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.