This is what I see the most in Ether 12:27. I
see Christ’s overwhelming compassion and mercy toward the fallen man.
Over and over I stand amazed at His godly
tolerance of our imperfections. I know that is so because all things in the
past, present and future are before Him constantly hence His patience and mercy
on us in our weakness while we are becoming who He knows in the end we will be.
Because He knows us as embodied spirits from
eons of time, He knows who we truly are. Our imperfections and weaknesses are
merely a sum of our earthly life’s experiences: our upbringing, our genetic
inheritance and our environment.
Deep down in each man and woman is a brilliant
spirit with unlimited potential. This is what the Saviour sees and because of
it He looks toward our future more than our past:
“The joyful news for anyone who desires to be
rid of consequences of past poor choices is that the Lord sees weaknesses
differently than he does rebellion. Whereas the Lord warns that unrepented
rebellion will bring punishment, when the Lord speaks of weaknesses, it is
always with mercy.”
- - Elder
Richard G. Scott, Personal Strength Through the Atonement of Jesus Christ, Ensign
Nov 2013.
The main reason for His tolerance is the path
that the Saviour has provided for us to rise to our potential. This path is the
path of grace through His Atonement. Grace is an enabling power. We can access
this power by virtue of our discipleship and not stay in our imperfections
forever. This power lifts us above the natural man and redeems us from this
fallen world.
When we seek access to the power of the
Atonement to overcome our weaknesses, it is imperative that we acknowledge our
faith in Jesus Christ. It is far more powerful and effective to say, “through
my faith in Jesus Christ and the power of His Atonement, I ask…..”, than to say,
“please help me….”.
I see this in the scriptures all the time. Nephi
invoked God’s power through the use of His name (1 Nephi 17:48) and Alma asked
for deliverance for himself and Amulek ‘according to their faith which was in
Christ’ (Alma 14:26). These are just two examples.
As I said in the beginning of my posts on Ether
12:27, I say also in the end…..the weaknesses that we possess in this weakened
state of mortality are a path to Christ and His saving grace. They serve to
open our eyes to the power of His salvation, the power that will polish us and
refine us to become like Him.
“His mission is to cleanse, purify, and refine
the human soul so that it can return to his Father’s kingdom in purity, free
from dross (3 Nephi 27:19-21). His cleansing power is ‘like a refiner’s fire….And
he shall sit as a refiner and purifier of silver’ in that great day when he
comes to judge the world (Malachi 3:2-3; 3 Nephi 24:2-3; D&C 128:24)”
- - (Bruce
R. McConkie, Mormon Doctrine, 2nd ed. [1966], 624)
- CATHRYNE ALLEN
(Art: Coming Full Circle by Jenedy Page)
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