To start with, let me say being raised as a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints does not ensure you know or understand all there is to know or understand about the Gospel. Quite the contrary. It only opens up doors and thoughts to things of eternal perspective that won't be understood to the fullest in this life, but will be understood as we progress in the eternities, to the extent of the things we need to understand for our own personal journey. The Atonement of Jesus Christ and how it affects me personally is no exception to that. It is not simple nor easy to understand. We learn about how it helps cleanse the repentant, how it heals and gives peace, how it perfects us, etc, etc, etc. I've heard many times how we could, even should, access the Atonement every day of our lives. But how do we do that? How do I do that? I want a nice list of things to do or a recipe to follow telling me how to do that. It seems so confusing to me. I've certainly felt the effects of healing and the strengthening power of the Atonement of Christ in times of weakness and trial, but how do I use it everyday, every normal, mundane, typical day? I feel like I've had a recent breakthrough to this question. My husband, Dave and I just finished a book titled 65 Signs of the Times by David J. Ridges. The last chapter is titled How Good Do You Have To Be In Order To Have A Pleasant Second Coming? Interesting question that I bet several of you have had in some fashion or another. So think about this..... are we told "no imperfect thing can dwell in the presence of God" or are we told "no unclean thing can dwell in the presence of God". Well he quotes several scriptures all stating that no unclean thing can dwell with God or enter into His kingdom. So what is the difference between "unclean" and "imperfect"? There are certainly scripture passages using the word "perfect", the most commonly known among many of us from the Sermon on the Mount, "Be ye therefore perfect, even as your Father which is in heaven is perfect." (Matt 5:48) He then quotes President Dallin H Oaks:
"Another idea that is powerful to lift us from discouragement is that the work of the Church.....is an eternal work. Not all problems ....are fixed in mortality. The work of salvation goes on beyond the veil of death, and we should not be too apprehensive about incompleteness within the limits of mortality." (Powerful Ideas, Ensign, November 1995, p. 25)
That word, 'incompleteness'...... remember that. And what does that have to do with perfection or imperfection, being clean or unclean? And how does this all relate to using the Atonement daily?
Then I read a few conference talks that all focused on the same thing, at least in my mind they all lead me in the same direction. Those talks are What Lack I Yet? by Elder Larry R. Lawrence, Perfection Pending by President Russell M Nelson, and Be Ye Therefore Perfect---Eventually by Elder Jeffrey R. Holland. (links at the bottom)
One of the big things to know from reading these talks is explained by President Nelson. He talks about 2 types of perfection, mortal perfection as we would think of it, and eternal perfection. At the Sermon on the Mount, when Christ tells us to be perfect, "even as your Father in heaven is perfect", he now raises our sights above the bounds of mortality. Our Heavenly Father has eternal perfection. He explains that the original language of the New Testament was Greek. The word 'perfect' in the New Testament comes from the Greek word 'teleios', which means 'complete.' 'Teleios' is an adjective derived from the noun 'telos', which means 'end'. He has a lot more to say about this meaning and it is not only interesting, but inspiring and encouraging! Christ also said just prior to his crucifixion, on "the third day, I shall be perfected." (Luke 13:32) Did that strike you as it did me? Jesus Christ....spotless, clean, without any sin or misdeed, but not perfect..... not until he died and was resurrected on the third day. Then, and only then, was he perfect, complete, and was finished.
Read Elder Oaks quote again:
"Another idea that is powerful to lift us from discouragement is that the work of the Church.....is an eternal work. Not all problems ....are fixed in mortality. The work of salvation goes on beyond the veil of death, and we should not be too apprehensive about incompleteness within the limits of mortality."
To me this all means we will not be complete/perfect in this mortal life, We will have progression and opportunity to continue that quest and it isn't even possible in mortality.
So what is possible in mortality? How do we get as close to "cleanliness" as possible so we won't be left out when that statement about "no unclean thing entering the kingdom of God" really hits home? As I read Elder Holland's talk and as explained in the last chapter about having a pleasant second coming in the book I mentioned, it seems so clear and simple. I try each day to be better than yesterday. I find things I need to improve, to be a better family member, a better ward member, a better ministering servant to my friends and neighbors, a better community member, to obey the commandments with faith and exactness a little better today than yesterday, ultimately to be more Christ-like just better than yesterday. I even ask my Father in Heaven in prayer what I need to improve or "What lack I yet?" as spoken of so personally in the talk by Elder Lawrence. The whisperings of the Spirit will tell me, and they will be just for me, up close and personal. Then I need to be prepared to ask for the help I will need to work on what ever it is I'm directed to do. I will need to be humble and recognize when I am not quite up to par with improvement. That's what I need to do to make use of the incredible gift of the Atonement every normal, mundane, typical day. It may not always be easy, but it will be worth it!
