Mormon Direction

There exists a wide range of beliefs about the scriptures, many versions of God’s doctrines in Christendom, each toting their own ideas of what the Bible says, such that many contradict each other with no real “one mind” existing among them. I have always wondered what promotes such differences and such determination that this or that belief is accepted by each person as true without any confirmation that such a chosen belief coincides with God’s doctrines and principles? I am sure there are many factors that cause this, but some of these factors are not universal, meaning they do not exist across the board and are more circumstantial and personal.

One day, I realized what one of these “universal factors” were. People in general will tend to place their personally designed belief before any true understanding. In other words, the belief comes before a correct understanding of the word of God, so when they are asked what the scriptures mean, they relate their personally designed belief instead of a true understanding of what the scriptures say.

For example, a person seeks a loving relationship and will come to seek that in religion, rejecting or not wanting anything to do with “wrath” because it is not “loving”. They enter into Bible courses, churches and personal study where they exclude the “wrath of God” parts and focus on the “loving God parts”. When they study the parts that the wicked will be burned to a stubble, their personal beliefs kick in to say “No this is not a loving God, for all shall be saved”. Lo and behold, we have a different doctrine about the Bible, even to the point of creating a ministry around it

This is not to say that beliefs are bad, this is to say that beliefs are misused or improperly prioritized in relation to the word of God.

When Jesus said that he does the will of the Father in Heaven, not his own will, he is speaking in terms of the proper “prioritizing” of his personal beliefs. Jesus Christ was clearly an individual, just like you and I and he would clearly have his own personal thoughts and preferences, as displayed in the Garden of Gethsemane where he asked the Father to take the bitter cup from him. Yet, he placed proper understanding of the principles and doctrines of the Father in heaven before his own personal beliefs, desires or preferences.

This means that understanding of God’s word comes first, a belief comes after.

In doing this, a person will likely see that his/her own beliefs are either in line with the true principles of God or not, enabling them to discard their contrary beliefs and bring themselves in line with God’s doctrines and principles. If they do not, they are then willingly and consciously rejecting the principles and truths of God for their own personally designed beliefs and, of course, not following the example of Jesus Christ.

What of free will, does this say that a persons free will is removed or overridden?

The answer is No, as Jesus Christ did not loose his free will, neither will we. To place understanding first and then molding our beliefs to align with the correct understanding offers us a grand opportunity to become the living word, as Jesus Christ was the example of the living word, all the while abiding in and following the Father in spirit and in truth. Do you see the connections here?

To make a comparison of one’s beliefs to what the scriptures say, without first establishing a clear and true understanding, would likely fail or end up in self-justification, because a person will normally place their own belief first and try to match it with the scriptures. If they fail to see any contradiction between their beliefs and the scriptures, but find a passage or two that appears to coincide, they will continue with the same belief that is essentially incorrect. In order to make a comparison, a person must enter the scriptures as a “child”, meaning to be teachable. Without using one’s beliefs that would essentially mold scriptural understanding to the belief. The proper practice is to seek to understand the scriptures as they exist before us. Once correct and proper understanding exists, then compare that understanding with your beliefs. This is how self-evaluation becomes effective.

When God gives personal revelation, he does not mold his truth given in that revelation to fit a persons personal beliefs, he gives the revelation which is his truth and his mind. This is why people experience it as a “enlightenment’. In the face of this enlightenment, a person can discern if their belief or beliefs are correct and if not, they are corrected.

I will give another example which has to do with proper worship of God and God’s place within a marriage.

In the scriptures, it says that we are to love God with all our heart, mind and soul (the First Commandment). The scriptures also say that a man is to love his wife with all his heart and mind. The apparent difficulty is who is loved first or how is love focused? Some believe the husband is to place his wife second and God first. The problem with this belief is that husbands tend to treat their wives as “second” or “secondary” and as a result, that can lead them into unrighteous dominion. We can see how such a belief has taken hold in the middle east regarding how men treat their wives.

If a person, who holds the belief that the man places his wife as second, is asked how can we reconcile the two scriptures between worship and love of God and loving one’s spouse, that person will likely respond in accordance to their belief, that being the wife is placed second. In truth, this person did not relate any truth and understanding of those scriptures, that person only related their own belief about the relationship in a marriage. When clear understanding is gained first and placed first (which is the meaning of having a single eye to God), the belief then comes second. Apply this to the example of marriage, clear understanding of those two passages occurs, as in the following example.

Those two passages indicate the potential to love our spouse as much as we love God, without one conflicting with the other. This speaks of the unlimited potential of love, the power which God can give. Next, those two passages indicates that God must be included within the relationship and being foremost. Thirdly, based on the first two, those passages then indicate that we can have God as foremost in relationships in the manner which is a worship to God and following God while loving our spouse with all our heart. All of this combined says that to love your spouse with all your heart, is abiding the First Commandment because it is part of a proper worship of God. It abides in God’s doctrine of love and marriage and in the power there of, both things that glorifies God. This clearly places God as foremost because the couple, especially the man, has walked in the word of God, which is the same as glorifying God.

To carry this further, the idea of belief that the woman or wife is second is disposed or rejected because it does not align itself with God’s word and principles of truth. The belief that will likely stem from the correct understanding, which was first, manifests as something akin to, “to place the wife (or spouse) as co-equal”. Which coincides with the two passages about loving God and the spouse, coincides with the principles of the priesthood, avoids “unrighteous dominion” and abides in another doctrine of “co-equal” power and glory as shown by Jesus Christ as being at the right hand of God the Father. Of course, so much more can come from this proper union of correct understanding and proper prioritization of beliefs because that is the nature of divine truth and understanding.