-- Joseph Smith, History of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latterday Saints, ed. B. H. Roberts, 2nd ed. rev. (Salt Lake City: Deseret Book, 1957), 5:340.
Joseph Smith was talking about a man who the Apostles excommunicated for erring in doctrine in his book about the book of revelation.
But I quote this passage because creeds are of men but the gospel is of Christ. I've been told by evangelicals I will be judged for not agreeing with them theologically. Whereas I believe I will be judged on whether I have shown my love for God by how well I have loved His children. How I've talked to and about those children is what I will be judged for not my misconceptions about history or theology.
Articles of faith are all well and good but it is whether or not we live our lives in harmony with what Christ taught that will determine our fate not how well we lived our lives in harmony with the creeds and edicts of men regardless of church affiliation. God's truth, His good news or Gospel, is for all mankind not merely for a specific institution, nation, political party, race or gender. The Atonement is for each of us rather than only for the worthy.
Worthiness plays no role in the grace of the Atonement because as Paul says in Romans 3:23 (KJV) "For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God."
So if it really were about worthiness we would all be eternally damned since we are all sinners. Just because you sin differently than I do does not mean the sins of one are less contemptible than the sins of another. A sin is a sin regardless.
But what makes a sin a sin? I believe we are punished by our sins and not for them. Bad choices equal bad results and consequences and sometimes we are punished by the sins of others not only our own. Bad consequences are what make a sin a sin in my view. Otherwise they would be inane or even beneficial.
Going against the teachings of Christ may be sinful but not in the arbitrary rule breaking sense. See, the nature of life is suffering as Buddha said but what Jesus taught us was how to live in the harmony of God's creation, in the harmony of one another. That I feel is the spirit of the law that does not trump the letter of it but determines the application of it.
For example; Jesus tells the parable of The Good Samaritan and there are many lessons to be learned but one is that the Priests who walked by the mortally wounded Jew did not help not only because they did not care but that they cared more for their Temple worthy cleanliness than for the life of this mortally wounded man.
Because scripture says that to touch a dead body makes one unclean for a certain time and during that time the Priests could not perform their Temple duties. The performance of those duties meant more to those Priests than the life of this wounded traveler.
This attitude is sinful according to Christ because what good is it to be Temple worthy if one does not have more consideration for a human life than they do for ceremonial duties and recognition?
That is putting the letter of the law before the spirit of it.So it makes no sense to me to put the creeds, doctrines and edicts of men ahead of the teachings of Christ.
The purpose of the Gospel is to save us from the suffering inherent to life and not to put a velvet rope in front of the gates of Heaven and turn it into the VIP section of a nightclub. We are to unite under the banner of love for God and all His children not to put up walls between the worthy and the unworthy.
Many would argue that God Himself separates the cleans from the unclean. But I disagree. We do a pretty good job of picking and choosing who's in and who's out on our own.
I always understood the difference between those in Heaven and those in Hell to be that those who truly loved God and all His children and those who lived a life either not caring for anyone but themselves or who hated some of God's children for whatever reasons and made life miserable for those children of God. Or even those who hated the love, inclusion, acceptance and understanding that God and His son Jesus Christ stand for.
But I could have that wrong. No need to go on about it least it become a creed unto itself.
