born again leanings?

Being saved is one percent perspiration (on our part) and ninety nine percent grace. And this is almost certainly understating the Saviour's role in our personal salvation. Obedience is an important part of the process but it's not the active ingredient in redemption.

Back in the good old days at the Hamilton MTC a guest speaker delivered what was for us, the missionaries, a somewhat polarising talk. He taught mostly from the Book of Mormon, things like whenever we do any good we are borrowing from Jesus or God, who is the source of all good, whose merits are mighty to save. Many of the boys preferred a works based interpretation of salvation. I can see where they're coming from.

However, I feel and the spirit seems to accord (name that apostle) that there is no actual eternal significance to dipping ourselves in water except that God deems it so. Christening could have been a valid method, but God chose another way. Obedience, keeping the commandments aren't what gets us into heaven, not exactly. Obedience is the language we use to communicate to Jesus that we accept his sacrifice, that we accept him as our Saviour. He did the real work. Our work is a nice gesture but our pitiful offerings pale in consequence when juxtaposed with the atonement. As I have said before we can qualify for exaltation, by adhering to the generous conditions that God has laid out, but that doesn't mean we earned it. "Salvation is free", because he paid the price, all we have to do is show up and collect.

Perfunctionary no more

Why do I take the sacrament?

To remember, but just what exactly it is that I'm trying to recall is something I often struggle with. And then I'm reminded and I start all over again... Do I need to remember my abstract formulations of who Jesus was and the mechanics of how the Atonement works insofar as I understand them? That's certainly part of it, but the knowledge needs to go deeper than that. There are other neural pathways (and spiritual ones) that need to be accessed. It is said "by the power of the Holy Ghost ye may know the truth of all things" and that "Angels speak by the power of the Holy Ghost; wherefore, they speak the words of Christ. Wherefore, I said unto you, feast upon the words of Christ; for behold, the words of Christ will tell you all things what ye should do." So, to entertain the truth of what I'm remembering on a purely intellectual level would leave my knowledge of the reality of the divinity of Christ on par with the rest of my memorized facts about the world. However, these scriptures offer a valuable insight: stating that there is a special (non-provisional) knowledge available through a witness given by the Holy Ghost. The question is have I experienced this? Yes. OK, back to the beginning again, that's why I take the sacrament to remember the Atonement based on my own actual spiritual experience of its reality.