Show regeneration we have seen in a previous paper on regeneration that our lord taught the necessity of being born again 1 as an indispensable condi uon alon to eno enjoying ying the privileges of the kingdom of gadbut in order to understand this doctrine more fully we must learn from holy writ what human nature is in its fallen state and what it must become in order to find and a place in that kingdom several portraits taken at differ ent times by different inspired men have been presented to us and they all agree in their delineations of human nature one is taken before the deluge t genesis vi 5 and jehovah saw that the wickedness of man on earth was great and that the thoughts thought of his heart were wicked all the day the same picture is presented to us after the deluge genesis viii all 21 eight hundred years later we are told job xv 16 that man drinks unrighteousness as water 11 five hundred years later david psalm xiv draws the same picture as does paul about 1000 years after david romans i 1 19 when they knew go y they glorified him not as god neither were they thankful but became vain rain in their imagination sand their foolish hearts were darkened professing themselves to be wise they became fools and changed the glory of the incorruptible god into an image made like unto corruptible man and to birds and to four footed beasts and creeping things wherefore god also gave them up to uncleanness through the lusts of their own hearts to dishonor their own bodies between themselves who changed the truth of god into a lie and worshipped wor shipped and served the creature more than the creator who is blessed for ever amen nor is it the gentiles alone who have thus fallen the apostle proves that all both jew and gentile are under sin romans ill iii 1018 there is none righteous no not one there is none that under tb there is none that after god they are all gone out of the way they are together become unprofitable there is none that boeth good no not one their throat is an open sepulchre with their tongues they have used deceit the poison of ups is under their lips whose mouth is full of curlings cur sings and bitterness their feet are swift to shed blood destruction and misery are in their way and the way of peace have they not known there is no fear of got goi before their eyes thus is human nature truly depicted by ancient inspired writers and when god again after a period of centuries in these latter days spoke to men through joseph the prophet we find the same truth plainly stated all men must repent and ibe he baptized and not only men but women and children doe doc and cov see sec 18 42 and surely every man must repent or suffer abid ibid lee 19 4 by tran transgression of these holy laws man became sensual and devilish and became becam e fallen man ibid 20 20 and my vineyard has become corrupted every whit and there is none which boeth good save it be a few and they err in many instances because of au all having corrupt minds abid ibid 38 CL 4 all inspired writers who tou touch this subject are unanimous in their testimony all men men are sinners and even their best beat acts come short of the requirements of the divine law this depravity of human nature is illustrated by the fact that already in the second generation after adam all flesh had so corrupted its way that it repented repent edthe the lord that he had made man noah had not been dead a hundred years when his descendants in sodom were sunk in corruption and now when men have had the best chance of showing their true character or nature having had christianity flourishing with all its splendid buildings learning priests and upheld by the kings and emperors for centuries men have advanced no farther than into a pit of corruption and lieland lies lie sand and must either repent or suffer f everyone who knows himself at all or anything of the mysteries of human nature must be aware that all thle this is true true as god such is by nature in his fallen state and if anyone should feel inclined to think that holy men moses david paul joseph smith have overdone the picture they have given of human nature let jet him consider that these men spoke through the spirit of god who knows us infinitely better than we do ourselves let him seek to know himself better and he will find every feature to be correct if this is the case how can man become a citizen of the kingdom of god his sins must be forgiven this god says out jofh is free mercy when a man through jesus asks for forgiveness III 1 I the lord forgive sins unto those who confess their sins before me and ask forgiveness who have not sinned unto death j 1 I the lord will forgive whom I 1 will forgive doc and cov sec 64 7 10 but the sins must also be put away this tb is is the su surest rest sign that they are forgiven by god for as long as they are continued in they are sot not forgiven by god here then is a a covenant between god and man the sins alm must be put away by god so that he no more remembers them against us and by us so that we no longer commit them both these parts of the covenant are signified by baptism in that water we are buried and resurrected the old ola man is dead a new man ip pardoned aido ned justified comes forth we we are baptized for the remission which means putting away of sins but this is not all that is necessary A man may be pardoned and yet have no real power in him to spiritual development this power is imparted by the holy spirit which is received after baptism and this is a necessary power for our growth without the spirit there can c be no spiritual life where that S spirit aielt is not there is death even when w neu the outward form of godliness is there hence the necessity of receiving and continually keeping the spirit when a man has once had his sins put away and received the spirit that is when he has been born by water and spirit then he has bas I 1 entered 11 1 1 the kingdom of GW god prom from that moment his development commences it goes on gradually until he becomes regenerated born of the kingdom he has entered fit fox for all the duties and privileges of this kingdom to be thus fully developed means to be like christ As christ was the express image of our heavenly father so we must become the express image of christ our brother the production of this image in our nature in our character is the work accomplished through regeneration A regenerated map man has rejected not only those works of the flesh t which are so easily seen to be abominable adultery idolatry witchcraft murders drunkenness and such like these are comparatively easy to put away checked as they are even by social and civil laws A man truly horn born again has also put away hatred variance wrath strife seditious heresies her esies envy ings and all those sins of selfish selfishness DeSS which people do not even notice as 4 sin A man in this new state is searching c ing his very feelings an and t thoughts ough and emotions and is anxious that all should be kept blameless on the day of our lord in the words of david he be prays I 1 search thou me 0 lord and make known to me my secret trespasses such as he was not aware of himself A man who stands under the regenerating influence of the spirit received on entering the kingdom of god I 1 gradually ra dually becomes a nature the characteristics nara of which are love joy peace n agen bleness tl eness goodness faith meekness temperance gal iv iven even these are of a different nature to the love loy joy peace etc enjoyed before the reception of the spirit what was formerly of only human origin stained or affected by sin is now sanctified through the spirit it may assist us to a correct appreciation pre clation of human nature and to 01 a new birth when we consider how tho the righteous judge is going to pronounce sentence in his final decision of the deeds of men mein in matthew xiv 41 and following we read depart from me ye cursed into everlasting fire prepared fo for r the devil and his angels angeli 11 why por for murder not exactly for adultery no for theft no for I 1 was hungry and ye gave me no meat I 1 was thirsty and ye gave me no I 1 was a stranger and ye took me not in naked and ye clothed me not sick and in prison and ye visited me not these shall shail go away into everlasting punishment ish ment 11 the office of these individuals is seemingly very slight it is so slight apparently that no earthly court can deal with it yet when the motives are considered and the acts or rather non acts are traced to their source how different they look the man who slays a fellow man for the sake of say 20 or 1000 is indeed very wicked and his condemnation is just j the thief who takes advantage of circumstances and gets away with his brothers property ro lan e A is indeed a criminal aut but s ph shall arwe we say that a man who refuses a cents worth to a hungry man thus helping to lay a foundation for sickness that may terminate in death is a baser criminal than the 4 murderer or to is the selfishness of the man who could not spare one moment in order to comfort a suf ferer less than the selfishness of a petty thief I 1 think not if anything it is greater the educated educate ci man of the world whose whole time is occupied with himself and his own comfort to the neglect of the poor lazarus at his door needs to be born again just as much as the ruffian in a drunken row shoots his fellow man the young lady who could not sacrifice an hour taken from her dancing party or the theatre in order to keep an aged mother company and while away a ted tedious IOUs hour shows thereby that her nature is just as corrupt as that of her poor r sisters who are not able to aim adorn or that corruption with silk and beads A regeneration is needed no wonder then that god in his infinite mercy has laid such a perfect plan of salvation a plan whereby this renewal will be effected if we follow it must we even with paul confess not as though I 1 had already attended neither were already perfect ili iii 12 yet we have the assurance that by using the means provided for us by the gospel we shall surely attain the promises of a glorious resurrection from the dead and life eternal our assurance is founded not on our merit for that will always be more or less doubtful but on gods promise god will give it to us as a free gift if thou wilt be good and vold hold out faithful to the end thou be saved in the kingdom of god which is the greatest of all the gifts of god for there is no gift greater than the gift of salvation doc and cov see sec vi 13 god being willing to give every one can obtain this the greatest of all gifts J M 8 |