Salvation

Unit 02
Lesson 03 

In Romans 12-13 Paul gave much counsel that leads to salvation. Read each of the following verses and list what Paul taught would help lead to salvation:
Romans 12:1- Present our bodies as a living sacrifice, holy, and acceptable unto God.
Romans 12:2- Don't be of the world, have clean thoughts and mind, following the will of God and do good.
Romans 12:9- Cleave to the good, stay completely away from all evil, and love without restraint.
Romans 12:13- have charity, be hospitable, be kind to others.
Romans 12:16- don't depend on your own wisdom or the wisdom of men. But be of the same mind with those in the church.
Romans 12:21- don't let evil overcome you, but be good and you'll be able to overcome evil.
Romans 13:1- the priesthood power (power from God) will help us, especially as we subject ourselves to that power. 
Romans 13:3- The power of the world can be hard to overcome, especially because they receive so much praise for what they do... but if we do good works and help others and serve God, we will receive the glory of God. 
Romans 13:8- Love everyone. It's possible to hate the sin, but to love the sinner.  

Romans 13:9- Don't commit adultery, don't kill, don't steal, don't bear false witness, and don't covet.

Baptism New Testament

Student Choice 01
Unit 01

Review Romans 6:1–13 and answer the following questions in writing:
 Part 1:
 What must be done with sin before baptism can occur?
We must forsake our sins and be willing to be obedient to God’s commandments. Nephi said, “But notwithstanding he being holy, he showeth unto the children of men that, according to the flesh he humbleth himself before the father, and witnesseth unto the Father that he would be obedient unto him in keeping his commandments.”(2Nephi 31:7)

What events from Christ’s life are symbolized in baptism?
When he was killed and then resurrected. It’s the same as when we are baptized, we go under the water- which symbolizes his death- and then we come up out of the water- which is a symbol of the resurrection. (Romans 6:4-5) It’s an amazing gift that we are able to figuratively have our old self “die” and our new self “come to life”.

Considering this symbolism, why couldn’t someone be baptized by
sprinkling?
 Going along with what I said in the previous question, if we were baptized merely by being “sprinkled” we would be taking part of the great symbolism that baptism is meant to represent. We go under the water to be fully covered and if all of our old self has died and then we come up out of the water as if our new self has come to life.
What do these verses teach us about how we can maintain the “newness of life”?
I really like how Paul compares us to Christ and how he “died unto sin once, but in that he liveth, he liveth unto God.” (Romans 6:10) to me, this verse is saying that Christ died for our sins but now he lives as God… just like we follow his example and we die from our sins, we are now able to live “like unto God” and that is through the Holy Ghost that we are given as a gift after our baptism. The Holy Ghost is what allows us to fully apply the atonement into our lives and to truly become like God.

 According to Mosiah 3:19, what part of us would ideally die at baptism?
The natural man, the part of us that desires worldly things, and as it is said “the natural man is an enemy to God” and so in a way, also, that part of us that chooses things that will take us away from God or make us his “enemy” also dies when we are baptized.
 Part 2:
 Study Romans 6:14–23. Write a paragraph that describes how we know whose servant we are. Then write a statement identifying the true source of freedom.
 We learn that the master that we choose to follow and obey is the master that we are servants of… and I’d like to add the master that ultimately will give us our “reward” whether that is good or evil. Paul says, “Know ye not, that to whom ye yield yourselves servants to obey, his servants ye are to whom ye obey; whether of sin unto death, or of obedience unto righteousness.”(Romans 6:16)
I also like how he talks about the “fruits” of your actions (Romans 6:21) it just goes to show that what you put in, you will always get out in the end. You may deceive others for a while but there will come a point where your true colors will show.
 The true source of freedom is through obedience to our Heavenly Fathers commandments.

Beware of false prophets

Unit:1
Lesson: 02

Have you ever thought about the people you trust and why you trust them? For instance, why is it that when my mom told me to never do drugs or have sexual intimacy before I was married, I was so willing to listen and be obedient? Some may argue, "there have been studies done which have shown that young children are more susceptible to the teachings of their parents because for the first few years of their lives they see their parents as being perfect." If that is the case, and I believe it is, then why do I still trust and listen to my mom even now that I am perfectly aware of her mistakes and short comings? I believe it's because I know she loves me and wants the best for me. I learned this through experience, when I was young I followed her and learned that what she taught would make me safe... so much so that even now, I trust her words.

Today I want to share my thoughts and feelings concerning someone else that I have come to trust, someone that I listen to and follow. Not because I believe they are perfect but because I have followed them in the past and it has only brought me happiness and peace. This person is the Prophet, Thomas S. Monson.

Early this week I was reading in 2 Corinthians 11:13-15 which says, "For such are false apostles, deceitful workers, transforming themselves into the apostles of Christ. And no marvel: for satan himself is transformed into an angel of light. Therefore it is no great thing if his ministers also be transformed as the ministers of righteousness; whose end shall be according to their works."

I find it interesting in this verse how often Paul said the word "transform" there is something interesting that I have learned about transformers, they can't stay the same thing forever. They have to constantly be changing. Some may read this scripture and think, "well, how then, can I know who truly are messengers from God?" my grandma use to say, "what and learn!" I believe it's the same in this case, you can know if they are true messengers of God if they transform, meaning, they are constantly changing.

After reading this verse, I was reminded of one of my favorite verses in the Book of Mormon. Samuel the Lamanite comes to warn the Nephites of their wickedness and to prophecy of the coming of Christ. After the people try to kill Samuel, Mormon (the person who is abridging the book) says this to us, the reader,

"...if a prophet come among you and declareth into you the word of the Lord, which testifieth of your sins and iniquities, you are angry with him, and cast him out and seek all manner of ways to destroy him; yea, you will say that he is a false prophet and that he is a sinner, and of the devil, because he testifieth that your deeds are evil. But behold, if a man shall come among you and shall say; do this and there is no iniquity; do that and ye shall not suffer; yea, he will say: walk after the pride of your own hearts; yea, walk after the pride of your own eyes, and do whatsoever your heart desireth--and if a man shall come among you and say this, ye will receive him, and say he is a prophet. Yea, ye will lift him up, and ye will give unto him of your substance; ye will give unto him of your gold, and of your silver, and ye will clothe him with costly apparel; and because he speaketh flattering words unto you, and he saith that all is well, then ye will not find fault with him." (Helaman 13:26-28)

If you think of this verse as if it was talking about a parent teaching their children, I bet you could see what an awful parent they would be if they told their children, "do whatever you want, whenever you want! There is no harm in this!" They would be completely forsaking their role as a parent to guide, teach, and protect their children. It's the same for a prophet, if they only told us what we wanted to hear, things that were pleasing to the world, things that were easy to follow.... would they really be that great of a prophet? But what if they admonished us to follow God, keep his commandments, be obedient? What if at times they even asked us to do things that were uncomfortable because that would be you'd have to go against popular teachings of the world? Just something to consider.

My hope in this life, as I'm sure is all of yours, is to be the kind of parent that teaches my children how to be truly happy... even if that means to do hard, unpopular, or scary things at times. I know that as we follow a living prophet, we can become that kind of parent.