Empowered By Grace To Choose The Right

According to Mormonism, all of mankind are essentially "gods in embryo." I've never understood this and would love to have a Mormon try and explain this one to me (with reference to John 10:30):

Good Question! A number of Jews were apostate at the time of Christ. They had a counterfeit orthodoxy (correct belief), which led to an errant orthopraxis (correct action) and an mistaken orthocardia(correct heart). One manifestation of incorrect doctrine was their mistaken concept of blasphemy.

In John 10 it says that there were Jews who wanted Jesus to plainly declare His Messiah-ship. When Jesus did, they wanted to stone Him for saying He is the Son of God and one with the Father. They considered equating man with God to be blasphemy.

John 10:30 I and my Father are one. Then the Jews took up stones again to stone him. Jesus answered them, Many good works have I shewed you from my Father; for which of those works do ye stone me? The Jews answered him, saying, For a good work we stone thee not; but for blasphemy; and because that thou, being a man, makest thyself God. Jesus answered them, Is it not written in your law, I said, Ye are gods? If he called them gods, unto whom the word of God came, and the scripture cannot be broken; Say ye of him, whom the Father hath sanctified, and sent into the world, Thou blasphemest; because I said, I am the Son of God?

These Jews had changed the meaning of blasphemy. These Jews believed that considering a man to be like god was blasphemy. Jesus corrected this false definition by reminding them of Ps. 82:6. If God had called the wicked judges and the afflicted and needy "I have said, Ye are gods; and all are children of the Most High," then considering man to be gods is not blasphemy; let alone Christ declaring that He is the Son of God.

So, Here Christ declares His relationship with the Father as the Son of God, and corrects the Jews for their mistaken definition of blasphemy, and verifies that Psalms 82:6 really does refer to the judges and the afflicted and needy as gods. The point of the psalm being that the judges who were chosen in the pre-existence in the Heavenly Council [congregation of the mighty (Elohim = gods)] covenanted to judge righteously and that even the afflicted and needy are considered gods in embryo and are of infinite potential worth just as much as the judges themselves are who must remember that without God they will "die like men."

How can man be considered a "god in embryo" if gods have no beginning and no end? That concept violates all those scriptures in Isaiah that says before God was no God formed neither after. And there is only God who saves.

Joseph Smith answered this question:

"The mind or the intelligence which man possesses is co-equal [co-eternal] with God himself. I know that my testimony is true; hence, when I talk to these mourners, what have they lost? Their relatives and friends are only separated from their bodies for a short season: their spirits which existed with God have left the tabernacle of clay only for a little moment, as it were; and they now exist in a place where they converse together the same as we do on the earth. I am dwelling on the immortality of the spirit of man. Is it logical to say that the intelligence of spirits is immortal, and yet that it has a beginning? The intelligence of spirits had no beginning, neither will it have an end. That is good logic. That which has a beginning may have an end. There never was a time when there were not spirits; for they are co-equal [co-eternal] with our Father in heaven."[The King Follett Sermon By Joseph Smith, Jr. (1805–1844)]

But there is a big difference between being considered God and a god. God the Father will always remain our God and Father. And Christ will always remain our Savior and source of Eternal Life. Men don't become gods. That is our species. Gods are not created; they ARE or ARE NOT. And as the self-existent Christ declares I AM THAT I AM, so men ARE THAT THEY ARE. Christ does not only reveal the relationship of God to man, but also reveals the relationship of man to God. The eternal spirits of men where created children of God (but not created from nothing) and placed in physical bodies and through Christ can be made eternal parents like the Eternal Father. But men were not created gods, men have always been "gods in embryo." A child becoming like a parent is no more blasphemy in heaven then it is on Earth.But God calls Himself the Most High God.

If God had a Father, then doesn't He take orders from His Father?

Remember that God doesn't have a beginning but is co-existent and co-eternal. Yes, Our God loves His Father. But being God and being an Eternal Father is not "King of the Mountain." And while God loves His Father like we should Love Our Eternal Father, Our God doesn't "take orders." That is because God is an agent unto himself. He doesn't need to be told what to do. Like Christ, he sees a need and does it before needing to be asked.

John 5:19 Then answered Jesus and said unto them, Verily, verily, I say unto you, The Son can do nothing of himself, but what he seeth the Father do: for what things soever he doeth, these also doeth the Son likewise.

D&C 58:26 For behold, it is not meet that I should command in all things; for he that is compelled in all things, the same is a slothful and not a wise servant; wherefore he receiveth no reward. 27 Verily I say, men should be anxiously engaged in a good cause, and do many things of their own free will, and bring to pass much righteousness; 28 For the power is in them, wherein they are agents unto themselves. And inasmuch as men do good they shall in nowise lose their reward. 29 But he that doeth not anything until he is commanded, and receiveth a commandment with doubtful heart, and keepeth it with slothfulness, the same is damned.

How can this scripture say that man can do good? Paul says that no man can do good.

This is the key to the whole grace/works enchilada right here. The power in man to do good was given by the grace of Christ. Without which man could do no good but would have been doomed to become a servant to the devil and suffer death, hell, and eternal damnation. While the spirit of all men possesses will, which is an essential characteristic of existence; what Christ's grace and atonement does is makes us agents, makes us free, and gives us the choice to choose righteously and empowers us to make decisions that will result in our becoming like our Heavenly Father.

All mankind have lost their souls. We have given ourselves away to sin and the devil. But Christ has purchased us with His flesh and blood. He has paid the price of sin and death alone. But now we must give God what He has bought and paid for--us. We are expected to give God our whole souls and keep nothing back unlike Ananias and Sapphira.

So, accepting Christ is only the first of many righteous choices we need to make. God expects us to surrender our wills and sacrifice a broken heart and a contrite spirit to Him. We will be empowered to make these correct choices only by the grace of Christ, who will not make our decisions for us, or coerce us, or force us. Christ has sent the Holy Ghost which will guide us into all truth, and empower us, entice us, and persuade us to repent, receive specific covenants and ordinances and do right. And as we do right (only by Christ's grace), the light, power, spirit, and grace of Christ's love will grow within us until we are fully changed, sanctified, purifies, and perfected. And if not fully achieved now, sanctification may require 1000 more years during the Millennium to complete but we need to get on the straight and narrow now and not procrastinate the day of our repentance.

This is how the grace of Christ has the power to fully save us from our sins and not just in our sins. This is how we are saved by grace 100%. This is how Christ's grace is all-sufficient for our salvation. Christ doesn't sweep our sins under the rug, but will change us and by His grace we are empowered to choose the right.

Matt. 7: 21 Not every one that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven; but he that doeth the will of my Father which is in heaven.

God allows us to participate in our salvation by exercizing our will and Christ-given agency so that we might witness the power, grace, spirit and love of Christ in us which empowers every correct and righteous decision. But in no way does man contribute one iota to his own salvation without Christ. We don't meet God half way or even part way. Christ's grace empowers every good work, every act of righteousness, every sanctifying ordinance. But choosing righteousness and obedience in and through Christ is required for exaltation.

Geography and Genetics

The Nephites occupied a limited geography of not more than 300 miles square. The Sea south and the sea north are not referring to the Arctic and Antarctic Oceans. Seas can be lakes, or gulfs (part of larger bodies of water).

Hel. 3:8 And it came to pass that they did multiply and spread, and did go forth from the land southward to the land northward, and did spread insomuch that they began to cover the face of the whole earth, from the sea south to the sea north, from the sea west to the sea east.

The Book of Mormon never claimed that they would be the major genetic ancestor to the modern Native Americans The Book of Mormon continually refers to the Book of Mormon coming forth to a "remnant of their seed." This is of course specifically referring to genetics. The Nephites were the victims of genocide and the Lamanites had continually been mixing with the indigenous people from the beginning. The Nephites in the Introduction were only considered "principal ancestors" in terms of the covenants of the Lord and not genetics. Because of continual genetic mixing of Lamanites with indigious Americans, there is a significantly different connotation to saying someone is a direct descendant of the Lamanites verses a direct descendant of the Nephites. While the former is often heard, I have never heard the later sentiment expressed.

1 Ne. 15: 3-1413 And now, the thing which our father meaneth concerning the grafting in of the natural branches through the fulness of the Gentiles, is, that in the latter days, when our seed shall have dwindled in unbelief, yea, for the space of many years, and many generations after the Messiah shall be manifested in body unto the children of men, then shall the fulness of the gospel of the Messiah come unto the Gentiles, and from the Gentiles unto the remnant of our seed— 14 And at that day shall the remnant of our seed know that they are of the house of Israel, and that they are the covenant people of the Lord; and then shall they know and come to the knowledge of their forefathers, and also to the knowledge of the gospel of their Redeemer, which was ministered unto their fathers by him; wherefore, they shall come to the knowledge of their Redeemer and the very points of his doctrine, that they may know how to come unto him and be saved. (see also 1 Ne. 13:34,38-39, 2 Ne. 30:3-4)

While the majority of Native American DNA is Asian, Siberian and Mongolian, by mtDNA haplogroup migration genetics studies. Researcher have discovered haplogroup X2a which is not found in Siberia or Mongolia but is considered a founding haplogroup in America because it is found in pre-Columbian remains. However, the highest concentration of X2 haplogroup is found in the Druze of Galilee. Researchers do not believe the Druze to be the source of the Haplogroup X but that they have preserved the mtDNA through intermarriage which represents the genotype of the people living in Galilee at the time the Druze settled in Northern Israel.

The Druze: A Population Genetic Refugium of the Near East. PLoS ONE. 2008 May 7;3(5)
http://www.plosone.org/article/info:doi%2F10.1371%2Fjournal.pone.0002105

There is a small trace of X in Altai Republic in Central Asia. However according to the study: it shows that the X2a clave in America is in not a decendant variation of the X2e in Altai or anywhere else in Asia. But that X2a must have undergone an early split in the phylogenetic tree from the Middle East. In other words, the X2a in America came directly from the Middle East and not via Asia. They also say the the Altians only have a very low rate of haplogroup X, and that it got there through recent migration. The highest rates of haplogroup X are found in the Druze and the Orkney of Scotland.

Origin and Diffusion of mtDNA Haplogroup X, Am J Hum Genet. 2003 November; 73(5): 1178–1190. http://www.pubmedcentral.nih.gov/art...?artid=1180497
http://www.pubmedcentral.nih.gov/picrender.fcgi?artid=1180497&blobtype=pdf

After All We Can Do? Part 2

Nephi says he saved by grace after all they can do in reference to why they bothered keeping the law of Moses knowing full well that it did not save but Christ saves by grace alone. But Nephi said after all he could do meaning they kept the law of Moses even though it was dead to them until the time works would be done away.

2 Nephi 22:23-27
23 For we labor diligently to write, to persuade our children, and also our brethren, to believe in Christ, and to be reconciled to God; for we know that it is by grace that we are saved, after all we can do. 24 And, notwithstanding we believe in Christ, we keep the law of Moses, and look forward with steadfastness unto Christ, until the law shall be fulfilled. 25 For, for this end was the law given; wherefore the law hath become dead unto us, and we are made alive in Christ because of our faith; yet we keep the law because of the commandments. 26 And we talk of Christ, we rejoice in Christ, we preach of Christ, we prophesy of Christ, and we write according to our prophecies, that our children may know to what source they may look for a remission of their sins. 27 Wherefore, we speak concerning the law that our children may know the deadness of the law; and they, by knowing the deadness of the law, may look forward unto that life which is in Christ, and know for what end the law was given. And after the law is fulfilled in Christ, that they need not harden their hearts against him when the law ought to be done away (ie works done away).

The LDS church do not believe that we can contribute one iota to our salvation. God saves us by grace alone. But after salvation, we still need to be sanctified. So, LDS do works like baptism, reading scriptures, everlasting temple covenant, and prayer to better have opportunities to receive Christ's light, grace, spirit, and love and to point us better to Christ and to help us give our whole souls and surrender our whole wills to Him. To this end the spirit, and love of Christ sanctifies us, changes our sin nature, purges us from sin, purifies us like silver, and completely turns us away from sin.

These works are not of man but of God, like the temple was said to have been built of God and not man because God does not dwell in temples made with hands. But God dwelt in Solomons temple. And that is because God inspired and empowered its construction. In the same way the Holy Ghost empowers us to sanctifying works because no unclean thing can dwell in the presence of God. And without the Holy Ghost and the love of Christ in receiving these works they are dead and of no worth. There is no guarantee that if someone is baptized and reads scriptures and prays that they will receive Eternal Life if the Holy Ghost and the Love of Christ is not in them. They are just going through the motions but not allowing the works of God to change them, which is the whole purpose.

Yes, we need to receive all the works of God because they are designed for our sanctification. But we only can receive them by the empowerment of the Holy Ghost. And we must fully receive the Holy Ghost who was sent by Christ. To continue in the Holy Ghost and the grace of Christ you have to continue to choose to follow the Holy Ghost. Christ says that we must receive him who he has sent.

John 13: 20 Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that receiveth whomsoever I send receiveth me; and he that receiveth me receiveth him that sent me.

Once you accept Christ the Holy Ghost will work within you to empower/persuade/entice you to sanctifying works and changing your sin nature, turning you away from sin, and purifying you like silver by filling you with the love/light/power/spirit/grace of Christ. Christ nor the Holy Ghost will force/coerce you. You still must continue to exercise you free will, and moral agency to choose Christ in every decision. Whereas you had no choice before to choose good, now with the Holy Ghost you now have a choice and can choose rightly.

2 Ne. 2: 16 Wherefore, the Lord God gave unto man that he should act for himself. Wherefore, man could not act for himself save it should be that he was enticed by the one or the other.

LDS know that we could do no good unless Christ enticed us by His spirit to do good. It is impossible to choose good without Christ. He gives us the choice without which there would be no choice but death and hell.

2 Nephi 9:7-9 Wherefore, it must needs be an infinite atonement—save it should be an infinite atonement this corruption could not put on incorruption. Wherefore, the first judgment which came upon man must needs have remained to an endless duration. And if so, this flesh must have laid down to rot and to crumble to its mother earth, to rise no more. O the wisdom of God, his mercy and grace! For behold, if the flesh should rise no more our spirits must become subject to that angel who fell from before the presence of the Eternal God, and became the devil, to rise no more. And our spirits must have become like unto him, and we become devils, angels to a devil, to be shut out from the presence of our God, and to remain with the father of lies, in misery, like unto himself;

Christ has bought and paid for your soul and now you must deliver the goods and give God your whole self, surrendering your total will, and deny yourselves of all sin and keep nothing back. You won't be perfect at all at this, and the Holy Ghost will remain with you either persuading you by power or by guilt. The Holy Ghost has operation in you not on your merits but the merits of Christ imputed to you by your justification in Him. But we must continue in the path of sanctification and in the grace of Christ to the end. As Paul said, we must finish the course, keep the faith, and endure to the end. Therefore it is possible to fall from grace and loose the spirit. Guilt is still the workings of the spirit. It is when we no longer feel remorse, guilt, or sorrow for sin that the spirit has ceased to strive with us.

Gen. 6:3 And the Lord said, My spirit shall not always strive with man

LDS recognize that it is God that empowers to good choices and good works. Accepting Christ is only the first of many good choices we can make. God has given us sanctifying works that the Holy Ghost will empower us to receive. The church like the Holy Ghost is working to entice/empower/persuade us to receive all the sanctifying works of God. If we do not receive them and do not repent I can't say if a person has fallen from grace. That is for God to judge, but eventually every person will have to receive every word that has proceeded forth from the mouth of God.

And we will have the Millennium to complete our path of sanctification. But only those who are on the path already will endure His coming or be resurrected in the first resurrection and be allotted that time to continue in sanctification with Christ. Because no unclean thing can enter into Gods presence after the Millennium when the Earth becomes Celestialized (a sea of glass mingled with fire). Eventually, the grace of Christ will have the power to literally perfect us just as Christ invited us to be perfect as He and His Father are perfect.

Co-Eternal Spirit and Purchased Possession

The Prophet Joseph Smith taught in the King Follett Discourse that our spirits have always existed. Our spirits together with their inherent characteristic of will are co-existent with God and are without beginning or end. Will is essential characteristic of existence. While we possessed will, we were not free. There is a difference between will (the ability to choose) and agency or freedom (choices). While we possess will, without Christ, we would have had no choice but death and hell. Through Christ we can choose righteousness and eternal life.

D&C 93:29-30 Man was also in the beginning with God. Intelligence, or the light of truth, was not created or made, neither indeed can be. All truth is independent in that sphere in which God has placed it, to act for itself, as all intelligence also; otherwise there is no existence.

Abr. 3: 22 Now the Lord had shown unto me, Abraham, the intelligences that were organized (not created ex nihilo) before the world was; and among all these there were many of the noble and great ones;

That the spirits and will of man are co-existent with God and therefore have always existed is why the only sacrifice acceptable to God is of a broken heart and contrite spirit or a willing heart and a willing mind. That is the only thing that God did not own and why the scriptures say that God bought or purchased us. Christ in the garden demonstrated the complete surrender of His will to the Father " nevertheless not my will but as thou wilt" (Matt. 26:39)

God has created all things both in heaven and earth. But creation means organized or formed like a builder builds a house or a potter molds clay. In this way we were created/organized children of God but not created from nothing (ex nihilo). God made us free but did not give us will. With Gods infinite foreknowledge, had God given us will that would be like giving a gun to to a known mass murderer. Instead, He gave us freedom and opportunity to exercise our will to choose righteousness.

God did not create Satan from nothing (ex nihilo) either, because then God would be responsible for creating a defective creation. But God calls us purchased possessions. In fact Paul warned that false teachers would enter in the church and deny that God purchased us. Some are confused about what was purchased or bought and what was the price and how was payment made (Acts 20:28, Eph. 1:14, 1 Cor. 6:20, 1 Cor. 7:23)

2 Pet. 2: 1 But there were false prophets also among the people, even as there shall be false teachers among you, who privily shall bring in damnable heresies, even denying the Lord that bought them, and bring upon themselves swift destruction.

Our souls including our will are the purchased possession. This is the only thing that God did not own and why God says the worth of souls is great (D&C 18:10). God did not buy sin; that was the price. The price of our souls is the consequences of sin or death and hell. What need would God have with sin, death or hell. Sin has no current or future value. Instead, we are God's purchased possessions. And while worthless in our current state, through Christ, we can be adopted children of God and can be made like God, making the potential worth of man infinite. The payment was done by the blood and body of Christs atonement (Acts 20:28).

God is eternal and has no beginning and no end. God created all things and organized the spirits of man as His children. But if man was created from nothing (ex nihilo) because the opposite of created is eternal, then man, a created being, could never become eternal and receive eternal life.

We own our own souls which are self-existent and co-eternal with God. Therefore we can sin and lose ourselves to the penalties of death and hell (Mark 8:36–37). We can hire ourselves out, receiving the wages from that spirit we listeth to obey (Alma 3:27, Mosiah 2:33), and sell ourselves for naught (1 Ne. 21:4). But God has said, in his mercy and by His grace He has redeemed and purchased us by paying us the price of sin by Christ's blood therefore we are no longer our own but are purchased possessions. The purchased price goes to us in exchange for our souls. This is a free gift.

We are the ones who will judge ourselves and send ourselves to hell. Justice is our own perfect recollection of all our guilt and our uncleanliness before God, and our broken promises to God. Justice will exists in our minds and will demand payment when the veil is lifted from our minds at the final judgement. God pays the demands of justice which we will exact upon ourselves. God is merciful and will be our advocate and not mention our sins to us. But we will. {Secret: we grade our own exams}

We then are expected to surrender our entire will to God in this world and hold nothing back. We do this by repentance and entering into the process of sanctification in Christ who will save us from our sins and not in our sins. Because no unclean thing can enter into the presence of God. The process of sanctification will continue in the Millennium.

We are promised to be glorified with Christ, become heirs of God and joint-heirs with Christ and receive all things. These are the sheep who will be with Christ on the right hand of God. These are they who will be considered children of God who will go on to exaltation to sit with Christ in His thrown.

On the other hand, those who accept the the blood of Christ but are not sanctified and purified because although they accept payment they do not fully give their whole souls to God but retain some back. They do not sell all they have, or like Ananias and Sapphira who "kept back a part of the price." These are the goats who will be on the left hand of God. They will be saved from hell but will be ministering servants (angels) and circle the throne of God but will not sit in Christ's throne with Him. They will not be heirs of exaltation. There will be saved beings who do not go to Hell but are damned and cannot enjoy eternal progression and exaltation. Angels will forever be with God, but will not be like God.

Gal. 4: 7 Wherefore thou art no more a servant, but a son; and if a son, then an heir of God through Christ.

Heb 1:3-4 Who being the brightness of his glory, and the express image of his person, and upholding all things by the word of his power, when he had by himself purged our sins, sat down on the right hand of the Majesty on high; Being made so much better than the angels, as he hath by inheritance obtained a more excellent name than they.

So, while all mankind has been purchased, the question remains; will we give God everything that He is due. Will we come unto God with a broken heart and a contrite spirit, a willing heart and willing mind and our whole souls for which He has already bought and paid for with the body and blood of His Son.

Omni 1:26 And now, my beloved brethren, I would that ye should come unto Christ, who is the Holy One of Israel, and partake of his salvation, and the power of his redemption. Yea, come unto him, and offer your whole souls as an offering unto him, and continue in fasting and praying, and endure to the end; and as the Lord liveth ye will be saved.

Mosiah 2:21 I say unto you that if ye should serve him who has created you from the beginning, and is preserving you from day to day, by lending you breath, that ye may live and move and do according to your own will, and even supporting you from one moment to another—I say, if ye should serve him with all your whole souls yet ye would be unprofitable servants.

"I have another subject to dwell upon, which is calculated to exalt man; but it is impossible for me to say much on this subject. I shall therefore just touch upon it, for time will not permit me to say all. It is associated with the subject of the resurrection of the dead—namely, the soul—the mind of man —the immortal spirit. Where did it come from? All learned men and doctors of divinity say that God created it in the beginning; but it is not so: the very idea lessens man in my estimation. I do not believe the doctrine; I know better. Hear it, all ye ends of the world; for God has told me so; and if you don’t believe me, it will not make the truth without effect. I will make a man appear a fool before I get through; if he does not believe it. I am going to tell of things more noble.

We say that God Himself is a self-existing being. Who told you so? It is correct enough; but how did it get into your heads? Who told you that man did not exist in like manner upon the same principles? Man does exist upon the same principles. God made a tabernacle and put a spirit into it, and it became a living soul. (Refers to the Bible.) How does it read in the Hebrew? It does not say in the Hebrew that God created the spirit of man. It says, “God made man out of the earth and put into him Adam’s spirit, and so became a living body.”

The mind or the intelligence which man possesses is co-equal [co-eternal] with God himself. I know that my testimony is true; hence, when I talk to these mourners, what have they lost? Their relatives and friends are only separated from their bodies for a short season: their spirits which existed with God have left the tabernacle of clay only for a little moment, as it were; and they now exist in a place where they converse together the same as we do on the earth. I am dwelling on the immortality of the spirit of man. Is it logical to say that the intelligence of spirits is immortal, and yet that it has a beginning? The intelligence of spirits had no beginning, neither will it have an end. That is good logic. That which has a beginning may have an end. There never was a time when there were not spirits; for they are co-equal [co-eternal] with our Father in heaven."
[The King Follett Sermon By Joseph Smith, Jr. (1805–1844)]

These temples are sacred structures in which eternal questions are answered, truths are taught, and ordinances performed so that we can live with an understanding of our divine inheritance as children of God and with an awareness of our potential as eternal beings. The house of the Lord helps you to see the end from the beginning. Just as the temples of God are sacred, so are your temporal bodies. The Apostle Paul said: “Know ye not that your body is the temple of the Holy Ghost which is in you, which ye have of God, and ye are not your own? For ye are bought with a price: therefore glorify God in your body, and in your spirit, which are God’s” (1 Cor. 6:19–20).
[Dieter F. Uchtdorf, “See the End from the Beginning,” Ensign, May 2006, 42–45]

I am indebted to President Boyd K. Packer, who made us aware of the fact that the term free agency appears nowhere in holy writ. Instead, the scriptures generally speak of agency or free will (Mosiah 18:28, D&C 58: 27), but when agency is modified, it is referred to as “moral agency” (D&C 101:78). . . . This wonderful plan of happiness was provided at a very high price. As the Apostle Paul taught the Corinthians: “What? know ye not that your body is the temple of the Holy Ghost which is in you, which ye have of God, and ye are not your own? For ye are bought with a price” (1 Cor. 6:19–20). That price, of course, was the atoning sacrifice of Jesus Christ, (D&C 19:16–19).
[Spencer J. Condie, “Agency: The Gift of Choices,” Ensign, Sep 1995, 16]

You have agency, and you are free to choose. But there is actually no free agency. Agency has its price. You have to pay the consequences of your choices. Human agency was purchased with the price of Christ’s suffering. The power of Christ’s Atonement overcomes the effect of sin on the condition of wholehearted repentance. Through and by the Savior’s universal and infinite Atonement, all have been redeemed from the Fall and have become free forever to act for themselves (2 Ne. 2:26).
[Dieter F. Uchtdorf, “On the Wings of Eagles,” Ensign, Jul 2006, 10–15]

My beloved brothers and sisters, I invite you to join with me in a prayer that we may enjoy the Spirit of the Lord while I attempt to say a few things about the worth of a soul (D&C 18:10–11) . . . . In origin, man is a son of God. The spirits of men “are begotten sons and daughters unto God” (D&C 76:24). Through that birth process, self-existing intelligence was organized into individual spirit beings. . . . It is in the attainment of eternal life, which man must earn in mortality, that he reaches his full potentiality. Man, being a child of God—who himself is a glorified, resurrected, immortal soul, enjoying eternal life—has, in harmony with the universal law of nature, the potentiality to reach, in full maturity, the high status of his Heavenly Father. John was alluding to this truth when he wrote, “We [are] the sons of God, and it doth not yet appear what we shall be: but we know that, when he shall appear, we shall be like him” (1 Jn. 3:2). . . . In comparison to eternal life, all else sinks into insignificance. For, as Jesus said: “What shall it profit a man, if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul? Or what shall a man give in exchange for his soul?” (Mark 8:36–37.)
[Marion G. Romney, “The Worth of Souls,” Ensign, Nov 1978, 13]

Tithing and the LDS Mall and City Creek Center Project

Since the unveiling of the LDS Church's plan for the downtown Salt Lake Crossroads Mall project (City Creek Center), there has been some vocal complaining. Some feel like the church shouldn't be involved in these kinds of projects. Others feel like the money for such extravagant projects could be put to better use helping the poor. Not that they have any idea how to help the poor, but this kind of thing ain't it, according to them. The LDS church should start a soup kitchen, women's shelter or have a van that passes out hygiene kits. That is helping the poor, not extravagant shopping mall with a retractable roof (nice touch; to bad Gateway didn't think of that). While shelters and soup kitchens are great ideas and Salt Lake has those programs, and I have personally participated in them, I think the complaints against the new City Creek Center are based on some unfortunate misunderstandings.

First off, no tithing dollars are being used for the City Creek Center. This Downtown revitalization project is being funded by Property Reserve which is the LDS church's commercial real-estate arm. This company functions like the LDS Foundation which gets its money from the profits from church associated companies like Bonneville Communications and Beneficial Life as well as dividends and interest from other investments. LDS subsidiaries like Property Reserve and the LDS Foundation are used to maintain the churches non-profit status by using earnings from investments to contribute to the local community.

Many donations are made to local charities by the LDS Foundation in addition to the Corporation of the First Presidency or Cooperation of the Presiding Bishopric which run the church's welfare and humanitarian aid programs. The problem with the LDS church is that it is managed well. The church invests its tithing money very conservatively. However, invested money earns interest. So, to maintain the church's tax-exempt status, subsidiaries like the LDS Foundation use those earnings to give to support local soup kitchens, women's shelters, and even in several instances has contributed to repair fire-damaged or time-worn churches of other denominations in the Salt Lake City area. LDS Foundation donations are not reported in conference. Like the LDS Foundation, Property Reserve uses earnings obtained by being major shareholders in several businesses. This money represents earnings from dividends and interest on investments but it is not the tithing itself. Also, the LDS church does not feel a need to set up competing programs in the community. If there is a program that works, the LDS church is happy to fund it and support it instead of competing against it.

The City Creek Center and other downtown revitalization projects are a great service to Salt Lake City. Crossroads mall was not built to any kind of seismic code. The entire mall and parking structure would have collapsed in even a moderate earthquake. Salt Lake couldn't find any investors or developers who were willing to touch this project with a 10-foot pole. So, the city does what it always does when it gets into a financial pinch and turns to the LDS church for a bail out. And the LDS church comes through in a spectacular way. Crossroads was such a disaster that the church just demolished the entire mall and parking deck and needed to start from scratch. However, because the church is doing such an excellent job, they were able to attract Taubman Centers, Inc. as a partner-owner in the project. Taubman Centers, Inc is the #1 upscale mall owner-development company in the United States. This mall project is a benevolent action on the part of the LDS church that will create jobs and improve the image of downtown Salt Lake and support increased commerce and tourism. The increased residential space downtown will also support those who wish to live and work in close proximity saving money on the increasing costs of gasoline and transportation.

That said, there is another major and even more fundamental misunderstanding at work here involving the purpose of tithing. The purpose of tithing is not to feed or assist the poor. Tithing is to be used to build the kingdom of God. It is wrong to think that just because you pay your tithing, that you no longer have responsibility to care for the poor and needy. Tithing is Gods money and is used specifically for building the Kingdom of God and is not to be "double-counted" as providing for the poor. Tithing is used to build temples and churches worldwide and maintain buildings and church programs. For this precise reason, the LDS church collects a fast offering, in addition to tithing, which is used to fund local, church-wide welfare and worldwide humanitarian aid programs. These programs are overseen by the Corporation of the First Presidency and the Corporation of the Presiding Bishop. Sometimes it can be easy to be generous with Gods money then your own money.

Above giving tithing and a generous fast offering, LDS members are encouraged to join local service organizations like their local Rotary or Kiwanis Clubs and donate money and time to local and worldwide service projects. The Rotary Club in Salt Lake operates an extensive child reading and tutoring program and worldwide they are building wells, and building grain mills so that young women don't have to spend all day grinding grain by hand. By employing such simple technology like a grain mill, it allows young women who used to spend all day grinding grain by hand, the time to attend school. The Rotary Club also sponsors a vaccination program with the goal to eradicate polio by 2010. Programs sponsored by private organizations like the Rotary Club are needed because many countries will allow programs sponsored by the Rotary organization while they do not allow government or religious group sponsored programs.

Again, feeding the poor is not the purpose of tithing. Tithing is to build the kingdom. It is our responsibility to feed the poor with our own money and not Gods money. Sounds like some are generous with Gods money which they hope will cover their responsibility for the poor. That is just like many liberals who when asked if they help the poor say they pay taxes and think that that should suffice and that It is the governments job to help the poor. Yes, the government has an obligation to alleviate suffering, and churches generally are more efficient than the government at helping the poor. But, that is what fast offering is for and not tithing. However, no one does a better job at helping the poor than families, neighbors, and individuals.

Malachi 3:10 Bring the whole tithe into the storehouse, that there may be food in My house.

Some critics quote Malachi to support the idea that tithing is to be used to feed the poor. However, they do not understand that God does not need literal food in His house which is the Temple. The food spoken of in Malachi 3 is not edible food. This verse is speaking figuratively for resources for Gods temples to be built. And that is why LDS church members pay offerings on top of a full tithing. Tithing does not get us out of our responsibility to care for the poor. I know many would like to "double dip" and use tithing and taxes to satisfy their "rich guilt." This is why on top of paying tithing the Early Christians lived "with all things in common." That is, they lived the law of consecration. Tithing alone was not enough to care for the poor. Tithing is to build the kingdom. Everything else you have is to care for the poor. Remember that Christ told the the rich young man to sell everything he had, not just 10% and give it to the poor and come and follow Him.

Matt. 19: 21 (Mark 10: 21) Jesus said unto him, If thou wilt be perfect, go and sell that thou hast, and give to the poor, and thou shalt have treasure in heaven: and come and follow me.

Finally, in accordance with Malachi 3, tithing money is used precisely to build and support the house of God. "My house" in Malachi 3 is referring to the temple. And the LDS church uses its tithing to build temples all over the world making the everlasting temple covenants and sealings available to all nations, kindreds, tongues, and peoples. The temple more than any other program serves to empower people to pull themselves out of poverty. The temple breaks the poverty cycle. To be worthy to enter the temple one must forsake the destructive societal plagues of promiscuity, substance abuse, and dishonesty.