Straightening

Christianity teaches us that "the natural man is an enemy to God, and has been from the fall of Adam" (Mosiah 3:19). In other words, because of the Fall of Adam, we are born into a telestial world as “natural” or “fallen” creatures and the task of life is to be raised up—to become spiritual and saved creatures. I like the way C. S. Lewis explains it, "Fallen man is not simply an imperfect creature who needs improvement: he is a rebel who must lay down his arms" (Lewis, Mere Christianity, p. 59). Lewis goes on to explain why this is so important. "A creature revolting against a creator is revolting against the source of his own powers-including even his power to revolt. . . . It is like the scent of a flower trying to destroy the flower."

I don’t bring this up to depress or discourage. Instead I bring it up because it is so important that each one of us realize that we need someone to raise us up because we can’t raise ourselves up. We need a Savior.

In another of Lewis's works, a science fiction story entitled Out of the Silent Planet, Lewis uses a word to describe our fallen condition that I like better than carnal or fallen. Lewis says we are “bent.” When the scientist, Ransom, describes the dangerous motives of other space travelers to the inhabitants of the planet Malachandra, he says they are “bent” which implies that they are distorted rather than broken and something that is bent can usually be bent back or corrected. I like this because it gives me a mental picture of me bent with sin and my Savior straightening me out. Yes, it is painful at times, but if I hang in there and don’t resist, I will be straightened. I will be saved. I like that a lot.

Get Life!

Because it has become a swear word, most of us avoid not only saying, but thinking about the word “damned.” But it appears throughout the scriptures hundreds of times, and it is instructive to understand what is meant by the word. The dictionary definition of the words is “to condemn to a punishment or fate.” But what is the punishment? The punishment is that you stop in your progress.

In Moses 5:15, we are told that in the beginning God taught that “as many as believed in the Son, and repented of their sins, should be saved; and as many as believed not and repented not, should be damned.” To be saved means that you go on in your progression. To be damned means that your progression stops. That is the punishment. You don’t grow any closer to your Father in Heaven. You don’t become more like Him. You don’t gain more faith or hope or love or anything that is good. You stop where you are and remain like that.

Each of us chooses whether or not we will be damned and those who are damned choose the moment they will stop growing and remain like that. It is the moment they sin and refuse to repent. However, for those who recognize when a mistake has been made and repent, the damning barrier is lifted and they go on progressing to Eternal Life. So the choice is be damned or repent and progress. I like the idea of progressing!