Idaho

It would be impossible to do without Christ's help. It is a challenge every day, but with his help it is definitely obtainable. I think the key is always keeping the Lord in mind and seeking his help. I know that I have problems when I start to forget him and when I am doing better at keeping him in my life things go smoother. It could be looked at as both big and little. There are a few subjects bet they in and of themselves are huge topics that could be expounded upon immensely. Take family relationships for example. You could go on and on about what is considered treating them right and wrong but the principle is actually pretty simple. Do you love them and do your actions reflect love? Do you treat them as the great gift from God that they are. So in answer to your question the list of principles are small but could be expounded. The Lord doesn't expect you to be perfect now He just wants you in his path so he can heal you, but he does want you to be prepared to a point before going to the temple. Thanks for the help in getting me to clarify my jumbled comments.

I think that it is important to seek help in all forms of grievous sin in the all the matters listed. Including any type of family or other abuse, problems with faith and testimony in Christ and his Church, problems with substance abuse, violations of the law of chastity, dishonesty (telling a small lie could be taken care of between you, the person you lied to, and the Lord, but if you have been ripping people off or living lies etc. you need to talk to the bishop), etc.(i. e. the list can go on). Some are more grievous sins and there are some minor ones that don't need to be discussed with the bishop. But my list was not made to go into detail as to what each of those categories implied. For example one doesn't need to seek the bishop's help for a minor family dispute, but help does need to be sought from him for any type of abuse. I was just making a general statement. All of the things listed are very important to me, and I think that it is very beneficial to seek the help of those who I consider to be the servants of the Lord. We believe that they are judges in Israel and that they are commissioned and given the authority of God in helping us in our journey back to Christ. All problems need to be addressed to the Father in prayer. In the long run that is the key part of repentance. The Lord has not left us alone in this. Jesus Christ gave his life for us and provided the way and the power to repent and progress. The point of a bishop isn't to just have an individual confess sins, the bishop helps the repentant to apply the atonement of Christ and get back to the route of progression (i. e. Christ's path). I'm sorry if I caused any confusion, I suppose I should have included more detail for that statement. I hope this clears up what I meant.

I forgot to mention that. Sorry. No coffee nor tea. That is Part of the word of wisdom (the same law that the drugs/ tobacco/ alcohol falls under) as well. I just made a list. I could be forgetting a few things. You can look online at lds.org I'm sure they probably talk about it there too.

Here is a basic list. To enter the temple you must be a member of the church who keeps baptismal and other covenants. You need to attend church. You need to have a testimony of God the Eternal Father, His Son Jesus Christ, and the Holy Ghost. You need to have a testimony of the Atonement of Christ and of His role as Savior and Redeemer. You need to have a testimony of the restoration of the gospel (Christs original message and authority). You need to believe and support the President of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints as the Prophet, Seer, and Revelator and as the only person on the earth who has the authority (given to him by God) to be God's representative to the world. You need to support the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles as prophets, seers, and revelators. You need to sustain the other authorities the Church as well. You need to live a chaste life. You need to treat your family right and support them. You need to support the church and its teachings. You need to keep the commandments. You have to be honest in your dealings with your fellowmen. You need to pay a full tithe. You can't drink alcohol, use tobacco, or abuse drugs If those guidelines fit you can go to the temple. If at any time a person doesn't comply with one or more of those requirements they shouldn't/can't go to the temple until fixing the problem (most of which you need to talk with a bishop who helps in the repentance process) (your recommend could be taken away if you have done significant things against the above requirments until you are eligible to enter again with the same requirements listed above). I hope this was helpful.

There is a video that perhaps explains the LDS perspective on this. It is called the mediator This video gives a scenario that talks about justice and mercy and their interaction through a mediator. Christ is the mediator for us between justice and mercy. He is our new debtor and provides the way and power through which we can be cleansed from sin. The point isn't that we can earn anything of our selves. we are only saved by Christ. To him and the Father we owe all devotion. It is only through his contribution that we are saved. However, the Savior has said in Matthew 7:21 21 "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." That in no way means that we are doing it by our selves. It means that only those who actively seek to do the Father's will and use the atonement of Christ to continually improve through his grace are those who are showing true faith. This is why in James 2 he talkes about faith without works is dead or you might say incomplete. he says in verse 24 "Ye see then how that by works a man is justified, and not by faith only". Christ's sacrifice was not made to save us in spite of our sins, it was made to save us from our sins and to help us escape from them. I don't think that you necessarily disagree with this but i think that there was a misunderstanding as to what we believe. It sounded as if you thought that we believe that our contribution is huge. Your right our contribution is infinitly smaller than that of Christ's. Our contribution isn't big volume-wise but we believe that it is vitally important. Our effort in improving is how we accept the Savior. We do all we can and plead in prayer for his help. Little by little he works within us and changes us for the better. He will force no man to heaven, but he will lift those who seek his council and his path. I hope this helped.