The stories of the seed of faith and the rod of iron found in the Book of Mormon represent the spiritual change necessary to qualify one to live with God forever. Alma teaches that everyone must plant within his or her heart the word of God. This insemination causes an enlargement of the soul, an illumination, an understanding, and a change of desires. The continual care of the growing faith brings forth fruit, described as white, pure, and satisfying. This fruit is a representation of the results of the Atonement of Jesus Christ in our lives (http://www.mormon.org/mormonorg/eng/basic-beliefs/heavenly-father-s-plan-of-happiness/the-atonement-of-jesus-christ). We become like the fruit: full of light, pure, and spiritually satisfied (see The Book of Mormon, Alma 32, p. 288).
Lehi's dream illustrates a similar analogy. The rod of iron is a symbol of the surety of the word of God. It is a steady guide to the tree of life which is brimming with a white, pure, satisfying fruit. Nephi teaches that this fruit is the love of God and the greatest joy the soul can experience. Several verses later, Nephi is brought to Jesus' day and sees Christ healing a multitude of afflicted people. Nephi saw the power of the Atonement heal every kind of infirmity. Both Nephi and Alma illustrate with their analogies that the word of God leads us to develop faith enough in the Savior to use His Atonement for salvation. This daily process of being saved includes receiving healing from experiences that cause us pain including inabilities, sins, offenses from others, and natural forces. We can only be healed, however, if we go to the tree and receive the fruit. We follow the words of God in order to experience the changes that are conducive to immediate and eternal joy.
Words lead to thoughts; thoughts lead to actions. As we influence our thoughts with good words, our actions are also directly influenced. The scriptures teach that the power of the Christ’s words is greater than any motivator for change, including physical force (Alma 31:5, http://scriptures.lds.org/en/alma/31). As we increase our understanding of God and His relationship with man, our faith in God's power increases. Our actions change as we act in accordance with what He commands, knowing that the results will benefit us. This change is called repentance. The missionary study guide Preach My Gospel states that repentance is "making the necessary changes to bring [our] live[s] into agreement with [the teachings of Christ]” (p. 2), a "change [of] thoughts, beliefs, and behaviors that are not in harmony with His will” (p. 63), and "a spiritual process that involves humility, confession, restitution, and turning away from sin” (p. 187). (See Preach my Gospel, http://www.lds.org/library/display/0,4945,8057-1-4424-1,00.html). Our actions reflect this change of heart by our doing all that God commands us to do.
Alma sums this process of conversion in the fifth chapter of Alma. He teaches, "And according to his faith there was a mighty achange wrought in his heart. Behold I say unto you that this is all true. And behold, he apreached the word unto your fathers, and a mighty change was also wrought in their hearts, and they humbled themselves and put their btrust in the true and cliving God. And behold, they were faithful until the dend; therefore they were saved" (The Book of Mormon, Alma 5:12-13, p. 218, http://scriptures.lds.org/en/alma/5). We too can be saved as we apply the word of God into our lives, make sacred promises with God through His power, and continue faithful to the end of our lives. As we do this, we experience the change described by Alma and Lehi. We become clean, pure, and spiritually satisfied.
Each of us has the opportunity to help others experiences the sweetness of the fruit of Jesus Christ's Atonement as we share with them the word of God. Through the witness of modern prophets such as Joseph Smith, we understand that God gives us His words in our day as in ancient days. We can come to know that this is true by reading a book called the Book of Mormon. This book contains another witness of the reality of Jesus Christ as our Savior. As we read the Book of Mormon, we are given power to increase in our faith, repent, and take all of the necessary steps to return to live with God. Those who have received the Book of Mormon and know of its truth can share it with others in order to help them also receive the blessings of Jesus Christ in their lives. They too can feel the power of God helping them change through the Savior's power. We then become instruments in bringing others to Christ by inviting them to partake of His word and receive of His salvation.
"We too can be saved as we apply the word of God into our lives, make sacred promises with God through His power, and continue faithful to the end of our lives."
ReplyDeleteNone of your classmates touched on the issue of making sacred promises (covenants) with God and the role that those convenants play in the conversion process. I would guess many people think that you enter into convenants after you're converted (after all, why make God a promise if you're not sure about Him yet?). However, you seem to be saying that making convenants is an important part of the conversion process itself. Am I reading you wrong?
To be honest, I didn't make this statement with that intent, but now that I think about it, ya I definitely think that covenants are part of that process. PMG says that a piece of faith is action. In order to increase our faith (experiment on the word), we need to act. Making covenants seems to be just another action we take to come closer to God. Our conversion extends through those covenants until we become like God.
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