Mormons use the Book of Mormon and the Bible as scripture. This series has been exploring a small percentage of teachings in the Book of Mormon that are related to Jesus Christ. Today’s discussion continues an exploration of King Benjamin’s retirement speech to his people. He had been teaching them about the atonement of Jesus Christ and now asked them if they believed what he had taught them—that it is only through Jesus Christ that we can be saved. They overwhelmingly assured him they did and expressed a willingness to enter into a covenant with Him and to keep the commandments. Naturally, King Benjamin was thrilled. He said:
And now, because of the covenant which ye have made ye shall be called the children of Christ, his sons, and his daughters; for behold, this day he hath spiritually begotten you; for ye say that your hearts are changed through faith on his name; therefore, ye are born of him and have become his sons and his daughters.
And under this head ye are made free, and there is no other head whereby ye can be made free. There is no other name given whereby salvation cometh; therefore, I would that ye should take upon you the name of Christ, all you that have entered into the covenant with God that ye should be obedient unto the end of your lives (Mosiah 5: 7-8).
He promised them the name of Christ, if they wrote it in their hearts, would never be blotted out unless they became unworthy of it through sin. Certainly, taking on the name of Christ is a serious matter. It would be entirely disrespectful to do so and then to regularly abuse his name. People will judge Christ by the behavior of His followers. He Himself said that if we love Him, we must keep His commandments. This means that if we are unwilling to make sacrifices of some worldly pleasures in order to honor His name, we are suggesting we do not love Him, in which case we should not be wearing His name. No one is perfect, but we’re expected to be working towards perfection, repenting when we fall short.
Dallin H. Oaks, a Mormon apostle, explained what it means to take the name of the Savior on us:
We see that we take upon us the name of Christ when we are baptized in his name, when we belong to his Church and profess our belief in him, and when we do the work of his kingdom…..
“Willingness to take upon us the name of Jesus Christ can therefore be understood as willingness to take upon us the authority of Jesus Christ.… Our willingness to take upon us the name of Jesus Christ affirms our commitment to do all that we can to be counted among those whom he will choose to stand at his right hand and be called by his name at the last day. In this sacred sense, our witness that we are willing to take upon us the name of Jesus Christ constitutes our declaration of candidacy for exaltation in the celestial kingdom. Exaltation is eternal life, ‘the greatest of all the gifts of God’ (D&C 14:7)” (in Conference Report, Apr. 1985, 102–3, 105; or Ensign, May 1985, 80–81, 83).
This, then, is not an honorary title. It means that salvation is more than merely saying a few words and then going about our lives just as we did before. We don’t earn Heaven, but we do demonstrate our love for Jesus Christ, as He taught, by keeping the commandments and showing that He means so much to us we are willing to do anything He asks of us. When done in a spirit of love, obedience to the commandments is an essential part of salvation because it signifies we have truly had a change of heart—our whole lives have changed.
If our lives haven’t changed, what is the point of becoming a Christian? Christianity, taking on the name of the Savior, accepting the atonement of Jesus Christ—these things are all meant to change our lives, both now and for eternity.
The late Terrie Lynn Bittner—beloved wife, mother, grandmother, and friend—was the author of two homeschooling books and numerous articles, including several that appeared in Latter-day Saint magazines. She became a member of the Church at the age of 17 and began sharing her faith online in 1992.
If our lives haven’t changed, what is the point of becoming a Christian? Christianity, taking on the name of the Savior, accepting the atonement of Jesus Christ—these things are all meant to change our lives, both now and for eternity.
This is such a Mormon jargon… that seems to no longer move people into a spirit-filled transformational life. It is like a burden to repent, to do all we can. To the mind, even when one loves Jesus and the Gospel, it seems like it is our own works, of our own strength and effort and somehow it feels wrong and ovetwhelming… And it is because…
Philippians 4:13King James Version (KJV)
13 I can do all things (ONLY) through Christ which strengtheneth me.
“And we all, who with unveiled faces contemplate the Lord’s glory, are being transformed into his image with ever-increasing glory, which comes from the Lord, who is the Spirit.” — 2 Corinthians 3:18, NIV
All we can do is ensure the right intention and desire in our heart, and come to him before any thing we consider doing, saying so that all is done in the spirit.
Bearing is name means that it not us who do the repenting, but the Spirit who us in us, because it is in the spirit that we shall do all things once we covenant with Christ to become his disciple.
Galatians 2:20
I am (have been) crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me: and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave himself for me.
I’m a convert in the Church, lived the pure and simple doctrines who answered many questions and have started after 6 years or so to become bored and disappointed of church life with seems like a lukewarm administrative routine… Where we learn the same things, answer the same answers, look nice and perfect on Sunday and go on frustrated during the week, veing worldly, bearing no testimony of Christ and the power of the Holy Ghost through our deeds, acts, attitude and facbook posts…. It’s like a dead faith, a good religion but bearing no fruits. I see many strong members who become inactive, question some church history, and some even leave… Wad it not then the true church of Christ? Will they stop believing in Jesus Christ? In fact no, vecause they want to live a spirit-filled life of true transgormation, they leave and I was feeling kinda the same, but stayed on the cartesuan reason that “to go where”? Where they don’t value the Book of Mormon? No way… At the Community of Christ? I believe in priesthood so that won’t work… So I stay, teaching my kids to love Jesus and rely on him and savor more the messages of the new testament (which we tend to consider as second class infomation I feel like in Church).
Many of our Mormon jargon are difficult concept, perhaps we should look for simpler terms from the new testament… It brought life and spirit into my religious faith.
We we failed obeying a command, acting on a prompting, COME TO JESUS and talk to him… Ask, confess, look into the Scriptures, meditate, feel his presence in you through the spirit, talk to him again, think of him, wait on him… For me that has become the way of repentence… Not trying to change a behavior or making an effort of my own will to do this or that… Because it cannot bevdone.
So coming to him, confess, ask for forgiveness, ask for strength, ask fir his grace to shower us and move us forward in progress, knowledge and transformation… Should we be tempted to take credit for our accomplishment of being able to repent well…
Thank you for writing. I’ll try to address your concerns. Please let me know if I’m on the right path.
Repentance is a big word for a simple thing- change. When you aren’t going to church regularly, you repent of that by going- ie: you change. So becoming Christian- taking the steps to join His church, and covenant to remember Him- that is a change all by itself. The rest of our actions should fall in line with that one commitment, and in time it will change our whole soul. To me repentance is not a burden when I just remember it is only making a change and trusting God that He will help me with that change. In the USA it is a custom to make New Year’s Resolutions at the beginning of each calendar year. Those resolutions are technically repentance, when you remember that repentance is just change. You mention keeping things simple, or returning to the simple truths of your childhood, and change is simple. Some see repentance as hard, sad, depressing work. Being sorry for our weakness is good. But we should stop thinking of repentance as depressing, because making a positive change brings so much joy to our hearts.
You mention bearing Jesus’s name. Bearing Jesus’s name means to pretend you are wearing a name tag that says “Follower of Christ” after your name. Everything you do would change a little bit because you are thinking of being a follower of Christ, and you’d know others are expecting you to act as He would act. Does that make sense? You mention doing things “in the spirit” and it sounds like a beautiful idea. But I need things to be more concrete for my understanding. And that is how I understand it. When you quote Galatians “I have been crucified with Christ”- that scripture means to me that your sins are gone because Christ was crucified for you. He was the only one who could stand up and take your place because He never sinned.
You mention being bored at church. I think we have all had moments like that. Our church calls teachers who have never taught before, and gives them a book and they do the best they can. That teacher does a lot of growing as they teach us. But sometimes it is dry and they just read the class the lesson from the book. But we aren’t at church to be entertained. We are there to show God that we want to get to know Him, to live closer to Him. We are there to feel the peace of His spirit, and uplift and support and encourage each other. I’m sure you have many people who look up to you even if you don’t know it. Your experiences and comments in church classes will give life and a new perspective to what the teacher is trying to share. They need your support. When you’re feeling bored in class, make comments and help the teacher. The Lord will bless you with His love as you do, and you’ll find church is a lot more fun.
You mention that you learn the same things at church each week. I can see how you may see that as dull. But the beautiful thing about the Scriptures is that you may read the same words, but each time it has a different meaning. You are reading it with fresh eyes every time because you are a day older, with that much more experience. Church is like that. Your experiences help you understand a bit more with each discussion. The way back to Heaven is always the same. But as we live and learn we understand differently. I know you know that because you said you’d lived your life on the pure and simple doctrines of Christ. And those haven’t ever changed. As for your comment about our deeds and acts and attitude bearing no testimony of Christ: I see why you may ask that question. Many people don’t understand that the name tag “Follower of Christ” never comes off. Their actions, facebook posts, and choices SHOULD be as if they are at church, in God’s presence, every day. Every day. Sunday is one day in seven, so a lot of being Christian is on the honor system. Nobody is there to force us. But God is watching and He knows what we do and think when we are away from church. I’m so glad to hear you’ve stayed and continue to teach your kids to love Jesus and rely on Him. That is the single most important thing we can ever teach our kids. And I agree, we should focus more on all the scriptures at church. That is where our comments in class will help make lessons richer. Our teacher may not be familiar with the Bible like you are. They may never have read or understood it like you do. But when you share they will learn. Then we are all edified and grow together.
I love hearing your witness of how you come to Jesus. Did you know that all the things you mention- ask, confess, look into the Scriptures, meditate, etc. That is repentance! Using faith to ask, etc IS making a change and expressing your sincere desire to know Him and be more like Him. You are on the right path. We can’t ever make the changes necessary to be like Christ alone. We need Him. His spirit and support is necessary in every step. I can see the strength of your faith in Him in your words. And I’m uplifted reading it. You’ve got His strength in you, and I know you bless others with that strength. Thank you for writing.