Brad Wilcox from his book ‘Changed Through Grace’ shared:
In the Book of Mormon we read, “How the great importance to make these things known unto the inhabitants of the earth, that they may know that there is no flesh that can dwell in the presence of God, save it be through the merits, and mercy, and grace of the Holy Messiah” (2 Nephi 2:8). Let’s examine more closely what is communicated by all three of those key words. Christ’s merits mean that He was the only one authorized and able to perform the Atonement. His anointing in the premortal world, unique birth and perfect life made Him the only one who could atone for us. The fact that he chose to do so means He loves us.
Christ’s mercies mean that He is willing to save us from the physical and spiritual deaths that came as a consequence of the Fall. Even though we are completely undeserving, He can resurrect us, forgive us as we repent, and enter a covenant relationship with us. The fact that He chooses to do so means He loves us just the way we are.
Christ’s grace means that he stands ready to transform and exalt us. He offers us His divine help throughout that perfecting process. The fact that he chooses to do so means he loves us enough not to leave us just as we are.
It is this miracle of transformation that is often the focus of our prophets, seers, and revelators. A look at the general conference addresses over the last fifty years reveals that the most quoted verses from the Book of Mormon have been Mosiah 3:19 (putting off the natural man and and becoming a Saint through the atonement), 3 Nephi 27:27 (the manner of men we ought to be—even as Christ), and Moroni 10:32 (coming unto Christ and being perfected in Him). Do you see a theme? The Brethren are consistently teaching us of both the need to change and the power to change. We don’t have to settle for the status quo. We can all “triumph in redeeming grace” (Hymns, no. 163).
This was the message that caught the interest of my great-great-grandmother, Louisa Gwyther. She was the daughter of a wealthy minister in England. As a child Louisa read the Bible, but she felt confused at the contradictions she saw between what Jesus taught and the religious practices that surrounded her. She felt there had to be something better. In 1849 she heard the Mormon missionaries and attended LDS church services. The members were living the way she wanted to live. She realized this was the fullness she had been waiting for. One week later, unbeknownst to her family, she was baptized in the middle of a big storm. She climbed down a rope from her second-story bedroom window and met the missionaries, who had to break the ice in a stream to baptize her. When the secret came out, Louisa was disowned and cast out of her home for joining what her parents called “that low down set of people.
Not long after this, Louisa met her husband-to-be, George Taylor, at a church meeting. She was in a silk dress and wore her dark hair in long ringlets. George told his friends that she was the girl he wanted to marry. They told him she was out of his league, but George won Louisa’s love, and they were married in 1853. ~Brad Wilcox, Changed Through Grace (Salt Lake City: Deseret Book, 2017), 32-35 Dwarsligger edition (continued)
