There is a scripture in Section 36 of the
Doctrine of Covenants which issues a challenge to the members of the Church to have
an aversion to sin. This is a tall order considering we live in a fallen world
with the inclinations of the natural man.
This scripture says we are to ‘come forth out
of the fire, hating even the garments spotted with the flesh’ (v 6). This has
reference to Jude 1:23 and this is a clearer explanation of it:
“To stay the spread of disease in ancient
Israel, clothing spotted by contagious diseases was destroyed by burning (Lev.
13:47-59; 15:4-17). And so with sin in the Church, the saints are to avoid the remotest
contact with it; the very garments, as it were, of the sinners are to be burned
with fire, meaning that anything which has had contact with the pollutions of
the wicked must be shunned” (Bruce R. McConkie, Doctrinal New Testament
Commentary, 3:428).
Again I ask, is it possible to be in total
control of the inclinations of the natural man? Well, it would appear so. When
King Benjamin delivered his address, his people were so overcome that they
viewed themselves in their carnal state and begged for the Atoning power of
Christ to purify their hearts and grant them forgiveness of their sins (Mosiah
4:2).
It didn’t stop with forgiveness though. Because
of their willingness to believe in Jesus Christ and in His power, this
willingness led to His spirit working a ‘mighty change’ in their hearts to such
a point that they had no more disposition to do evil but to do good continually
(Mosiah 5:2).
The key to a sinless state then has to be ‘a
mighty change’ for our hearts to become like Christ’s, devoid of desire to sin.
The thing is, the Saviour did not come to this fallen world immune to sin and
temptation. It was His choice to be sinless.
“Christ was perfect because he wanted to be. It
is important to remember that Jesus was capable of sinning, that he could have
succumbed, that the plan of life and salvation could have been foiled, but that
he remained true.
“Had there been no possibility of his yielding
to the enticement of Satan, there would have been no real test, no genuine
victory in the result. If he had been stripped of the faculty to sin, he would
have been stripped of his very agency. It was he who had come to safeguard and
ensure the agency of man [hence] He had to retain the capacity and ability to
sin had he willed so to do…..
“He was perfect and sinless, not because he had
to be, but rather because he clearly and determinedly wanted to be. As the
Doctrine and Covenants records, “He suffered temptations but gave no need heed
unto them (D&C 20:22).” (Teachings
of Howard W. Hunter, p 4; see also Jesus the Christ, p 134)
The Saviour did not overcome sin for himself,
He resisted it. No painful repentance needed because no sin was committed. We
might argue that because of His divine nature it was easy for Him to resist His
temptations but that is not so. Every temptation has to equal the stature of
the man, otherwise it is not a temptation. It has no substance if it does not
carry with it potential power to destroy.
Lest we feel totally disheartened because we
are not sinless….we can have the power to become so. Because of His Atonement,
the Saviour overcame the effects of sin for the natural man and can give us
strength beyond our own to keep our garments unspotted from the world through
the enabling power of His grace.
This power is ours for the asking, and seeking,
and longing to keep our garments unspotted from ‘the flesh’ of this world:
“….I will be merciful unto you; he that is weak
among you hereafter shall be made strong.” (D&C 50:16)
- CATHRYNE ALLEN
(Art: Return to the Fold by Greg Sargent)
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