Daily Gems
Our Reliance on the Holy Messiah
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"The Lord's authorized servants repeatedly teach that one of the
principal purposes of our mortal existence is to be spiritually changed and
transformed through the Atonement of Jesus Christ. Alma declared:
"
'Marvel not that all mankind, yea, men and women, all nations,
kindreds, tongues and people, must be born again; yea, born of God, changed
from their carnal and fallen state, to a state of righteousness, being
redeemed of God, becoming his sons and daughters;
" 'And thus
they become new creatures; and unless they do this, they can in nowise
inherit the kingdom of God' (Mosiah 27:25-26).
"We are
instructed to 'come unto Christ, and be perfected in him, and deny
[ourselves] of all ungodliness' (Moroni 10:32), to become
'new creature[s]' in Christ (see 2 Corinthians 5:17), to
put off 'the natural man' (Mosiah 3:19), and to experience 'a
mighty change in us, or in our hearts, that we have no more disposition to
do evil, but to do good continually' (Mosiah 5:2). Please note that the
conversion described in these verses is mighty, not minor--a
spiritual rebirth and fundamental change of what we feel and desire, what
we think and do, and what we are. Indeed, the essence of the gospel of
Jesus Christ entails a fundamental and permanent change in our very nature
made possible through our reliance upon 'the merits, and mercy, and
grace of the Holy Messiah' (2 Nephi 2:8). As we choose to follow the
Master, we choose to be changed--to be spiritually
reborn."
Topics: personal growth, Atonement, righteousness,
conversion
(David A. Bednar, "Ye Must Be Born Again," Ensign, May 2007, 19?20)
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Our Reliance on the Holy Messiah
---------------------------------------------------
"The Lord's authorized servants repeatedly teach that one of the
principal purposes of our mortal existence is to be spiritually changed and
transformed through the Atonement of Jesus Christ. Alma declared:
"
'Marvel not that all mankind, yea, men and women, all nations,
kindreds, tongues and people, must be born again; yea, born of God, changed
from their carnal and fallen state, to a state of righteousness, being
redeemed of God, becoming his sons and daughters;
" 'And thus
they become new creatures; and unless they do this, they can in nowise
inherit the kingdom of God' (Mosiah 27:25-26).
"We are
instructed to 'come unto Christ, and be perfected in him, and deny
[ourselves] of all ungodliness' (Moroni 10:32), to become
'new creature[s]' in Christ (see 2 Corinthians 5:17), to
put off 'the natural man' (Mosiah 3:19), and to experience 'a
mighty change in us, or in our hearts, that we have no more disposition to
do evil, but to do good continually' (Mosiah 5:2). Please note that the
conversion described in these verses is mighty, not minor--a
spiritual rebirth and fundamental change of what we feel and desire, what
we think and do, and what we are. Indeed, the essence of the gospel of
Jesus Christ entails a fundamental and permanent change in our very nature
made possible through our reliance upon 'the merits, and mercy, and
grace of the Holy Messiah' (2 Nephi 2:8). As we choose to follow the
Master, we choose to be changed--to be spiritually
reborn."
Topics: personal growth, Atonement, righteousness,
conversion
(David A. Bednar, "Ye Must Be Born Again," Ensign, May 2007, 19?20)
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