Over the past several months, almost a year, I have struggled with my religious convictions and what I believe. As I come across a lot of different information, as there is so much, I have to focus on individual thoughts. This way, I can find my faith and that which corresponds with it.
I do not presume to know the mind of God or at least I hope I do not. I only take what I've learned, reflect on it, pray on it, and then come to some sort of conclusion as to what I believe. Tonights topic that has weighed on my mind is the acts performed to get to heaven. Be forewarned that this is a long post as there is a lot of information. Really take the time to contemplate what you read here before responding.
As many of you know, I have been baptized in the LDS religion. With the LDS, they believe that by our works we can earn a spot in one of three different levels of heaven. The celestial, or very top, where God resides, is reserved for those that have professed the Lord Jesus Christ their Lord and Savior but have also led a good life, performed services within their respective callings, worked or served in the temple, whether as a part of the services or as a continually returning "patron" for lack of a better phrase. Those that have been to the temple know what I mean, those of you that don't, there are certain ordinances performed within the temple and, according to the Prophet, are required for us to do in order to earn our place in heaven.
There are two points that I would like to address. First, every other Christian religion professes that all that is required to have eternal life with Christ and our Heavenly Father is to profess the Lord our Saviour and to love Him and to never deny Him. That is pretty much it. We are told through the Bible that we are unable to "earn" our place in heaven because no matter how good we are, it will never be enough. Unless we are perfect, we cannot be brought to the site of God because nothing unclean can be in the presense of God.
It is through the blood of the Lamb, or Jesus Christ, that we are able to return unto heaven. No Christian faith will dispute this. (If they do, run from these people and do not look back.) Even the LDS church says that you can return unto heaven by professing Jesus Christ your Lord and Savior, you just get to go "higher" if you perform other duties to serve the Lord.
Now, I guess my main point is only going to be samantics basically. The work performed will be the same but the premise under the work performed would be different. Let me know if you see it differently. So, here is my thought:
The life we are "supposed" to live is not a requirement of our heavenly destination but is a result of letting God and Jesus into our lives. Not sure what this means? Let me give you an example and I will support it with scriptural stories from memory (in other words, you will know the scripture I'm refering to, I just won't be using book, chapter, and verse.)
Two people both profess Jesus Christ to be their Saviour. The both repent of sins, are baptized, and are no counted as His flock. Person A, because of the love he fills in his heart, goes out to profess the Word to others that they might see the light and come unto Jesus as well. He does this because he "wants" to do it. He isn't expecting anything for it but wants nothing more than to share with others.
Person B, because he wants to ensure his spot with the Lord, peforms missionary work to "earn" his stripes. He feels that by professing the Lord's Word to others, he is "working" for the Lord and can use that as a bargaining chip at Judgement.
Now, who is right? Given biblical accounts, both are accepted by accepting the grace offered by Jesus. BUT, does Person B get more "brownie points" for professing the word to others? Here is an example of a person performing a "duty" to earn his salvation and a person sharing as a result of gaining his salvation.
Using canon to support this, Jesus gave us the parable of the workers that the field owner hired. One was hired early in the day and, while his labors were to be long and arduous that day, he received the exact same pay as the laborer that was hired late in the afternoon. The first laborer that was hired felt "jiped" because he had worked more and longer and was to get the same pay at the end of the day as the person who would only work a very short time.
This illustrates that the labors are not the matter of what our reward is to be but that we accept the Owner's proposition.
We all know that there are certain things that are "required" for lack of a better phrase. We have 10 commandments given to Moses that have been passed down through the generation. These are God's Law. We are told by Jesus as he talked to His disciples that none are to be saved except through Jesus. We are told that we only need to repent of our sins, and accept his grace. We are to give our will to our Savior freely and without reservation. So, can we "earn" our way into heaven as our kids try to "earn" more allowance by doing more chores?
My thought is that we are only to accept our Lord's grace and to give our will to Him. Any work peformed is a "result" of our love that we have for Him and our generosity to share with others the Word that they may experience the same love that we have found. We are kinder, gentler, and more spiritual NOT because it is required of our Savior, but because we have filled our hearts with love for our Savior and that is what comes out as a result.
Anyway, I struggle with anyone who says I can earn my way into heaven when my Savior has told me that all I need do is accept his Grace. My "works" will have no bearing but are performed BECAUSE of my love. This is really a small subject when you consider all the other subjects that could be discussed.
I will probably post more as I study more and try to make sense of what I believe, what resources are available, and what new subject I struggle with to try to make sense of it.
