MY COMMENTS ARE BOLD & CAPITALIZED!
STARTING AT ABOUT MIDWAY DOWN ON PAGE 208
WE HAVE THE FOLLOWING HEADING & TEXT
WE WILL CONTINUE THRU PG 209 TILL WE HIT 210
Repentant Life Seeks Perfection
One could multiply references almost indefinitely but enough has
been said to establish the point that the repentant life, the life which
constantly reaches for perfection, must rely on works as well as on faith.
The gospel is a program of action - of doing things. Man's immortality
and eternal life are God's goals. (Moses 1:39.) Immortality has been
accomplished by the Savior's sacrifice. Eternal life hangs in the balance
awaiting the works of men.
This progress toward eternal life is a matter of achieving
perfection. Living all the commandments guarantees total forgiveness of
sins and assures one of exaltation through that perfection which comes by
complying with the formula the Lord gave us. In his Sermon on the Mount
he made the command to all men: "Be ye therefore perfect, even as your
Father which is in heaven is perfect." (Matt.5:48.) Being perfect means
to triumph over sin. This is a mandate from the Lord. He is just and
wise and kind. He would never require anything from his children which
was not for their benefit and which was not attainable. Perfection
therefore is an achievable goal.
The Savior voiced the same instruction to his Nephite leaders when
he told them the requirements of the gospel: to be like himself. (3 Ne.
12:48.) The Savior had lived the commands of his gospel; now it was
required of all men to likewise live the commandments. Nephi quoted the
Savior along the same line:
And also, the voice of the Son came unto me, saying: He
that is baptized in my name, to him will the Father give the Holy
Ghost, like unto me; wherefore, follow me, and do the things which ye have
seen me do. (2 Ne. 31:12.)
The Lord amplified his statement somewhat to the Nephites when,
after long dissertations on growing perfect through living the gospel, he
asked his disciples the pertinent question: "Therefore, what manner of
men ought you to be?" He may have been merely trying to impress them
further with the truth and reinforce it, or he may have been asking in
order to note how well thy had been grasping the vital truths he was
teaching them. He did not wait for their response, but followed the
question quickly with the answer: "Verily I say unto you, even as I am."
(3Ne. 27:27.)
Perfection really comes through overcoming. The Lord revealed
through John: "To him that overcometh will I grant to sit with me in my
throne, even as I also overcame, and am set down with my Father in his
throne." (Rev. 3:21.)
It seems that evil is always about us. It has been speculated by
one of the earlier Brethren that there are hundreds of evil spirits
working against each of us. Accordingly, we must be alert constantly. We
catalogue our weaknesses and move in against them to overcome them.
Christ became perfect throught overcoming. Only as we overcome shall we
become perfect and move toward godhood. As I have indicated previously,
the time to do this is now, in mortality.
Someone once said: "A fellow who is planning to reform is one
step behind. He ought to quit planning and get on with the job. Today is
the day." Certainly self-mastery is a continuous program - a journey, not
a single start. Men do not suddenly become righteous any more than a tiny
acorn suddenly becomes an oak. Advancement to perfection can nevertheless
be rapid if one resolutely strides toward the goal.
WE ARE NOW AT PAGE 210 ALMOST MIDWAY DOWN THE PAGE
NEXT SECTION IS
"Perspective is Important"
NEXT WE HAVE PAGE 5 THE HEADING BELOW IS ON PG 4 MIDWAY DOWN
THEN STARTING AT SECOND PARAGRAPH
Our Pre-mortal Understanding
"One definite purpose of our spirits coming to this earth and assuming the
mortal state was to obtain a physical body. This body was to be subject
to all the weaknesses, temptations, frailties, and limitations of
mortality, and was to face the challenge to overcome self.
While we lack recollection of our pre-mortal life, before coming
to this earth all of us understood definitely the purpose of our being
here. We would be expected to gain knowledge, educate ourselves, train
ourselves. We were to control our urges and desires, master and control
our passions, and overcome our weaknesses, small and large. We were to
eliminate sins of omission and of comission, and to follow the laws and
commandments given us by our Father. That the effort involved dignifies
and ennobles man has been recognized by the world's great thinkers.
Dante, for example, put it this way: 'consider your origin; you were not
formed to live like brutes, but to follow virtue and knowledge.'"1
1Dante, Divine Comedy.
FOOTNOTE AT BOTTOM OF PAGE IS THE ABOVE
PLEASE SHOW HOW THIS WAS TAKEN OUT OF CONTEXT!
David Miller <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:
As a moderator of the list, I need to step in here and provide some guidance. I don�t want misunderstandings to cause hard feelings toward one another. Please bear with me as I try and share an outsider�s perspective here. I�m not trying to take sides, just make some observations and ask both sides to forbear with one another and have patience.
Kevin wrote:
I see that you are the one, who took the LIBERTY to MISQUOTE me!
It is actually you who is guilty of MISQUOTING. I am deeply offended that you would misqoute me & at the same time accuse me of that which you are guilty of!
You have put " " around my words.
It was not there; you did it. The PROOF is just a few lines down in this post.
How dare you attack my integrity and then publicy do what you accuse me of. I think that is despicable.
I cut & pasted your edited quote:
"WE MUST BECOME PERFECT NOW"
Here is the ORIGINAL POST!
WE MUST ELIMINATE SINS IN OUR MORTAL STATE
"One definite purpose...assuming the mortal state...We were to control our urges and desires, master and control our passions, and overcome our weaknesses, small and large. We were to eliminate sins of omission and of comission" M.of F. Kimball p 5
As anyone can see I "quoted" Mr Kimball & outside of those quotes were MY COMMENTS IN CAPS & BOLD! I would hope this combination of my words bold & CAPS (for those seeing just TEXT) would pose a double check on MY WORDS vs Kimball's "words"
You say I misquoted MR Kimball show cause or RETRACT!
Hi Kevin.
It seems to me that you left off the starting quote mark for your first quote. Following is the original post you sent on 12-9-2003.
-----Original Message-----
From: TruthTalk[EMAIL PROTECTED].innglory.org [mailto:TruthTalk[EMAIL PROTECTED].innglory.org] On Behalf Of Kevin Deegan
Sent: Tuesday, December 09, 2003 8:22 AM
To: TruthTalk@mail.innglory.org
Subject: Re: [TruthTalk] Courtesy of A.Word.A.Day
WE MUST BECOME PERFECT NOW
Christ became perfect through overcoming. Only as we overcome shall we become perfect and move toward godhood. As I have indicated previously, the time to do this is now, in mortality" The Miracle of Forgiveness Spencer W Kimball President & Prophet p 210.
WE MUST ELIMINATE SINS IN OUR MORTAL STATE
"One definite purpose...assuming the mortal state...We were to control our urges and desires, master and control our passions, and overcome our weaknesses, small and large. We were to eliminate sins of omission and of comission" M.of F. Kimball p 5
So your religion is ineffective for you. You are not progressing to godhood.
It is not clear whether or not �WE MUST BECOME PERFECT NOW� is part of the quote attributed to Kimball. I realize that you know that the capital bold letters are yours, but you also bold other letters within the quote itself, so with the missing quote mark, it is a little confusing for those of us reading what you are sharing.
It seems to me that Dave was just trying to clarify what was part of the quote and what was not part of the quote, and you should be agreeing with him now, not accusing him. You are agreeing with Dave that �WE MUST BECOME PERFECT NOW� and �MUST ELIMINATE SIN� are not part of the quote of Kimball.
It also seems to me that Dave was trying to clarify two separate things: 1) that the first mistake on your part caused an actual misquote. �WE MUST BECOME PERFECT NOW� was not ever written by Kimball; and, 2) that your characterization of �WE MUST ELIMIMATE SINS IN OUR MORTAL STATE� is not at all what Kimball was trying to say in the second quote that you offered. This is why Dave said in regard to this, �as you suggested� rather than �as you quoted him.� The second quote has missing words, and from what I can read in the quote, I can�t tell what Kimball is saying. The use of �were� suggests a subjunctive mood which makes it highly probable that your characterization of his quote (�WE MUST ELIMINATE SINS�) is not accurate. If you or Dave can provide a more full quote without the missing words, maybe it would help us understand what the real message of Kimball was. With that information, then maybe we can come to a conclusion concerning whether or not you are misrepresenting Kimball�s teaching.
Peace be with you.
David Miller, Beverly Hills, Florida.
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