The Attributes of God, Part 1

I've been thinking lately about what makes God, a God. What are the attributes necessary? I have titled this "Part 1", because I can foresee that this cannot be fully addressed in one post! But this morning as I woke up, a scripture came to my mind, and I knew which attribute would start off the discussion.

This is a modern day scripture from our Doctrine and Covenants, but I think everyone will agree that it is true: "For I the Lord cannot look upon sin with the least degree of allowance;"(Doctrine and Covenants 1:31). First of all, we must answer the question, "What is sin?". Sin is defined in the dictionary as "transgression of divine law". "Law" refers to the commandments that God has given us. If God accepts sin, then he ceases to be God. Part of what makes him God is that he is the opposite of evil. There are no gray areas between sin and righteousness. Either we are obeying the commandment, or we aren't. And so God cannot accept even a "little sin". Can even a little sin be accepted in heaven? If it were, it wouldn't be heaven, would it?

Most Christians believe that Christ paid for our sins. But we differ in our beliefs about how that works for us. Some believe that all we must do to be "saved", is to confess Jesus as our Savior. We believe that having faith in him is essential to salvation, but in order for that faith to work in our lives, we must also have repentance. When we repent, and exercise faith in the atonement of Jesus Christ, our sins are forgiven. If God does not require us to repent, then he is allowing sin. Let me use an example to illustrate this point.

Recently our school district met with the High school administrators and announced that teachers would no longer be allowed to flunk any student. I think the concept behind this is that if we want "no child left behind", then we can't flunk them. But what will result from this mandate is that students will soon learn that they need not do any work in order to graduate. They just show up, and their graduation is assured. Can you see how detrimental this is to the development of the students? If the school board really cared about the progression of the students, they would repeal this requirement, and allow there to be a consequence for lack of effort on the part of the student. So too, if God does not have a consequence for sin, people will have no reason to live righteously, nor to improve themselves. If "showing up", or "confessing Jesus" is enough for salvation, why even try to do what is right? There are those who will argue that if you love Jesus, you will obey the commandments naturally. But that is not the nature of man. "For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God;" (Romans 3:23). If God is God, then he will want us to be the best we can be. That can only come about through repentance.

The Book of Mormon teaches, "For the natural man is an enemy to God, and has been from the fall of Adam, and will be, forever and ever, unless he yields to the enticings of the Holy Spirit, and putteth off the natural man and becometh a saint through the atonement of Christ the Lord, and becometh as a child, submissive, meek, humble, patient, full of love, willing to submit to all things which the Lord seeth fit to inflict upon him, even as a child doth submit to his father." Mosiah 3:19

The Book of Mormon also teaches "For it must needs be, that there is an opposition in all things. " 2 Nephi 2:11. If there is happiness in the world, there is also sadness. If there is comfort in the world, there is also pain. If there is righteousness in the world, there is also sin. We also read in the Book of Mormon: "And if ye shall say there is no law, ye shall also say there is no sin. If ye shall say there is no sin, ye shall also say there is no righteousness. And if there be no righteousness there be no happiness. And if there be no righteousness nor happiness there be no punishment nor misery. And if these things are not there is no God. And if there is no God we are not, neither the earth; for there could have been no creation of things, neither to act nor to be acted upon; wherefore, all things must have vanished away." 2 Nephi 2:13.

Sin does exist in the world, but the sacrifice of Jesus Christ can atone for sins that we commit, upon condition of our repentance. For him to remain perfect, Christ saves us "from" our sins, not "in" our sin. Without repentance, we do not change. Without repentance, the same person that we have become in this life, no matter how evil, or sinful, will be the same person that will be resurrected. I submit to you that if that same sinful person is allowed in to heaven, then it will not be heaven. Repentance then, can be thought of as a type of spiritual resurrection. When we repent, we put off the natural man in us, and strive to be more like Christ. Without repentance, how can this occur?

I am thankful that God is perfect, and without sin, and that heaven is a place where sin is not allowed. I am thankful for the Savior who atoned for our sins so that we can repent and be forgiven. We, of ourselves, could never make up for the wrongs that we do. But Jesus' sacrifice meets the demands of justice so that we can be forgiven. This is the "good news" of the gospel of Jesus Christ!

Quote of the Day: Jeffery R. Holland

Jeffery R. Holland:

“The Church is not a monastery for perfect people, though all of us ought to be striving on the road to godliness. No, at least one aspect of the Church is more like a hospital or an aid station, provided for those who are ill and want to get well, where one can get an infusion of spiritual nutrition and a supply of sustaining water in order to keep on climbing” (in Conference Report, Oct. 1997, 88; or Ensign, Nov. 1997, 66 ).

Quote of the Day: Joseph B. Wirthlin

Elder Joseph B. Wirthlin, a member of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles:

“The simple fact is this: anything that does not draw us closer to God takes us away from Him. We have no middle ground, no foggy gray area where we can sin a little without suffering spiritual decline. That is why we must repent and come to Christ daily on submissive knees so that we can prevent our bonfires of testimony from being snuffed out by sin” (in Conference Report, Oct. 1992, 48; or Ensign, Nov. 1992, 36 ).

Quote of the Day: George Albert Smith

“I remember upon one occasion a man said to me, after we had talked for some time, ‘Well, from all I can learn your church is just as good as any other church.’ I presume he thought he was paying us a great compliment, but I said to him: ‘If the church I represent here is not of more importance to the children of men than any other church, then I am mistaken in my duty here. We have come not to take away from you the truth and virtue you possess. We have come not to find fault with you nor to criticize you. We have not come here to berate you because of things you have not done; but we have come here as your brethren. We are giving our time and our means voluntarily, and have come to your land with love in our hearts, with the desire to do you good, to encourage you to repent of your sins, wherein you are sinful, and encourage you to retain your virtues wherein you are virtuous, and to say to you: ‘Keep all the good that you have, and let us bring to you more good, in order that you may be happier and in order that you may be prepared to enter into the presence of our Heavenly Father’” ( Sharing the Gospel with Others, 12–13).

A Prophet's Creed

Elder Matthew Cowley, who was a member of the Quorum of the Twelve, quoted Pres. George Albert Smith:

“President George Albert Smith had a creed. To those of us who knew him, it is not necessary to read that creed because his life was the creed. . . .

“[He wrote:] ‘I would be a friend to the friendless and find joy in ministering to the needs of the poor.

“‘I would visit the sick and the afflicted and inspire in them a desire for faith to be healed.

“‘I would teach the truth to the understanding and blessing of all mankind.

“‘I would seek out the erring and try to win him back to a righteous and a happy life.

“‘I would not seek to force people to live up to my ideals but rather love them into doing the thing that is right. I would live with the masses and help solve their problems that their earth life may be happy.

“‘I would avoid the publicity of high positions and discourage the flattery of thoughtless friends.

“‘I would not knowingly hurt the feelings of any, not even one who may have wronged me, but would seek to do him good and make him my friend.

“‘I would overcome the tendency to selfishness and jealousy and rejoice in the success of all the children of my Heavenly Father.

“‘I would not be an enemy to any living soul.

“‘Knowing that the Redeemer of mankind has offered to the world the only plan that will fully develop us and make us really happy here and hereafter I feel it not only a duty but a blessed privilege to disseminate this truth’”

(in Conference Report, Apr. 1951, 167–68).

Mormon Messages: The Blessings of the Temple

As I watched this video, I couldn't help but think that listening to these people does not really fully convey the impact they have felt from attending the temple. They very calmly talk about receiving direction in the temple, and feeling the spirit. But as one who has attended the temple, I can tell you that it is far more meaningful, and draws a person more closer to the spirit, than can be conveyed in words.

Mormon Messages: The Civility Experiment