When Adam and Eve were cast out of
the Garden of Eden, they became spiritually dead to the things of God. After an
angel came and taught them, they were baptized and received the ordinances and
covenants of the Gospel. They were then restored to a spiritual reunion with
God. Through baptism and receiving the Holy Ghost (Moses 7:64-66). Adam and Eve
became spiritually alive. With the Holy Ghost prompting them to conduct their
lives according to the gospel law, they were obedient and lived righteous
lives. . . . . Grace refers to a kindness or favor. This book has a number of
suggestions on how to work toward achieving perfection, but without the grace
of God even our best efforts will not qualify us or the celestial kingdom.
We read in the Book of Mormon that
we should “be reconciled to God; for we know that it is by grace that we are
saved, after all we can do” (2 Nephi 25:23). To become reconciled to Jesus
Christ necessitates repentance, obedience to the gospel, receiving the Holy
Ghost, and experiencing the effects and blessings of the Atonement by
continually keeping the commandments. We will then receive the divine power
from God, given to us by the power of the Holy Spirit, a spirit power that
strengthens us and helps us to overcome our weaknesses and deficiencies. That
spirit power is given to us in the form of spiritual fights, which are
necessary to prepare man for exaltation in the kingdom of God.
Only by the grace of God can we
become perfect; our own efforts are not sufficient. We cannot save ourselves or
resurrect ourselves. We cannot, without the grace of God, achieve eternal life.
All persons will be resurrected, and in that sense will be saved by the grace
of God. However, to accept the gospel is to receive the strengthening,
sanctifying, and redeeming power of the Spirit, which is a gift of God. To
obedient Saints, this gift is necessary to achieve the kind of perfection that
qualifies a person for eternal life. . . . Our natural abilities are not equal
to the task of achieving celestial perfection. We need strength superior to our
own in order to perfect ourselves and to qualify for the celestial kingdom.
Such strength and inner power comes through the process of becoming sanctified
by the power of the Holy Spirit. That is, to be born of the Spirit and receive
the strengthening power of the Holy Ghost, which only comes by faith in Jesus
Christ and the Atonement, and by keeping the commandments. (Rulon G. Graven, The
Pursuit of Perfection: Practical Steps to Spiritual Excellence [Salt Lake
City: Bookcraft, 1988], 1, 2, 3)
