Live As Saints Should Live

Romans 13:11 “And that, knowing the time, that now it is high time to awake out of sleep: for now is our salvation nearer than when we believed.”

Ezekial 3:20 “Again, When a righteous man doth turn from his righteousness, and commit iniquity, and I lay a stumblingblock before him, he shall die: because thou hast not given him warning, he shall die in his sin, and his righteousness which he hath done shall not be remembered; but his blood will I require at thine hand.”

Doctrine and Covenants 14:7 “And, if you keep my commandments and endure to the end you shall have eternal life, which gift is the greatest of all the gifts of God.”

Are you curious to know the relationship between these scriptures? Well, here is what I think. The most important thing we can do for ourselves is work out our own salvation through our deeds and whatnot. Personal Salvation. Like the Romans scripture says, our salvation is “nearer” than ever, so what should we be doing? Well, we should NOT be committing iniquity (lying, cheating, stealing, fornicating). We need to keep the commandments (those new and old. i.e. not committing adultery, and not having more than one set of earring holes for women), and we need to endure to the end. This is the part that gets me. Sometimes I just feel like enduring is difficult. But it truly is the MOST important. Anyways, when we do these things, we get our salvation.

We receive a lot of counsel from Paul in Romans. He says in order to be able to work out our salvation we must:

·         Our bodies

·         Service

·         Accepting God’s will as your own

·         Love

·         Cleave to that which is good

·         Despise evil

·         Give

·         Be humble and think of those who do not have what you do

·         Overcome evil by doing good.

·         Heed the Lord God, and be submissive to His will

·         Pay your debts

·         Do not commit adultery

·         Do not kill

·         Do not steal

·         Do not bear false witness

·         Do not covet

·         Love thy neighbor as thyself

What cautions did Paul give about judging? People May have different opinions and practices, but what is most important to remember?

Paul said that in judging we should be weary of our weaknesses, and to let people make their own decisions. Don’t judge others because they do things differently than you. Don’t worry so much what others do for everyone lives and dies in the Lord. Worry about you yourself worshiping God. Help others as much as you can. Additional insights come from Doctrine and Covenants 38:25-27 which reads that we are all God’s children; not one is better than the other so we need to treat everyone as we would want to be treated.

FYI:

Paul referred to members of the church in his days as “saints” just like we do nowadays.