Sunday, March 4, 2012

On the Nature of Eternal Laws

    As I have written before, in order to understand His Judgments we need to understand his Laws. Likewise, in order to enter a Kingdom, we must first keep the Laws of that Kingdom; which we cannot do if we don't even understand the Law. Before we can understand who we are and where we will end up in the eternities, we must first gain a greater understanding of those laws.

    Now when we hear of keeping God's Laws, the main thing that we hear of at church are things that command us of how to act in our everyday lives such as the Ten Commandments, Tithing and Offerings, or other mundane commands. However if we stay at a superficial level of understanding of His commandments, when we will never grow. We need to understand the motivation and purpose behind these commands, or we cannot appreciate the true laws of heaven, which govern His Kingdoms.

    Just as the Law of Moses was a preparatory law to the children of Israel, so too are these commandments to prepare our minds for greater things. However too often we fall into the same trap that the pharisees fell into, and “take strength unto [ourselves]”, not seeing the commandments as His way of guiding and and loving His children, but instead using those superficial statues to judge and condemn others, that we may have pride in our own strength.

    That, however, is not how His plan works. His judgments do not differentiate people by their superficial actions, as noted in a previous post, and as a consequence neither do His laws. So there arises the question, how do the laws differentiate us?

    Before looking at each kingdom and its laws in detail, first we must understand the nature of His laws. As stated in the D&C “And again, verily I say unto you, that which is governed by law is also preserved by law and perfected and sanctified by the same

    His Laws are not just orders to be followed, but rather are the source of that Kingdom's glory, or in other words they are covenants. On the other hand they are far beyond the covenants that we make in our mortal life, for the promises that we make demonstrate our desires, but they can and often are broken. In His Kingdoms the Laws are just like the Laws of nature, they cannot be broken, which is the reason for the distinction.

    Now what does it mean that his laws cannot be broken? It doesn't mean those they are in some sort of bondage or that their agency is forfeit. The laws are eternal and unbreakable in that it protects all those that have chosen the law. Since they have committed to take upon them the law and have adorn themselves with it, it becomes a protective armor that covers them in the bonds of His light and love. It is not restrictive, but rather power beyond imagining.

    This said, the Laws of Heaven are counterparts to the covenants that we make here on earth, for these promises that we make, prepare us for the eternities to follow. This is why Joseph Smith said “A man is saved no faster than he gains knowledge.

    Many fail to comprehend what this means, for they misunderstand by trying to apply a worldly definition to an Eternal concept; thinking that it means that they gain salvation through understanding calculus or quantum mechanics, or some other fact of nature. By doing this they undo the glorious message contained therein. Knowledge according to divine definition is not factual statements that one has mentally compiled.

    The Hebrew word for knowledge is da'at, which is comes from yada meaning "to know." To quote Avraham Gileadi “to know is another technical term that we get from ancient near eastern covenant language. It is a covenant term even way back in the sense of Adam knew his wife Eve and she conceived and bore a son. They have a covenant relationship between them. To know someone expresses that covenant relationship.”

    True knowledge is the making, keeping, and fulfilling of that covenant relationship. To Know god is to have an “intimate and interactive relationship” with Him. When Christ saved me by teaching me of his Atonement, I finally knew him. Until then I knew nothing of Him or His ways. The knowledge I have of Him and His power is what grants me strength to go forward.

    As much as I love studying scientific facts and laws, I understand that they do not save me. They have a form of power, but that is nothing compared to His power. Science cannot break the bands of death, He can. Thus to know His laws is also to keep them and make them a part of oneself, so much so that they will never be broken for all eternity. Thus His Laws become a part of every creature that inhabits that Kingdom.

    Then the next step for us is to find out how we come to know His law. Related to this in Matthew we read: “For whosoever [desires to] save his life shall [sacrifice] it: and whosoever will [sacrifice] his life for my sake shall find it. For what is a man profited, if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul? or what shall a man give [as a ransom] for his soul?” I have added the words in brackets to show the intention of the Greek meaning, in order to clarify the meaning behind the verse.

    The necessity of sacrifice is explained in more detail here. To summarize: this sacrifice, by necessity, must precede our receiving His light and truth. It is impossible for us to gain any measure of power until we forfeit that which is required to receive it. Until I personally was willing to sacrifice my foolish and incorrect ideas, I was unable to know Him. It was my humbling myself and giving up those things that opened my eyes to His truth, by which I finally knew Jesus. 

    Similarly every Law of heaven demands that a sacrifice of oneself must be made before its power can manifest in empowering us. On the other hand if we are unwilling and refuse to relinquish that which is demanded by law, then in a way we lose that part of ourselves regardless. The Law demands that something is taken and it will be, either willingly if we acquiesce to the law, wherein it serves to bless us, or by force if we resist the Law, wherein it serves to curse us.

    Now this is not to destroy our agency, nor is it to enforce some arbitrary rule set. The Law exists to protect the order of heaven, and these Divine laws cannot be bent nor broken, for the protection and preservation of the innocent is of the utmost priority. It is only during this brief time on this world in this mortal probation, that we are able to get away with defying the law for so long. But the time will come and is soon at hand when it will be enforced yet again.

    Like as in ancient time, when children of Israel offered sacrifice before the Lord at his Holy House, so too must we now make this sacrifice, which sacrifice is made as we enter into that covenant by means of the ordinances that He has set forth for the deliverance of His people. Only by understanding these covenants, and ordinances can be begin to understand His law.

    The covenants The Lord made with Israel were made after a specific pattern, and while I won't go into detail as to the specifics of that pattern, it is important to note that all of these were made after a familial or patriarchal order. The Lord is our Father, where we must prove faithful unto him, whereupon He provides us with protection.

    With every Covenant, there were specific covenant blessings for faithfulness, and likewise there were specific covenant cursings according to our disobedience. Only by knowing this pattern can we begin to see how the Heavenly Laws work.

    The Laws of the Kingdoms likewise have blessings and cursings, each blessing and cursing being a natural outcome of keeping or breaking the law. The Lord does not wish to curse us, but it is an inevitable consequence that we ultimately choose, knowing full well what it entails. His blessings are available for all who continue to seek for them.

    While the laws themselves are covered here, here, and here, knowing the nature of the laws alone allows us to appreciate what He does for us. As I have mentioned many times, His work and glory is our immortality and eternal life, and the tools by which He accomplishes that work are the Laws of Heaven.

    Through our paltry sacrifices, he grants us to truly know Him, and through that, we finally know ourselves, our place, and even the entire universe. It opens our eyes for these laws are the key to our heart and ultimately our destiny, and if we acquiesce to those laws I promise that there is nothing that cannot be overcome, of this I testify. Amen.

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