Justification, Purification, Sanctification

Yesterday in scripture class, we were discussing Moses 6. Part of that discussion was determining the meaning of and differences of the words Justification, Sanctification, and Purification. This is my understanding and opinion as shared in the class.


Moses 6:60

Justification:
to be made just, or free from guilt and sin. Justification is a daily process. As we work daily to over come sin, we are in the process. The Holy Ghost helps to accelerate this process by revealing where we still need work, warning of temptations, teaching the baby steps of skills we still need to develop, testifying of truths that help us make those life changing reversals.

Sanctification:
Sanctification is not something we have any power in our self to do. It is being perfect. We need to be perfect to be in our Heavenly Fathers presence. Once we have made a mistake of any kind, we are no longer perfect. We cannot go back and unmake the mistake. Only one who is perfect can step in and fulfill the requirements of the law. That is where the mercy and grace come in. Jesus Christ through the atonement steps in for us and fulfills the requirements of the law. Through that power, it takes away all sin and mistakes. We become once again perfect, like the mistake had never happened. Christ then owns our debt, and the required price is repentance. Repentance is basically turning our hearts back to Christ and doing our very best to do all that we are capable of doing. Though we may remember our sins, especially so that we can remember the lessons we have learned from them, with repentance, God will remember them no more. It is because the price has been paid by the atonement and we are once again perfect, as if the mistake had never been made in the first place.

Purification:
The act of purifying our hearts. Intellectually we choose to be obedient to the principles and the laws. We may or may not completely understand the need for those laws. After time and experience we have a new understanding and the law becomes written on our hearts. When it is written in our hearts, there is no longer a need for the law. It becomes so much a part of who we are, that we would never transgress that law under any circumstance. It is the difference between knowing in our head and knowing in our heart. Those things that we only know on an intellectual level we will sometimes still transgress, depending on the circumstances. When it has moved to our heart, we can say our heart is pure in regard to that particular law or principle. The more laws and principles that we are obedient to over time, and with experience, become written in our hearts, the more pure in heart we become. That is the process of purification.


Any questions or comments please ask. I can always use help in trying to clarify my viewpoints and understanding and being able to express them verbally.

Sacred not Secret

With the ad in the TV Guide of the HBO Big Love representation of the temple, I have been pondering how to put into words why what goes on in the temple is sacred rather than secret. It really isn't a secret. Apparently you can find out everything in the temple ceremony on the Internet. Everything about the temple and the ceremony is richly symbolic, with layers and layers of symbolism. Taken out of the context of the whole experience and not being prepared spiritually, especially in light of a TV shows misrepresentation, distracts from the personal spiritual message. The sacredness of the experience comes from the personal preparation of the individual. It also comes from enough spiritual maturity to be able to start understanding that symbolism. That takes time and study and application in things of a spiritual nature. We also make covenants in the temple. That is like signing a contract with God. We need to understand what it is that we are promising. We also need to be willing and capable of carrying out that promise. Have you ever signed a contract that you did not understand? What happens when you default on that contract? So it is with the covenants we make in the temple. The blessings that come are rich, but the consequences of default are devastating. That is why those that are not willing, or are not capable, are NOT to go to the temple. Everyone is welcome to the opportunity, but you need to be capable of fulfilling your side of the promise, otherwise it is not a blessing but a curse.

Women and the Priesthood

A while back at a family gathering the topic of women not being able to hold the priesthood came up. The implication being that we are somehow suppressed, or less than, because we don't have that opportunity. How do you explain in a few words, that it isn't like that at all. The real understanding is such a paradigm shift from the cultural norm. I have been reading Eve and the Choice Made in Eden by Beverly Campbell. That book, in my opinion, provides a very good look into the cultural background of the LDS woman and why, when we really understand our value and role as women, we feel no need to try and compete with the men or take over their role. An analogy I was thinking of this morning: Is any one part of the body more important than another? Like for instance the heart and the brain. Is the role of either the heart or the brain any less important to the life of our bodies. So also are the roles of the men and the women. We could compare the women to the heart and the function of the priesthood(men) with the brain. The brain directs and organises. The heart pumps the life blood that nourishes the body. We symbolically associate the heart with love and emotions, even to spirituality. Emotional intelligence and intuition come from the heart. How can we value the role of one over the other? They are both of equal value.

Other thoughts on this issue:
When we look at the primary purpose or work of the church, it is to bring the salvation of souls. (saviors [saving] of men) "There needs be an equitable division of labor so that the respective missions of men and women may be jointly undertaken and jointly acomplished." (Campbell 143)
This leads me to one of my favorite quotes from the book:

"Men have to have something given to them in mortality to make them saviors of men, but not mothers, not women. They are born with an inherent right, an inherent authority, to be the saviors of human souls... and the regenerating force in the lives of God's children." (Matthew Cowley)