In my last article, we talked about how the way to deal with spiritual lows was to have a circumcision of heart, to become a "new creature in Christ". In this article, we'll talk about how to actually do that, and we'll talk about the great joy that is the reward!
Becoming a New Creature in Christ: A Common Theme in the Scriptures
One of my favorite people in the New Testament is the apostle Paul because of many teachings about becoming a "new creature" in Christ.
This change goes by many names in the scriptures.
This change is referred to in scripture as "remission of sins" in so many places, it would be impossible to list them all here.
To name a few:
Understanding Christ's True Goal
Becoming a new creature in Christ is something too many of us start by trying to do everything ourselves - overcoming our temptations, fixing what we've done wrong, and so forth.
The major reason why we do this is that we don't understand the true goal. We don't know where Christ is trying to lead us, in asking us to keep His commandments. We too often operate as though Christ's ultimate goal in asking us to keep His commandments is to get us to keep his commandments. This is tantamount to loading the cart and forgetting the horse. We end up trying to pull the weight of the gospel all by ourselves and burn out. Christ's goal in asking us to keep His commandments is to get us to grow with Him, as a team, into a tree that produces commandment-keeping fruit. Becoming that tree - and staying that way - requires learning to walk with Christ in every footstep. Christ's ultimate goal in asking us to keep so many commandments is to get us asking for His help and involvement - constantly. Why? If we have that life-changing habit in place to the degree that it's starting to show - this is referred to in scripture as fruit meet for repentance - this qualifies us for the remission of sins. This qualifies us to know the joy of having Him transform us into the kind of tree that naturally produces what we for so long have been struggling to do on our own.
Abide in Me
If you think about it, the Lord's greatest challenge to us is actually a clue that we need His help:
"Be ye therefore perfect, even as your Father which is in heaven is perfect." (Matthew 5:48, compare 3 Nephi 12:48)
Contrast this with another statement, given in the final weeks of His life:
"I am the true vine... Abide in me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, except it abide in the vine; no more can ye, except ye abide in me. I am the vine, ye are the branches: He that abideth in me, and I in him, the same bringeth forth much fruit: for without me ye can do nothing." (John 15:1-5)
Note that he says "he that abideth in me and I in him, the same bringeth forth much fruit". In other words, if we want to bring forth that fruit - if we want to be able to keep His commandments, we have to become one with the Savior; we have to learn how to "abide in [Him]"! We cannot work toward perfection without Him, for working toward perfection is by definition only one thing: learning to involve and keep the Savior in our lives, in our way of being and doing things. Leading into His sermon on the importance of abiding in Him, the Savior Himself said essentially the same thing:
"...I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me. (John 14:6)
Perfection - or eternal life - is one thing only: being a team with Christ, and ultimately, being resurrected as such. In the meantime, our striving with all our hearts to work with Him in keeping the commandments is a prerequisite to the Lord raising us to that perfection; our ability to actually keep His commandments is a consequence of that perfection. To progress from "trying" to "keeping" by way of His matchless power is called salvation from sin after all we can do. (see 2 Nephi 25:23)
In the same sermon, the Lord emphasizes the importance of asking:
"If ye abide in me, and my words abide in you, ye shall ask what ye will, and it shall be done unto you." (John 15:7)
The Savior was speaking to his apostles - men who were charged with working the same miracles they had seen Him do. In other words, If we get in the habit of asking for His help with our daily temptations, decisions and struggles, we can ask anything - as long we "ask not amiss", and it will be done. Asking is also a prerequisite. The closer we get to becoming one with the Lord, the more our asking results in receiving. If we're using His power to do the things that are necessary to have Him in our lives, His power will be available to do miraculous things. The scriptures offer abundant proof of it!
When we understand that the commandment to become perfect is a commandment to work together with our Redeemer to become a commandment-keeping tree, suddenly, although the cost in terms of effort is very high, this challenge is no longer so overwhelming to us. In commanding us to be perfect, what the Savior is really doing is asking us to let Him have a one-on-one personal relationship with you and me. He wants this one-on-one time and effort with us so badly that He was willing to lay down his life to purchase the power that makes both possible and richly rewarding our life-long spiritual odyssey in Him. He wanted us to experience the joy that comes of being transformed by the process of working with Him in all things in our lives.
Christ's true goal is this, from His lesson about abiding in the vine: "Herein is my Father glorified, that ye bear much fruit; so shall ye be my disciples." (Johhn 15:8)
The True Meaning of "Eternal Life"
We don't realize the great value and the great necessity of constantly maintaining a deeply personal, working relationship with our Savior! Jesus called this type of relationship "eternal life". He prayed to the Father, referring to Himself and saying:
This
particular prayer of all prayers was the last one He would utter before
beginning His atoning sacrifice for all mankind in the Garden of
Gethsemane. I like to think of this prayer as His dedicatory prayer,
containing the reason why He was willing to suffer what He went through
for us: He wanted us to have eternal life! He wanted us to know Him both spiritually... and personally!
He knew that the law was clear: no unclean thing can enter into the presence of God. (see 3 Nephi 27:19-20) But He also knew that we could never hope to experience the deep, true state of happiness He offers without Him, without at least figuratively being admitted to His presence - the very spiritual state which Alma the Younger taught his son Corianton! (I refer back to my previous article) He could not abide the thought that the joy of His presence and of that of His Father would forever be unattainable to you and me - both in this life and in the next - if He denied His Father's plea that He give His life to help us have it.
That's how deeply valuable eternal life is to Him and to our Heavenly Father, and that's how deeply valuable it needs to be to us, if we're ever going to muster the sacrifice that will be necessary to have Him!
Trees of Righteousness
Isaiah taught that helping us become "trees of righteousness" was part of the Savior's mission:
"The Spirit of the Lord God is upon me; because the Lord hath anointed me to preach good tidings unto the meek; he hath sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives, and the opening of the prison to them that are bound; To proclaim the acceptable year of the Lord, and the day of vengeance of our God; to comfort all that mourn; To appoint unto them that mourn in Zion, to give unto them beauty for ashes, the oil of joy for mourning, the garment of praise for the spirit of heaviness; that they might be called trees of righteousness, the planting of the Lord, that he might be glorified." (Isaiah 61:1-3)
The Power of Grace
Paul taught essentially the same concept in a different way:
"And [Christ] said unto me, 'My grace is sufficient for thee: for my strength is made perfect in weakness.' Most gladly therefore will I rather glory in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon me. Therefore I take pleasure in infirmities, in reproaches, in necessities, in persecutions, in distresses for Christ’s sake: for when I am weak, then am I strong." (2 Corinthians 12:9-10)
The Savior gave us weaknesses and then commanded us to be perfect, so we would turn to Him. The Lord cannot complete His mission of helping us become trees of righteousness unless we get used to asking for His help! Without our asking, all that "strength" the Lord has made available goes to waste, along with the joy of overcoming that could otherwise be ours! The Lord views His strength and even His perfection in terms of its usefulness to us! Paul rejoiced in the weaknesses and trials of life as a disciple because he knew that his weakness gave meaning to his need for a Savior. Needing - and having - a Savior in a personal way brought great joy into his life.
The Lord taught the prophet Moroni about the role of His grace in our lives:
"And if men come unto me I will show unto them their weakness. I give unto men weakness that they may be humble; and my grace is sufficient for all men that humble themselves before me; for if they humble themselves before me, and have faith in me, then will I make weak things become strong unto them." (Ether 12:27)
It is the Lord's greatest desire for us to let Him transform us into "trees of righteousness" for whom weak things have become strong. If we would know this great joy, we need to learn to draw from the fountain of all righteousness (Ether 12:28), and we need to learn to ask Him for His help and involvement in our lives (Hebrews 4:14-16).
Drinking the Lord's living water instead of depending on the things of the world
Why and how to draw from the Fountain of All Righteousness
There are other examples in the scriptures, showing how our having the Lord in our lives is integral to keeping His commandments. Paul taught the Corinthians:
Make no mistake - the Lord will allow us to experience temptations that are above our ability to bear on our own, but He will also provide help - if we ask for it. It is His help that makes us able to bear it.
Nephi from the Book of Mormon also understood his need for the Lord's help. His father having asked him to do something that any reasonable human being would think impossible, Nephi responded:
"I, Nephi, said unto my father: I will go and do the things which the Lord hath commanded, for I know that the Lord giveth no commandments unto the children of men, save he shall prepare a way for them that they may accomplish the thing which he commandeth them." (1 Nephi 3:7, emphasis added)
Remodeled by the Master Carpenter
If you've seen the movie 'Frozen', you know what a "fixer-upper" is. Before the Lord, we are all "fixer-uppers", needing to become new creatures in Christ, and He is the master Carptenter! What house can remodel or build additions onto itself? Each time I experience being made once again into a new creature in Christ, I find new meaning in Isaiah's words:
"...shall the work say of him that made it, He made me not? or shall the thing framed say of him that framed it, He had no understanding?" (Isaiah 29:16)
Being made into a whole new creature through the Atonement really shows you just how much of the job of saving us and helping us change really is for Christ - and Him alone - to do!
Learn the secret to building on the Rock of the Redeemer
Why He Asks So Much of Us
The reason Christ asks us to keep His commandments is because He knows that, if we are making a diligent effort to keep them, we will eventually come hard up against our need for His help in remodeling our house, in becoming new creatures in Christ. He knows that the only solution to our problem is for us to become creatures that are built upon the Rock, built to keep His commandments diligently in the face of ongoing, unrelenting temptation, built to succeed at living the gospel, no matter what evil forces may throw at us! He knows that our effort to live the gospel will eventually drive us to learn how to "abide in the vine". The Lord intended for us to experience the indescribable joy of succeeding at living the gospel - not by doing it all ourselves, but by way of becoming new creatures in Christ. That's the Lord's true goal in asking us to be perfect!
So, what do we have to do make this change in our lives?
The Very Real Power of The Parable of the Bicycle
If you're reading this as a member of the LDS church, you've heard this parable before. Given the many thousands of times it has been repeated in sacrament meetings the world over in the many years since it was written, I hope the author will forgive my quoting his work here. I've provided a link to the book it comes from, because the author deserves credit for giving the Church and the world such a powerful parable.
Believing Christ: The Parable of the Bicycle and Other Good News, by Stephen E. Robinson
In this book, the author tells of a trying time for his wife. In trying to help her see the need for her Savior, he realized a recent experience they'd had with their daughter was applicable as a metaphor. The following is a retelling of the experience in my own words, a recounting of the parable for those unfamiliar with it.
Their daughter had recently come to them with a request: she wanted a bicycle. Not having the money in the budget to buy her one right then, and not yet sure just how much she really wanted it, they tried to stall her. They told her they'd make a way for her to earn pennies and nickels and dimes by helping around the house so she could save toward buying one herself, and they figured that was the end of it. Some days went by, with this little girl working and saving every little coin she could get her hands on. Finally, one night, when he came home from work, the little girl approached her dad and said, "Daddy I've saved up sixty-nine cents. Can I have a bike now?" Instantly, both Mom and Dad realized two things: one, she was serious; and two, they were going to have to help her get a bike. They promised her that in a few days, they'd go down to the bicycle store and get her a bike. Well, the day came, and, when Dad got home from work, their little girl was all excited. She was getting her bike today! They went down to the store to see what they could find. The little girl looked all around - big bikes, little bikes - until she found the one she wanted. It was just the right size. But the tears started to roll when she looked at the price tag: it was over a hundred dollars. Not only did she not have enough money, she knew that at the rate she could save up, she would likely never have a bicycle. But Dad took her aside and said, "I'll tell you what: you give me all sixty-nine cents that you've saved up, and a big hug, and I'll give buy you that bicycle!" The little girl of course gave her Dad a big hug and handed over the sixty-nine cents. She was so excited about her new bike that she insisted on riding it all the way home with Dad following close behind, hazard lights flashing.
Now, it doesn't take much for us to draw a parallel between ourselves and that little girl, between our Heavenly Father and that daddy making it possible for his daughter to have something she could never have obtained on her own. But too often, when this parable gets retold in church, we miss a far more important point: the Savior's ability to help us - in and throughout this life, which He purchased at so high a cost in Gethsemane and at Golgotha is the bicycle, and the Savior himself, even God the Almighty, Alpha and Omega, the Messiah and the Great I Am, if we would allow Him, would personally attend each of our individual plodding journeys through life, following close behind, hazard lights flashing!
Elder Boyd K. Packer speaks in General Conference April 1977 about the Mediator
My Sixty-Nine Cents
At a time when I was struggling with addiction, I made the mistake of focusing on trying to resolve it on my own, not really trying to involve the Lord, and not doing it for Him. I was following typical "Mormon" repentance procedure, as described in my previous article.
At a particularly low point, I decided to begin again to fast and pray concerning the issue, only to feel the Lord seem to say to me in my heart, "instead of doing a go-without-food fast, why don't you try doing a go-without-giving-into-temptation fast?". This kind of clued me that the fasting wasn't going to help. I had the resources; I had the power. I just needed to use them. But this prompting caused me to ask the Lord this question in prayer: "Well, if I'm fasting to have the power to overcome this temptation, and you're telling me that overcoming should be the fast, then what it is I'm supposed to be fasting for?"
His answer was a personal invitation that surprised and overwhelmed me. It changed the way I view my personal relationship with my Savior forever. I knew what He meant when I felt Him say, "Come unto me, all ye ends of the earth, and be saved." You see, He didn't just want me to get rid of the sin. He wanted me to do it with the specific objective of making room for... Him! He wanted to be part of my life in a deeply personal way - in a way that was at the time unfamiliar to me. This insistence that I pit myself once again against that which I knew was impossible for me to do alone - that is, push my sin out of my heart, mind and life - was His gentle yet bold way of asking me to give Him all sixty-nine cents, in full, withholding nothing!
That's how I came to learn that making room for the Lord in my life was the very thing I needed, the very thing that would ultimately enable me to someday do all that He could ever require of me, the Ultimate Bicycle!
The Savior said: "But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you." (Matthew 6:33)
President Benson speaks in General Conference April 1988 about what happens when we seek Christ first
My New Bike
Somewhere in my spiritual journey of coming unto Christ, I must have finally saved up and paid Him the sixty-nine cents, because I still remember the first time I saw my new "bicycle". I hope you'll forgive me for copying this directly out of my article about What Jesus Christ Means to Me, because it bears repeating here:
"...there came I day when I was sitting in sacrament meeting, and as the organ music started - the introduction for the sacrament hymn - I felt a powerful Spirit sweep over me. I knew that taking the Sacrament would be different today! I took the Sacrament, and I felt what can only be described as a baptism of fire! I walked away from the sacrament table that day, feeling something very different inside of me! The bands were loosed! That day, as I pondered the events of the Sacrament Meeting, I felt the Spirit kind of tap me on the shoulder, and He said, "I have something I need to do for you, and I need you to trust me; I need you to let me in." I felt the Spirit working my heart over, doing a sort of spiritual open-heart surgery, cutting away ugly things that needed to go! Parts of it hurt, but oh the joy, and peace, and the sense of freedom that I had when the job was done! I had experienced a circumcision of heart - a mighty change of heart!"
That's what it feels like to get on the Ultimate Spiritual Bicycle! While all of us have felt divine intervention in our lives at times, this is what it feels like when your personal relationship with your Savior really begins to take off!
My First Ride
In describing what it felt like to ride that bike for the first time - to really benefit from having a working personal relationship with my Savior - I'll continue with the next paragraph from that same article:
"The next time temptation struck, instead of feeling weak and wondering what the outcome was going to be, I was apalled that the adversary would have the nerve to approach a redeemed son of God with the likes of such filth!"
I found I had new access to absolutely astounding power for dealing with temptation that was unlike anything I'd ever experienced before. I knew personally for the first time what the prophets meant when they described God as being "mighty to save", His power as being "matchless!" I knew what it felt like to be built upon a rock. I knew what it felt like to have the Savior helping me fight my battles, one-on-one, just me and Him, with power that was definitely not my own! What incredible great joy! What freedom! It did great things for my sense of worth in His sight, too!
So often in our repentance process, we fight in vain - endlessly - against a temptation for which our mortal resources are woefully inadequate. But when we have been admitted to a spiritual state of happiness - admitted to the presence of the Lord, if only in a spiritual sense - these "old things [pass] away", as the scriptures say, "like chaff in the whirlwind" - like bits of straw in a tornado! There is immeasurable joy in looking inside yourself, only to realize that these ugly, impossible old things are just... gone! You have become a new man - or woman - in Christ!
That's what it feels like to ride this impossible bicycle, this bicycle that we can never obtain on our own! That's the beautiful power of the simple principles and priesthood ordinances of the gospel of Jesus Christ - an incredible power which only the pure in heart can ever see!
This is what Moroni meant when he said:
"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." (Moroni 10:32)
Yonder Breaks a New and Glorious Morn!
Why should I want to become a new creature in Christ?
We have handfuls of experiences recorded in scripture, describing what it's like to have your sins remitted. In my previous article I went into more detail about the nature of these experiences. To list some of the people who had them:
There are many more examples!
For those who have not yet felt it, human words can never do justice in describing the incredible joy of becoming a new creature in Christ! But if any man ever got close to describing what it feels like to experience the matchless power of God in this way, it would have to be Placide Cappeau de Roquemaure who wrote these words from a familiar Christmas carol:
"Long lay the world in sin and error pining,
Till He appeared and the soul felt its worth.
A thrill of hope, the weary soul rejoices,
For yonder breaks a new and glorious morn!"
"In all our trials born to be our Friend.
He knows our need, To our weakness no stranger..."
The third verse carries special meaning to me as a former addict:
"Chains shall He break, for the slave is our brother,
And in His name all oppression shall cease.
Sweet hymns of joy in grateful chorus rise we,
Let all within us praise His holy name!"
I myself have felt what it is to fight against the oppression of spiritual chains. I've also felt what it is to have my God break them! I've felt what it is to be weary and discouraged from so much trying in vain. But I also still remember feeling the thrill of hope, rejoicing when the Lord began to work His miracle in my life - yonder breaks a new and glorious morn! There is nothing else like this experience - having the awesome saving, life-changing power of the Atonement poured out generously in our behalf - to teach you and me the kind of reverence that will cause us all to "bend before the lowly King", "his pow'r and glory" to "ever more proclaim!"
Taking Up Our Cross, Walking the Strait and Narrow Way
The Lord knows getting there is hard for us - so much so that he likened our need to do this to the sacrifice He made to enable us to do it:
"If any man will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross daily, and follow me." (Luke 9:23)
He also likened this pursuit of eternal life to walking a "strait and narrow way". Notice that this particular doctrine is given in the same chapter as His teaching about the importance of building upon the rock of the Redeemer:
Here, we also see how partaking of the love of God provides powerful incentive to keep living the gospel! In other words, yes, it's hard to become a new creature in Christ. But it's worth it ten thousand times over!
Doing What's Hard Makes Things Easier
Do you feel like you've spiritually fallen asleep at the wheel? Do you feel like it's difficult to get the gospel to produce a return on your emotional investment? Do you have something you're trying to overcome that's been yanking your chain for years?
You've got to give a personal relationship with your Savior a try! Or, if you've fallen off the "bike", it's high time to get back on!
Walk With Christ, or Walk Alone?
Without this Ultimate Spiritual Bicycle - without our Savior's loving companionship and frequent succor, we are in for a long, long walk down a path that leads to nowhere, inside the gall of bitterness (see my previous article). The sickening thing is, the devil has taken great care to make sure this hopeless, endless path wanders the perimeter of the gall of bitterness, precisely because this is a vantage point from which we can still see the happiness we once knew in Christ, if only in another world - a happiness we are no longer free to enjoy in the same way as before. No amount of going to church or the temple, no amount of praying or scripture study, no amount of white-knuckle forcing ourselves to choose to do right will pierce that barrier between us and Him. The only thing that can pierce this spiritual barrier between us and our Savior is His infinite grace. But it will cost us all sixty-nine cents in our possession and a very good reason for Him to believe we really do want Him to be our God to get Him to do it.
Our Walk With Christ Begins
Once we've paid in full and gotten the Lord working with us, the ordinances of the priesthood free us from the entanglements that have prevented Him from being our Friend to the extent He so badly wants to. Thus, our walk with Christ begins. With Him in our lives, we have a new source of power, above and beyond our own. While it is hard to maintain that willingness to sacrifice - to keep paying that sixty-nine cents whenever it is called for - doing so keeps the Lord in our lives, which actually makes things easier. Atop our new, spiritual bicycle, we find we are able to progress much more quickly in our spiritual journey, and and we are much more adept at dodging the potholes we find along the way. Obstacles that had proven impossible before are still there; we must still contend with the same temptations. But we now surmount them with relative ease, for He now "will contend with them that [contend] with [us]". (see Isaiah 49:25) Instead of being dark moments of failure in our lives, our every temptation becomes an opportunity for a spiritual experience, an opportunity to fire up the altar for Him and once again lay thereon our sixty-nine cents worth of broken heart and contrite spirit and allow the sweet odor to ascend into heaven. (see Genesis 8:20-21) So long as we never pass on an opportunity to fire up that altar when He calls, we continue to have His power - His grace - available through prayer, coursing through us, melting away our temptations after all we can do, one at a time. With Him helping us in this way, we find our burdens have been lightened "even that [we] cannot feel them upon [our] backs". (see Mosiah 24:14)
Use It or Lose It
This bicycle, this working relationship with the Lord, is given to us on a use-it-or-lose-it basis. The primary way we use it is by responding to every temptation with prayer. In my article about being saved by grace, I called this a "grace reflex". Part of the sixty-nine cents that has to be paid to stay on the bike is that we have to respond to temptation with a determination to obey and a pleading with the Lord for power to make good on that determination before the temptation overpowers us. The temptation itself constitutes an invoice for our next sixty-nine cent installment - it requires that we once again give our all. This is referred to in scripture as watching and praying always - a concept the Lord taught while He was among the Nephites:
"Behold, verily, verily, I say unto you, ye must watch and pray always lest ye enter into temptation; for Satan desireth to have you, that he may sift you as wheat." (3 Nephi 18:18)
We have got to learn to work with the Lord on these things! If we fail to do this too many times, the Lord has no choice. It's off the bike we go, and back to the gall of bitterness - back to the wheat sieve.
Concerning the importance of this, king Benjamin taught his people:
How to Offer Your Sixty-Nine Cents
Following His death and resurrection, the Lord spoke out of heaven to the ancient inhabitants of America, explicitly asking for our "sixty-nine cents":
"...ye shall offer up unto me no more the shedding of blood; yea, your sacrifices and your burnt offerings shall be done away, for I will accept none of your sacrifices and your burnt offerings. And ye shall offer for a sacrifice unto me a broken heart and a contrite spirit. And whoso cometh unto me with a broken heart and a contrite spirit, him will I baptize with fire and with the Holy Ghost..." (3 Nephi 9:19-20)
Note that this "baptism of fire" is another reference to becoming a new creature in Christ!
Our ability to earn and pay the requisite sixty-nine cents can be summed up in a word: humility.
In so doing, we discover by experience that we have to raise our definition of concern for the right until we've set for ourselves a standard that requires everything we have to give to the effort, plus the Lord's constant help. This is referred to in scripture as "denying [ourselves] of all ungodliness." (see Moroni 10 again) I believe "ungodliness" is letting ourselves live in a way that does not require the Lord's help. The Lord and His Spirit will not "always be with us" until we show Him that, first, we need it, and second, it is a goal that we are not letting go of. This standard that we set with Him will be different for each of us - one that will grow as we learn to muster seventy cents and then seventy one. It is something that must be prayerfully established between me and my Savior, between you and yours. I believe this is what the Lord meant when He said, "Learn of me, and listen to my words; walk in the meekness of my Spirit..." (Doctrine & Covenants 19:23)
If we are steady in our efforts to set up this standard and work and sacrifice toward having this personal relationship with our Savior, the day will come when, through either baptism or partaking of the sacrament, we will find to our great astonishment and joy that He has accepted our offering! Much more than just us promising to try a little harder in one aspect or another, partaking of the sacrament has finally resulted in our covenant relationship with Him being fully renewed! We have felt Him keeping promises to us! That experience is such a joyful and deeply meaningful one that it teaches us new reverence for the sanctity and power of both baptism and the sacrament. It teaches us to "bend before the lowly king!"
Getting On the Bicycle
Becoming a new creature in Christ is a simple process that starts with prayer.
You just start by telling your Heavenly Father and your Savior that you want to be one with them. You want to do things their way, by their rules, through their power. Then you ask what they want you to do. Where do I start?
If you'll listen with you heart, you'll feel the Spirit beginning to guide
If you find yourself praying, asking the Lord to personally teach you how to lose yourself in Him, "then is your salvation nearer than when [you] believed..." - even at the doors! (Romans 13:11)
As weak mortal beings who frequently make mistakes, we will many times experience the need to get back on the bike. The thing is, if the Bicycle isn't fully functional just yet, we may inclined to wonder why we should bother. To do so is to forget that we have to show the Lord we're serious. Paul and Nephi both taught "it is by grace that we are saved after all we can do" and "laboring more than they all". (1 Corinthians 15:10, 2 Nephi 25:23)
To use a familiar phrase, we have to "fake it 'til we make it". We have to begin implementing the conditions of repentance, namely: humility and sacrifice (our sixty-nine cents) and a diligent effort to obey (watch and pray always - it doesn't count unless we're making a point of involving the Lord). Putting up these things consistently, whether the Lord answers our prayers or not, whether He helps us just yet or not is referred to in scripture as "bringing forth fruit meet for repentance".
At first, the Lord will be slow to help us, for, said He:
"...I will not succor my people in the day of their transgression; but I will hedge up their ways that they prosper not; and their doings shall be as a stumbling block before them. And again, he saith: If my people shall sow filthiness they shall reap the chaff thereof in the whirlwind; and the effect thereof is poison. And again he saith: If my people shall sow filthiness they shall reap the east wind, which bringeth immediate destruction. And now, behold, the promise of the Lord is fulfilled, and ye are smitten and afflicted. But if ye will turn to the Lord with full purpose of heart, and put your trust in him, and serve him with all diligence of mind, if ye do this, he will, according to his own will and pleasure, deliver you out of bondage." (Mosiah 7:29-33)
The word "bondage" as used in the Book of Mormon can be symbolic of everything from serious addiction down to just being spiritually lukewarm. I've noticed in my own studies that reading the Book of Mormon with that symbolism for a lens makes it much more instructive!
Note the Lord's use of the metaphor "chaff in the whirlwind" in reference to our sins returning as we enter once again into the gall of bitterness. Feeling the "poison" and the "destruction" that comes with falling off the Ultimate Bicycle is painful!
During this stage, we will still (or once again) experience failure. I don't know about others, but I don't usually fully discover the significance of being in my gall of bitterness until I reach a point of trying to escape it and finding myself unable. While the occasional failure will feel like "one step forward, two steps back", the importance of our effort and our praying far outweighs the significance of the failure in His eyes. If we will continue unhindered in diligence, as the days pass we will feel our burdens beginning to grow lighter. We'll feel the Lord beginning to help us in more and more ways. Those who are new at this may find Him helping in ways He never has before. To put it in the words of Isaiah:
"...they that wait upon the Lord shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings as eagles; they shall run, and not be weary; and they shall walk, and not faint." (Isaiah 40:31)
Eventually, the day will come when you will feel as I did - something is different today! Today the Lord and I are going to the Ultimate Bike Store! With that new bike under you, you'll begin to experience what Paul meant when he said:
Learning About the Bike and How to Use It For Yourself
As I've mentioned before, seeking to have the Lord in our lives can cause us to become sensitive to the things that He requires of us before He will come. But learning to ride this bike is an intensive, deeply personal process between each of us and Him that requires study and spiritual power. That can only be obtained by frequent reference to the Owner's Manual - the scriptures! There is no getting around it: if we want the gospel to work for us, if we want to have the hope of someday experiencing all that our Savior has offered us, if we want to feel Him helping us through this life by His matchless power to save so that we can return home to our Heavenly Father, we have got to study and learn how to have it! As Joseph Smith said, we cannot be saved in ignorance!
Listen as Helaman, the son of Alma the Younger, describes how frequent reference to the scriptures helps both him and us get safely across the "natural state", the "gall of bitterness", or, as he called it, the "gulf of misery":
In king Benjamin's speech, we see the "sixty-nine cents" (humility) and the "watch and pray always" (watch yourselves... remember and perish not) and the importance of knowing and tasting the love and the great goodness of God for ourselves - the importance of developing a personal relationship with Christ. In his speech, we see many other parts of the Owner's Manual. King Benjamin is able to give us this because he has experienced it. The scriptures are full of bits of owner's manual and the experiences of those who've applied it in their lives. What better resource could we have for coming to know our God and the conditions of salvation which He has set before us?!
We need to start studying our scriptures daily! As a passionate student of the scriptures, I testify that this seemingly tiny, insignificant habit will turn out to be a thing of deep and eternal significance!
What's in the Bible? The Importance of Scripture Study: They are They Which Testify of Me
My Own Journey with Christ
I myself have seen the study of these things "cut asunder the wiles of the devil" and lead me, for however brief a time, "down the strait and narrow" and across the "gulf of misery". I have seen my Savior's good grace pierce the barrier between Him and me.
Even so, I often have to struggle once again to find the "strait and narrow way" and stay on that bicycle! My stubborn heart keeps finding alternate forms of happiness - forms of happiness that are, admittedly, far, far inferior to that which the Savior offers, forms of happiness that keep getting me kicked off the bicycle. I suppose these counterfeit forms of happiness are enticing because they are so readily available and because I don't have to give my all - my sixty-nine cents - to have them. All too often, I find these temptations have caused me to take a detour, and I find myself once again in my own "gall of bitterness".
Still, in my heart of hearts, I remember my first ride! I remember feeling Him take charge in my life. I remember partaking of the sacrament that powerful day many years ago and, for the first time, knowing that what I was feeling was Him and His matchless power, making some of the ugly stuff I've struggled with finally leave me alone! I will never allow myself to forget that immeasurable joy! What an incredible experience! It is one that, no matter how often I fall, I'll eventually come around and do what I have to in order to get back on that bike again. It's too valuable not to fight for - and sacrifice for!
Sin and Salvation: One Step Back, Two Steps Forward
I've heard it said that, while nobody wishes they'd made a mistake and needed saving, being redeemed from sin makes us even better than we were before the sin.
In my own life, if I had never made some of the mistakes I've made, I would never have done the scripture study necessary to learn the tools I have described on my blog. I would never have known the critical importance of these things in my life. I would never have known the real power of daily prayer and scripture study. I would never have known that all of us need our Savior's help throughout each day, in order to really live the gospel the way He expects us to do. I would never have known the joy of working with the Lord of the vineyard and having my tree changed!
In the process of being redeemed from our failures, we really do become new creatures in Christ!
In short, I believe I can say, as did Nephi of old, "My heart groaneth because of my sins, nevertheless, I know in Whom I have trusted!" (see 2 Nephi 4 - the whole chapter is good owner-manual-material!)
As I mentioned above, Paul invites us to "cast of the works of darkness and put on the armor of light", and to "put on Jesus Christ".
The ancient prophet Hosea invited the people of his time, saying:
"Sow to yourselves in righteousness, reap in mercy; break up your fallow ground: for it is time to seek the Lord, till he come and rain righteousness upon you." (Hosea 10:12)
The effort to become a new creature in Christ will be a long and grueling journey - but one that is fraught with moments of great joy as we learn and grow in Christ! When I find myself getting discouraged, it helps me to remember that, inasmuch as I have already made a covenant with Him through baptism and partaking the sacrament, and inasmuch as I have spent my life trying to live the gospel on some level - any level - I am already abiding in the vine to that degree. But why not grow the tree? The bigger our commandment-keeping tree, the stronger is our obedience, the purer is our freedom, and the more fervent and life-changing is our joy!
I sincerely hope reading this article does for you what writing it has done for me: may it get you scrambling to find your spiritual piggy bank, a hammer, and a prayer!
Also of Interest
Part I of III: What's in the Book of Mormon? Living Without God in the World: How and Why to Fix It
Part II of III: What's in the Bible? Becoming a New Creature in Christ (you are here)
Part III of III: What's in the Book of Mormon? Pressing Forward with Steadfastness in Christ (coming soon)
Read this incredible discourse on the power of being born again from President Benson, given in General Conference, October 1985.
Becoming a New Creature in Christ: A Common Theme in the Scriptures
One of my favorite people in the New Testament is the apostle Paul because of many teachings about becoming a "new creature" in Christ.
This change goes by many names in the scriptures.
- Lehi, from the Book of Mormon, called it "[awakening] from a deep sleep" and "shak[ing] off the awful chains of hell with which ye are bound". (2 Nephi 1:13) He also called it walking the strait and narrow and experiencing the love of God (1 Nephi 8)
- Alma called it "laying aside every sin, which easily doth beset you", awakening unto God, a change of heart, the chains of hell being loosed, and even being "saved". (Alma 5:6-9, 7:15)
- Paul called it "awak[ing] out of sleep", "salvation" that is "nearer than when we believed", "cast[ing] off the works of darkness" and "put[ting] on the armour of light" (Romans 13:11-12).
This change is referred to in scripture as "remission of sins" in so many places, it would be impossible to list them all here.
To name a few:
- Zacharias prophesied that his son, John the Baptist, would "give knowledge of salvation unto his people by the knowledge of the remission of sins" (Luke 1:76-77)
- Following His resurrection, the Lord reminded His apostles that one of the reasons He suffered for us was "that repentance and remission of sins should be preached in his name among all nations, beginning at Jerusalem." (Luke 24:46-47)
- Mormon taught his son Moroni that "the first fruits of repentance is baptism; and baptism cometh by faith unto the fulfilling the commandments; and the fulfilling the commandments bringeth remission of sins" (Moroni 8:25)
Understanding Christ's True Goal
Becoming a new creature in Christ is something too many of us start by trying to do everything ourselves - overcoming our temptations, fixing what we've done wrong, and so forth.
The major reason why we do this is that we don't understand the true goal. We don't know where Christ is trying to lead us, in asking us to keep His commandments. We too often operate as though Christ's ultimate goal in asking us to keep His commandments is to get us to keep his commandments. This is tantamount to loading the cart and forgetting the horse. We end up trying to pull the weight of the gospel all by ourselves and burn out. Christ's goal in asking us to keep His commandments is to get us to grow with Him, as a team, into a tree that produces commandment-keeping fruit. Becoming that tree - and staying that way - requires learning to walk with Christ in every footstep. Christ's ultimate goal in asking us to keep so many commandments is to get us asking for His help and involvement - constantly. Why? If we have that life-changing habit in place to the degree that it's starting to show - this is referred to in scripture as fruit meet for repentance - this qualifies us for the remission of sins. This qualifies us to know the joy of having Him transform us into the kind of tree that naturally produces what we for so long have been struggling to do on our own.
Abide in Me
If you think about it, the Lord's greatest challenge to us is actually a clue that we need His help:
"Be ye therefore perfect, even as your Father which is in heaven is perfect." (Matthew 5:48, compare 3 Nephi 12:48)
Contrast this with another statement, given in the final weeks of His life:
"I am the true vine... Abide in me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, except it abide in the vine; no more can ye, except ye abide in me. I am the vine, ye are the branches: He that abideth in me, and I in him, the same bringeth forth much fruit: for without me ye can do nothing." (John 15:1-5)
Note that he says "he that abideth in me and I in him, the same bringeth forth much fruit". In other words, if we want to bring forth that fruit - if we want to be able to keep His commandments, we have to become one with the Savior; we have to learn how to "abide in [Him]"! We cannot work toward perfection without Him, for working toward perfection is by definition only one thing: learning to involve and keep the Savior in our lives, in our way of being and doing things. Leading into His sermon on the importance of abiding in Him, the Savior Himself said essentially the same thing:
"...I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me. (John 14:6)
Perfection - or eternal life - is one thing only: being a team with Christ, and ultimately, being resurrected as such. In the meantime, our striving with all our hearts to work with Him in keeping the commandments is a prerequisite to the Lord raising us to that perfection; our ability to actually keep His commandments is a consequence of that perfection. To progress from "trying" to "keeping" by way of His matchless power is called salvation from sin after all we can do. (see 2 Nephi 25:23)
In the same sermon, the Lord emphasizes the importance of asking:
"If ye abide in me, and my words abide in you, ye shall ask what ye will, and it shall be done unto you." (John 15:7)
The Savior was speaking to his apostles - men who were charged with working the same miracles they had seen Him do. In other words, If we get in the habit of asking for His help with our daily temptations, decisions and struggles, we can ask anything - as long we "ask not amiss", and it will be done. Asking is also a prerequisite. The closer we get to becoming one with the Lord, the more our asking results in receiving. If we're using His power to do the things that are necessary to have Him in our lives, His power will be available to do miraculous things. The scriptures offer abundant proof of it!
When we understand that the commandment to become perfect is a commandment to work together with our Redeemer to become a commandment-keeping tree, suddenly, although the cost in terms of effort is very high, this challenge is no longer so overwhelming to us. In commanding us to be perfect, what the Savior is really doing is asking us to let Him have a one-on-one personal relationship with you and me. He wants this one-on-one time and effort with us so badly that He was willing to lay down his life to purchase the power that makes both possible and richly rewarding our life-long spiritual odyssey in Him. He wanted us to experience the joy that comes of being transformed by the process of working with Him in all things in our lives.
Christ's true goal is this, from His lesson about abiding in the vine: "Herein is my Father glorified, that ye bear much fruit; so shall ye be my disciples." (Johhn 15:8)
The True Meaning of "Eternal Life"
We don't realize the great value and the great necessity of constantly maintaining a deeply personal, working relationship with our Savior! Jesus called this type of relationship "eternal life". He prayed to the Father, referring to Himself and saying:
"...thou
hast given him power over all flesh, that he should give eternal life
to as many as thou hast given him. And this is life eternal, that they
might know thee the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom thou hast
sent." (John 17:2-3)
He knew that the law was clear: no unclean thing can enter into the presence of God. (see 3 Nephi 27:19-20) But He also knew that we could never hope to experience the deep, true state of happiness He offers without Him, without at least figuratively being admitted to His presence - the very spiritual state which Alma the Younger taught his son Corianton! (I refer back to my previous article) He could not abide the thought that the joy of His presence and of that of His Father would forever be unattainable to you and me - both in this life and in the next - if He denied His Father's plea that He give His life to help us have it.
That's how deeply valuable eternal life is to Him and to our Heavenly Father, and that's how deeply valuable it needs to be to us, if we're ever going to muster the sacrifice that will be necessary to have Him!
Trees of Righteousness
"The Spirit of the Lord God is upon me; because the Lord hath anointed me to preach good tidings unto the meek; he hath sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives, and the opening of the prison to them that are bound; To proclaim the acceptable year of the Lord, and the day of vengeance of our God; to comfort all that mourn; To appoint unto them that mourn in Zion, to give unto them beauty for ashes, the oil of joy for mourning, the garment of praise for the spirit of heaviness; that they might be called trees of righteousness, the planting of the Lord, that he might be glorified." (Isaiah 61:1-3)
The Power of Grace
Paul taught essentially the same concept in a different way:
"And [Christ] said unto me, 'My grace is sufficient for thee: for my strength is made perfect in weakness.' Most gladly therefore will I rather glory in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon me. Therefore I take pleasure in infirmities, in reproaches, in necessities, in persecutions, in distresses for Christ’s sake: for when I am weak, then am I strong." (2 Corinthians 12:9-10)
The Savior gave us weaknesses and then commanded us to be perfect, so we would turn to Him. The Lord cannot complete His mission of helping us become trees of righteousness unless we get used to asking for His help! Without our asking, all that "strength" the Lord has made available goes to waste, along with the joy of overcoming that could otherwise be ours! The Lord views His strength and even His perfection in terms of its usefulness to us! Paul rejoiced in the weaknesses and trials of life as a disciple because he knew that his weakness gave meaning to his need for a Savior. Needing - and having - a Savior in a personal way brought great joy into his life.
The Lord taught the prophet Moroni about the role of His grace in our lives:
"And if men come unto me I will show unto them their weakness. I give unto men weakness that they may be humble; and my grace is sufficient for all men that humble themselves before me; for if they humble themselves before me, and have faith in me, then will I make weak things become strong unto them." (Ether 12:27)
It is the Lord's greatest desire for us to let Him transform us into "trees of righteousness" for whom weak things have become strong. If we would know this great joy, we need to learn to draw from the fountain of all righteousness (Ether 12:28), and we need to learn to ask Him for His help and involvement in our lives (Hebrews 4:14-16).
Drinking the Lord's living water instead of depending on the things of the world
Why and how to draw from the Fountain of All Righteousness
There are other examples in the scriptures, showing how our having the Lord in our lives is integral to keeping His commandments. Paul taught the Corinthians:
"Wherefore let him that thinketh he standeth take heed lest he fall. There hath no temptation taken you but such as is common to man: but God is faithful, who will not suffer you to be tempted above that ye are able; but will with the temptation also make a way to escape, that ye may be able to bear it." (1 Corinthians 10:12-13, emphasis added)
Nephi from the Book of Mormon also understood his need for the Lord's help. His father having asked him to do something that any reasonable human being would think impossible, Nephi responded:
"I, Nephi, said unto my father: I will go and do the things which the Lord hath commanded, for I know that the Lord giveth no commandments unto the children of men, save he shall prepare a way for them that they may accomplish the thing which he commandeth them." (1 Nephi 3:7, emphasis added)
Remodeled by the Master Carpenter
If you've seen the movie 'Frozen', you know what a "fixer-upper" is. Before the Lord, we are all "fixer-uppers", needing to become new creatures in Christ, and He is the master Carptenter! What house can remodel or build additions onto itself? Each time I experience being made once again into a new creature in Christ, I find new meaning in Isaiah's words:
"...shall the work say of him that made it, He made me not? or shall the thing framed say of him that framed it, He had no understanding?" (Isaiah 29:16)
Being made into a whole new creature through the Atonement really shows you just how much of the job of saving us and helping us change really is for Christ - and Him alone - to do!
Learn the secret to building on the Rock of the Redeemer
Why He Asks So Much of Us
The reason Christ asks us to keep His commandments is because He knows that, if we are making a diligent effort to keep them, we will eventually come hard up against our need for His help in remodeling our house, in becoming new creatures in Christ. He knows that the only solution to our problem is for us to become creatures that are built upon the Rock, built to keep His commandments diligently in the face of ongoing, unrelenting temptation, built to succeed at living the gospel, no matter what evil forces may throw at us! He knows that our effort to live the gospel will eventually drive us to learn how to "abide in the vine". The Lord intended for us to experience the indescribable joy of succeeding at living the gospel - not by doing it all ourselves, but by way of becoming new creatures in Christ. That's the Lord's true goal in asking us to be perfect!
So, what do we have to do make this change in our lives?
The Very Real Power of The Parable of the Bicycle
If you're reading this as a member of the LDS church, you've heard this parable before. Given the many thousands of times it has been repeated in sacrament meetings the world over in the many years since it was written, I hope the author will forgive my quoting his work here. I've provided a link to the book it comes from, because the author deserves credit for giving the Church and the world such a powerful parable.
Believing Christ: The Parable of the Bicycle and Other Good News, by Stephen E. Robinson
In this book, the author tells of a trying time for his wife. In trying to help her see the need for her Savior, he realized a recent experience they'd had with their daughter was applicable as a metaphor. The following is a retelling of the experience in my own words, a recounting of the parable for those unfamiliar with it.
Their daughter had recently come to them with a request: she wanted a bicycle. Not having the money in the budget to buy her one right then, and not yet sure just how much she really wanted it, they tried to stall her. They told her they'd make a way for her to earn pennies and nickels and dimes by helping around the house so she could save toward buying one herself, and they figured that was the end of it. Some days went by, with this little girl working and saving every little coin she could get her hands on. Finally, one night, when he came home from work, the little girl approached her dad and said, "Daddy I've saved up sixty-nine cents. Can I have a bike now?" Instantly, both Mom and Dad realized two things: one, she was serious; and two, they were going to have to help her get a bike. They promised her that in a few days, they'd go down to the bicycle store and get her a bike. Well, the day came, and, when Dad got home from work, their little girl was all excited. She was getting her bike today! They went down to the store to see what they could find. The little girl looked all around - big bikes, little bikes - until she found the one she wanted. It was just the right size. But the tears started to roll when she looked at the price tag: it was over a hundred dollars. Not only did she not have enough money, she knew that at the rate she could save up, she would likely never have a bicycle. But Dad took her aside and said, "I'll tell you what: you give me all sixty-nine cents that you've saved up, and a big hug, and I'll give buy you that bicycle!" The little girl of course gave her Dad a big hug and handed over the sixty-nine cents. She was so excited about her new bike that she insisted on riding it all the way home with Dad following close behind, hazard lights flashing.
Now, it doesn't take much for us to draw a parallel between ourselves and that little girl, between our Heavenly Father and that daddy making it possible for his daughter to have something she could never have obtained on her own. But too often, when this parable gets retold in church, we miss a far more important point: the Savior's ability to help us - in and throughout this life, which He purchased at so high a cost in Gethsemane and at Golgotha is the bicycle, and the Savior himself, even God the Almighty, Alpha and Omega, the Messiah and the Great I Am, if we would allow Him, would personally attend each of our individual plodding journeys through life, following close behind, hazard lights flashing!
Elder Boyd K. Packer speaks in General Conference April 1977 about the Mediator
My Sixty-Nine Cents
At a time when I was struggling with addiction, I made the mistake of focusing on trying to resolve it on my own, not really trying to involve the Lord, and not doing it for Him. I was following typical "Mormon" repentance procedure, as described in my previous article.
At a particularly low point, I decided to begin again to fast and pray concerning the issue, only to feel the Lord seem to say to me in my heart, "instead of doing a go-without-food fast, why don't you try doing a go-without-giving-into-temptation fast?". This kind of clued me that the fasting wasn't going to help. I had the resources; I had the power. I just needed to use them. But this prompting caused me to ask the Lord this question in prayer: "Well, if I'm fasting to have the power to overcome this temptation, and you're telling me that overcoming should be the fast, then what it is I'm supposed to be fasting for?"
His answer was a personal invitation that surprised and overwhelmed me. It changed the way I view my personal relationship with my Savior forever. I knew what He meant when I felt Him say, "Come unto me, all ye ends of the earth, and be saved." You see, He didn't just want me to get rid of the sin. He wanted me to do it with the specific objective of making room for... Him! He wanted to be part of my life in a deeply personal way - in a way that was at the time unfamiliar to me. This insistence that I pit myself once again against that which I knew was impossible for me to do alone - that is, push my sin out of my heart, mind and life - was His gentle yet bold way of asking me to give Him all sixty-nine cents, in full, withholding nothing!
That's how I came to learn that making room for the Lord in my life was the very thing I needed, the very thing that would ultimately enable me to someday do all that He could ever require of me, the Ultimate Bicycle!
The Savior said: "But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you." (Matthew 6:33)
President Benson speaks in General Conference April 1988 about what happens when we seek Christ first
My New Bike
Somewhere in my spiritual journey of coming unto Christ, I must have finally saved up and paid Him the sixty-nine cents, because I still remember the first time I saw my new "bicycle". I hope you'll forgive me for copying this directly out of my article about What Jesus Christ Means to Me, because it bears repeating here:
"...there came I day when I was sitting in sacrament meeting, and as the organ music started - the introduction for the sacrament hymn - I felt a powerful Spirit sweep over me. I knew that taking the Sacrament would be different today! I took the Sacrament, and I felt what can only be described as a baptism of fire! I walked away from the sacrament table that day, feeling something very different inside of me! The bands were loosed! That day, as I pondered the events of the Sacrament Meeting, I felt the Spirit kind of tap me on the shoulder, and He said, "I have something I need to do for you, and I need you to trust me; I need you to let me in." I felt the Spirit working my heart over, doing a sort of spiritual open-heart surgery, cutting away ugly things that needed to go! Parts of it hurt, but oh the joy, and peace, and the sense of freedom that I had when the job was done! I had experienced a circumcision of heart - a mighty change of heart!"
That's what it feels like to get on the Ultimate Spiritual Bicycle! While all of us have felt divine intervention in our lives at times, this is what it feels like when your personal relationship with your Savior really begins to take off!
My First Ride
In describing what it felt like to ride that bike for the first time - to really benefit from having a working personal relationship with my Savior - I'll continue with the next paragraph from that same article:
"The next time temptation struck, instead of feeling weak and wondering what the outcome was going to be, I was apalled that the adversary would have the nerve to approach a redeemed son of God with the likes of such filth!"
I found I had new access to absolutely astounding power for dealing with temptation that was unlike anything I'd ever experienced before. I knew personally for the first time what the prophets meant when they described God as being "mighty to save", His power as being "matchless!" I knew what it felt like to be built upon a rock. I knew what it felt like to have the Savior helping me fight my battles, one-on-one, just me and Him, with power that was definitely not my own! What incredible great joy! What freedom! It did great things for my sense of worth in His sight, too!
So often in our repentance process, we fight in vain - endlessly - against a temptation for which our mortal resources are woefully inadequate. But when we have been admitted to a spiritual state of happiness - admitted to the presence of the Lord, if only in a spiritual sense - these "old things [pass] away", as the scriptures say, "like chaff in the whirlwind" - like bits of straw in a tornado! There is immeasurable joy in looking inside yourself, only to realize that these ugly, impossible old things are just... gone! You have become a new man - or woman - in Christ!
That's what it feels like to ride this impossible bicycle, this bicycle that we can never obtain on our own! That's the beautiful power of the simple principles and priesthood ordinances of the gospel of Jesus Christ - an incredible power which only the pure in heart can ever see!
This is what Moroni meant when he said:
"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." (Moroni 10:32)
Yonder Breaks a New and Glorious Morn!
Why should I want to become a new creature in Christ?
We have handfuls of experiences recorded in scripture, describing what it's like to have your sins remitted. In my previous article I went into more detail about the nature of these experiences. To list some of the people who had them:
- the people of king Benjamin (Mosiah 4 & 5)
- Alma the Younger (Alma 36)
- king Lamoni's father (Alma 22)
- the eunuch who was baptized by Phillip (Acts 8:39)
There are many more examples!
For those who have not yet felt it, human words can never do justice in describing the incredible joy of becoming a new creature in Christ! But if any man ever got close to describing what it feels like to experience the matchless power of God in this way, it would have to be Placide Cappeau de Roquemaure who wrote these words from a familiar Christmas carol:
"Long lay the world in sin and error pining,
Till He appeared and the soul felt its worth.
A thrill of hope, the weary soul rejoices,
For yonder breaks a new and glorious morn!"
"In all our trials born to be our Friend.
He knows our need, To our weakness no stranger..."
The third verse carries special meaning to me as a former addict:
"Chains shall He break, for the slave is our brother,
And in His name all oppression shall cease.
Sweet hymns of joy in grateful chorus rise we,
Let all within us praise His holy name!"
I myself have felt what it is to fight against the oppression of spiritual chains. I've also felt what it is to have my God break them! I've felt what it is to be weary and discouraged from so much trying in vain. But I also still remember feeling the thrill of hope, rejoicing when the Lord began to work His miracle in my life - yonder breaks a new and glorious morn! There is nothing else like this experience - having the awesome saving, life-changing power of the Atonement poured out generously in our behalf - to teach you and me the kind of reverence that will cause us all to "bend before the lowly King", "his pow'r and glory" to "ever more proclaim!"
Taking Up Our Cross, Walking the Strait and Narrow Way
The Lord knows getting there is hard for us - so much so that he likened our need to do this to the sacrifice He made to enable us to do it:
"If any man will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross daily, and follow me." (Luke 9:23)
He also likened this pursuit of eternal life to walking a "strait and narrow way". Notice that this particular doctrine is given in the same chapter as His teaching about the importance of building upon the rock of the Redeemer:
"Enter ye in at the strait gate: for wide is the gate, and broad is the way, that leadeth to destruction, and many there be which go in thereat: Because strait is the gate, and narrow is
the way, which leadeth unto life, and few there be that find it... Not
every one that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom
of heaven; but he that doeth the will of my Father which is in heaven."
(Matthew 7:13-14, 21)
Similarly,
Lehi and Nephi describe the pursuit of the love of God (you can't have a personal
relationship with Him and not feel deep and abiding love both for Him and from Him) as walking a strait and narrow way next to a rod
of iron - in other words, strictly following the word of God:
"And
it came to pass that I beheld a tree, whose fruit was desirable to make
one happy. And it came to pass that I did go forth and partake of the
fruit
thereof; and I beheld that it was most sweet, above all that I ever
before tasted. Yea, and I beheld that the fruit thereof was white, to
exceed all the whiteness that I had ever seen. And
as I partook of the fruit thereof it filled my soul with exceedingly
great joy; wherefore, I began to be desirous that my family should
partake of it also; for I knew that it was desirable above all other
fruit. And I beheld a rod of iron, and it extended along the bank of the
river, and led to the tree by which I stood. And
I also beheld a strait and narrow path, which came along by the rod of
iron, even to the tree by which I stood..." (1 Nephi 8:10-12, 19-20)
Here, we also see how partaking of the love of God provides powerful incentive to keep living the gospel! In other words, yes, it's hard to become a new creature in Christ. But it's worth it ten thousand times over!
Doing What's Hard Makes Things Easier
Do you feel like you've spiritually fallen asleep at the wheel? Do you feel like it's difficult to get the gospel to produce a return on your emotional investment? Do you have something you're trying to overcome that's been yanking your chain for years?
You've got to give a personal relationship with your Savior a try! Or, if you've fallen off the "bike", it's high time to get back on!
Walk With Christ, or Walk Alone?
Without this Ultimate Spiritual Bicycle - without our Savior's loving companionship and frequent succor, we are in for a long, long walk down a path that leads to nowhere, inside the gall of bitterness (see my previous article). The sickening thing is, the devil has taken great care to make sure this hopeless, endless path wanders the perimeter of the gall of bitterness, precisely because this is a vantage point from which we can still see the happiness we once knew in Christ, if only in another world - a happiness we are no longer free to enjoy in the same way as before. No amount of going to church or the temple, no amount of praying or scripture study, no amount of white-knuckle forcing ourselves to choose to do right will pierce that barrier between us and Him. The only thing that can pierce this spiritual barrier between us and our Savior is His infinite grace. But it will cost us all sixty-nine cents in our possession and a very good reason for Him to believe we really do want Him to be our God to get Him to do it.
Our Walk With Christ Begins
Once we've paid in full and gotten the Lord working with us, the ordinances of the priesthood free us from the entanglements that have prevented Him from being our Friend to the extent He so badly wants to. Thus, our walk with Christ begins. With Him in our lives, we have a new source of power, above and beyond our own. While it is hard to maintain that willingness to sacrifice - to keep paying that sixty-nine cents whenever it is called for - doing so keeps the Lord in our lives, which actually makes things easier. Atop our new, spiritual bicycle, we find we are able to progress much more quickly in our spiritual journey, and and we are much more adept at dodging the potholes we find along the way. Obstacles that had proven impossible before are still there; we must still contend with the same temptations. But we now surmount them with relative ease, for He now "will contend with them that [contend] with [us]". (see Isaiah 49:25) Instead of being dark moments of failure in our lives, our every temptation becomes an opportunity for a spiritual experience, an opportunity to fire up the altar for Him and once again lay thereon our sixty-nine cents worth of broken heart and contrite spirit and allow the sweet odor to ascend into heaven. (see Genesis 8:20-21) So long as we never pass on an opportunity to fire up that altar when He calls, we continue to have His power - His grace - available through prayer, coursing through us, melting away our temptations after all we can do, one at a time. With Him helping us in this way, we find our burdens have been lightened "even that [we] cannot feel them upon [our] backs". (see Mosiah 24:14)
Use It or Lose It
This bicycle, this working relationship with the Lord, is given to us on a use-it-or-lose-it basis. The primary way we use it is by responding to every temptation with prayer. In my article about being saved by grace, I called this a "grace reflex". Part of the sixty-nine cents that has to be paid to stay on the bike is that we have to respond to temptation with a determination to obey and a pleading with the Lord for power to make good on that determination before the temptation overpowers us. The temptation itself constitutes an invoice for our next sixty-nine cent installment - it requires that we once again give our all. This is referred to in scripture as watching and praying always - a concept the Lord taught while He was among the Nephites:
"Behold, verily, verily, I say unto you, ye must watch and pray always lest ye enter into temptation; for Satan desireth to have you, that he may sift you as wheat." (3 Nephi 18:18)
We have got to learn to work with the Lord on these things! If we fail to do this too many times, the Lord has no choice. It's off the bike we go, and back to the gall of bitterness - back to the wheat sieve.
Concerning the importance of this, king Benjamin taught his people:
"And finally, I cannot
tell you all the things whereby ye may commit sin; for there are divers
ways and means, even so many that I cannot number them. But
this much I can tell you, that if ye do not watch yourselves, and your
thoughts, and your words, and your deeds, and observe the commandments
of God, and continue
in the faith of what ye have heard concerning the coming of our Lord,
even unto the end of your lives, ye must perish. And now, O man,
remember, and perish not." (Mosiah 4:29-30)
How to Offer Your Sixty-Nine Cents
Following His death and resurrection, the Lord spoke out of heaven to the ancient inhabitants of America, explicitly asking for our "sixty-nine cents":
"...ye shall offer up unto me no more the shedding of blood; yea, your sacrifices and your burnt offerings shall be done away, for I will accept none of your sacrifices and your burnt offerings. And ye shall offer for a sacrifice unto me a broken heart and a contrite spirit. And whoso cometh unto me with a broken heart and a contrite spirit, him will I baptize with fire and with the Holy Ghost..." (3 Nephi 9:19-20)
Note that this "baptism of fire" is another reference to becoming a new creature in Christ!
Our ability to earn and pay the requisite sixty-nine cents can be summed up in a word: humility.
I've
always struggled to define the word "humility". But, after some
deliberation, I think I've finally settled on this definition: humility
is the realization that a personal relationship with the Lord is what is
missing in my life, and I'm willing to plead for His help in all
things; I'm willing to give everything I've got - all sixty-nine cents,
withholding nothing - to have Him! The chance to be built once again
upon the rock of my Redeemer is worth everything!
This kind of humility is a place within each of us that we must prayerfully learn to find. I believe our personal discovery of this ability, naturally built into every human soul, is a spiritual gift that must be sought after - one that only He can give us, one that only we can open. Finding it and using it is the only gift we can really give Him - the one he died to see us give!
While
we are earning or trying to pay our sixty-nine cents, if we are watching, we start
becoming sensitive to the things the Lord requires of us in our
relationship with Him. We cease to do things "because we should" and
instead start to do them because "we love to obey [His] command". (see LDS Hymns #19 - We Thank Thee O God, For a Prophet) As the sacrament prayer says, our covenant with Him is that we will begin to do these things "that [we] may always have His Spirit to be with [us]" (see Doctrine & Covenants 20:77)This kind of humility is a place within each of us that we must prayerfully learn to find. I believe our personal discovery of this ability, naturally built into every human soul, is a spiritual gift that must be sought after - one that only He can give us, one that only we can open. Finding it and using it is the only gift we can really give Him - the one he died to see us give!
In so doing, we discover by experience that we have to raise our definition of concern for the right until we've set for ourselves a standard that requires everything we have to give to the effort, plus the Lord's constant help. This is referred to in scripture as "denying [ourselves] of all ungodliness." (see Moroni 10 again) I believe "ungodliness" is letting ourselves live in a way that does not require the Lord's help. The Lord and His Spirit will not "always be with us" until we show Him that, first, we need it, and second, it is a goal that we are not letting go of. This standard that we set with Him will be different for each of us - one that will grow as we learn to muster seventy cents and then seventy one. It is something that must be prayerfully established between me and my Savior, between you and yours. I believe this is what the Lord meant when He said, "Learn of me, and listen to my words; walk in the meekness of my Spirit..." (Doctrine & Covenants 19:23)
If we are steady in our efforts to set up this standard and work and sacrifice toward having this personal relationship with our Savior, the day will come when, through either baptism or partaking of the sacrament, we will find to our great astonishment and joy that He has accepted our offering! Much more than just us promising to try a little harder in one aspect or another, partaking of the sacrament has finally resulted in our covenant relationship with Him being fully renewed! We have felt Him keeping promises to us! That experience is such a joyful and deeply meaningful one that it teaches us new reverence for the sanctity and power of both baptism and the sacrament. It teaches us to "bend before the lowly king!"
Getting On the Bicycle
Becoming a new creature in Christ is a simple process that starts with prayer.
You just start by telling your Heavenly Father and your Savior that you want to be one with them. You want to do things their way, by their rules, through their power. Then you ask what they want you to do. Where do I start?
If you'll listen with you heart, you'll feel the Spirit beginning to guide
If you find yourself praying, asking the Lord to personally teach you how to lose yourself in Him, "then is your salvation nearer than when [you] believed..." - even at the doors! (Romans 13:11)
As weak mortal beings who frequently make mistakes, we will many times experience the need to get back on the bike. The thing is, if the Bicycle isn't fully functional just yet, we may inclined to wonder why we should bother. To do so is to forget that we have to show the Lord we're serious. Paul and Nephi both taught "it is by grace that we are saved after all we can do" and "laboring more than they all". (1 Corinthians 15:10, 2 Nephi 25:23)
To use a familiar phrase, we have to "fake it 'til we make it". We have to begin implementing the conditions of repentance, namely: humility and sacrifice (our sixty-nine cents) and a diligent effort to obey (watch and pray always - it doesn't count unless we're making a point of involving the Lord). Putting up these things consistently, whether the Lord answers our prayers or not, whether He helps us just yet or not is referred to in scripture as "bringing forth fruit meet for repentance".
At first, the Lord will be slow to help us, for, said He:
"...I will not succor my people in the day of their transgression; but I will hedge up their ways that they prosper not; and their doings shall be as a stumbling block before them. And again, he saith: If my people shall sow filthiness they shall reap the chaff thereof in the whirlwind; and the effect thereof is poison. And again he saith: If my people shall sow filthiness they shall reap the east wind, which bringeth immediate destruction. And now, behold, the promise of the Lord is fulfilled, and ye are smitten and afflicted. But if ye will turn to the Lord with full purpose of heart, and put your trust in him, and serve him with all diligence of mind, if ye do this, he will, according to his own will and pleasure, deliver you out of bondage." (Mosiah 7:29-33)
The word "bondage" as used in the Book of Mormon can be symbolic of everything from serious addiction down to just being spiritually lukewarm. I've noticed in my own studies that reading the Book of Mormon with that symbolism for a lens makes it much more instructive!
Note the Lord's use of the metaphor "chaff in the whirlwind" in reference to our sins returning as we enter once again into the gall of bitterness. Feeling the "poison" and the "destruction" that comes with falling off the Ultimate Bicycle is painful!
During this stage, we will still (or once again) experience failure. I don't know about others, but I don't usually fully discover the significance of being in my gall of bitterness until I reach a point of trying to escape it and finding myself unable. While the occasional failure will feel like "one step forward, two steps back", the importance of our effort and our praying far outweighs the significance of the failure in His eyes. If we will continue unhindered in diligence, as the days pass we will feel our burdens beginning to grow lighter. We'll feel the Lord beginning to help us in more and more ways. Those who are new at this may find Him helping in ways He never has before. To put it in the words of Isaiah:
"...they that wait upon the Lord shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings as eagles; they shall run, and not be weary; and they shall walk, and not faint." (Isaiah 40:31)
Eventually, the day will come when you will feel as I did - something is different today! Today the Lord and I are going to the Ultimate Bike Store! With that new bike under you, you'll begin to experience what Paul meant when he said:
"For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: Not of works, lest any man should boast." (Ephesians 2:8-9)
You'll
find you have a new ability to "do the works" and "that not of
yourself". You'll know and feel deeply that only the truly awesome power of
God can make such a thing happen! There is no greater thrill available
in mortality than to succeed, with Him helping, at doing things that are supposed to be impossible!
Learning About the Bike and How to Use It For Yourself
As I've mentioned before, seeking to have the Lord in our lives can cause us to become sensitive to the things that He requires of us before He will come. But learning to ride this bike is an intensive, deeply personal process between each of us and Him that requires study and spiritual power. That can only be obtained by frequent reference to the Owner's Manual - the scriptures! There is no getting around it: if we want the gospel to work for us, if we want to have the hope of someday experiencing all that our Savior has offered us, if we want to feel Him helping us through this life by His matchless power to save so that we can return home to our Heavenly Father, we have got to study and learn how to have it! As Joseph Smith said, we cannot be saved in ignorance!
Listen as Helaman, the son of Alma the Younger, describes how frequent reference to the scriptures helps both him and us get safely across the "natural state", the "gall of bitterness", or, as he called it, the "gulf of misery":
"Thus
we may see that the Lord is merciful unto all who will, in the
sincerity of their hearts, call upon his holy name. Yea, thus we see
that the gate of heaven is open unto all, even to those who will believe
on the name of Jesus Christ, who is the Son of God. Yea, we see that
whosoever will may lay hold upon the word of God, which is quick and
powerful, which shall divide asunder all the cunning and the snares and
the wiles of the devil, and lead the man of Christ in a strait and
narrow course across that everlasting gulf of misery which is prepared
to engulf the wicked— And land their souls, yea, their immortal souls,
at the right hand
of God in the kingdom of heaven, to sit down with Abraham, and Isaac,
and with Jacob, and with all our holy fathers, to go no more out."
(Helaman 3:27-30)
In king Benjamin's speech, we see the "sixty-nine cents" (humility) and the "watch and pray always" (watch yourselves... remember and perish not) and the importance of knowing and tasting the love and the great goodness of God for ourselves - the importance of developing a personal relationship with Christ. In his speech, we see many other parts of the Owner's Manual. King Benjamin is able to give us this because he has experienced it. The scriptures are full of bits of owner's manual and the experiences of those who've applied it in their lives. What better resource could we have for coming to know our God and the conditions of salvation which He has set before us?!
We need to start studying our scriptures daily! As a passionate student of the scriptures, I testify that this seemingly tiny, insignificant habit will turn out to be a thing of deep and eternal significance!
What's in the Bible? The Importance of Scripture Study: They are They Which Testify of Me
My Own Journey with Christ
I myself have seen the study of these things "cut asunder the wiles of the devil" and lead me, for however brief a time, "down the strait and narrow" and across the "gulf of misery". I have seen my Savior's good grace pierce the barrier between Him and me.
Even so, I often have to struggle once again to find the "strait and narrow way" and stay on that bicycle! My stubborn heart keeps finding alternate forms of happiness - forms of happiness that are, admittedly, far, far inferior to that which the Savior offers, forms of happiness that keep getting me kicked off the bicycle. I suppose these counterfeit forms of happiness are enticing because they are so readily available and because I don't have to give my all - my sixty-nine cents - to have them. All too often, I find these temptations have caused me to take a detour, and I find myself once again in my own "gall of bitterness".
Still, in my heart of hearts, I remember my first ride! I remember feeling Him take charge in my life. I remember partaking of the sacrament that powerful day many years ago and, for the first time, knowing that what I was feeling was Him and His matchless power, making some of the ugly stuff I've struggled with finally leave me alone! I will never allow myself to forget that immeasurable joy! What an incredible experience! It is one that, no matter how often I fall, I'll eventually come around and do what I have to in order to get back on that bike again. It's too valuable not to fight for - and sacrifice for!
Sin and Salvation: One Step Back, Two Steps Forward
I've heard it said that, while nobody wishes they'd made a mistake and needed saving, being redeemed from sin makes us even better than we were before the sin.
In my own life, if I had never made some of the mistakes I've made, I would never have done the scripture study necessary to learn the tools I have described on my blog. I would never have known the critical importance of these things in my life. I would never have known the real power of daily prayer and scripture study. I would never have known that all of us need our Savior's help throughout each day, in order to really live the gospel the way He expects us to do. I would never have known the joy of working with the Lord of the vineyard and having my tree changed!
In the process of being redeemed from our failures, we really do become new creatures in Christ!
In short, I believe I can say, as did Nephi of old, "My heart groaneth because of my sins, nevertheless, I know in Whom I have trusted!" (see 2 Nephi 4 - the whole chapter is good owner-manual-material!)
As I mentioned above, Paul invites us to "cast of the works of darkness and put on the armor of light", and to "put on Jesus Christ".
The ancient prophet Hosea invited the people of his time, saying:
"Sow to yourselves in righteousness, reap in mercy; break up your fallow ground: for it is time to seek the Lord, till he come and rain righteousness upon you." (Hosea 10:12)
The effort to become a new creature in Christ will be a long and grueling journey - but one that is fraught with moments of great joy as we learn and grow in Christ! When I find myself getting discouraged, it helps me to remember that, inasmuch as I have already made a covenant with Him through baptism and partaking the sacrament, and inasmuch as I have spent my life trying to live the gospel on some level - any level - I am already abiding in the vine to that degree. But why not grow the tree? The bigger our commandment-keeping tree, the stronger is our obedience, the purer is our freedom, and the more fervent and life-changing is our joy!
I sincerely hope reading this article does for you what writing it has done for me: may it get you scrambling to find your spiritual piggy bank, a hammer, and a prayer!
Also of Interest
Part I of III: What's in the Book of Mormon? Living Without God in the World: How and Why to Fix It
Part II of III: What's in the Bible? Becoming a New Creature in Christ (you are here)
Part III of III: What's in the Book of Mormon? Pressing Forward with Steadfastness in Christ (coming soon)
Read this incredible discourse on the power of being born again from President Benson, given in General Conference, October 1985.
This is an answer to my prayer!
ReplyDeleteBeen trying to figure out how to explain it in words and you have done it!
Bless you!!!!!