I
must confess that this is the first time I ever have seen a concern raised by
any Evangelicals about Moroni 10:32. I've never given it much thought before as
to why it might cause someone a problem.
32
Yea, come unto Christ, and be perfected in him, and deny yourselves of all ungodliness;
and if ye shall deny yourselves of all ungodliness, and love God with all your
might, mind and strength, then is his grace sufficient for you, that by his
grace ye may be perfect in Christ; and if by the grace of God ye are perfect in
Christ, ye can in nowise deny the power of God.
(Moroni
10:32)
What
I read out of that seems in agreement with the teachings of the Bible taken as
a whole. But perhaps it might help to clarify some of the wording. Let's do
that here, with the meaning set in plainer English, thus:
Yes,
come to Christ, and be perfected by means of him, and deny yourselves of all ungodliness;
and if you shall deny yourselves of all ungodliness, and love God with all your
might, mind and strength, then is his grace sufficient for you, so that by his
grace you may be made perfect by means of Christ; and if by the grace of God
you are perfect in Christ, you can in nowise deny the power of God.
That
is how I read the meaning of the passage. Remember that repentance is key. By repentance,
one is denying oneself of all ungodliness. Even the Bible states in various
places that one should give up one's ungodliness and change one's state of
mind. But then the Bible also is clear that we must love God with all our
heart, might, mind, and strength. How can one be saved indeed and be and feel
otherwise than to love God with all one's heart? How can one have grace be
sufficient if we don't even love God with all our heart? But the perfection
comes by effort with Christ doing the perfecting as we let him. And of course,
when one is perfected in Christ, there is no way to deny the power of God! Why?
Because it is the power of God by which we are perfected in Christ. I really
don't see the issue with this verse. Perhaps one of your new Evangelical
friends can clarify specifically why they find the verse problematic. (D. Charles Pyle, Email to Bob Durocher et al., June 21,
2023)
