Putting Off the Natural Man

Perhaps one of the most basic teachings of the gospel, or perhaps the Plan of Salvation’s most basic principle is the need for the children of God to “put off the natural man.” In Mosiah 3 we read “19 For the natural man is an enemy to God, and has been from the fall of Adam, and will be, forever and ever, unless he yields to the enticings of the Holy Spirit, and putteth off the natural man and becometh a saint through the atonement of Christ the Lord, and becometh as a child, submissive, meek, humble, patient, full of love, willing to submit to all things which the Lord seeth fit to inflict upon him, even as a child doth submit to his father.”

The scriptures are full of metaphors of how each of us should do this thing. One of the most common phrases is that we must be “born again.” We teach that baptism is symbolic of dieing and burying the old self and coming out of the water a new person… one who has taken on the name of Christ. (In our culture when a woman marries a man, she takes upon herself his name. She is no longer known by her old name… just by that of her husband).

Since Adam and Eve partook of the fruit in the Garden of Eden and fell, it has been the duty of man to repent and to return to our Heavenly Father. In Old Testament times, the covenant people were commanded to live the law of sacrifice which involved the sacrificing of animals. In our day, we are still commanded to live the law of sacrifice but in a different way.

Christ stated in 3 Nephi 12:17 “Think not that I am come to destroy the law or the prophets. I am not come to destroy but to fulfill;” We also read in 3 Ne. 9: 20
“And ye shall offer for a sacrifice unto me a broken heart and a contrite spirit. And whoso cometh unto me with a broken heart and a contrite spirit, him will I baptize with fire and with the Holy Ghost,”

Today we are expected to sacrifice all things. We must be willing to lay all of our worldliness upon the altar. Joseph Smith taught “Let us here observe, that a religion that does not require the sacrifice of all things never has power sufficient to produce the faith necessary unto life and salvation; … it is through the medium of the sacrifice of all earthly things that men do actually know that they are doing the things that are well pleasing in the sight of God. When a man has offered in sacrifice all that he has for the truth’s sake, not even withholding his life, and believing before God that he has been called to make this sacrifice because he seeks to do his will, he does know, most assuredly, that God does and will accept his sacrifice and offering, and that he has not, nor will not seek his face in vain. Under these circumstances, then, he can obtain the faith necessary for him to lay hold on eternal life” (Lectures on Faith 6).

In my recent reading of James Ferrell’s “The Hidden Christ”, I have been awed by the Old Testament and how literally every story in it points to Christ and the Atonement. Those of you familiar with his book “The Peacegiver” know how the story of Abigail points to the Savior. Consider how Moses struck a rock with his staff and water flowed forth. How many scriptures refer to Jesus as the “Rock of our salvation” and as the source of “living water”?

I learned another important lesson from Ferrell in chapter 12 of “The Hidden Christ”. I quote “Some people think the God of the Old Testament seems harsh, citing examples of punishments under the law, (death to transgressors by stoning, for example), and the commandment for the Israelites to kill every person that lived in the promised land when they were finally crossed into the land to occupy it. However, if you think of the body of Israel not as a collection of individual, but as a representation of a single person—one who is to be a follower of Christ—all of these harsh contradictions make divine sense, and Old Testament books like Joshua and Judges suddenly become illuminating guides to repentance and sanctification. We truly do need to wipe out all the temptations around us and stop dabbling in sin.”

He continues “Because Egypt, as it were was still in the Israelites, they were not allowed to cross into the Promised Land for forty years. As a body they had to become sanctified. One might wonder why all the people had to wait for the purification of the whole before they were allowed to enter into the promised land. Why couldn’t some have entered sooner on their own—when they, themselves, were ready”?

An even more difficult question might be why Moses was commanded the following: “But of the cities of these people, which the Lord thy God doth give thee for an inheritance, thou shalt save alive nothing that breatheth: But thou shalt utterly destroy them; namely, the Hittites, and the Amorites, the Canaanites, and the Perizzites, the Hivites, and the Jebusites; as the Lord thy God hath commanded thee:” (Deut. 20:16,17). And “And when the Lord thy God shall deliver them before thee; thou shalt smite them, and utterly destroy them; thou shalt make no covenant with them, nor shew mercy unto them: Neither shalt thou make marriages with them; thy daughter thou shalt not give unto his son, nor his daughter shalt thou take unto thy son.” (Deut. 7:2, 3).

If we look at the Children of Israel as representation of an individual, how much of the world are we expected to give up? “All that is ungodly within each of us truly must be put to death or we will not be able to enter into the presence of the Lord. Furthermore, in order to become holy, we really do need to overcome all the temptations around us and stop dabbling in sin. If we are content to surround ourselves with unholiness, we, too, will become unholy and will therefore remain separated form the Lord, which, in the language of the scriptures, is death—spiritual death”.

Experiences in my own life have shown that the Lord expects a lot of me. I must put off the things of the world. I must not put my trust in the arm of the flesh. I must put off vulgarity and uncleanliness. I have learned for myself that the scripture we read in D&C 121: 45 is true
“Let thy bowels also be full of charity towards all men, and to the household of faith, and let virtue garnish thy thoughts unceasingly; then shall thy confidence wax strong in the presence of God; and the doctrine of the priesthood shall distil upon thy soul as the dews from heaven.”

The Law of Sacrifice and the Sacrament

As the Young Men’s President of my Ward, I have the opportunity of being connected to the administration of the Sacrament every week. Recent reading, Temple attendance, and pondering have given me some interesting insights to the relationships between the Law of Sacrifice as explained in the Old Testament, and the Sacrament instituted at the Last Supper of the Savior, and ultimately to the Sacrament we take each week as Latter Day Saints.

This is a rather difficult subject, and one that will continue to play out in my mind throughout my life but I would like to express my feelings today. I pray I can do the topic justice. Please know these ideas are mine and by no means do they represent doctrine of the LDS faith.

We read in Moses in the Pearl of Great Price that after Adam and Eve were driven out of the Garden of Eden for disobedience, (Moses 4:27) “Unto Adam, and also unto his wife, did I, the Lord God, make coats of skins, and clothed them.” In the very next chapter we read (Moses 5:5-8)” And he gave unto them commandments, that they should worship the Lord their God, and should offer the firstlings of their flocks, for an offering unto the Lord. And Adam was obedient unto the commandments of the Lord.
And after many days an angel of the Lord appeared unto Adam, saying: Why dost thou offer sacrifices unto the Lord? And Adam said unto him: I know not, save the Lord commanded me.
And then the angel spake, saying: This thing is a similitude of the sacrifice of the Only Begotten of the Father, which is full of grace and truth .
Wherefore, thou shalt do all that thou doest in the name of the Son, and thou shalt repent and call upon God in the name of the Son forevermore.”

I don’t think that it was a coincidence that the “coats of skins” and the sacrifice of animals came at the same time. It seems to reason that the Lord taught Adam the Law of Sacrifice while He was making the coat of skins for him. Where else would he have taken the skins from? We know that Adam had recent named all of the animals: Were these coverings made from animals that Adam was familiar and fond of?

Any time there have been covenant people of the Lord on the earth, the Lord has required the Law of Sacrifice from them. Nowhere are the ordinances of the law better outlined than in the book of Leviticus. Brigham Young, and many others for that matter, taught that all things in the Old Testament point to Christ. Many of the symbols found in the Law of Sacrifice in Moses’ day are obvious; the lamb was to be the first born, without blemish, no bones were to be broken etc. The relationship of these to Christ is without question. How do they compare however, to the Sacrament today?

In the Old Testament, as I understand it, the sacrifice was laid upon the alter. There were specific steps to follow for each part of the animal, the meat and the blood. There is no question that flesh was cut of “torn” apart and the blood was sprinkled around the alter. Interestingly the meat was not to be consumed by the fire, but along with the hide of the animal, was to be used for the use of the priests and their families (coats of skins?).

In Leviticus 4 we read “ 3 If the priest that is anointed do sin according to the sin of the people; then let him bring for his sin, which he hath sinned, a young bullock without blemish unto the LORD for a sin offering.
4 And he shall bring the bullock unto the door of the tabernacle of the congregation before the LORD; and shall lay his hand upon the bullock’s head, and kill the bullock before the LORD.
5 And the priest that is anointed shall take of the bullock’s blood, and bring it to the tabernacle of the congregation:

And in verse 20 we read “And he shall do with the bullock as he did with the bullock for a sin offering, so shall he do with this: and the priest shall make an atonement for them, and it shall be forgiven them.

The Sacrament in our own Wards today takes place at the front of the chapel where all can see. How is it similar to an alter that might have been found in an ancient Temple or a Latter Day Temple? (This is a point for all to ponder). Ancient sacrifices were performed behind a veil. Is the tablecloth covering the sacrament a type of veil? (Another point to ponder). The Priests tear the bread (Christ’s body) into pieces, and water (the blood) is poured into cups.

After the “offerings” are prepared, the Priests kneel (as at an alter) and offer the following prayers: (Moroni 4) “O God, the Eternal Father, we ask thee in the name of thy Son, Jesus Christ, to bless and sanctify this bread to the souls of all those who partake of it; that they may eat in remembrance of the body of thy Son, and witness unto thee, O God, the Eternal Father, that they are willing to take upon them the name of thy Son, and always remember him, and keep his commandments which he hath given them, that they may always have his Spirit to be with them. Amen.

And (Moroni 5) “O God, the Eternal Father, we ask thee, in the name of thy Son, Jesus Christ, to bless and sanctify this wine to the souls of all those who drink of it, that they may do it in remembrance of the blood of thy Son, which was shed for them; that they may witness unto thee, O God, the Eternal Father, that they do always remember him, that they may have his Spirit to be with them. Amen.”

Through modern revelation we learn that through this ordinance we are able to renew the covenants we made at baptism. Through proper preparation and sincere repentance, this offering is able to give us forgiveness for our sins.

In Ancient Israel a lamb without blemish was able to be offered as a sacrifice to allow for forgiveness from sins. In our day, as we offer a sacrifice of a broken heart, and a contrite spirit, and are willing to give up the things of the world and repent, a Lamb, without blemish is able to wash away our sins, and we are able to receive forgiveness so that we too may be found “spotless at the last day”.

The Lost Coin

In Chapter 15 of Luke, the Saviour intoduces three parables that deal with those who have become "lost". They are the parable of The Lost Sheep, The Lost Coin, and The Prodigal Son. Each story targets a distinct group of people that have "wandered" in one way or another. This post will express my thoughts on each of them.

The Story of the Lost Sheep tells of a shepherd that has 100 sheep. When he notices that one of the sheep has wandered off, he leaves the "ninety and nine" and goes off searching for the one. When he finds the one, he rejoices and carries the lost lamb back to the fold.

Author Larry Barkdull, in his book Rescuing Wayward Children tells the following: "President David O. McKay suggests that the lost sheep is like many who stray innocently with no rebellious intent. Rebelliousness is not always the issue, he said. In the parable, the sheep was seeking its livelyhood legitimately, albeit ignorant of the consequences, and wandered into unknown and dangerous territory seeking better grass. Suddenly, it is lost. The sheep is no different from some children in the Church who wander unwittingly; seeking success in education, career, or other pursuits, they one day look up and find themselves far from the Church and disconnected from gospel principles. Their wandering has misled them in defining truth and what constitutes true success, and they are now too lost to find their way back without a good shepherd to guide them."

It is easy for me to picture a sheep, with its head down, paying little attention what is going on around it, following clump of grass after clump of grass. Suddenly it puts its head up and realizes it does't recognize any of its surroundings. We are all guilty of this in our own lives at some level. I know that on occasion I look up and find myself off the path that I know is right. At times like these, when we are suddenly lost, if we listen carefully, we will hear the voice of the Shepherd calling out to us as He comes to our rescue.

In what is likely the most familiar of the three parables, that of the Prodigal Son, a young man becomes rebellious and leaves the way of his father and goes out into the world afer his own pursuits. After living a wild and riotous life, he finds himself broken and alone... and far from home. He realizes he has lost everything and offers to come back and be a servant in his fathers house. But his father rejoices at his return, kills the fatted calf, and celebrates the return of his lost son.

How true is this story in each of our lives as well? It is our nature to want to do things on our own. Even our small children say "I do it" when we try to help them do something. It is our pride that makes us think we can do it on our own. Even our first parents, Adam and Eve, fell into the trap of thinking they could do it on their own or some other way. It is by paying attention to the Spirit that we see the error of our ways and return to our Father in Heaven.

The story that seems to be the least familiar, at least with me, is that of the Lost Coin. This story also seems to have significant parallels in my own life. Particularly as it relates to watching over things we have charge of like children, siblings, parents, home teaching families, etc.

The woman in the parable loses a coin in her own home (how does this relate to our own children?). In order to find it she lights a candle (adds more light), and cleans her home (cleans the inner vessel.... repents). She seeks the coin diligently until she finds it.

We too are guilty of losing things of value in our lives simply by the clutter of our lives. This clutter comes in many shapes and sizes. For some it is sports, for others it is simply making a living. Much of it comes from the never ending barage of "electronic noise" in out lives. This includes television, computers, ipods, cell phones, facebook, email, and the list goes on and on. If we are constantly stimulated by these distractions, when will we ever have time to hear the still small voice?

In Alma we are taught "God has said that the inward vessel shall be cleansed first, then shall the outer vessel be cleansed also." This is a little hard to hear. We typically want the problems in our lives to be "someone elses" fault. It can't possibly be me! How many times have we heard ourselves say, after listening to a talk or sermon that talks about one problem or another, my wife/husband/sister/etc. really needs to hear this?

The Lord has taught us this principle in many ways in the scriptures. In Matthew 5 we read "Therefore if thou bring thy gift to the alter, and there rememberest that thy brother hath ought against thee; Leave there thy gift before the alter, and go thy way; first be reconciled to thy brother, and then come and offer thy gift". And, "First cast out the beam out of thy own eye; and then shalt thou see clearly to cast out the mote out of thy brother's eye". Again I quote form Larry Barkdull "To successfully seek out that which we have neglected and carelessly lost, we need to shine an honest light on our own house and begin sweeping."