Being Judged Today

Being Judged Today
What it means to have your "Calling and Election" made sure

Recently while reading in the new testament in 2 Peter, I stumbled across a scripture that led me to think and study more deeply. The verse that caught my attention was 2 Peter 1:10-11 which reads...

"Wherefore the rather, brethren, give diligence to make your calling and election sure: for if ye do these things, ye shall never fall: For so an entrance shall be ministered unto you abundantly into the everlasting kingdom of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ."


This scripture explains how if you are able to "make your calling and election sure" then you will never fall away and it seems like you'll be admitted into the same kingdom as Christ, our savior. Now these seemed like pretty important promises to me, things that I would most certainly want to obtain. The next step was to figure out what "making your calling and election sure" even meant. 

Elder Bruce R. McConkie taught that, “To have one’s calling and election made sure is to be sealed up unto eternal life; it is to have the unconditional guarantee of exaltation in the highest heaven of the celestial world; it is to receive the assurance of godhood; it is, in effect, to have the day of judgment advanced, so that an inheritance of all the glory and honor of the Father’s kingdom is assured prior to the day when the faithful actually enter into the divine presence to sit with Christ in his throne, even as he is ‘set down’ with his ‘Father in his throne.’ (Rev. 3:21.)” (Doctrinal New Testament Commentary, 3:330–31).

So if I am understanding this apostle correctly, then having your calling and election made sure is the same as being judged today worthy to enter into heaven. It is to have guaranteed assurance that you will become like God and live like him. This is most certainly what I would like. I would like to know that I am actually "saved" as some other religions say. The Latter-day Saint understanding of the plan of salvation follows a pattern set forth in the image below, teaching that the judgement part typically happens after the spirit worlds and around the same time as the resurrection.

Image result for the plan of salvation lds

According to this image, to be judged during mortality on earth by God, and found worthy of Celestial Glory would come far before the expected judgement day. I did not understand how this was possible until I found another quote from the prophet Joseph Smith which read...

“After a person has faith in Christ, repents of his sins, and is baptized for the remission of his sins and receives the Holy Ghost, (by the laying on of hands), which is the first Comforter, then let him continue to humble himself before God, hungering and thirsting after righteousness, and living by every word of God, and the Lord will soon say unto him, Son, thou shalt be exalted. When the Lord has thoroughly proved him, and finds that the man is determined to serve Him at all hazards, then the man will find his calling and his election made sure, then it will be his privilege to receive the other Comforter, which the Lord hath promised the Saints, as is recorded in the testimony of St. John, in the 14th chapter” (in History of the Church, 3:380)

Finally I began to put the puzzle pieces together in my mind. To have your calling and election made sure has to do with the Lord trusting you. It comes only after being tried, tested, and put under immense strain. When we are able to go through this refining process and still choose to obey the Lord then he may, or may not, tell us that our calling is made sure. 

The other comforter mentioned in the 14th chapter of John is what really interested me. In the Institute manual for John chapter 14 I found my answer. It read, 

“Now what is this other Comforter? It is no more nor less than the Lord Jesus Christ Himself; and this is the sum and substance of the whole matter; that when any man obtains this last Comforter, he will have the personage of Jesus Christ to attend him, or appear unto him from time to time, and even He will manifest the Father unto him, and they will take up their abode with him, and the visions of the heavens will be opened unto him, and the Lord will teach him face to face, and he may have a perfect knowledge of the mysteries of the Kingdom of God” (in History of the Church, 3:380–81).

I never expected the doctrine of making your calling and election sure to be so beautiful. I also don't fully know that I will ever be worthy of such a comforter to be with me from time to time. I saw my study of this subject as a goal however. Why would I not want this to be my goal, as it it something to work towards. 

I hope you learned something new from reading my blog. I mostly used quotes, so you can tell that this information is not just coming from me. I learned a lot, but remember. This is just one Mann's viewpoint, if you want to know about this subject for yourself then I invite you to study and pray about it. 

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Using Statistics: What Factors Impact Gun Use?

Image
      Imagine a word where each action could be quantified in numerical form. Where numbers could be used to better understand every relationship and why certain things in life happen more often than others. The beauty of statistics is that this is the case. Once data is accurately collected, it can be utilized to learn about why events happen or occur.  Data Collected: Gun Use     The data that was collected for this example was gun use, as well as certain identifiers such as race and marital status. Using R Studio, these numerical representations were utilized to discover how which populations used guns most often, as well as which used guns least often. Although the labels may be difficult to read, look at the graphs below and try to discover which demographics answered yes to using guns most often.  Note: from left to right the labels read Mexican American, Other Hispanic, Non-Hispanic White, Non-Hispanic Black, Non-Hispanic Asian, Other Races: Multi Racial Note: the labels read (F
Read more

The Origin of True Authority

The Origin of True Authority This week in my studies I came across a scripture that got my mind thinking. The scripture was in the Book of Mark, chapter 1, verse 21 & 22, and it reads... " And they went into Capernaum; and straightway on the sabbath day he entered into the synagogue, and taught.  And they were astonished at his doctrine: for he taught them as one that had authority, and not as the scribes."  To set the stage, Mark is telling about some of the things that Christ did in his ministry, and he tells this right after saying how Christ called his apostles one by one. These scriptures stood out to me because they outline the distinct difference that people were able to see between the scribes and the Lord, Jesus Christ. In two ways he was different, in his "astonishing" knowledge of the doctrine and in his authority.  Christ's knowledge of the doctrine came from study and prayer. He was the Son of God, but he grew up learning, as th
Read more

Rent to Buy Marriages

"Rent to Buy" Marriages Renting in America is common when it comes to objects, like a suit for a wedding, a truck when you move houses, or even a movie to entertain your family for a night, but have you ever thought of marriage as something you would want to rent before you bought?  Today we see many people convinced that the best way to prepare for marriage is to take their future spouse for a "test drive" before they purchase. The phenomenon I am referring to is called cohabitation. It involves two unmarried individuals who are in a relationship living together prior to being married. These cohabiting relationships often operate by certain rules, like living together and having sexual intercourse, but not combining finances or becoming fully dependent on one another. The goal in these relationships is to enjoy the benefits of living together without having to be committed fully to the other person. Although this model of "trying before you buy"
Read more