Elohel

There was a celebration in heaven for you today. Welcome back, brother.

First, I want to share with you that the Church of Christ was restored in 1820 by Joseph Smith Jr.. I know this for myself. I'm sorry you have been struggling with feelings of "failure" of perfection. I, too, have felt these same feelings in my experiences with the "Church" but those feelings were those of my own making (and with a little help of Satan) and not how Christ wants me to feel about my eternal progression. Faith is a fickle man unless tied down with a true testimony from God - and that's what I invite you to find, a true testimony from God the Father. I will, however, answer your questions as I see them. First, I think we are using the term "deny" too sternly here. We know the doctrine is not perfection now, but perfection eventually. The expectation of a total denial of ungodliness in the sense of to "completely refuse" is a bit extreme. I believe we should read denial as "repudiate" which is a perfect synonym. I would also refer you to the footnote for the word deny, which is Romans 12: 1-3. I personally struggled with this one at one time, it's a tricky guy. Shall we read it for what it is? It's "after all we can do" not "after all we think we SHOULD be able to do" which is how I believe many of us read that passage of scripture. Are you trying and continually improving your efforts? Then I think that is all you Can do, no? I hope you don't learn that God would never give you a commandment you cannot keep from that! :) Nephi states that he will be given no commandments that are impossible to keep, not that he will be given no commandments because he DID NOT keep them. Does that make sense? Just because he, you, or I fail at keeping a commandment does NOT mean that he won't give you that commandment! It only means that he made a way for you to accomplish that commandment, and if I failed at keeping it, that's my own fault, not His. He made a way. To be saved IN your sins simply means to be saved in a condition in which you are not clean from your sins. If you exercise faith, repent continually, and strive to be more Christlike I believe you can be saved FROM your sins by the Atonement of Christ. The scripture is stating that salvation is inheritance of the Kingdom of Heaven and that is conditional upon the cleanliness of your soul. If your soul is unlean you cannot have an inheritance in the Kingdom of Heaven. Good thing we have the Atonement, right? :) True! Can't walk into a temple with muddy feet! Good thing the Atonement cleanses you from sins. Repent forevermore and be in the process of becoming a new creature in Christ and one day you will do good continually and your heart and mind will cease to do evil. I think there are two definitions of repentance, or at least two connotations. One is true repentance, the real forsaking of sins. The other is more of a connotative word used to describe the continual process of removing the ability to perform the sin from one's self. Can you repent every day in the sense that you are TRULY repenting...maybe, but you would run out and be perfect in no time! I think daily repentance, in that sense, is the daily process of turning to the Lord and TRYING to forsake one's sins. Just the attempt, not the actual succession of that process. Repentance takes longer than a lifetime, we should all remember that and lighten up on ourselves. I would refer you to Matthew 9:2 where Christ forgives the paralyzed man. Had that man truly repented of all his sins? I can't read his mind, but I think it's probably safe to say that he hadn't. When you truly repent, you are forgiven. But that is not the only condition on which Christ forgives, nor does that scripture say that is the only condition. Let's stick to Alma 13. Those men who received the Melchizedek Priesthood, were, over time, made clean through the Atonement of Christ. I think we have a misunderstanding of what it means to be Atoned for, or repurchased, or however you want to call it. When we are judged, if we have followed our instructions (commandments) to the best of our ability (read: all we can do) we will be seen as complete, integral, whole through the atonement of Christ. We, by ourselves, are not whole before God no matter what we do - but Christ - the perfect Judge of our hearts will know them best and will confidently stand with his perfection next to us with our imperfections and we will be seen as whole. We will be made perfect and stand "pure and spotless" before God with Christ as our completing piece. The marriage will be perfect! Complete forgiveness will be found when that process is complete. I also refer you to my previous statement concerning Matthew 9. This is an excellent scripture! I love it! It shows that forgiveness is given to those that will sin again! (of course) It also shows that once you are forgiven it doesn't necessarily mean you will never sin again (obviously). One day you might completely forsake the sin, maybe temporarily you will forsake the sin but fall back into the habit. Those previous sins are back on again, aren't they? Forgiveness can be temporary, it is conditional after all. There mustn't be any turning back! He's saying truth! He's not saying you won't do that, he's just saying that you should really try and stop sinning the first time. He absolutely didn't say we shouldn't keep trying, though. Do you think a man who walks through life with no care to change and stop his willful disobedience to God will be given forgiveness for those sins and not be made to suffer for those things? God is fair and just. Each man will receive what he is due and we all reap what we sow. The men that were being spoken to were accountable for their actions, they were informed that they needed to turn their hearts to God and repent and change their ways. They were willfully disobeying God in this life; they will be given further opportunities to repent in the Spirit World if Christ judges them to have it. Christ is the judge, and apparantly his Prophet, Alma, spoke on his behalf to tell them that they must repent, but Christ is the final Judge. Will I be given further opportunities to repent in the Spirit World? I hope so, I'll probably need it. Amen, brother. Salvation is not by the Law, but by Christ and salvation is given freely to all men. Exaltation, though, is a different story, and I think that is being confused here. We must all continually try to become more Christlike, to continue to change and evolve into new creatures in Christ. I am sorry you feel failure, I promise that God loves you and wishes for you to be happy and experience joy in this life. Salvation is free, Exaltation is not without effort and the Atonement. You can become perfect through the Atonement of Christ. We will be like him, for we shall see him as he is. We will be made perfect and be seen spotless before the Judgment seat of God. That is my testimony. I really hope you take a careful study of what it means to be Atoned for and I pray that you will come to know, as I have, the truthfulness of the restored gospel.

What limitations are placed on Satan? Can he put thoughts into our minds? Can he perceive our thoughts? Lawrence R. Peterson Jr., “Questions and Answers,” Tambuli, Apr.–May 1985, 30–31 Lawrence R. Peterson, Jr., former bishop of Butler 31st Ward, Salt Lake Brighton Stake. One of the most impressive doctrines found in the Book of Mormon is that Satan’s power over a person increases as that person becomes more wicked, until eventually the person is “taken captive by the devil” and bound with the “chains of hell.” (Alma 12:11.) Satan’s method is to influence the thoughts of men, tempting them and enticing them, always working “in the hearts of the children of men.” (2 Ne. 28:20.) Nephi chillingly describes the method: “He whispereth in their ears, until he grasps them with his awful chains, from whence there is no deliverance.” (2 Ne. 28:22.) But Satan’s power is not unrestrained. Joseph Smith taught that Satan has no power over us unless we give it to him. (See Teachings of the Prophet Joseph Smith, sel. Joseph Fielding Smith, Salt Lake City: Deseret Book Co., 1938, p. 181.) And Nephi explained that the righteousness of a people deprives Satan of his power, “for he hath no power over the hearts of the people, for they dwell in righteousness.” (1 Ne. 22:26.) Between the extremes of Satan’s power to captivate and his utter powerlessness stretches the spectrum of his ability to entice or tempt. As a being of spirit, he works in the realm of spirit, counterbalanced by the Spirit of God. In this way, free agency is preserved, giving us a choice between good and evil. As Lehi taught, “Man could not act for himself save it should be that he was enticed by the one or the other.” (2 Ne. 2:16.) If Satan entices us to do evil, so the Holy Spirit “entices” us to virtue. (See Mosiah 3:19.) Free agency demands that neither the Holy Spirit nor the evil spirit have power to control the person against his will. Each of these forces, being spiritual, works directly on the mind of man—or the heart, as the scriptures call it—until the individual willfully chooses to obey one and ignore the other. Then the balance of power shifts and the person begins to move upward to eternal life or downward to destruction and misery. A person who has elected baptism and received the gift of the Holy Ghost has shifted the balance greatly in favor of God’s influence, whereas a person whose wickedness has caused his conscience to be “seared with a hot iron,” as Paul says (1 Tim. 4:2), may have put himself wholly within the realm of Satan’s influence. The spirit of the Lord may cease to strive with such a person. (See 1 Ne. 7:14.) In his effort to entice, Satan has great power. As Elder Joseph Fielding Smith taught, “We should be on guard always to resist Satan’s advances. … He has power to place thoughts in our minds and to whisper to us in unspoken impressions to entice us to satisfy our appetites or desires and in various other ways he plays upon our weaknesses and desires.” (Answers to Gospel Questions, comp. Joseph Fielding Smith, Jr., 5 vols., Salt Lake City: Deseret Book Co., 1957–66, 3:81.) The temptations we all are subject to often take the form of whisperings and promptings to our minds and hearts. The question of whether Satan can perceive our thoughts is not so easily answered. In a statement in the Doctrine and Covenants, the Lord says to Oliver Cowdery, “There is none else save God that knowest thy thoughts and the intents of thy heart.” (D&C 6:16.) Some have interpreted the statement to mean that God is the only being who can know another’s thoughts. As support, they point to Moses 4:6 in the Pearl of Great Price, which says that Satan does not know the mind of God. Others suggest that in D&C 6:16 (and D&C 6:24) the Lord may be referring to man’s inability to know another’s thoughts, and that Moses 4:6 doesn’t say anything about Satan knowing man’s thoughts. The question is thus not addressed as to whether or not Satan can directly discern the thoughts and intents of our hearts. Whatever the answer may finally be, it is possible that Satan can at least determine our susceptibility to a particular temptation from our words and actions, which reveal our thoughts. As the Savior taught, a tree is known by its fruit and “of the abundance of the heart [the] mouth speaketh.” (Luke 6:45–46.) Satan can see our fruits as well as any person—and we can be certain that he’ll be quick to take advantage of the weaknesses we exhibit. The question of Satan’s ability to know our thoughts is an interesting one. But in the end, it probably doesn’t make much difference what seeming opportunities Satan has. We’re promised that we won’t be tempted beyond our ability to withstand (see 1 Cor. 10:13); we can consistently choose to resist all forms of temptation, if that is our desire. President Kimball has written, “Temptations come to all people. The difference between the reprobate and the worthy person is generally that one yielded and the other resisted.” (The Miracle of Forgiveness, Salt Lake City: Bookcraft, 1969, p. 86.) By desiring to serve God with all our heart, might, mind, and strength, we can eliminate Satan’s power over us—which is the power to cause us misery. The battle for the souls of men is fought within every heart, and each of us has the power of victory. As we seek to follow the Savior, we should strive to have such pure thoughts that it will make little difference who knows them.