Keeping the Commandments IV

From a previous post. . . . Keeping the Commandments III, by Stephen E. Robinson

The apostles and prophets are justified through faith in Christ on exactly the same terms as I am, and when I reach their level of growth and maturity in the gospel, their level of performance will be required of me—but not until then. So I should not despair just because I don’t seem to be doing as well as some others are doing, just as I should not expect the same quantity in tithing as some others pay. What God requires in both cases is fair and appropriate for each individual. ~Steven E. Robinson, Believing Christ, (Deseret Book, Salt Lake City, 1992) 90-93 Dwarsligger edition. (continuing . . .)

However, the converse is also true. Just as I shouldn’t get depressed because some do better than I do, even so I shouldn’t look down on those who don’t do as well as I do. For the terms of the contract are the same for them as for me: “Give me all you have, however great or small a quantity that may be, and I will do the rest while you learn how.” *No matter that we have sixty-one cents, or a dollar and a half, or two cents—the bargain is the same: “Give me all you have and I will do the rest. “Since we are all short of what we need, though by differing amounts, we are all in the same boat and in need of the same salvation. Therefore the Savior’s covenant offer is the same to all.

Attitude  —Obviously then, the critical consideration for determining whether or not we have a valid covenant is not necessary our relative importance or even our “goodness” as we humans judge goodness, but rather our attitude, the desires of our heart. The scriptures themselves make this clear: “Wherefore, redemption cometh in and through the Holy Messiah, for he is full of grace and truth. Behold he offereth himself a sacrifice for sin, to answer the ends of the law, unto all those who have a broken heart and a contrite spirit; and to none else can the ends of the law be answered.” (2 Nephi 2:6-7.)