"Grace" Defined: An LDS Perspective

Here's what grace means from an LDS perspective: Grace justifies us, it sanctifies us, and it grants us God's power to become stronger.

(1) Justification - Through repentance and a sincere desire to gain the help of Christ's atonement in our lives to do better, we are justified--declared innocent of the sins we have committed.

(2) Sanctification - A purification process that removes from us the effects of sin and gives us hope and optimism to succeed and a realization that God loves us as we are but sees us as we can become.

(3) Empowerment - God's grace--and Christ's atonement--only remove both the punishment for sin and the effects of sin in our lives, they also empower us to become more able to resist committing further sin, a process by which we become more and more like God.

I think that facets 1 and 2 above are very similar concepts in all Christian denominations. Where the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints seems a bit unique is in the idea that grace empowers us to become better--in other words, to become like our Heavenly Parents.

For what it might be worth, this sermon is, I think, an excellent explanation of how sanctification and justification are similar, and how they are different.

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Red Clothing and Resurrection: Jesus Christ's Second Coming

The scriptures teach that when Christ comes again to the earth, that he will be wearing red apparel. Why red ? They also teach that at Christ's coming, many of the dead will become resurrected. Will this only include members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints? Not by a long shot, no matter what some Mormon might tell you.

To Have the Compassion of an Ogre

At least when it comes to using government as a weapon of compassion, I have the compassion of the ogre. I will explain below why I think government cannot and should not be in the business of compassion. The force of government has caused many people to show less compassion to their fellow men. On the other hand, some of the best things happen when government is not compassionate. In such circumstances, individuals personally begin to display more compassion. One such instance of this happened recently in Utah when the governor asked the legislature to convene a special session in order to (among other things) provide special monies to pay for dental care for the disabled . If they didn't fund the governor's compassion project, it would make the legislators look even more heartless in a year where the budget surplus was projected to be at least $150 million. In spite of these political odds, the legislature did not grant the $2 million that 40,000 members of the disabled

Hey, Senator Buttars: "Happy Holidays!!"

Utah Senator Chris Buttars may be a well-meaning individual, but his actions often don't come out that way. His latest lament, with accompanying legislation that businesses use the phrase "Merry Christmas" instead of "Happy Holidays", is at least the third case in point that I am aware of. First, we were entertained by the faux pas made by the Senator in the 2008 Utah Legislative session, when referring to an In reality, America has a Judeo -Christian heritage, so maybe Senator Buttars should change his legislation to "encourage" businesses to advertise with " Happy Hanukkah and Merry Christmas"...? analogy of a human baby, of declaring that " this baby is black ". Then there was the attempt to help a friend develop his property in Mapleton, Utah, by using the force if his legislative office . Let's see if we can top that... Who cares that businesses hock their Christmas wares by using the term "Happy Holidays"? I

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