When Jesus Christ was on the earth, He established one true Church--one specific organization with twelve Apostles and very clear doctrine and commandments outlined by Him. The Church of Jesus Christ was very well-organized and its purpose was clear--to follow Jesus Christ, to do as He taught and as He did. However, not too many years after His resurrection and ascension into heaven, the Church He had established was being severely muddled and confused by mortal men. Paul, an Apostle of the Lord, tried desperately in all of his letters to explain the doctrine of Christ and to stop the people from deviating from it, to end their divisions into innumerable doctrines of men. Two common philosophies in the early centuries AD were those of the Judaizers and the Antinomians.
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| Christ calls the Twelve Apostles |
Judaizers
The Judaizers were early Christians who believed that it was still necessary to keep the Law of Moses (Jewish customs). Christ had come to fulfill the Law of Moses and to give a higher law, but the Judaizers were convinced that all Christians had to follow the Law of Moses and Jewish traditions and customs. They were in direct opposition to a letter written by the Apostles that said it was not necessary for all to keep the Law of Moses (Acts 15). The Judaizers believed that the Atonement (Christ's sacrifice for us) was what saved, but it would only be of effect after we keep all of the commandments first.
Antinomians
The Antinomians believed that Christ's grace through His Atonement would save all mankind, so they had no obligation to obey any commandments: they could do whatever they wanted. They took Chris's sacrifice as a license to do all sorts of horrible things, because the more you sinned, the more grace you got, and Christ would save you in the end.
Both groups believed in the grace of Jesus Christ, but both misunderstood it. The doctrines that they had created were wrong. What, then, is the answer? How should grace be understood, and what does the Atonement mean in our lives?
What Paul Taught
Paul fought against both of these groups, especially in his epistles to the Galatians and the Romans. In Galatians 2:16 (King James Version), he says that "a man is not justified by the law, but by the faith of Jesus Christ." In legal terms, to be justified is to be brought before a judge and then pronounced not guilty. There are only two ways we can be counted not guilty before God, and free from punishment: to have never sinned or to have paid the price for our sins. In Romans 3, Paul teaches that "all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God" (v. 23, KJV). No one is justified by the law, because no one completely keeps all of the commandments of God. We all sin. The only reason we could be justified when we stand before God at the last day is because our Savior, who was and is perfect, without sin, paid the horrible price for all of our sins, and He pleads our case to the Father (Doctrine and Covenants 45:3-5).
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| Paul Writing His Epistles, painting attributed to Valentin de Boulogne, 17th century |
A problem we sometimes have, and sometimes often in the LDS community, is to freak out when we are not perfect. We picture life as an enormous marathon, and we think of ourselves running it, using up all of our strength, at the very limits of our souls, giving it everything we possibly have to the point that it is unhealthy, straining every muscle and nerve, and then we collapse in a heap somewhere near the finish line, a sweaty, bleeding and whimpering mess--and then Christ comes in and carries us to the finish line, making up the rest. In reality, Christ can be, and is with us along every step of the race, often carrying us over each hill, or pulling us, helping us to climb mountains (you knew I had to include them;) we otherwise could not dream of climbing, making us stronger than we could ever be. "For it is by grace that we are saved, after all we can do" (2 Nephi 25:23) And only Christ can allow us to do all that we can do, by helping us every step of the way--He should be with us always, not just at the end.
To the Antinomians, Paul countered, "What shall we say then? Shall we continue in sin, that grace may abound? God forbid. How shall we, that are dead to sin, live any longer therein?" (Romans 6:1-2). He explained that those that understand Christ's great sacrifice do not now have the freedom to disobey commandments of God, but now have the ability to keep them. Yes, the Atonement of Christ does give us infinite freedom, but this is not the freedom to break commandments, rather, it is the freedom from sin. We can be forgiven when we make mistakes. We don't have to be bogged down by everything we do wrong, we don't have to beat ourselves up when we fall--because of Christ, we can be lifted up and keep moving forward. Sin leads to addiction--if people use their "freedom" to give themselves in to drugs, alcohol, pornography, etc. they fall into a dangerous addiction and can do nothing else but fulfill that addiction--they lose their freedom. On the other hand, if you use your Christian liberty to follow Christ and keep His commandments, using His grace to help you at every step, you are freed from sin and have more and more power to do more good. Sin is shackles, love is liberty.
Moroni's Final Words
Christ has commanded us in direct language: "Be ye therefore perfect, even as your Father which is in heaven is perfect" (Matthew 5:48). How do we do that? As often happens, the Book of Mormon helps clarify and explain important Bible passages. Moroni, the last prophet to write in the Book of Mormon, wrote for his nearly closing words: "Come unto Christ, and be perfected in him...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" (Moroni 10:32, emphasis added). No, we cannot be perfect on our own, and God does not expect us to. I cannot do that. What I can do is come unto Christ, love Him with everything that I have (and that means keeping His commandments) and deny myself of ungodly things. I invite you, every week, to think of something, perhaps a "favorite sin" (an inappropriate TV show, a selfish behavior, etc.) or something you need to improve on (more kindness, more service to others, etc.) and focus on that. Ask God for His help all week, and in the end, report to God on how you did, and either keep working on it or find something new to improve on. I promise you that God will help you to become more like Jesus Christ. I can become perfect. So can you. This is the path Christ showed us, and this is what He wants us to do. There is nothing more important.
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| The Lord is My Shepherd by Simon Dewey |
