Saved Through Baptism. Andreas: The water of the
flood is a type of baptism because it both punished evil people and saved the
good, just as baptism expels evil spirits and saves those who turn to Christ.
This shows the great power of baptism, and how much we need it. Catena (J. A. Cramer, ed. Catena in Epistolas
Catholicas. Oxford: Clarendon, 1840, 70). (Gerald Bray, ed., James, 1-2 Peter, 1-3 John, Jude [Ancient Christian Commentary on
Scripture; Downers Grove, Ill.: InterVarsity Press, 2000], 110 [Andreas was a
seventh-century monk who collected commentary from earlier writers to form a
catena on various biblical books])
In D&C
59:5-13, we read the following:
Wherefore, I give unto them a commandment,
saying thus: Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, with all thy
might, mind, and strength; and in the name of Jesus Christ thou shalt serve
him. Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself. Thou shalt not steal; neither
commit adultery, nor kill, nor do anything like unto it. Thou shalt thank the
Lord thy God in all things. Thou shalt offer a sacrifice unto the Lord thy God
in righteousness, even that of a broken heart and a contrite spirit. And that
thou mayest more fully keep thyself unspotted from the world, thou shalt go to
the house of prayer and offer up thy sacraments upon my holy day; For verily
this is a day appointed unto you to rest from your labors, and to pay thy
devotions unto the Most High; Nevertheless thy vows shall be offered up in
righteousness on all days and at all times; But remember that on this, the
Lord's day, thou shalt offer thine oblations and thy sacraments unto the Most
High, confessing thy sins unto thy brethren, and before the Lord. And on this
day thou shalt do none other thing, only let thy food be prepared with
singleness of heart that thy fasting may be perfect, or, in other words, that
thy joy may be full.
This is an
important text as the Lord, speaking through the Prophet Joseph Smith, commands
Latter-day Saints to keep the commandments, offer up spiritual sacrifices in
righteousness (e.g., a broken heart and a contrite spirit; spiritual sacrifices on
the Lord's Day, etc) and to confess sins before one another and the Lord (cf.
Matt 18:18), etc. Notice that there is absolutely no hint as an imputation of
an alien righteousness. In fact, such a theology (note: these are prescriptions,
not descriptions, of a "saved" person [a cop-out by James White et al
when confronted with similar biblical texts]) is antithetical to the concept of
forensic justification.
Such should
give pause to errant Latter-day Saints, including some who lecture at BYU, who
try to embrace the Reformed Protestant understanding of justification: it is a
blasphemous legal fiction that makes God a liar. For more, see:
Response to a Recent Attempt to Defend Imputed Righteousness
In a
revelation dated 9 Feb 1831, we have an early use of Jas 1:5, the text that was
instrumental in Joseph Smith seeking an answer in prayer that led to the First
Vision:
Therefore, he that lacketh wisdom, let him
ask of me, and I will give him liberally and upbraid him not. (D&C 42:68)
Compare with
KJV Jas 1:5:
If any of you lack wisdom, let him ask of
God, that giveth to all men liberally, and upbraideth not; and it shall be
given him.
It is
interesting that we have a very early use of this text, pre-dating the 1832
First Vision account, as well as the 1838 account where this text is given a
privileged position in Joseph Smith's recounting what led up to his theophany.
By faith they passed through the Red sea as
by dry land: which the Egyptians assaying to do were drowned. (Heb 11:29)
Hebrews 11
is a death-blow to many of the various theologies of justification we find
within Protestantism, such as teaching that Abraham had “saving faith,” not at
Gen 15:6, but at Gen 12. On this and related topics, see:
Hebrews 11:29
The Faith of Israel
Since most of the examples mentioned in
Hebrews 11 are of individual people who we know led exemplary lives of faith
and obedience, we might assume that all the instances mentioned in Hebrews 11
fall in the same category. This is not the case. There is at least one instance
of faith in Hb 11:29 regarding a group of people who as we know from later Old
Testament accounts and New Testament commentaries, did not continue in faith.
The verse reads, “By faith, the people passed through the Red Sea as on dry land;
but when the Egyptians tried to do so, they were drowned.” Here it is clear that
“the people,” not just Moses, had faith in God and thus were able to cross the
Red Sea. Accounts in Exodus and Numbers tell us that close to or over a million
Jews crossed the Red sea. (Numbers 1:46 gives the total amount of men at
603,550. This does not include women and children, who would bring the total
population well over one million.)
Although Paul, by picking a particular cross
section of the entire forty years that Israel was in the wilderness, can speak
in glowing terms about one incident of faith on a mass scale, Paul gives a
further commentary on these same Israelites that is not so flattering. In 1Co 10:1-5
Paul writes:
For I
do not want you to be ignorant of the fact, brothers, that our forefathers were
all under the cloud and that they all passed through the sea. They were all baptized into Moses in the
cloud and in the
sea. They
all ate the same spiritual food and drank the same spiritual drink; for they
drank from the spiritual rock that accompanied them, and that rock was Christ. Nevertheless,
God was not pleased with most of them; their
bodies were scattered over the desert.
We
understand that Paul, by specifying, “they all passed through the sea,” is
beginning his analysis from the crossing of the Red Sea. Once in the desert,
however, the Jews began to rebel. Forty years later, virtually none of the
original one million people who crossed the Red Sea entered the promise land.
Only two of the one million, Joshua and Caleb, along with all the children
twenty years old and younger, were worthy enough in God’s eyes to enter. (Cf. Nm 14:20-45; Hb 3:18.) Hence Paul, when he says above “God was not
pleased with most of them,” refers to everyone except two
people out of a million or more. It is significant, then, that Paul uses this
account to warn the Corinthians that though they have started out well in the
faith, this does not mean that they will continue in the faith. Their good
start does not mean a battle already won. Paul specifies this in vrs. 11-12:
“These things happened to them [the Old Testament Jews] as examples and were
written down as warnings for us...So, if you think you are standing firm, be
careful that you don’t fall.”
In
other places also Paul shows us that most of the people who crossed the Red Sea
ended up in unbelief and judgment. In Hb 3:16-18 he writes:
Who
were they who heard and rebelled? Were they not all those Moses led out of
Egypt? And
with whom was he angry for forty years? Was it not with those who sinned, whose
bodies fell in the desert? And to whom did God swear that they would never
enter his rest if not to those who disobeyed? So we see that they were not able to enter, because of unbelief.
The
importance for the present discussion of this apparent anomaly between Hb 11:29
and Hb 3:16-18 is to show that an individual or group can at one moment have a
very genuine faith and be pleasing to God, yet at the next moment can fall from
faith and end up unjustified. Since Paul is assuring us that the faith of all
the people and groups he mentions was faith that “pleased God” (Hb 11:6), it is
clear that the subsequent unbelief of the same people does not mean that they
never had genuine faith from the beginning. It can only mean that they lost the
sincere faith they once enjoyed and subsequently lost their justification. This
again is clear evidence that faith alone cannot save. Through disobedience, and
despite their sincere faith, the Hebrews of the Exodus lost their salvation.
Moreover, this example shows that the faith that justifies comes not in a
moment of imputation but in a process that must be as strong at the end as it
was at the beginning. (Robert A. Sungenis, Not By
Faith Alone: The Biblical Evidence for the Catholic Doctrine of Justification [2d
ed.; Catholic Apologetics International Publishing, Inc., 2009], 247-49, italics in original)
[5] The reinstitution of the marital ties between God and
His people.
For He who created you will espouse you—There is no reason for you to remain in a state of ignominy, since the
Lord “who made you (עֹשַׂיִךְ)” (see Isa 44:2: “Thus said the Lord, your Maker [עֹשֶׂךָ], your
Creator who has helped you since birth”; cf. also 43:7; 45:7; 51:13) “shall
once again take you back as His wife”; cf. 54:1; 62:4, 5; Jer 3:14; 31:31. עֹשַׂיִךְ is a qal participle with a second-person
feminine singular suffix; cf. Isa 22:11: “But you gave no thought to Him who
planned it (עֹשֶׂיהָ)”; Ps 149:2: “Let Israel rejoice in its Maker (בעֹשָׂיו).” The poʿel participle בֹּעֲלַיִךְ (note the
phonetic similarity between it and עֹשַׂיִך) denotes “one who bonds in a
spousal relationship.” The plural forms are explained as referring to “the
plurality of the Godhead” (Ibn Balaam, ed. Goshen-Gottstein, 217); or,
according to Ibn Ganaḥ, “in order to glorify and exalt” (Sefer ha-Riqmah, 295, line 18); but see also GKC §124k. Note the
variant reading of 1QIsaa: בעלכי (“your Husband”) (as in LXX,
Peshitta, and Targum: מָרִיךְ) and עושך (“your Maker” [singular]); the י is written, however, above
the line: עושיך. For the espousal image, see v. 1; and for the verb בעל in similar
contexts, see 62:5; Deut 21:13; 24:1; Mal 2:11. There may be a deliberate
wordplay here as well, since the word בעליך may be phonetically divided
into two: ב(א) עליך (“He who comes unto you”), in the sexual sense; cf. 2 Sam
12:24.
His name is “Lord of Hosts”—a divine
sobriquet emphasizing the Deity’s power and potency; see Isa 44:6; 45:13; 47:4;
48:2.
The Holy One of Israel is your Redeemer—For the two titles, “Redeemer” (גואל) and “the Holy One of Israel”
(קדוש ישראל), in tandem, see 41:14; 43:14; 47:4 (where they appear in the
same sequence: “Our Redeemer—Lord of Hosts is His name—the Holy One of
Israel”); 48:17; 49:7. For similar divine epithets in Mesopotamian literature,
see CAD D:19–20. (See the
introduction, §9.)
He is called “God of all the earth”—For similar expressions, cf. “Sovereign of all the earth” (אדון כל הארץ; Josh 3:11,
13; Zech 4:14; 6:5; Ps 97:5); “King over all the earth” (מלך כל הארץ; Zech 14:9;
Ps 47:8); “God of the earth” (אלהי הארץ; Gen 24:3; 2 Kgs 17:26
[twice], 27). (Shalom M. Paul, Isaiah 40-66: Translation and Commentary
[Eerdmans Critical Commentary; Grand Rapids, Mich.: Eerdmans, 2012], 421-22)
In a book
defending the book of Daniel’s historicity, we read the following:
. . . the alleged non-existence of Darius the
Mede has always been a key piece of evidence used by critical scholars to
support their general view of the book of Daniel as a late forgery. An
admission on the part of mainstream scholarship that the book of Daniel has
accurately given the name and position of Darius the Mede would be a
considerable blow to the whole historical-critical approach to the book. Such
details about a man whose name and position are not preserved by later
historians could really only be given by a contemporary, especially by someone
who had just such “insider” posts in government as the book claims that Daniel
had. (Steven D. Anderson, Darius the
Mede: A Reappraisal [Grand Rapids, Mich.: Self-Published, 2014], 40)
One was reminded of something similar we find in the Book of Mormon that
argues for its historicity: the vindication of the book’s claim that there was
a historical figure called “Mulek” (alt. “Muloch” [per early printings of the
Book of Mormon]) who was a surviving son of King Zedekiah. Only in recent
decades has the Book of Mormon been vindicated on this issue, including a
discovery of a seal affirming the historicity of this figure. Indeed, we can
rework the above from Anderson thusly:
An admission on the
part of mainstream scholarship that the Book of Mormon has accurately given the
name and position of Mulek, son of King Zedekiah, would be a considerable blow
to the thesis it is 19th-century fiction and instead supports its claim to be a translation of an ancient document. Such details about a man
whose name and position are not preserved by later historians could really only
be given by Mormon who had access to texts and traditions originating from
Mulek’s contemporaries in the New World where they escaped from the Old.
For useful articles on Mulek, see:
Jeffrey R. Chadwick, Has the Seal of Mulek
Been Found?
Jeff Lindsay, Mulek,
Son of Zedekiah
|
D& 93
|
Mosiah 15
|
|
I am in
the Father, and the Father in me, and the Father
and I are one. (v. 4)
|
Thus
becoming the Father and the Son. And they
are one God, yea, the very Eternal Father of heaven and earth. (v. 4)
|
|
The Father because he gave me of his fullness,
|
The Father because he was conceived by the power
of God (v. 3)
|
|
and the Son because I was in the world and
made flesh my tabernacle, and dwelt
among the sons of men . . . . And
thus he was called the Son because he
received not of the fullness at the first. vss. (4, 14)
|
and the Son because of the flesh . . . And God himself shall come
down among the children of men . .
. And because he dwelleth in the flesh
he shall be called the Son of God, having subjected the flesh to the will
of the Father. (vss. 2-3)
|
|
The Son of
God
|
The Sons
of God
|
|
In the
beginning the Word was . . . the light and Redeemer of the world, the Spirit
of truth . . . . and in him was the life of men and light of men . . . Men
were made by him; all things were made by him. (D&C 93:8-10)
|
Man was
also in the beginning with God. Intelligence, or the light of truth, was not
created or made, neither indeed can be. (D&C 93:29)
|
|
I was in
the beginning with the Father. (D&C 93:21)
|
Ye were
also in the beginning with the Father. (D&C 93:23)
|
|
In the beginning
the Word was, for he was . . . the light and the Redeemer of the world; the
Spirit of Truth who came into the world. (D&C 93:8-9)
|
Ye were in
the beginning with the Father, that which is Spirit, even the Spirit of
truth. (D&C 93:23)
|
|
I am the
firstborn. (D&C 93:21)
|
All those
who are begotten through me are partakers of the glory of [the Firstborn] and
are the church of the Firstborn. (93:22)
|
|
And he
received not of the fullness at first, but continued from grace to grace, and
he received a fullness. (D&C 93:13)
|
If you
keep my commandments you shall receive of his fullness, and be glorified in
me as I am in the Father; you shall receive grace for grace. (93:20)
|
|
I am in
the Father, and the Father in me, and the Father and I are one . . . And the
glory of the Father was with him, for he dwelt in him . . . I . . . received
a fullness of the glory of the Father. (D&C 93:3, 16-17)
|
You shall
. . . be glorified in me as I am in the Father. (D&C 93:20)
|
|
He
received a fullness of truth, yea, even of all truth (D&C 93:26)
|
He that
keepeth my commandments received truth and light, until he is glorified in
truth and knoweth all things ((3:28)
|
|
He
received all power both in heaven and on earth (D&C 93:17)
|
Then shall
they be gods because they have all power. (D&C 132:30)
|
|
And thus
he was called the Son of God, because he received not of the fullness at
first. (D&C 93:14)
|
Wherefore,
as it is written, they are gods, even the sons of God. (D&C 76:57)
|
As a proponent of "Open Theism" I did appreciate the following, as
it does fit nicely within a framework of contingent, not exhaustive foreknowledge as well as "divine temporality" from Deidre Green's on Jacob 5 and the Allegory of the Olive Tree:
Although the Lord
does not deny that some trees are asked to take root in circumstances that
render them unduly vulnerable, he also averts that he offers personal attention
and care to endure that such trees are still capable of producing good fruit. Driving
the point to its logical conclusion, the lord commands his servant to observe
yet another tree that thrives in even poor conditions: “behold I have planted
another branch of the tree also; and thou knowest that this spot of ground was
poorer than the first. But, behold the tree. I have nourished it this long
time, and it hath brought forth much fruit; therefore, gather it, and lay it up
against the season, that I may preserve it unto mine own self” (verse 23).
Conversely, a tree nourished similarly but planted in a good spot of ground has
only partly brought forth good fruit
(verse 25). God is mindful of all so that divine love and care abound
ubiquitously in creation. Yet, neither divine love nor other circumstances
determine outcome. Even when love and care yield little response, God and Christ continue to innovate to coax
a good fruit out of each tree (verse 27-28). These dauntless efforts are
expended amid divine expressions of hopeful anticipation of regaining joy in
the vineyard (verse 60) and lead God to call others to collaboratively “go to
and labor with our might this last time” (verse 62). In this final effort, they
“begin at the last that they may be first, and that the first may be last”
(verse 63). Yet the realization of God’s
joy remains contingent upon the human response to God’s efforts. Divine respect
for human agency implies that in some instances God shares in the human
situation of being able to do no more than remain in love as witness to
alienation with uncertainty about the final outcome. (Deidre Nicole Green, Jacob: A Brief Theological Introduction [Provo,
Utah: Neal A. Maxwell Institute, 2020], 105-6, emphasis in bold added)
The
following useful table is taken from Donald W. Parry, Preserved in Translation: Hebrew and Other Ancient Literary Forms in
the Book of Mormon (Provo/Salt Lake City: Religious Studies Center, Brigham
Young University/Deseret Book, 2020), 76-78:
Biblical instances of symbolic actions as
prophetic curses
|
OBJECT OF ACTION |
SYMBOLIC ACTION AS CURSE |
INTERPRETATION OF THE ACTION |
|
Garment (1
Kgs. 11:29-31) |
Ahijah
rips a garment into twelve pieces and gives ten pieces to Jeroboam |
The united
kingdom of Israel will be divided, and Jeroboam will rule over ten of the
tribes |
|
Linen
girdle (Jer. 13:1-10) |
Jeremiah
wears a linen girdle and then hides it in the hole of a rock |
Judah,
which was once whole like the linen girdle, will become rotten like the
girdle that was placed in the earth |
|
No
marriage or children (Jer. 16:1-12) |
Jeremiah
is commanded to refrain from marrying, having children, and feasting in a
joyous manner |
Israel
will be destroyed, not enjoy familiar relations, and be unable to mourn for the
loss of family life. |
|
Potter’s
vessel (Jer. 19) |
Jeremiah
breaks a vessel in the presence of men near Jerusalem’s east gate |
The people
will be broken and destroyed |
|
Yoke (Jer.
27-28) |
Jeremiah
makes yokes, places one around his neck, and sends the remaining yokes to
neighboring kings |
The kings
and kingdoms who do not submit to the governance of Nebuchadnezzar will be
destroyed |
|
Book (Jer.
51:58-64) |
Jeremiah
writes in a book about evil that will come upon Babylon, ties the book to a
stone, and throws it into the Euphrates |
Evil and
destruction will come upon Babylon, which will sink and not rise again |
|
Scroll
(Ezek. 2:8-3:6) |
Ezekiel
eats a scroll |
Just as
the eaten scroll contains lamentations, mourning, and a woe, so Ezekiel’s
prophecies will consist of lamentations, mourning, and woe |
|
Clay tile
(Ezek. 4:1-3) |
Ezekiel
draws a picture of Jerusalem and a siege with mounds and battering rams |
Jerusalem
will be besieged by an army that will build mounds and use battering rams to
break through the wall and take the city captive |
|
Bread,
water, and dung (Ezek. 4:-17) |
Ezekiel
bakes bread with dung in it, eats measured portions of it, and drinks
measured portions of water |
As a curse
because of their sinfulness, Israel will eat defiled bread among the
Gentiles, and bread and water will become scarce to Israel |
|
Ezekiel’s
belongings (Ezek. 12;1-16) |
Ezekiel packs
his bags and goes forth from his home |
The
children of Israel will pack their personal effects and be led away captive
to Babylonia |
|
Food and
drink (Ezek. 12:17-20) |
Ezekiel
trembles as he eats and drinks |
Israel’s
land will be stripped of its produce, and Israel will eat and drink with
great trembling because of fear |
|
Ezekiel
(Ezek. 21:6-7) |
Ezekiel
sighs, groans, and beats his breast |
Bad news
is coming that will cause Israel to fear and to become weak-hearted |
|
Sword
(Ezek. 21:8-17) |
Ezekiel
makes slashing movements with a sword |
In every
direction that Ezekiel slashes with the sword, the Lord will cause slaughter
upon Israel |
|
Wife of
Ezekiel (Ezek. 24:15-24) |
Ezekiel’s
wife dies, and he does not mourn for her |
Just as
Ezekiel does not mourn the loss of his wife, so the children of Israel will not
be permitted to mourn the loss of their loved ones, whom they will lose
during wars and tribulations |