-on-one relationship.

    8. Charity expands that love to everyone. It seems to me that a major characteristic of God is his ability to love everyone equally and at the same time to focus his love on one individual without diminishing his love for everyone else. (My parents could do that with their six children. Each child knew he or she was the favorite, and each one also knew that all the others knew that about themselves as well. That is a beautiful thing to remember.)

    After walking us through that sequence, Peter concludes with the instructions about how to “make your calling and election sure.” He writes,

    8 For if these things be in you, and abound, they make you that ye shall neither be barren nor unfruitful in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ.
    9 But he that lacketh these things is blind, and cannot see afar off, and hath forgotten that he was purged from his old sins.
    10 Wherefore the rather, brethren, give diligence to make your calling and election sure: for if ye do these things, ye shall never fall (2 Peter 1:1-10).

    Like Mormon, Moroni also uses the word “hope” summarize the steps between pistis and charity. He writes:

    20 Wherefore, there must be faith; and if there must be faith there must also be hope; and if there must be hope there must also be charity.
    21 And except ye have charity ye can in nowise be saved in the kingdom of God; neither can ye be saved in the kingdom of God if ye have not faith; neither can ye if ye have no hope.
    22 And if ye have no hope ye must needs be in despair; and despair cometh because of iniquity (Moroni 10:20-22).

    As Moroni wrote his last entries in the Book of Mormon, he again walks us along that same path, but with different words. After giving us a brief review of the Nephite temple drama, {11} he concludes,

    32 Yea, come unto Christ, and be perfected in him, and deny yourselves of all ungodliness; and if ye shall deny yourselves of all ungodliness, and love God with all your might, mind and strength, then is his grace sufficient for you, that by his grace ye may be perfect in Christ; and if by the grace of God ye are perfect in Christ, ye can in nowise deny the power of God.
    33 And again, if ye by the grace of God are perfect in Christ, and deny not his power, then are ye sanctified in Christ by the grace of God, through the shedding of the blood of Christ, which is in the covenant of the Father unto the remission of your sins, that ye become holy, without spot (Moroni 10:32-33).

    Moroni’s phrase “deny yourselves of all ungodliness” is the juncture between the Nephite temple drama (pistis) and charity. It may hold the key to the ultimate meaning of what the Book of Mormon prophets meant by “hope.”

    At first reading “ungodliness” might simply mean things that are bad. But there is another possibility that I believe is worth exploring. That is to try to discover the etymology of the word. However, since we do not have the text in the Nephite language, the best we can do is treat it as though it were written in Hebrew. In all of our scriptures, including the Book of Mormon, the word “God” almost always refers to our Father in Heaven. In the Old Testament, “God” is almost always translated from the Hebrew word “Elohim.”

    “Elohim” is a masculine plural noun that has two separate meanings. One is “the gods in the ordinary sense,” that is, the members of the Council in Heaven. The second meaning is a name-title of the Father of the Gods, “Elohim.” (Strong # 430)

    A splendid example of the use of this double meaning is the first verse of Psalm 82, which describes an event that took place in the Council in Heaven where the members of the Council made a covenant that is strikingly like the law of consecration. The first verse reads:

    God [the Hebrew word is elohim] standeth in the congregation of the mighty; he judgeth among the gods [again, the Hebrew word is also elohim].

    Another example is the creation story. The Book of Abraham begins that story by saying:

    1 And then the Lord said: Let us go down. And they went down at the beginning, and they, that is the Gods, organized and formed the heavens and the earth (Abraham 4:1).

    That is consistent with what we are told in Genesis:

    1 In the beginning God [elohim] created the heaven and the earth (Genesis 1:1).

    A few verses later it says:

    26 And God [elohim] said, Let us make man in our image, after our likeness: and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea…. (Genesis 1:26. Emphasis added).

    Now, to try to discover the etymology of “ungodliness.” If it says un-elohim-li-ness, then the next question is, which definition of elohim does it mean. After using the word, Moroni walks us through a series of steps whose object is to make us “holy, without spot.” So I think the name-title of Heavenly Father would not work there because, even though our becoming like him is our ultimate object, that meaning is far too early in Moroni’s sequence to make sense there.

    That leaves his intent of “deny yourselves of all ungodliness” to mean “deny yourselves of all un-Council-in-Heaven-ly-ness.” That is, eliminate all the differences between what you are now and what you were at the Council in Heaven. That is, be true to the eternal law of your own being. {12} I believe that sin is a violation of the eternal law of one’s Self. If that is so, then the criterion by which we should judge our own perfection has to be that we come to know our Selves by identifying and discarding all the alien attitudes we accumulate in our this-worldliness, until we become our true Selves again, “holy, without spot.”

    I believe that an important function of the Holy Ghost is to help us do that.

    Because we forgot who and what we were, we are now left to be our own judges to see if we will remain true to the covenants we made there. We came to this world because we proved we would obey. However, one can obey for both the wrong and the right reasons.

    If we obeyed there because we knew its advantages — we knew which side our bread was buttered on — unless we repent while we are here in this world, we will keep that attitude and seek to use other people to our own advantage. If, on the other hand, we obeyed then because we loved Heavenly Father and his children, that will remain true here also. So the question now is: Can we, in this environment, be as faithful as we were in our premortal environment.

    If the answer is “yes,” then the final key is, as Moroni teaches us, that we must love God to receive the remission of our sins, so that we may become holy, without spot.

    Their doctrines are all the same. In the Savior’s Beatitudes, he begins by teaching about the covenants and concludes with a charge that we teach and bless other people. In Peter’s sequence he begins with faith/pistis and ends with charity. In Mormon’s sermon, he begins with faith/pistis and also concludes with charity.

    Between pistis and charity, each directs us through the path we must take so that we may become “holy, without spot.” The Savior’s Beatitudes focuses on what we must DO; Peter’s on what we must BE. Moroni gives us the criterion by which we can seek perfection.

    I believe we now have enough information to discover an adequate definition of “hope.” It is the culmination of the things we must DO as taught in the Beatitudes. It is the things we must BE as taught by Peter. It is rediscovering our eternal Selves and being true to that eternal law of our own being as is taught by Moroni.

    Ultimately, that is what this life is all about. In an ancient text, these words are attributed to the Saviour.

    When you come to know yourselves, then you will become known, and you will realize that it is you who are the sons of the living Father. But if you will not know yourselves, you dwell in poverty, and it is you who are that poverty. {13}

    A far more modern rendition of that same idea is this description of a characteristic one who inherits the Celestial Kingdom:

    92 And thus we saw the glory of the celestial, which excels in all things—where God, even the Father, reigns upon his throne forever and ever;
    93 Before whose throne all things bow in humble reverence, and give him glory forever and ever.
    94 They who dwell in his presence are the church of the Firstborn; and they see as they are seen, and know as they are known, having received of his fulness and of his grace;
    95 And he makes them equal in power, and in might, and in dominion.
    96 And the glory of the celestial is one, even as the glory of the sun is one (D&C 76:92-96).

    Hope is the affirmation of one’s own eternal reality, but, as Mormon will now explain to us, only charity can bring us to discover who we really are.

    ————————-

    FOOTNOTES

    {1} Last week while discussing Moroni 7:19-39 I showed that Mormon used “faith” the same way it is used in the New Testament. There faith is translated from the Greek word pistis, whose nearest English equivalent is covenant or contract. If what I wrote is correct, then hope must be defined within the that understanding of the covenants. Mormon confirmed that when he said, “Wherefore, if a man have faith he must needs have hope; for without faith there cannot be any hope.” (v. 42)

    {2} When Paul defined pistis he included hope as part of that definition. Paul treats hope as a part of pistis, and it is. However it is such an important part that Mormon treats it separately. Simply stated, there are five parts of faith/pistis just as there are five parts of any contract.

    1. Define the object of the contract — I get house and you get the money.
    2. Agree on the terms — How and when I pay you the money so I get house.
    3. There must be binding “evidence” — A signature that validates the agreement and guarantees the fulfillment of the covenant. Between friends the evidence may be just a handshake or even a smile, but it has to be something that is real. In a gospel context, the ordinances are the evidences that we accept the covenants.
    4. The next is what Paul and Mormon called “hope”(Hebrews 11:1) — Living as though the covenant were already fulfilled. That is, I get to live in the house and care for it as though it were mine as long as I keep up the payments .
    5. Finally, the fulfillment of the terms when the house is paid for — You have all your money and I get the deed to the house.

    For a discussion of pistis, see on this website: “Moroni 7:19-27 – ‘faith in Christ’ as pistis, covenant/contract – LeGrand Baker.”

    {3} This statement is essentially a repeat of the promises in verse 26. As I wrote last week, I understand the last part of that verse to be read this way:

    26 … And as surely as Christ liveth he spake these words unto our fathers, saying: Whatsoever thing ye shall ask the Father in my name [our using the Savior’s covenant name validates the prayer], which is good [prayer by revelation. The terms and object are given to us by the holy Ghost], in faith [according to the terms of the covenant] believing that ye shall receive, behold, it shall be done unto you. [When all of those things are in place, then the answer to the prayer is a forgone conclusion.]

    {4} Who Shall Ascend into the Hill of the Lord, chapter: “3 Nephi 12:3 – Poor in Spirit” first edition, 936-940; paperback, 653-656.
    The paperback edition is in “published books” on this website.

    {5} The Beatitudes are discussed in Who Shall Ascend into the Hill of the Lord, the first edition, 925-997; in the paperback edition,646-86

    Psalm 25 explicitly defines the meek as those who keep the covenants they made at the Council in Heaven. Who Shall Ascend into the Hill of the Lord, chapters: “Meaning of ‘Meek’ in Psalm 25: Keeping One’s Eternal Covenants” and “The Meek in Psalm 25″ in first edition, 525-543; in paperback edition, 378-90

    {6} Who Shall Ascend into the Hill of the Lord, chapter: “3 Nephi 12:13 – “salt of the earth,” first edition, 989-93; paperback, 686-89.

    {7} Who Shall Ascend into the Hill of the Lord, chapter: “3 Nephi 12:14-16 – “light of this people,” first edition, 993-97; paperback, 689-91.

    {8} Who Shall Ascend into the Hill of the Lord, chapter: “Calling and Election Made Sure, in the Epistles of Peter,” first edition, 977-981; paperback, 679-682.

    {9} Strong # 703, “Manliness (valor)” is the definition in my 1890 edition. My newer, more politically correct edition prefers a nice-person definition.

    {10} For a discussion of hesed, see on this website: “Ether 12:27 – weakness, strength, and humility; & pistis, hesed, and charity – LeGrand Baker.”

    {11} Who Shall Ascend into the Hill of the Lord, chapter “Moroni’s Farewell,” 1043-47; the paperback edition, 722-24

    {12} For the origin of the phrase “Be true to the law of your own being” see the story of the blessing President David O. McKay gave to Jean Wunderlich in Who Shall Ascend into the Hill of the Lord, pages 537-39; and in the paperback edition, 387-88.

    {13} Gospel of Thomas in James M. Robinson, ed., The Nag Hammadi Library in English (San Francisco, Harper & Row, 1988),126 #3.

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  • 2 Peter 1-11 – LeGrand Baker – Making your calling and election sure

    This analysis of 2 Peter 1 was written as a part of:

    Alma 38:12 – LeGrand Baker – “that you may be filled with love”

    We are still in Alma 38 where uses one short clause to describe a remarkable concept.

    12 …see that ye bridle all your passions, that ye may be filled with love.

    In that verse, the word “that” is a very powerful conjunction. Other ways of saying it (“so that,” “in order that”) are weaker because the word is modified. Simply using “that” creates an unqualified relationship between the cause and the effect. (To see the power of the conjunction, try reading the sacrament prayers without the word “that.” You will find that without the conjunction the prayers become only disconnected ideas.)

    Alma said to his son: “see that ye bridle all your passions, that ye may be filled with love.”

    It is difficult for people in our culture to put those words into their proper perspective because in our vernacular language “passions” are often equated with lewdness, lasciviousness, and sexuality and seem to be the driving power behind much of the music, entertainment, and advertisements that bombard our lives.

    A sidenote to Alma’s charge to “bridle all your passions” Paul’s explanation:

    15 Unto the pure all things are pure: but unto them that are defiled and unbelieving is nothing pure; but even their mind and conscience is defiled (Titus 1:15).

    True love is a passion: the way both our bodies and our minds express love through tenderness, affection, and the desire to make another happy and secure.

    The best commentary I know on Alma’s meaning is the words of Peter (1 Peter 1:1-19). They begin with an almost poetic description of the intent of the early Christian’s temple drama, followed by step by step instructions about how to make one’s calling and election sure, then conclude with Peter’s testimony about his experience on the Mount of Transfiguration.

    As we read closely, verses 1-7 their focus sharpens on the specifics of the path one must follow to ascend to those heights. He presents us with very succinct instructions about how to bridle our passions, “that ye may be filled with love.” He begins,

    1 Simon Peter, a servant and an apostle of Jesus Christ, to them that have obtained like precious faith [pistis] with us through the righteousness of God and our Saviour Jesus Christ (2 Peter 1:1).

    Pistis is a powerful Greek word that incorporates the ideas of both making and keeping covenants. Here it is something one receives “through the righteousness of God and our Saviour Jesus Christ .” Righteousness describes the correctness of authority and procedure in priesthood ordinances and covenants. (See the chapter “Meaning of ‘Faith’– pistis” and “Meaning of ‘Righteousness’–zedek and Zadok”in Who Shall Ascend into the Hill of the Lord).

    Is short, Peter has used pistis and righteousness to represent the entire early Christian temple services. Then he gives a beautifully insightful description of what that temple experience meant.

    2 Grace and peace be multiplied unto you through the knowledge of God, and of Jesus our Lord,
    3 According as his divine power hath given unto us all things that pertain unto life and godliness, through the knowledge of him that hath called us to glory and virtue:
    4 Whereby are given unto us exceeding great and precious promises: that by these ye might be partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world through lust (2 Peter 1:2-4).

    In Peter’s summation, the blessings of the temple are just two promises: “that by these ye might be partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world through lust.” There, “having” calls attention to a condition in the past “Having escaped the corruption that is in the world through lust” has already happened and creates the situation of the present: “that by these ye might be partakers of the divine nature.”

    “Lust” means wanting something to the exclusion of wanting other thins. It, like anger, can become addictive because it produces an adrenalin high. It may be the appetite to possess something or someone. It may be the need of attention, praise, wealth, or power. For example such needs may cause a wealthy man to run for political office or a poor woman to try to use gossip to control the neighborhood. These are different in extent of the power, but not in the quality of the soul.

    Then Peter teaches us how to overcome lust and enthrone charity as our dominant personalty characteristic, just as Alma teaches that we must “bridle all your passions, that ye may be filled with love.”

    Peter’s 8 steps to doing that are these:

    And beside this, giving all diligence, add to your faith [pistis] virtue.”(2 Peter 1:5)

    To many Mormons, “virtue” has come to mean chastity, but it means much more than that. It is the sum of manly perfection: of integrity (no gap between what one says and what one does); of rectitude (doing the right things for the right reasons); of physical, emotional, and intellectual excellence. It is the qualities of manliness that is personified in George Washington.

    and to virtue knowledge; (2 Peter 1:5)

    Inspired scriptures all teach the same thing because the ideas come from the same source. I think is not a stretch to say that Peter, the first President of the ancient Church of Christ, should mean by “knowledge” the same thing that the Lord taught Joseph Smith.

    24 And truth is knowledge of things as they are, and as they were, and as they are to come (D&C 93:24).

    That is, truth is knowledge of reality in sacred time, and is the only knowledge that has eternal value.

    6 And to knowledge temperance; (2 Peter 1:6)

    Temperance is moderation that is a product of self control. It is not doing anything in excess, but moving through life with an even keel, acting according to one’s own will, not being acted upon by excess of any kind.

    and to temperance patience (2 Peter 1:6).

    Patience is most beautifully described in Psalm 25. Patience with whom? With ourselves, with God, with other people, and with difficult circumstances.

    and to patience godliness [reverence](2 Peter 1:6).

    The Bible footnote and Strong (# 2150) both say the Greek word means “reverence.” We cannot hurt anyone or anything that we revere. It is recognizing and acknowledging the worth of another. It precludes the possibility of anger, contempt, and prejudice.

    7 And to godliness brotherly kindness (2 Peter 1:7).

    In this verse, the King James Version uses the phrase “brotherly kindness,” but elsewhere in the New Testament that same Greek word is always translated as “brotherly love” which has a somewhat stronger connotation. Strong: Greek 5360 [first edition, 1890] reads: “philadelphia; fraternal affection: brotherly love (kindness), love of the brethren.” [Emphasis is in the original).

    Righteous masculine virtues include extended and focused brotherly love. The Prophet Joseph emphasized this when he said, “Friendship is the grand fundamental principle of Mormonism, to revolution civilize the world.—pour forth love.” {1}

    True love and eternal friendships originate and continue in sacred space and sacred time.

    and to brotherly kindness charity.(2 Peter 1:7)

    While “brotherly love” is a focused love, charity is a universal love. It is as broad as “reverence” and also as focused as philadelphia. It is the maturation and culmination of both. The law of consecration is what one does when charity is what one is. In the New Testament that combination of God’s love and his loving kindness is called “grace.” The Hebrew word hesed is the equivalent and is often translated as “mercy” or “lovingkindness..”

    The Theological Dictionary of the Old Testament shows the power of that friendship/relationship:

    We may venture the conjecture that even in cases where the context does not suggest such mutuality it is nevertheless implicit, because we are dealing with the closest of human bonds. {2}

    An explanation and clarification of the phrase, “dealing with the closest of human bonds,” is found in a new edition of Strong’s Concordance:

    hesed, unfailing love, loyal love, devotion. kindness, often based on a prior relationship, especially a covenant relationship. {3}

    Another definition says: “Hesed has in view right conduct in free kindness within a given relation. … [as in] Psalm 50:5, where Yahweh calls for a gathering of His hesedim [translated ‘saints’] who have made a covenant in sacrifice. It seems that the term hesed has a special place at the conclusion of a covenant.”{4}

    The hesed relationship described in Psalm 25 evokes the terms of the premortal covenant between Jehovah and his children in this world. Elsewhere that same hesed relationship also exists as an eternal, fraternal bond among men. Consideration of the this-world continuation of those fraternal relationships brings us brings us back to Peter’s assurance that “brotherly kindness” (philadelphia) and charity are prerequisite to making one’s calling and election sure. Peter continues:

    8 For if these things be in you, and abound, they make you that ye shall neither be barren nor unfruitful in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ.
    9 But he that lacketh these things is blind, and cannot see afar off, and hath forgotten that he was purged from his old sins.
    10 Wherefore the rather, brethren, give diligence to make your calling and election sure: for if ye do these things, ye shall never fall:
    11 For so an entrance shall be ministered unto you abundantly into the everlasting kingdom of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ (2 Peter 1:8-11).

    And that bring us back to Alma’s instruction to his son Shiblon.

    See that ye bridle all your passions, that ye may be filled with love (Alma 38:12).

    – – – – – – – – – – – – – – ENDNOTES

    {1} Joseph Smith, The Words of Joseph Smith: The Contemporary Accounts of the Nauvoo Discourses of the Prophet Joseph, compiled and edited by Andrew F. Ehat and Lyndon W. Cook [Provo: BYU Religious Studies Center, 1980], 234.

    {2}G. Johannes Botterweck and Helmer Ringgren, eds., trans. Davod E. Green, Theological Dictionary of the Old Testament, 15 vols. (Grand Rapids, Michigan: Eerdmans, 1986), article about hesed, 5:45-48). The Greek equivalent is Philadelphia, fraternal love, as explained in fn 905, p. 680.

    {3} John R. Kohlenberger III and James A. Swanson, The Strongest Strong’s, Exhaustive Concordance of the Bible (Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 2001), Hebrew dictionary # 2617.

    {4} Gerhard Friedrich, ed. (Translator and editor

    Geoffrey w. Bromiley), Theological Dictionary of the New Testament (Grand Rapids, Miciugan,Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Company, 1981), 9:386-7.

  • 2 Peter 1:1-10 — LeGrand Baker — for Ben

    October 8, 2007

    My Dear Ben,

    Thank you for your email. I am deeply honored that you would include me among your two “most trusted friends.” I love you very much.

    The scripture that first ran through my mind as I read your email is the very famous one from the prophet Samuel, “Behold to obey is better than sacrifice, and to hearken than the fat of rams.” (1 Sam. 15:22) That is one of the most misunderstood scriptures in the canon. In the ancient Near East, when people sat down to a meal, they did more than give a blessing on the food, they dedicated the food to their god and invited him to join them in the meal. That is why the Jews could not eat with gentiles. To share a meal with a heathen would be to acknowledge their god. In that light, the context of Samuel’s statement is this: the Lord had promised victory to King Saul and his armies, but had instructed him to kill the people and also their animals. The battle was successful, but they did not kill and waste the food. Rather they saved “the very best” of the animals to sacrifice to the Lord. When one made a peace offering, only some blood and fat were put on the fire, and the meat was eaten—symbolically in the presence of God, who was also at the table. It was when Samuel got there, and found that Saul and his armies couldn’t wait to have their picnic, that he said “to obey is better than to sacrifice.” Obedience is not better than a legitimate sacrifice done in righteousness (zedek), it is only better than a picnic.

    Sacrifice means the same as sacral, sacred, sacrament. It does not mean to give something up. It means to set something apart from the profane, and make it sacred. We are required to make only two sacrifices. One is tithing, which we set apart to be used for sacred purposes. The other is ourselves—a broken heart and contrite spirit—to make one’s Self sacred, so we can return to be with God.

    As I read Abraham 3, this is the conversation that took place among the Council of the gods.

    24 And there stood one among them that was like unto God, and he said unto those who were with him: We will go down [future tense] , for there is space there, and we will take [future tense] of these materials, and we will make [future tense] an earth whereon these may dwell;

    25 And we will prove [future tense] them herewith, to see if they will do [future tense] all things whatsoever the Lord their God shall command [future tense] them;

    26 And they who keep their first estate shall be [future tense] added upon; and they who keep not their first estate shall not have [future tense] glory in the same kingdom with those who keep their first estate; and they who keep their second estate shall have [future tense] glory added upon their heads for ever and ever. [“who keep their first estate” and “who keep their second estate” are both written the same way and are both a projection in the future. English majors have a name for that kind of future tense, but I don’t know what it is.] (Abraham 3:24-26)

    If all of that is in the future tense, then their first estate, and the world they were about to build to test their obedience was the pre-mortal spirit earth on which we lived before we came here

    As I understand that, the “them” and “they” are intelligences for whom the spirit world was built. There, in our pre-mortal spirit world, the question was “will you obey?” Those who obeyed were then invited to come to this earth—to our second estate—where a different question would be addressed. Before we came here, there were two reasons that one might obey. One was because we could see the advantages, and knew which side our bread was buttered on. The other was that we loved the Lord and his children, and our obedience was a product of that love.

    So we came here where we can neither fully understand nor remember. If this world was devised to test whether Heavenly Father’s children would obey, it was poorly designed. Most people have no idea what to obey, and those who try go against their cultural norms and get burned to the stake. It was in the previous world that we demonstrated that we would obey. This world was designed to ask, “Why did you obey?”

    If back then, it was because we understood it would be to our advantage, then we seek self aggrandizement here. If we obeyed there because we loved our Father and his children, then that will be our motive for obedience here. We will obey because we choose to obey. That kind of obedience is technically not obedience at all, because, rather than being subservient to another, it is an exercise of one’s own will.

    On the mountain, when Jehovah gave Moses the Ten Commandments, he described himself as “shewing mercy unto thousands of them that love me, and keep my commandments.” (Exodus 20:6) Jesus paraphrased that to his disciples when he said,

    15 If ye love me, keep my commandments.
    16 And I will pray the Father, and he shall give you another Comforter, that he may abide with you for ever; (John 14:15-16)

    In both versions, obedience is a product—a natural consequence—of love. That is also consistent with another commandment the Jehovah gave to Moses. He said,

    5 And thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thine heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy might. (Deuteronomy 6:5)

    Later, he expanded that commandment when he said,

    18 Thou shalt not avenge, nor bear any grudge against the children of thy people, but thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself: I am the Lord. (Leviticus 19:18)

    When a lawyer confronted Jesus with the question, “Master, which is the great commandment in the law?” Jesus combined the two to make them one.

    37 Jesus said unto him, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind.
    38 This is the first and great commandment.
    39 And the second is like unto it, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself.
    40 On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets. (Matthew 22:35-40.)

    Ben, as I read your email, I detected buried not very far beneath the surface of your question, “Help me understand what the Lord wants me to do?” a far more urgent question: “Help me understand what the Lord wants me to do to fulfill my covenants and make my calling and election sure?”

    It is easier for me to answer that question than the one about missionary rules. The reason it is easier is because the Apostle Peter has done it for me. At the beginning of Second Peter (his final instructions to the Saints when he knew he was going to be killed) he gave the answer. He wrote a simple formula about how to make one’s calling and election sure:

    1 Simon Peter, a servant and an apostle of Jesus Christ [this is official from the President of the Church], to them that have obtained [past tense] like precious faith [pistis = making and keeping covenants. He is writing to people who have received their endowments] with us through the righteousness [zedek = correctness in temple things] of God and our Saviour Jesus Christ:

    2 Grace [lovingkindness, hesed] and peace [as in Moroni 7:2-4 — He is writing to the same kind of Saints that Moroni was writing to] be multiplied unto you through the knowledge of God, and of Jesus our Lord, [peace comes through knowledge because peace is a power that transcends sorrow]

    3 According as his divine power hath given unto us all things that pertain unto life and godliness, [“all things” means ALL things] through the knowledge of him that hath called us to glory and virtue: [the call has already been issued. Again the audience is the same as in Moroni 7]

    4 Whereby are given unto us exceeding great and precious promises [another reference to the temple]: that by these ye might be partakers of the divine nature [he says “might be” because he is about to tell us how], having escaped the corruption that is in the world through lust. [lust is an excessive desire for anything]

    5 And beside this, giving all diligence, add to your faith [pistis = making and keeping covenants] virtue [the Greek word means manliness or vigor] ; and to virtue knowledge [Define knowledge as “And truth is knowledge of things as they are, and as they were, and as they are to come (D&C 93:24). The Savior said to Nicodemus, “he that doeth truth cometh to the light” (John 3:21). One can not DO truth, if one does not KNOW truth];

    6 And to knowledge temperance [being moderate, doing nothing in excess]; and to temperance patience [not just with other people, but also with ourselves and with God. After all, sometimes God doesn’t do things as quickly as we think he ought to.] and to patience godliness [the footnote in our Bible says that word is “reverence.” We can’t hurt anything we revere];

    7 And to godliness brotherly kindness [the special kind of love that people in the church share for each other]; and to brotherly kindness charity [the kind of love that the Saviour has for us. When we love him as he love us, then we will love others as we love him].

    That isn’t a list, it’s a sequence. Let me show you.

    1 faith = pistis = something that we are given, a power that we may exercise

    2 virtue = something we have = the integrity to do what must be done

    3 knowledge = something we are given and expected to act upon

    4 temperance = the way we conduct our own lives

    5 patience = attitude and actions toward other people

    6 godliness = reverence = attitude and actions toward other people

    7 brotherly kindness = attitude and actions toward other people, especially those

    with whom we serve in the church.

    8 charity = attitude and actions toward other people.

    The law of consecration is what one does when charity is what one is.

    The first four steps Peter outlines are about what one has to do for one’s Self enable us to serve. The second four are the steps that qualify us for eternal life. Even though they are a sequence, each of them must be developed in cycles, somewhat simultaneously with the others, because they build on each other. Peter continues,

    8 For if these things be in you, and abound, they make you that ye shall neither be barren nor unfruitful in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ.
    9 But he that lacketh these things is blind, and cannot see afar off, and hath forgotten that he was purged from his old sins.
    10 Wherefore the rather, brethren, give diligence to make your calling and election sure: for if ye do these things, ye shall never fall: (2 Peter 1:1-10)

    As far as I know, to make our calling sure is simply to fulfill the covenantal responsibilities we were called to perform, that is to keep the covenants we made at the Council in Heaven, before we came here. When we have done that, our election will have become absolutely sure.

    Now, my beloved friend, there is a very good reason I showed this to you. It is that there is nothing in that sequence that suggests anyone else has to even notice what you are doing, what you have done, or who you are. The qualities of greatness have nothing to do with what the world (or even many members of the church) calls being “great.” True greatness has only to do with the qualities of one’s soul. That greatness shines from your eyes and illuminates your whole person. It is the single thing that defines who and what you are.

    If love is the engine that drives our actions, and if we obey because we choose to, then both love and obedience are—together—the single expression of the eternal law of our own beings. They define who Ben was at the Council, who Ben is just now, and who Ben will always be. It is that light that causes me to love you so much.

    I suspect that the ultimate answer to both of your questions is simply this: Relax; be truly Ben; be happy and laugh a lot; and seek to be like the Savior who used up his life because he loves us, and who performed the atonement to make us free—so we can be whatever we choose to be.

    I do love you,

    LeGrand