[Re. D&C 82:6-7]
Sanctification is .
. .the reward for seeking the way, for entering into it by the strait gate.
This sanctification also makes it possible to go along the path. That straight
path is the way which is all important, however. That way is justification,
or the process of doing what is just. A man is made just by doing just or
righteous deeds. As he does those deeds, which he can only do as an act of
faith in Jesus Christ and in a state of being sanctified, the just acts which
he performs begin to form in him the divine nature, the character, habits, and
strength of the Lord Jesus Christ himself. As long as a person qualifies for
the continued companionship of the Holy Spirit, he maintains that precious dual
gift: forgiveness because he is in the way and knowledge of what to do next to
say in the way of holiness. Thus, sanctification is prerequisite to being in
the way, and being the way is prerequisite to becoming so much like the Savior
that nothing can take us away from that way. To be a just man is not just to
have done good deeds. It is also to have taken upon yourself the nature,
countenance, habits, and character of the Savior, to have grown up unto the
measure of the fulness of the stature of Christ. It is the justification of the
man, not his deeds that is important in the long run. An evil tree
cannot bring forth good fruit, neither will a good tree bring forth evil fruit.
The Father and the Son are anxiously engaged in the cause of creating good
trees through the process of justification. (Chauncy C. Riddle, “Justification,
Ancient, and Modern,” in The Old Testament and the Latter-day Saints
[Randall Book Company, 1986], 334-35)
Sanctification:
forgiveness of sins (the debts of sinning) upon repentance (stopping sinning
through faith in Jesus Christ). It does not come piecemeal; it is all or
nothing. This forgiveness comes only through the Atonement of Jesus Christ, but
it is initiated by each person as he or she accepts the Restored Gospel, is
born again of water and of the Holy Spirit, and begins to obey the voice of God
as it comes through the Holy Spirit.
Justification:
the process of replacing every habit of choosing, believing, and acting that is
substantiated with the Savior’s habits of choosing, believing, and acting. This
is the process of becoming a just, perfect person, and is a matter of degree.
Each step must be taken by the conscious willing of the person using his agency
to make each change as he receives each gift of God (line upon line, precept
upon precept) which enables him or her to make each change. (Chauncy C. Riddle,
“Justification, Ancient, and Modern,” in The Old Testament and the
Latter-day Saints [Randall Book Company, 1986], 339)
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